Oncampus 4

on CampusIssue 4 • May 2013 • For daily updates visit www.uwc.ac.za

Members of UWC’s South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI-UWC) form part of an international team of researchers

from 40 institutions – including Rhodes University, Oxford University, and the Broad Institute at Harvard University and MIT – who recently decoded the genome of a world-famous“living fossil”, the fish known as the African coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae).

South African lead researcher Professor Alan Christoffels was invited to participate in the study, together with his SANBI-UWC team, which included three postdocs – Drs Uljana Hesse, Sumir Panji and Barbara Picone – as well as software programmer Peter van Heusden and SANBI-UWC staff members Dr Junaid Gamieldien and Mario Jonas.

The decoded three-billion-letter genome has confirmed that protein-coding genes in the coelacanth are indeed evolving more slowly than in other vertebrate organisms. The researchers hypothesise that this slow rate of change may be because coelacanths simply have not needed to change: they live primarily off the East African coast at ocean depths where little has changed over thousands of years, and have few natural predators.

The coelacanth is one of the closest fish relatives of tetrapods (land-dwelling vertebrates). The genome was compared to the genomes of other vertebrate species, as well as to several genes from lungfish, to find out more about the evolutionary history of the water-to-land transition. One discovery emerging from the study was that the lungfish appears to be somewhat more closely related to tetrapods than the coelacanth. But by looking at what genes were lost in the move from water to land, several other unusual discoveries were made.

“A number of gene families key to vertebrate

adaptation were found in the coelacanth genome,” explains Christoffels. “So, for example, we identified what is called ‘gene expansions’ – which are multiple copies of the same gene – and found that some of these are peculiar to coelacanth. This phenomenon usually indicates new adaptations in the context of an organism’s functions.”

More specifically, SANBI-UWC researchers identified a class of olfactory genes whose function fits a model for vertebrate adaptation,

finding many regulatory changes that influenced genes involved in smell perception and decoding airborne odours (it is hypothesised that land creatures needed new ways to detect chemicals around them).

The international team of researchers also found: a number of immune-related regulatory differences between the coelacanth and tetrapod genomes (possibly a response to new pathogens on land); a modification to the most important gene involved in the ammonia excretion cycle

(fish excrete ammonia directly, while land vertebrates convert ammonia into less toxic urea); and several key genetic regions that may have been “evolutionarily recruited” to form tetrapod innovations such as fingers and the mammalian placenta.

Funding agencies that provided support for this project include the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme of the South African National Department of Science and Technology, which supported the collection of samples; and the National Human Genome Research Institute, which supported the Broad Institute’s contributions, including genome sequencing.

SANBI tackles coelacanth genome

A museum specimen of a coelacanth. Picture credit: S. Merikal/Flickr

Left to right: Prof Alan Christoffels (front row); Dr Uljana Hesse; Peter van Heusden; Dr Barbara Picone; Mario Jonas (front row). Not pictured: Dr Junaid Gamieldien; Dr Sumir Panji.

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UWC Green Week page3

IOC Africa Conference page 8

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Banyana Star Joins UWC page 18

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2

Gender Equity Unit celebrates 20 years of activism

While gender inequalities continue to be a thorn in the lives of South African

women and gender-equity activists, UWC’s Gender Equity Unit (GEU), whose interventions have been integral in advancing gender equity issues on campus and in the wider society, celebrates 20 years of existence.

Formally established in 1993, the GEU’s task was to address women and gender issues, first on campus, as women and gender issues had not yet been given serious consideration by activists or intellectuals, and then to participate in the broader South African dialogues and research on gender equity issues. A small group of feminists and men supporting feminism at UWC were deeply concerned about the structural inequities that existed between women and men on campus.

These inequities included disparities in salaries between women and men, as men generally earned more than women; women did not receive housing subsidies; there was no maternity leave for women; there were no promotion opportunities for women; women could not go on sabbaticals; and all the professors were white males, holding the most senior professorships.

The Unit was charged with the development of policy on gender equity and sexual harassment, running gender awareness training and affirmative action workshops and conducting research that resulted in a first-of-its-kind race and gender profile of all staff at UWC. The GEU’s efforts led to the creation of a Sexual Harassment Policy and Anti-Sexual Harassment Committee, as well as the establishment of the University’s Gender Policy and an examination of ways to recruit female staff members and develop female post-graduate students. The Unit also conducted a Special Features Programme that included a range of events such as theatre, dance and drama, which focus on

issues around sexual harassment, sexuality and interpersonal violence.

In a paper submitted last year to Rector Professor Brian O’Connell, Mary Hames, head of the Unit, spoke of how the GEU had campaigned on behalf of those previously under-represented. “At UWC the Gender Equity Unit invariably became the champion for the marginalised groups and individuals and endeavoured to create a ‘safe space’ within the campus environment for the sexually violated and survivor, the student with disabilities, lesbian, gay and transgender people, the student fighting for her reproductive health rights, the foreign student who has to deal with xenophobia and the student who does not enjoy a middle-class lifestyle,” she wrote.

“Today, there are several women Deans and Deputy Deans, HODs; the registrar is a woman; the executive director of the Human Resources department is a woman; the Vice-Rector: Student Development is a woman, and both the University and Deputy University librarians are women. It should be noted that none of these managerial and executive positions were until recently occupied by women.”

Along the way the Unit has had a hand in some major publications. In 2005, for example, in collaboration with the African Gender Institute (AGI) at the University of Cape Town, as well as the University of Stellenbosch and the University of Botswana, GEU conducted research on the

Implementation of Policies against Sexual Harassment in Southern African Higher Education. The outcome was a chapter in the 2005 book Killing a Virus with Stones?, edited by the AGI’s Professor Jane Bennett, and a subsequent co-authored article in Feminist Africa. Another important collaborative publication is Beyond Inequalities 2005: Women in South Africa.

Since the establishment of the GEU at UWC, women with PhDs have been fast-tracked and promoted to senior lecturer, associate professor and full professor levels. At present UWC takes the lead in having the most women in decision-making positions on any campus in the country.

Among some of the initiatives championed by the Unit were the:• theatre production and drama workshops

for Edudrama cast;• mentoring skills for GEU volunteers;• identity, self-esteem and advocacy

workshops and training for lesbian and gay students and staff;

• leadership training for volunteers and young people from the community;

• leadership training for black lesbians – nationally;

• feminism training and feminist writing workshops for Women on Farms staff;

• facilitation training for young women of the community; and

• mentoring by students in UWC’s peer mentoring programme.

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3

Hundreds of UWC ‘green’ students and staff members – green by virtue of their dress and cause – gathered outside the Chris Hani Residence and the New ResLife

Building early in the morning on Saturday, 27 April 2013, for the Big Green Clean-Up Day.

The Big Clean-Up Campaign was an enormous recycling drive, and saw staff members, students and service providers picking up waste around campus, emptying bins, and separating waste for recycling. Through the day’s activities, participants got the opportunity to experience first-hand UWC’s recycling system. The aim was to raise awareness of environmental issues by educating students and staff on the difference between recyclable and non-recyclable items, and to encourage them to use the correct bins when disposing of waste.

The clean-up was led by Njabulo Maphumulo, coordinator of the University’s Green Campus Initiative (GCI), an independent higher-education student programme that promotes the improvement of energy efficiency, the conservation of natural resources, and the enhancement of environmental quality. The GCI was supported by faith-based ministries on campus, including the Student Christian Organisation, with participants including Prestige Cleaning Services Management, Metro Cleaning Managers and the Central House Committee.

The Big Clean-Up was only one part of UWC’s Green Week activities promoting green initiatives on campus through recreation, discussion and open debates. It was preceded by a Green Talk at Cassinga Residence on 26 April, where students debated issues related to sustainability, energy

and water saving. Students in first-year residences recommended more initiatives to reduce electricity and water usage in residences: this includes encouraging the University to measure electricity usage on a monthly basis, to conduct a competition among University departments to cut electricity usage, and finally to raise awareness about saving energy and water around campus to reduce costs, in so doing contributing to the national drive to cut electricity usage.

On Sunday, 28 April, a Green/Dark Sunday Service was held to raise awareness about energy saving. Walking their talk, the Student Christian Organisation conducted their service in the dark to educate members about saving electricity. The service was attended by over 150 members, and was conducted by GCI campaigners and student leaders. The programme encouraged on-going discussions among the faith-based ministries to take a stand on sustainability, particularly in the UWC residences.

