Context Cancer bush (Lessertia frutescens L.) is a multipurpose medicinal legume endemic to southern Africa, reported to grow in a variety of soils, from very poor to fertile ones. However, there is limited knowledge on how L. frutescens is able to thrive in diverse soils and, particularly, nothing has been reported on the benefits from the microbe symbiosis, plant growth and acclimation to low nutrient soils. Aims Therefore, this study examined the effect of soil nutrient deficiency in plant–microbe symbiosis, nitrogen (N) nutrition and associated plant performance of L. frutescens plants, growing in four different impoverished soils from the KwaZulu-Natal region. Methods Experimental soil samples collected from four geographical distinct KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) locations (Hluhluwe, Izingolweni, Bergville and Ashburton) representing grasslands and savanna were used as natural inoculum and growth substrate. Key results Soil analysis showed significant differences in soil pH, exchange acidity, total cations, organic carbon (C), phosphorus (P) and N related to differences in the soil provenance. L. frutescens root nodules were dominated by Bacillus sp. in all soil treatments, except in plants grown in Bergville soil that did not nodulate. In all, 68–90% of total plant N concentration was reduced from atmospheric N. L. frutescens plants also relied on soil-available N for growth. Hluhluwe and Ashburton soil-grown plants showed a significantly higher biomass than did other soil-grown plants. Conclusions These current findings demonstrated that L. frutescens root nodules were dominated by bacteria characterised as phospho-bacteria and N2-fixing bacteria in these impoverished soils. This enabled L. frutescens to fix atmospheric N and assimilate soil available N to reduce energy demand. Implications These strategies may collectively contribute to L. frutescens resilience in nutrient-deficient savanna and grassland ecosystems.

This article offers a comparative analysis of film services in Johannesburg and Durban using the example of a feature gangster comedy, Hard to Get (Ntuli, 2014). The study of cities as media hubs is a recent development. Audio-visual media, being highly capitalized and labour-intensive products, are centralized in large cities, urbanity having been the central hub of first, industrialization and second digitization. Initial work on South African media cities focuses on the perspective of economic sustainability through skills development, job creation and distribution and exhibition as prerequisites for assistance incentives. This film services approach is less concerned with media as texts, but examines the intermediate inputs, organizational arrangements and expertise associated with processes involved in the development of media projects. Media services are examined with respect to their respective foci on sustainability, creativity and the skills development potential of each value chain’s input in the production of product. Crucially, however, the South African studies have linked the production-consumption value chain to exhibition and audience development in currently unserved black urban areas that continue to lack entertainment services.