South Africans consume a significantly high amount of sodium from salty snacks. The study aimed to evaluate savoury snacks (ready-to-eat savoury snacks, flavoured potato crisps and flavoured ready-to-eat, savoury snacks and potato crisps—salt and vinegar only) for compliance with the June 2016 and 2019 target date for sodium reduction as set out by the Department of Health in Regulation 214. It also looked at low-sodium claims made by the evaluated products. The study’s research problem is located at the confluence of three critical trends: increasing consumption of sodium-containing salty snacks, increasing sodium-related disease burden and deaths and attempts to regulate sodium intake through regulation as a response. A total sample of 90 products belonging to the above categories was considered. Sodium content information was collected from the selected product packages. The study also applied the Association of Official Analytical Chemists’ (AOAC) official method 984.27 in laboratory tests to verify low-sodium claims on the sampled products. The study showed that out of the 90 selected snacks, 26% of the snacks did not meet their 2019 targets, while 4% did not meet their 2016 targets. Fisher’s exact tests showed that no snack category had a better inclination toward meeting 2019 tests than others. The laboratory tests showed that 4.4% of the products made a compliant low-sodium content claim (sodium levels below 120 mg Na/100 g), while one made a non-compliant sodium content claim. Among other things, the study recommended increased product compliance monitoring and evaluation, using standardised, rigorous sodium testing and measuring systems, using more consumer-friendly labels and consumer education on sodium labelling.

This paper describes a qualitative research design adopted in this study guided by deployment of a Grounded Theory (GT) methodology which was deployed to synthesize literature on technology adoption and digital transformation with an objective of developing theory. The philosophical worldview adopted was interpretivism/constructivist of a qualitative grounded theory inductive (theory building) approach where secondary data was sourced from industry reports and related academic peer reviewed literature. The grounded theory method was used to synthesize data which resulted in emergent dimensions that underpin digital transformation and technology adoption in the postal sector in the context of Southern Africa. The careful and laborious method of theoretical sampling, constant comparison and theoretical coding which underprops grounded theory research ensued in thirteen dimensions which were further advanced until theoretical saturation was established, the theoretical saturation resulted with emergence of the ten themes reinforced by constructs/concepts with associated allocated codes. The ten themes that emerged from the grounded theory research are adoption, shared vision, digital competitiveness, digital ecosystem, digital capability, digital investment, diverging interests, customer insights, digital culture, and operational efficiency. These emergent themes are the basis of the next leg of the research which is to develop a dynamic model archetypical of the digital embracing dynamics in the postal service in Southern Africa employing the System Dynamics modelling approach.

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