The GCI’s Maphumulo believes that Green Week is an important part of raising awareness at the University. “Going green is important because it reduces carbon dioxide emissions, reduces impact on the environment, and helps cut down on costs, considering the rapidly-increasing fuel, energy and water prices,” he says. “Furthermore,

greening creates jobs and contributes to a better living environment for the next generation.”

Green Week ran from 26 April until 10 May 2013. Over the week, students acting as ‘green ambassadors’ partnered with various stakeholders to organise a range of events, including green talks in residences, open green debates, tree planting, green exhibitions, a green walk/pledge, and a green fashion show.

Clean Up! Green Up Day!– 27 April 2013- Main Campus

Contact Njabulo Maphumulo on +27 79 630 2751, [email protected] for more information

Students clean upNews

As an attempt to familiarise students with different kinds of technologies, the UWC

Library opened its new iPad Lab on 3 April 2013.

The iPad Lab, situated on level 6 of the Library, was established with the assistance of South African Apple distributor, Coregroup. To get the lab up and running, the company donated 30 iPads to the University, part of its efforts to support teaching and learning.

The lab has been put in place to instruct UWC students and staff in the use of different kinds of technology and mobile devices, and to understand how they can be integrated into learning activities.

“Technology is ubiquitous and in order for UWC Library to remain relevant, it has to embrace these technologies,” commented Mymoena Londt, library communications manager.

The lab offers students who cannot afford iPads or other tablets a chance to interact with the devices and explore their potential. It also allows the Library to diversify its services and facilities, said Londt.

The lab was officially opened for academics on 3 April, and to students on 10 April. Students can use the lab equipped with 30 iPads between 09h00-10h00 and 15h00-16h00, while tutorials are offered between 11h00-15h00.

UWC opens iPad Lab

UWC lecturers try out one of the iPads at the lab.

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4

Professor Marion Keim of the Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Sport Science and Development (ICESSD) at UWC has received the

Tim Noakes Scientific/Academic Excellence Award from the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, presented in partnership with regional federations, sport councils and district municipalities.

The ICESSD is the only one of its kind in Africa, and has been very successful in its research collaborations on sport and development issues with the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape province and the National Research Foundation, as well as international stakeholders such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the University for Peace. The ICESSD’s research work was complimented by the Western Cape Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Dr Ivan Meyer, when he presented his latest Budget Speech in Parliament.

Keim serves on the National Advisory Board on Sport and Recreation and on the Eminent Persons Group for Sport and Transformation in South Africa. She was scheduled to represent the ICESSD and UWC at the upcoming conference of the International Olympic Committee in Lima in April. The ICESSD was also asked to give input at the United Nations (UN) Sport for Development and Peace conference in Geneva, at the UNESCO meeting in Nigeria, and the Sports Minister Conference

in Berlin. The vision of the Faculty of Community and

Health Sciences, with its partners from the Flemish Inter-university Council, to establish such an interdisciplinary research unit has paid off in a relatively short time. Since its launch in 2009, the ICESSD has developed into a vibrant research centre in a very popular and important field of sport and development, and has become a faculty flagship.

“It’s wonderful to work in a team of dedicated and visionary colleagues who want to make a difference and contribute to the building of a better society,” says Keim

when asked about the ICESSD’s national and international success.

The ICESSD team consists of Keim, Professor Christo de Coning, Jose Cabral and Anita Fredericks, as well as several postgraduate students from South Africa, Eritrea, Germany, India, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Minister Meyer reiterated these thoughts when he hosted the Western Cape Sport Awards on 1 March, reminding award winners that their accomplishments were only possible with the help of those who love and support them.

“You can only move from good to better with your family’s support,” he said. “The fact that you are better together shows that the impossible is possible. We see our athletes as an extension of who we are and what we can achieve.”

Other winners are:• Vernon Philander - Sportsman of the Year• Ilse Hayes – Sportswoman with a Disability

of the Year • Charles Bouwer - Sportsman with a

Disability of the Year • Suzanne Ferreira - Coach of the Year• Dyan Buis - Newcomer of the Year• Bianca Buitendag - Junior Sportswoman of

the Year• Gregory Gans - Junior Sportsman of the Year

Winners are expected to represent the province at the upcoming South African National Sport Awards ceremony.

UWC scholar wins Tim Noakes award

UWC’s Prof Marion Keim has received the Tim Noakes Scientific/Academic Excellence Award from the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport.

The coordinator and head lecturer of the English Educational Development (EED) programme for UWC’s Faculty of Law, Mahmoud Patel, was honoured

with the Faculty of Arts Distinguished Teacher Award on 6 March 2013.

The award was presented jointly to Patel and Dr Sakhumzi Mfecane of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, acknowledging their outstanding contributions as educators.

Based on feedback from students, Patel’s teaching methods and vast knowledge of academic development content were noted as having been essential to the development of many students.

“Under Mr Patel’s coordination, the EED Law 101 courses are structured in such a way

that students are guided towards developing their respective literacy skills as well as enhancing their communication skills during an intense end of the year tutorial,” says Patel’s colleague Waseem Matthews. “Mr Patel’s efforts to not only instil the basics of academic development, but to maintain freshness in his approach through the use of technology such as e-teaching tasks, Turn-it-in, iKamva and his presentation of contemporary content ensures that the course is successful.”

Patel was moved by the honour, but wanted to acknowledge the roles played by others.

“Receiving this award humbles me. However, I feel that I should share this moment with the students because they are the ones who make the experience of teaching worthwhile.”

He also had a few words of encouragement for his peers.

“I feel that all educators should have the drive to provide their students with high quality educational content.”

Mahmoud Patel, joint winner of the Faculty of Arts Distinguished Teacher Award 2013.

Great educators acknowledged at awards ceremony

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5

Students and academics from across the globe participated in the Land Divided Conference 2013, a three-day gathering co-hosted by UWC,

the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Stellenbosch University at UCT in March this year.

The conference aimed to trace the roots of sometimes sensitive land questions. It also set out to commemorate the centenary of the 1913 Land Act and the legacy and the meaning of the Natives Land Act of 1913. The conference explored land reform and agrarian policy in southern Africa and the multiple meanings of land.

Speaking at the opening, Dr Mamphela

Ramphele, academic and businesswoman, said that it was worrisome that South Africa was losing so many of its commercial farmers to countries to its north.

Ramphele explained that 15 years ago there were 100 000 commercial farmers in the country; today, there are 36 000. Fifty percent of commercial farmers in Zambia are from SA, and there are a further 800 in Mozambique, she noted. She also argued that commercial farmers are needed to nurture and support the emergence of small farmers.

Today, 19 years into democracy, the land questions continue to hold “historic, emotional and symbolic significance”,

Ramphele said. It also embodied, she added, a history of lost opportunity, which could have been used to boost the country’s economic growth.

If the country really wants to take a creative approach to land reform, South Africa should be aiming for double-digit economic growth, she insisted, adding that inequality in South Africa was structurally created, and therefore “needs structural remedies”.

“We need to address structural economic inequalities engendered by the Land Act, and ensure that rural people are rights-bearing citizens, rather than subjects under the customary authority of chiefs.”

Dr Mamphela Ramphele, academic and businesswoman, was one of the speakers at the Land Divided Conference at the University of Cape Town.

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Land was a lost opportunity, says Ramphele

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6

Early in April, UWC master’s student Jill Ryan took off for Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where she will take part in the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Action 2 exchange programme.

And all because she took the effort of going through her emails.

An initiative of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union (EU), the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 programme aims to foster institutional co-operation in the field of higher education between the European Union and developing countries. It does so through a mobility scheme addressing student and staff exchanges for studying, teaching, training and research. The award to each consortium exceeds €1.6 million, and was made under the EU’s broader Erasmus Mundus initiative. It is expected that 200 South Africans will benefit from the scholarship scheme.

Ryan, a master’s student in child and family studies, found out about the exchange programme via the UWC campus community weekly notices, and applied immediately. “It’s important that students read their emails – don’t think it’s junk mail,” she advises. “There are important emails that can change one’s life.”

She and nine other South African students were chosen to be part of this skills-sharing programme.

Ryan will spend her exchange at the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Social Sciences. Here she plans to beef up her research skills in her chosen focus field of family violence.

Amsterdam will be a long way from the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children in Athlone, where she did her counselling internship. But it was at the Centre that she found her niche. “I have seen that violence centres focus on the parents most of the time – there are no facilities for children to go for counselling,” she says.

Ryan encourages students to follow their dreams. “There are always opportunities for a person to get ahead. People shouldn’t give up on applying at university because they haven’t got money. No matter what your circumstances, apply anyway.”

Climate change and environmental justice must be at the centre of our consciousness and South Africa needs to adopt an activist approach to the study, the practice and the teaching of environmental law.

Speaking at a public lecture titled Risky Business: The threat of climate litigation to the fossil fuel industry, held at UWC’s Faculty of Law, the International Deputy Programme Director for Greenpeace, Sarah Burton, said that if people do not exercise their power, multinational companies and governments will continue to compromise the environment by ways of fracking – the controversial engineering technique used to mine for example, natural gases – and other forms of carbon emission.

“The South African community must be vigilant and oppose activities which will cause irreparable damage to the climate and the environment within which plant, human and animal life thrives,” Burton remarked. She further told the audience of academics and masters students that the cost of not taking climate change seriously will be measured in hundreds of billions of dollars.

Another keynote speaker, Barrister Richard Harvey, an environmental law expert based in the UK, warned of the possible risks associated with the major gas fracking project proposed for the Karoo. “The most dangerous thing about this whole process is that nobody really knows its long-term dangers,” said Harvey.

He added that the South African Constitution has a Bill of Rights so strong and bold that many other nations would readily give up their own Constitutions for it. “With your Constitution, I feel you should be at the forefront of the fight for environmental justice.”

Harvey, whose career on the bench spans 40 years, echoed Burton’s comment that politicians do not see beyond their term of office. “A sorry fact [is that] politicians act in the interest of their political career and disregard the scientific facts and questions of morality which often accompany these decisions,” he said.

In specific reference to the fracking of the Karoo, Burton said that the local community and any other group opposed to that practice would need the support of many to stop the project. “This is a human rights issue and thousands of people must stand against it in a peaceful yet resolute stance,” she noted.

The two speakers – both of whom have spent considerable parts of their respective careers working as human rights lawyers – criticised corporate industries that are involved in compromising the environment through their work.

South Africa needs an “activist” approach to climate change.

Jill jets off to Amsterdam

Barrister Richard Harvey, Ms Sarah Burton and Pro Vice-Chancellor Patricia Lawrence share a moment.

Jill Ryan is excited about her stay in Amsterdam.

News

7

The higher education sector mourns the loss of one of South Africa’s leading scientists, UWC alumnus Professor Edmund Zingu.

Zingu, 67, graduated with a BSc and honours from UWC in the late 1960s/early 1970s before obtaining his master’s in Netherlands and his PhD from the University of Cape Town. He was head of the Department of Physics at UWC from 1995 to 1997, after which he became Vice-Rector at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) until his retirement.

A former president of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP), Zingu died in hospital in the early hours of Saturday, 20 April. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer in November last year.

Zingu headed the physics department at the Medical University of South Africa, before taking up a Fulbright research fellowship at the California Institute of Technology in the US in the early 1990s.

He was the first black scientist to hold the post of vice-president of the SAIP, appointed to the position in 2001, before becoming its first black president in 2003. He believed that local scientists needed to re-examine their role in society and determine how physics

could impact on the national development objectives, including keeping the country up to speed with international research and technology.

Zingu, a father of three, was a member of the Council on Higher Education, and chaired a review on the training of physics undergraduates. He served as MUT’s acting Vice-Chancellor following the suspension of Professor Aaron Ndlovu.

Zingu’s wife, Julia, former executive director of the Children’s Rights Centre in Durban, was quoted by The Mercury newspaper as saying that her late husband

was an honourable man. “We want him to be remembered as a man of integrity, a humble man, who was a private person, but a friend to all.”

Simon Connell, President of the SAIP Council, said of Zingu: “Edmund was a pioneer for physics in post-apartheid South Africa, a visionary, a tireless campaigner for strengthening the discipline of physics and, above all, a true gentleman.”

A memorial service for the late Prof Zingu was held at the UWC Library Auditorium on 25 April, ahead of his funeral on 27 April at the Methodist Church, Church Street, Wynberg.

Respected UWC alumnus passes away

News

UWC’s Faculty of Education celebrated

the academic achievements of its students when it hosted its annual Dean’s Merit Awards on 23 April 2013.

The awards are aimed at recognising and honouring students for their hard work throughout the year.

Welcoming the recipients, Rector and Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian O’Connell said teaching is the future of South Africa. “If South Africa is to become anything at all, the disadvantaged people need to take charge and understand the importance of education,” said O’Connell.

Among the 48 students awarded with certificates on the night,

BEd fourth-year student Vanessa Haywood, who graduated from her undergraduate studies summa cum laude in 2012, took top honours. Haywood has not had it easy – after matric, by then already a wife and mother, she went to work. In 2009, years after finishing school, Haywood decided to

fulfil her dream of going to university and applied for a bursary from the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme, through which the Department of Basic Education promotes teaching in public schools.

At the award ceremony, senior lecturer in Language Education, Dr Vuyokazi Nomlomo, said she was glad to be speaking to future teachers. “You are the teachers that will go out there and change lives,” she told the winning students.

Education students at the Dean’s Merit Awards with Vice-Chancellor, Prof Brian O’Connell, and Dean of Education Faculty, Prof Zubeida Desai.

Fresh out of the box teachers honoured

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8 Science

Representatives from 30 African countries converged on Bellville, Cape Town, for the second session of the Intergovernmental

Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Sub-Commission for Africa and Adjacent Islands (IOC-Africa) from 3 to 4 April 2013. The meeting was held at UWC’s School of Public Health.

Following on from the sub-commission’s first session in Nairobi in May 2012, delegates met to craft a strategic plan for the research and management of Africa’s oceans and coastal environments through to the year 2021. Delegates included representatives from several research institutes of member states and international organisations such as the Agulhas Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem, the Benguela Current Commission and Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem, as well as South African universities such as UWC, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

The Chair of IOC-Africa, Dr Monde Mayekiso, who also serves as the Deputy Director General of South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), presided over the session, with the aid of IOC-UNESCO Executive Secretary Dr Wendy Watson-Wright and IOC-UNESCO Chairperson Professor Sang-Kyung Byun. UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian O’Connell opened proceedings, and highlighted the importance of research and collaboration on an international scale. DEA Director General (and UWC alumna), Nosipho Ngcaba, delivered the keynote speech, addressing the importance of mitigating climate change through sustainable development practices.

“The continent of Africa is the most vulnerable to climate change – yet it contributes the least to atmospheric emissions,” said Ngcaba in her address. “Therefore it is fitting that over the next few days, we discuss research and the monitoring of our oceans processes and systems.”

These are matters of more than just academic interest, she explained, as various key stakeholders have different roles in the use and care of the world’s oceans. These include stakeholders involved in transport,

minerals, fisheries and other industries, all playing an important role in the environment. In addition, Ngcaba pointed out, the world’s economy is still largely based on shipping rules.

The meeting ran along a typical United Nations design, with countries identified by flag and representative, and interpreters simultaneously translating discussions into English and French. Delegates shared ideas on and debated approaches to coastal hazard assessment, data and information management, oceans and coastal assessment and outreach, climate change research and capacity-building activities.

The sub-commission session produced a draft strategic plan, addressing key strategic issues such as: methods of managing and conserving Africa’s oceans; strengthening international scientific cooperation with respect to oceans and coasts; and promoting science for sustainable development.

Ashley Johnson, Director: Oceans Research at DEA and Head of the South African delegation at the session (and another UWC alumnus), said the meeting was productive. “Though South Africa would have liked to see a complete strategic plan emerge, we recognise that the draft strategic plan developed in plenary is an achievement in itself. Bringing together more than 20 countries and developing a holistic plan should be considered a successful meeting.”

Professor Gavin W. Maneveldt, Head of UWC’s Department of Biodiversity and

Conservation Biology and the University’s representative on the local organising committee for the session, agreed with this assessment. “What impressed me was the fact that in just two days, the commission was able to formulate and adopt a plan of action – bearing in mind that this meeting represents only the second time the sub-commission has met in its entirety since its establishment in 2011.” Maneveldt is a principal investigator on a new Memorandum of Understanding – titled Collaboration in Matters Related to Oceans and Coasts – that the UWC Faculty of Natural Sciences has just signed with the DEA.

The draft strategic plan will be finalised through further discussion before it is tabled at the IOC Assembly in Paris in June 2013, where an implementation plan will be put in place.

IOC-Africa was established to coordinate and strengthen ocean and coastal research activities around the African continent and to eventually develop an effective ocean monitoring and research system that could warn against ocean-based disasters, as well as develop products to inform decision-making. South Africa currently serves as the IOC-Africa chair.

“The formulation of an IOC-Africa is critical to the African continent because it will strengthen the IOC’s presence in Africa, increase the effectiveness of its actions, and give concrete effect to the priority accorded to Africa by UNESCO,” said Maneveldt.

The opening panel for IOC-Africa were (from left to right): UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Brian O’Connell; IOC UNESCO Executive Secretary Wendy Watson-Wright; Department of Environmental Affairs Director General Nosipho Ngcaba; IOC UNESCO Chairperson Prof Sang-Kyung Byun; and IOC Africa Chairperson Dr Monde Mayekiso.

IOC-Africa forges new commitments to sustainable science at sea

9Science

A national Hydrogen and Fuel Cell (HFC) technologies supply-chain workshop was held at UWC on 12 April 2013, attracting participation from South

African industry, SMMEs, researchers and policy makers.

The opening address was delivered by Dr Cosmas Chiteme, Director: Alternative Energy at the Department of Science and Technology (DST). “For me, this is as big as it gets,” said Chiteme, “and if there is a tinge of nervousness in my voice, that’s because the occasion is so big.”

Butterflies notwithstanding, Chiteme gave a brief overview of the DST’s commitment to green energy and HFC technology, and the need for a transition from a resource-based economy to a knowledge economy. He outlined the chief issues that need to be addressed, the policies and strategies that come into play, and the need to have industry, mining houses, researchers, graduates and others involved.

This, he explained, included an intellectual property rights porfolio, and the need to engage the public and role-players in a way that can lead to the development of prototypes. In addition, a cluster of industries would have to be generated to both absorb the students that will be produced, but also to create the necessary jobs to move the industry forward.

The aim, he said, is to turn South Africa into a leader of hydrogen and fuel cell technology.

“We have to start thinking of what we can do as individuals, to take collective responsibility for achieving these targets. It’s not an easy target, but with everybody playing their part, I think it is achievable.”

The workshop, hosted by the Hydrogen South Africa Systems Integration and Technology Validation Centre of Competence (HySA Systems) at UWC, celebrated the beginning of a new phase of intensive research and development, as well as component prototyping and manufacturing. It brought together prominent local and international players in the HFC sector, creating a platform to establish a network of companies that could enable a strong HFC supply chain in South Africa.

Workshop attendees took part in enlightening presentations and lively

discussions, and visited a variety of information booths covering the green aspects of HFC technology and the public understanding of and engagement with HFC technology in South Africa.

Among others, futurist Guy Lundy, also vice-chairperson of Wesgro, discussed the Green Economy in the Western Cape (the first municipality in Africa to have a Department of Climate Change, he noted). Lundy reflected on current endeavours and future plans, including the Atlantis Green Manufacturing Hub and the Polaris Climate Change Observatory.

CME Precision explored the manufacturing capabilities already available in the Western Cape, and the potential for future manufacturing. Professor Vladimir Molkov of the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, gave an insightful lecture on the safety of hydrogen use indoors, and the progress made in improving safety concerns. Mikael Hajjar of Areva explained the company’s methods of hydrogen and energy storage.

In turn, Grant Healy of Melex Electrovehicles gave a talk about their hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and the future of hydrogen in the transportation industry. Several Melex vehicles were also parked outside the building, providing a more hands-on experience of the hydrogen mobility industry.

Dr Sivakumar Pasupathi, Key Programme Manager at HySA and organiser of the workshop, explained that HySA Systems believes that creating a supply chain network

for the hydrogen and fuel cell sector in South Africa is crucial at this juncture. “HySA is gearing up for the manufacture of hydrogen and fuel cell components and products – the workshop is an important first step towards creating a functional HFC industry.”

Professor Bruno G. Pollet, Director of HySA Systems, agreed. “South Africa is beginning the difficult but important journey towards a hydrogen and fuel cell infrastructure,” he said, “so it is essential that we create new working partnerships and bring about a sense of cohesion among those already working in the industry in this country.”

Melex Electrovehicles displays some of its HFC vehicles at the National HFCT Supply Chain Workshop at UWC.

Fuel cells convert chemical energy from fuel (e.g. hydrogen and oxygen) into electrical energy through chemical reactions with hydrogen and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst (e.g. platinum). Unlike batteries, fuel cells require a constant source of hydrogen and oxygen to run - they can produce electricity as long as these needs are met. The only byproduct from the chemical reactions is water.

Hydrogen South Africa hosts National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Workshop

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10 Science

UWC’s Faculty of Natural Sciences honoured 36 of the best Honours and undergraduate students of 2012 at the annual Dean’s Merit Awards

ceremony on 2 April 2013.Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic Professor

Ramesh Bharuthram, one of the speakers at the event, commended the students for doing so well in first-rate undergraduate programmes, but reminded them that their studies didn’t have to end there.

“Those of you receiving your awards today should see your first degree as the beginning of your academic career – and you should use the expertise and knowledge and facilities available at the University to go as far as you can go,” he said.

The students had all earned an average mark of 80% or greater for the 2012 academic year.

Even among the best students at the University, though, there are those who are truly the cream of a great crop – those at the top of the Dean’s Merit List. This year, third place went to 2012 third-year Applied Geology student Reddy Bokana Ngili, for his 87.8% average. Runner-up was Ismail Vallie, who completed his third year in Chemical Sciences in 2012 and scored an 88.25% average.

And top spot on the list went to Edyth Parker, who averaged 89.17% for her second year in Biotechnology (Parker also topped the Dean’s Merit List in 2012 for her stellar performance in her first year in 2011).

Professor Charlene Africa, the faculty’s Deputy Dean: Employment and Gender Equity, delivered the Dean’s Address on behalf of the indisposed Dean, Professor Michael Davies-Coleman, and heaped praise on the winners.

“The Dean’s Merit Awards honour students who have put lots and lots of hours into achieving what they want to achieve,” she said. “As long as you enjoy what you are doing, and you are willing to put in the practice you need, you will achieve.”

Special guests, teaching and learning specialist Dr Rita Kizito and nuclear astrophysicist Professor Nico Orce, gave brief talks showing how science had influeced their lives. The two academics also gave advice to students aspiring to scientific careers.

“We need to find that authentic part of ourselves,” said Kizito. “That is the part we need to nourish if we want to live fulfilled lives.”

Orce noted: “Hard work is not enough; it keeps things running, but it doesn’t make big changes. To excel we need to commit ourselves to what we do, to immerse ourselves. We need to love it – and still be able to doubt that we have the answer.”

Researchers at UWC’s School of Natural Medicine (SoNM) have, over the years, earned a reputation as local authorities in the field known as Traditional

Chinese Medicine (TCM). They now have a chance to cement that good

standing following a meeting on 19 April, with a delegation from the Chinese Ministry of National Health’s State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM), where they discussed opportunities for collaboration on matters of TCM.

Professor Cao Hongxin, Director-General: Department of Planning and Finance of the SATCM and former president of the Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, led the delegation. Welcoming the group to UWC were Professor José Frantz, Acting Dean of the Community and Health Sciences Faculty, and Dr Xuesheng Ma, a researcher at the SoNM.

UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Brian O’Connell expressed UWC’s appreciation of and commitment to TCM. “We know the practice of

TCM is thousands of years old and has a proud history, and UWC has a great interest in Chinese Medicine - it is the only university that has a degree course in Chinese Medicine in Africa,” he said. “We look forward to greater collaboration with you, and to becoming part of the great history of Chinese Medicine.”

Addressing the meeting, Cao said, “We are very honoured to be invited to South Africa, and to have this chance to visit UWC. We value this collaboration with South Africa. Not only does TCM contribute to the health of developing countries, but also developed nations like the

US and others are becoming more interested in TCM.”

Among other things, the assembled academics discussed the similarities and differences in university education for TCM practitioners in China and South Africa; how patients relate to TCM and modern medicine in China and scholarship opportunities for UWC students who wish to study TCM in China.

“We find this visit very encouraging,” said Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research Prof Ramesh Bharuthram. “From UWC’s perspective, we place strong emphasis on traditional medicine, and hopefully we can work towards an MoU on research components, diseases, medicinal plants and other aspects of traditional medicines, and take the first step towards master’s and doctoral programmes for TCM.”

Dr James Campbell, Head of Department of UWC’s School of Natural Medicine, closed the proceedings, before Dr Ma led the Chinese delegation on a tour of the department and campus.

Winners of the Dean’s Merit Award in the Faculty of Natural Sciences show off their honours.

Science honours UWC’s best and brightest

Traditional Chinese Medicine state delegation meeting with UWC staff members.

UWC and Chinese delegation discuss traditional Chinese medicine

11

The foundational ideas and realities underlying social work are – so to speak – as old as

the hills. And philosophical understanding of the meaning of social work is essential.”

Those were the words of Professor Adam Small, read in his absence by his wife, Dr Rosalie Small, at the first annual Adam Small Dialogue, held at UWC’s School of Public Health on 11 April 2013. The topic under discussion was the Philosophy and Practice of Care.

The dialogue was held in honour of Small, one of UWC’s academic founders and its first head of the Department of Philosophy. Small later also served as the head of the Department of Social Work. However, he is perhaps better-known as a playwright whose works deal with racial discrimination and politics.

The greetings and introductions at the dialogue were handled by UWC social work lecturer – and master of ceremonies – Glynnis Dykes. Dykes, a student of Small’s in her honours and master’s studies, described the writer’s

lectures as “out of the box”, and spoke of how it “really expanded your mind”.

The event’s headline item, the dialogue, was a discussion between Small’s erstwhile colleague, Professor Vivienne Bozalek, director of Teaching and Learning at UWC, and Small’s wife, reading her husband’s contributions.

Bozalek provided a brief overview of the political ethics of care, and introduced the notion of ‘privileged irresponsibility’.

“One of the privileges of the privileged is to be able to ignore the life experiences of the subjugated,” she said. “Privileged irresponsibility occurs when those who are privileged absent themselves from any responsibilities that are allocated to caring practices.”

Small’s response largely echoed Bozalek’s presentation, with a few philosophical differences. “Surely, privilege does not necessarily mean carelessness concerning others,” wrote Small. “It seems to me to be often the case that the privileged person,

because of a heightened consciousness, is even more concerned about the neighbour than the unprivileged.”

The inaugural Adam Small Certificate of Care award was presented by the Rector, Prof Brian O’Connell, to acknowledge the bravery of Aisha Bassardien, a final-year social work student who had demonstrated exemplary ethics in her life. Last year, Bassardien and a classmate rescued a baby from a burning building in the Bo-Kaap district in Cape Town.

Aisha accepted the award with some humility. “I’m very humbled and thankful for this award,” she said, “but I’m sure that anyone would have done what I did.”

Adam Small honoured with dialogue

UWC Rector Prof Brian O’Connell presents the very first Adam Small Certificate of Care Award to Aisha Bassardien.

Community Health Sciences

Hundreds of the UWC nursing students packed the Library Auditorium on the morning of 18 April 2013 to hear Professor Cathy Warwick, General

Secretary of the Royal College of Midwifery (RCM), discuss midwifery in the United Kingdom, and how it differs from the practice of midwifery in South Africa.

Warwick was in South Africa as leader of a team of midwives from the UK, as well as midwives and nurses from New Zealand and Australia, showing them how midwifery training, education and day-to-day practice works in this country. UWC was the only academic institution that formed part of the tour, which also included a visit to a large and busy public hospital in Johannesburg, a private hospital in the same city, a trip to Bushbuck Ridge Clinic in the Kruger National Park, and also a stop at Hazey View Clinic, the institution to which Bushbuck Ridge refers patients.

“We’re getting a sense of the kind of challenges you face, and the kind of brilliant work you’re doing in South Africa,” said Warwick.

Warwick explained that midwives in the UK work as part of a team with their colleagues – mainly hospital workers and social workers, but also maternity support workers. Most women in the UK do give birth in big hospital systems, but community-based midwifery-led units are becoming more common, and are more home-like compared to big hospitals, she said.

She also outlined the particular challenges faced by midwives in the UK, including obesity and aging mothers. She noted that in the UK, midwives need to concentrate particularly on the

antenatal and postnatal periods, as well as the continuity of care. She also observed that the UK has more midwives and that they are better-resourced than midwives in South Africa, and so are better able to cope with these challenges.

Warwick will be taking two messages back to the UK, she concluded. “Firstly, I think that you do a brilliant job in South Africa with the resources you have and the challenges you face. Secondly, you cannot think you’re badly off in the UK – and if you do, you need to travel abroad and see what midwives are coping with worldwide.”

A lively question-and-answer session was then led by Professor Nomafrench Mbombo of the School of Nursing. Midwives from Rwanda, Malawi, Kenya and Nigeria shared their experiences of midwifery and of midwifery education in their respective countries.

After the talk, the visiting midwives went on to discuss their visit in more detail with School of Nursing staff, before departing for Khayelitsha Hospital to learn more about midwifery at that facility.

Royal College of Midwives teach and learn at UWC

Prof Nomafrench Mbombo (left) and Prof Cathy Warwick (right) lead a lively question and answer session regarding midwifery in South Africa and abroad.

Dialogue attendees were also treated to a performance of extracts from Prof Adam Small’s works (including “Kanna hy ko Hystoe”, perhaps his most famous and lauded play) by veteran and respected South African actors Sandra Kotze and Cobus Rossouw. They illustrated how powerful and moving Small’s work could be, and how it dealt with serious issues faced by South Africans.

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12 Economic Management Sciences

UWC’s Department of Accounting can give itself a pat on the back after honouring more than 16 students for their outstanding achievements at its

annual Awards Function, held on 22 April.Students from first-year to Honours level

received certificates for their academic performances, and now serve as role models to other students.

Colleagues in industry were on hand to make the awards to the student winners. Awards were presented by representatives from Klynveld Peat Merwick Goerdeler (better known as KPMG), Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Nexia SAB&T, the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA), the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), Sage Pastel Accounting, LexisNexis, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA).

UWC Rector Professor Brian O’Connell told students that South African universities need to play a bigger role in society; not only nationally, but internationally as well. He also praised them for their outstanding work.

“We are here to celebrate the success of our accounting students and students in other faculties, who showed their mettle, stamina,

perseverance and confidence. I want to congratulate you, and I ask that you continue to work hard during your time of study.”

Accounting Head of Department, Professor Leon Loxton, said that he was proud of the students’ achievements, especially those who had excelled against all odds. Loxton reported that 18 students had been successful on their first attempts in the recent Qualifying

Examinations of SAICA, and that, overall, the department had scored a record 95% pass rate in these exams.

“It is important to note that this is our highest pass ever, and we are pleased about this,” he said.

With results like these, Loxton added, the department can only go from strength to strength.

UWC’s Faculty of Economic & Management Sciences (EMS)

honoured its top achievers at its annual Dean’s Honours Awards in April.

Acting Dean, Professor Michelle Esau, noted that she is proud to be part of the success of the students who showed perseverance, determination and commitment throughout their time of study at UWC. Esau added that students had demonstrated that excelling and achieving top marks is possible. An essential part of that success, she pointed out, is the faculty’s competent and dedicated staff.

“The purpose of this University and faculty is not only to educate our students but to enable them to confidently compete with graduates from other universities.”

Addressing the gathering, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Ramesh Bharuthram said that the Dean’s Honours Awards are special because the award winners are among the top performers of the 3,136 UWC students who graduated in March this year.

“We are honouring individuals who have natural talent, but also have passion, commitment and the determination to succeed. On behalf of Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian O’Connell and

the Executive, we offer our congratulations to you,” said Bharuthram.

“You are the leaders of tomorrow; in 20 years from now, you will be in charge of the country and play important roles in the future of South Africa. We also extend special thanks to the parents because without their support and sacrifice your path would have been different.”

Dean hails EMS winners as leaders of tomorrow

Accounting students fêted for their achievements

Attendees and award winners at the EMS Dean’s Honours Awards.

Accounting Lecturer Roland Arendse, pictured right, with some of the award winners at the Department of Accounting awards 2013.

13Economic Management Sciences

Summa cum laude BCom Accounting graduate Aveshin Govender says he treats his studies like a job – one that starts at 8am and ends at 5pm each day.

Port Elizabeth-born Govender is just one of the many success stories originating from UWC’s Department of Accounting. But despite a long-nursed interest in accounting, Govender had not taken the subject at school.

He started his studies at UWC with the BCom General course, but soon made the change to BCom Accounting. He describes the move as the right decision at the right time.

“The foundation course here at UWC played a major role in my success – it laid a solid base to make up for the fact that I did not do accounting at school, and helped me reach my Honours year,” he says.

Govender puts in lots of hard work, mostly, he confides, because he doesn’t want to disappoint his parents. “My parents giving me this chance to study was motivating in itself and when I work and see the results I achieve, it gives me the confidence to continue,” he says.

He also credits accounting lecturer, Ronald Arendse, for playing an important role in his success. “UWC is truly one of a kind; lecturers like Arendse are supportive and this is crucial when you want to achieve,” he says.

Govender believes that students who want to do well should treat their studies like an 8-to-5 job. “When you arrive at campus at 8am, you work until it’s 5pm. This does not mean that you can slack at home – you still need to put in those extra hours to achieve good results,” he says.

Furthermore, Govender notes that the honours programme demands that students take their commitment to the next level, and that it requires hard work from the get-go. He goes on to provide advice for students who want to enjoy the same kind of success as he has: “Work from the start and work consistently. In

this way you are not that pressured when exams arrive. Always attend lectures - this is what makes studying much easier.”

UWC’s Bonginhlanhla Msimango showed his fellow students, his lecturers and others that it is possible to receive your degree in minimum time, even if you took Mathematical Literacy as a subject at high school.

Born in Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal, Msimango attended the Mahlabathini High School, where he excelled in Accounting, achieving an 82% aggregate for the subject at the end of his matric year. And even though the school did not offer Mathematics and he was obliged to take Maths Literacy instead, he was determined to study accounting, inspired by his matric accounting teacher, Mr Khumalo. He maintained that passion over the course of his studies at UWC, this time mentored by accounting lecturer Roland Arendse.

Upon registration at UWC, he participated in the Pilot Thuthuka programme, which guides students through their first year of accounting studies. “This programme really helped me a lot,” says Msimango. “It shows you how to work in a team, solve problems, believe in yourself and it guides you through your journey.”

And now his career holds loads of promise. He is due to do his articles at the respected accounting firm Ernst & Young in Johannesburg, and will start next year after completing his honours and Board 1 examination.

“Accounting is my first love, it is my passion, and I always wanted to become a chartered accountant,” says Msimango. “Now that I am in my Honours year, I am closer to my dream.”

Msimango is not only a full-time student, but also volunteered to mentor and tutor other students. “I saw the gap between high school and tertiary level, and many students need guidance during their first year. I was one of those students and this was my reason for becoming a mentor.”

He says he enjoyed tutoring thoroughly and he was happy to offer his services to students who want to enjoy success. ‘Being a tutor gives you a platform to grow. This helped me with public speaking and other things such as planning and working under pressure, which comes in handy when you are an honours student.”

Msimango echoed the sentiments of fellow honours student Aveshin Govender, by saying that you need to keep your wits about you during this particular year of honours study. He says that even though the workload is substantially greater than the workload in undergrad, he will achieve the best results possible.

Msimango urges students to be patient during their time of study and not to be discouraged by setbacks. “At some point everyone has failed something, but what differentiates you from others is your perseverance and your drive to succeed. Use your failures as motivation to succeed and have the right mind-set, those are key when wanting to succeed.”

More than just a numbers game

Accounting

graduate

Bonginhlanhla

Msimango is

closer to his

dream

In all, Aveshin Govender won a total of five awards at the Department of Accounting’s and Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences Dean’s Honours Awards.

Bonginhlanhla Msimango is one of many students from the Department of Accounting who serve as inspiration to others.

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14

It took some time management, but Robertha Jubelin (nee Isaacs) graduated with her Bachelor of Administration (BAdmin) degree at the University of

the Western Cape’s (UWC) March graduation ceremonies.

The degree was the reward for years of commitment, as Jubelin did her studies while working as Personal Assistant to Professor Daneel Dietrich, head of UWC’s Department of Medical BioScience (MBS).

Working full-time and studying at night was difficult, especially as Jubelin had a daughter to attend to. Luckily, her daughter was very supportive and level-headed. “She’s intelligent and motivated, and doesn’t give me too much reason to worry,” Jubelin observes. “She’s also had to sacrifice a lot, and I always thank her for that. She inspires me to study.”

Jubelin also recently added to her family, as she got married in early March. Her husband is in the process of completing his BCom Honours at UWC, and he’s also an inspiration to her.

Originally from Ottery, Jubelin moved to Parktown when she was young, matriculating

from Athlone High School. After leaving school, she took some government-sponsored courses – a typing course here, a computer course there – but her family situation meant that she had to find work soon after school. “I was 18 or 19 when I took my first job,” she recalls, “and I’ve been working ever since.”

She finally came to work at UWC in 2004, originally at PLAAS (the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies) before finding a post at MBS in 2005.

“I must thank UWC for granting me the opportunity to work here,” she says. “The academic life is incredible, and I admire many of my colleagues – not only the PhDs, but anyone who’s doing something for the institution and themselves by reaching for their dreams.”

Jubelin has moved on to her Honour in Public Administration this year, continuing her studies in one of her degree majors (the other was industrial psychology). She feels that working at the University and not taking advantage of the opportunity to study is a waste. “I’m not giving up; I’m going to continue studying. And I think other staff members should consider doing the same.”

The University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Mercia Mottie, Faculty Officer for the Faculty of Natural Sciences, made her dream come true when

she completed her Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) Law degree in March this year.

“BCom Law is my passion, because this field handles both business and law, and that is what I love to do,” says Mottie.

Mottie started her studies in LLB Law in 1998, but had to give it up because of her responsibilities as a faculty officer at UWC and as a mother of two at home.

Before she began working and studying at UWC, Mottie completed her diploma in secretarial management at the Cape Commercial College, but felt that she needed to do more – and that is when the decision arrived to study at UWC.

Mottie completed her studies on a part-

time basis. She says she would love to use the skills she has learnt to help the community of Bishop Lavis, where she grew up and spent most of her adult life. “I want to help the common man on the street with things

pertaining to law; this is my passion and what I want to do with my life,” she says.

Mottie explains that her husband, Bradley, and her mother played a major role in helping her complete her degree. “I believe that my husband and I are good role models for our children, and that with our guidance they can achieve great things,” she says.

She believes that the only way to achieve what you want is by working hard and persevering through the tough times that are often part of the process of getting your qualification. “Working at UWC made me realise that anything is possible, and that it is never too late to improve,” she explains.

And Mottie isn’t giving up studying anytime soon. “It won’t stop here – I plan to do my articles for BCom Law, then complete my Honours and get experience in the field,” she says.

Robertha Jubelin: From Life lessons to growth and taking up opportunities

Robertha Jubelin, Personal Assistant to the Head of the Medical Biosciences Department, receives her BAdmin degree for UWC.

Mercia Mottie aims to help the common man on the street now that she has achieved her goal.

Economic Management Sciences

Mercia Mottie: Never too late to follow your dreams

15

Yanga Brukwe, Accounting Honours graduate, is yet another example of what can be achieved in the Department of Accounting at UWC.

The 23-year old, who hails from Site B in Khayelitsha, is currently doing his internship at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Cape

Town, the famed ‘professional services’ company quick to snap him up after his impressive results. The post is a perfect fit for Brukwe, who describes accounting as his passion; it is what he does and understand best, he says.

Brukwe matriculated from Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School in Khayelitsha in 2007, and soon decided that studying accounting at UWC was what he wanted to do most. However, it took a while to find his groove, he recalls. In the first semester of his first year, he scored an underwhelming 35%. By the end of the year, he had had upped his game so much that he received an A-aggregate.

“My first year was tricky because I was still trying to find my feet, but during my second and third year, things ran more smoothly,” he says.

But even then, the jump from third year into Honours studies was massive. “It was challenging, but I did what was necessary to pass and achieve the results I did.”

Success is not a matter of a choice for him, adds Brukwe. His family is relying on him, and he refuses to let them down. His mother and grandmother, in particular, are his inspiration.

As with his early days at UWC, he is still adjusting to life at the high-pressure PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). “It is a new environment, there are new things to learn, and I am ready for this challenge,” he says.

Brukwe’s next goal is to grasp every facet of auditing fully, and to be as respected as PWC colleague Hulisani Malange, who is also a UWC graduate.

His advice to other students is to keep their eyes on the prize, no matter what.

“The main thing is to never give up on your goals. Some people say that life is hard, but what can you do about it? All you need to do is to work hard and to try to better your circumstances,” he says.

Students from UWC’s School of Business and Finance picked up a few valuable business insights and tips from Assistant Professor Matthew Kutz, who spoke on contextual intelligence and smart leadership on a recent

visit to the University.Kutz, based in the School of Human Movement, Sport and

Leisure Studies at the Bowling Green State University in the US, has a research background in leadership competencies, novice and expert behaviours, contextual intelligence, clinical education in training, and performance enhancement techniques. He tapped into many of these areas in his presentation.

He started with a quote: “In a constantly changing world, the ability to challenge one’s mental model and explore new ways to adapt is a competitive advantage.”

He pointed out that the field of contextual intelligence can help to explain why a person could flourish in one environment, but struggle in another. Contextual intelligence reduces conflict and increases areas of an individual’s own values and ideas, said Kutz.

“Contextual intelligence offers a model for increasing your influence, and it can help you better respond to and profit from unexpected or complicated change, whether it be in the workplace or elsewhere.”

He further argued that intelligence is no longer based on scholastic testing or academic prowess. Rather, he said, intelligence today rests on people’s ability to diagnose and respond to their environment.

“The ability to adapt to your surroundings is marked as the new intelligence, and this is what sets you apart from the crowd.”

No obstacle too great for graduate Yanga Brukwe

Adapting to changing surroundings is the new intelligence, says

American visitor

Yanga Brukwe proved that students can overcome the most humble and trying of circumstances.

Earlier this month, Assistant Prof Matthew Kutz addressed students from UWC’s School of Business and Finance about contextual intelligence.

Economic Management Sciences

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16 Arts

In his new book, Are Trout South African?, Professor Duncan Brown explores in detail the complex

relationship – and growing more so – between human populations and the fauna and flora ecosystems.

Trout, as taxonomists would explain, is the name for a number of species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of the subfamily Salmoninae belonging, in turn, to the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used as part of the name of some non-salmonid fish such as Cynoscion nebulosus, the spotted sea trout or speckled trout.

Trout are closely related to salmon and char (or charr); species termed salmon and char occur in the same genera as do trout (Oncorhynchus - Pacific salmon and trout, Salmo - Atlantic salmon and various trout, Salvelinus - char and trout).

In his book, Brown, Dean of Arts at UWC and renowned for his work in the field of South African literary and cultural studies, uses discussions on trout, the history of and literature on the fish, scientific work on what is considered ‘indigenous’ or ‘alien’, as well as his own stories of fishing to provide an engaging and accessible exploration of what is described as a contested physical and cultural terrain.

“Questions of indigeneity and of the right to belong or be part of, raise themselves with greater or lesser degrees of complexity, aggression or insistency in public and private debates in South Africa and many other societies whose histories have been shaped by colonialism,” were among his reasons for writing the book, Brown says.

Described as sensitive, creative and evocative, this book explores questions about this complex community of humans, fauna and flora that make up South Africa. It poses the question whether a fish species that was introduced in the late nineteenth century as part of the process of colonial occupation could be called South African.

Brown says fishing has been part of who he is and it is constitutive of his identity in fundamental ways. He was also inspired to write the book, he adds, by the increasing attention paid to the issues of environment and ecology in a range of fields of writing, especially to the environmental transformations that colonial and imperial histories wrought upon such societies.

Scholar tells the story of trout

“By the time our children reach the age of 18, only 3% of the boys and 17% of the girls will not have seen hardcore pornography.”

These were the eye-opening statistics shared by Clive Human, the Director of community group Stand together to Oppose Pornography (STOP), speaking at the public dialogue event, Our Shared Responsibility, hosted by UWC and the Film and Publication Board (FPB) on 18 April 2013. The dialogue focused on whether the content shown on television is appropriate for children, and whether or not the age restrictions are in line with that content.

“A child exposed to pornography can exhibit the same symptoms as a child who has been sexually assaulted,” Human went on to say. “This is the result of young minds being exposed to images that they cannot handle.”

In turn, the Chairperson of the Parent Policy Institute, Errol Naidoo, spoke about the impact that children’s environments have on their development. “An individual’s behaviour is product of the environment and the behaviour copied by children on their environment likely to be crucial to their development,” said Naidoo.

Naidoo faulted the media for not wanting to take any responsibility in protecting children from harmful content.

“The media has consistently stated that protecting children from harmful content lies with the parents, but in a South Africa where the two-parent home is in a minority and we have child-headed homes, whose responsibility is it to protect those children?

“Protecting children from harmful content is not just the parents’ responsibility; it is all our responsibility.”

Film and Publication Board CEO and UWC alumna Yoliswa Makhasi says parents must be aware of what their children watch on TV.

Protecting children from harmful content

17

Inside African Anthropology: Monica Wilson and

her interpreters offers an incisive biography of the life and work of South Africa’s foremost social anthropologist, Monica Wilson.

The book, edited by UWC’s Associate Professor Andrew Bank and Professor Leslie Bank of the University of Fort Hare, explores Wilson’s main fieldwork and intellectual projects in southern Africa between the 1920s and 1960s, and offers insights into the anthropologist’s personal and intellectual life.

Beginning with her origins in the remote Eastern Cape, the authors follow Wilson to Cambridge University and back into the field among the Mpondo of South Africa, where her studies resulted in her 1936 book, Reaction to Conquest. Her fieldwork focus then shifted to Tanzania, where she teamed up with her husband, Godfrey Wilson.

Wilson later returned to South Africa to begin her teaching career at Fort Hare, where she recorded her Tanzanian research. In the 1960s, Wilson embarked on a new urban ethnography with a young South African anthropologist, Archie Mafeje, one of the many black scholars she trained.

Inside African Anthropology also provides a meticulously researched exploration of the indispensible contributions of African researchers and co-researchers to the production of this famous female scholar’s cultural knowledge of mid-twentieth century Africa.

New book looks inside

African anthropology

“The doors of learning and culture in Mzantsi are wide open; now you have to move into that space, it is yours.”

These were the thoughts shared by the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Premish Lalu, when the

faculty celebrated the performances of exceptional students at the annual Dean’s Merit Awards on 11 April 2013. Each year the faculty compiles the Dean’s Merit List, which comprises students who demonstrate commendable academic achievement or excellence.

This year’s ceremony saw 82 of the faculty’s finest students receiving awards for the hard work and dedication they displayed during their studies. Sabrina Maharaj, Mariam Salie, Linique Hoffman, Quinton Matheson, Nicole Joshua and Sandra Hill were, in order, the six top achievers in the faculty for the second semester of 2012.

A total of 16 students obtained an average of above 80%, and 66 students were recognised as the top students in their respective classes.

Speaking at the ceremony, Lalu congratulated the students and urged them to keep up their commendable work. He also encouraged them to formulate new questions about the world in which they live, and to think about the human conditions globally and work towards solutions for these problems.

“We need you to sit down and think of new ways to think, especially in this time of uncertainty,” he said. “We need your intellect to bring about change.”

Arts celebrates top students

Professor Premish Lalu congratulates the winning students on their accolades.

Professor Premish Lalu celebrates with Quinton Brian Matheson, one of the Faculty of Arts’ top achievers.

Arts

Offering A

Holistic Student

Experience

UWC

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pride in...

Our Teaching

& Learning

Focus

Our Relevent

Research &

Innovation

Producing &

Attracting

Excellent Talent

Sustaining

Financial

Stability

Growing Our

Profile Internally

& Externally



18 Sport

The UWC Ladies Football Club has acquired the services of Banyana Banyana star Leandra Smeda, boding well for the squad’s bid for league

honours.Her signing follows the club’s scintillating

start to the season. They are the current pace-setters in the South African Football Association Western Cape’s Sasol Women’s League, the only side to have won their first seven matches of the season.

Smeda, a versatile midfielder-cum-striker recruited from the rival Cape Town Roses, is likely to add more prowess to the squad with her wealth of experience. She has 28 caps for Banyana Banyana, for which she has scored four goals. She was also part of the Roses team that won the Western Cape Sasol League for three consecutive seasons, and the SAFA

Cape Town Coca-Cola Cup four times.“I’m used to winning trophies,” says

Smeda, who hails from Velddrif in the West Coast. “And I believe I can contribute a lot to the team, given the experience I gained in the national team and in the Sasol League, to motivate others.”

What makes Smeda such a valuable asset is that she can play as both a midfielder and as a striker, is comfortable with the ball on both feet and can be featured on either side of the field at a moment’s notice.

Smeda, a food technology student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, joined UWC Ladies because the University has good facilities and is closer to home (she lives on CPUT’s Bellville campus). Also, this will give her an opportunity to challenge herself against her former club, which she says,

based on their success, is the best team in the province.

She believes that UWC Ladies, who are also log-leaders in the University Sports South Africa (USSA) Western Cape Women’s Soccer League, holds all the cards to win this year’s Sasol League, given the quality of players in its squad.

“We have four Banyana Banyana players and other youngsters who play for junior national teams. I hope I will add more value to the team.”

Meanwhile, the University’s Men’s Soccer Club has started this season on a high note as well. They are currently leading the pack in the Northern Suburbs Local Football Association’s premier league, and are also number one in the USSA Western Cape League.

Banyana Banyana star player Leandra Smeda has joined the UWC Ladies squad this season.

Banyana star joins UWC

19

Despite the scary green swimming pool that served as the setting for the 2013 South African Senior National Aquatic Championship in

Port Elizabeth in April, UWC came away from the competition with a pleasing haul of 20 medals.

Setting the tone for the UWC team was Jessica Ashley-Cooper, now the 50m Backstroke national champion for 2013. Ashley-Cooper also bagged four silver medals: including the 50m freestyle in a World University qualifying time of 26.11s, and for the 50m Butterfly swim, showing she’s no one-trick pony.

Not to be outdone, Tezna Abrahams bagged nine medals in the Disabled Category: three gold medals for the 50m Breaststroke, 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley, and six bronze medals.

In the Youth Category, first-year student Muminah Connelly raced to a double gold in the 100m and 200m Butterfly. Fellow first year Dean Wesso came close to emulating his team mate with a gold and silver in the 200m and 100m Butterfly, respectively. Long distance specialist Charne Dicks swam to a silver podium position in the 800m freestyle.

Janneke Malan, the backstroke training partner for Ashley-Cooper, managed a bronze medal in the Youth Elite division.

Olympic Coach – and UWC Head Coach – Cedric Finch was understandably very happy with the team’s performance. “It was a nightmare, losing two days of competition swimming due to a pipe burst. Once the sessions resumed, the programme was crammed to make up for lost time.”

It was a major embarrassment for the National Federation to have the likes of Olympic gold medallists Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh swim in a green pool (the result of the pipe burst). But it was also a lesson in how tough South African swimmers really are, as competitors managed to swim world-best times despite the conditions.

The major swimming competitions now move to Europe and Eurasia, and will include the Mare Nostrum Grand Prix Series in Barcelona, Spain, from 9 June, and the World Student Games (Universiade) in Kazan, Russia, in July.

UWC will be taking five swimmers on that European tour.

“They are ready and need international racing experience,” says Finch.

The campus Aquatics Club is offering free learn-to-swim and swimming fitness programmes to UWC staff and students over weekdays.

UWC Aquatics coach Keith Dankers teaches sessions in water safety, learning to swim, swimming fitness, and competitive

swimming for beginners. The sessions run from 12:00 to 13:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a second session starting at 13:00 and ending at 14:00 on each day listed.

Bachelor of Arts student Kelebogile Thebe couldn’t swim when he started his first session, but has since grown more and more confident in the water. “Not only can knowing how to swim save your life, but swimming also improves your health and physical appearance,” he says.

Thebe recommends these classes to anyone who wants to learn how to swim, and also to those who want to improve their skills in the water. “I didn’t know that I would like swimming this much; now I plan to swim competitively later this year.”

Like Thebe, Bachelor of Science student Melissa Abrahams also started the programme as a non-swimmer, but can now complete full lengths. “Swimming is a good stress reliever, and I would recommend this programme to anyone who wants to get fit,” she says.

Tezna Abrahams has made UWC proud with her achievements in the water.

UWC Aquatics coach Keith Dankers teaching a few techniques to swimmers during a session of the Learn to Swim Programme.

UWC swimmers shine at SA Seniors

Learn to Swim at UWC - for free

Sport

Offering A

Holistic Student

Experience

UWC

takes

pride in...

Our Teaching

& Learning

Focus

Our Relevent

Research &

Innovation

Producing &

Attracting

Excellent Talent

Sustaining

Financial

Stability

Growing Our

Profile Internally

& Externally



20

From the live experience within the stadium itself to worldwide media representations, from advertisements to football art and artefacts, football is about seeing and being seen, about watching, making visual and being visualised.

This was no less true at the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, described as a perfect example of the visual dimensions of football in a new book, Global Perspectives on Football in Africa: Visualising the game, co-authored by Professor Ciraj Rassool, director of the African Programme in Museum and Heritage Studies at UWC, and Susann Baller and Giorgio Miescher of the University of Basel, Switzerland. For the FIFA World Cup 2010bjknnnbnnnn, stadiums were built and marketed as tourist attractions, mass media and internet platforms advertised South African cities and venues, logos and emblems were displayed and celebrated, and exhibitions were organised in museums world-wide.

This book explores the social, cultural and political role of football in Africa by focusing on the issue of its visibility and invisibility, as well as its visuality. The contributions consider the history and contemporary existence of football in different parts of Africa. They examine historical and recent pictures and images of football and football players, as well as places and spaces of their production and perception. They analyse the visual dimensions expressed in sports infrastructure, football media-scapes, those explored in expressive and material culture and museum exhibitions.

The book contributes to the growing interest in football in Africa by exploring a new field of research into sports history and culture.

Global Perspectives on Football in Africa is one of the outcomes of a collaborative project on football and visuality between UWC and Basel, as well as the District Six Museum and the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB), a private specialist library and archive on Southern Africa based in Switzerland. UWC has ongoing partnerships with the University of Basel and the BAB involving student mobility and new research projects, such as the new project on the South African Empire.

Sport

UWC extended a helping hand when members of the University community assisted with gardening and other handiwork at the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children on 13 April 2013.

The centre provides services to abused women and children, including a 24-hour crisis response, and has been in existence since 1999.

The FNB Varsity Cup Pink Shorts campaign has been successful in highlighting the plight of violence against women and children to a younger generation of South Africans. Through this campaign, FNB Varsity Cup and the University want to use rugby as a platform to create awareness of abuse of women and children in South Africa.

Each Varsity Cup and Varsity Shield participating team has been allocated a funding donation to a charity of their choice, the only stipulation being that the charity should be dedicated to caring for those affected by violence and abuse.

In February, UWC Varsity Shield players and students visited the Saartjie Baartman Centre. Following UWC’s visit to the Centre, the visitors were inspired and saw a need for a revamp of the grounds at the Centre.

UWC staff, students, volunteers from the UWC nature reserve and others removed grass, trimmed and cut trees, and cleaned shrubs while fighting the blazing sun. They also mixed compost and laid new plants at the centre.

Rugby club gives back

New book provides global perspectives on

the beautiful game

UWC MEDIA OFFICEDo you have any important UWC stories to share? Do you know of an event on campus that you’d like to see featured? Have you heard of UWC alumni who’ve done amazing things, which you think the world should know about? Or maybe you have a few suggestions, comments or questions about something in this newsletter? Whatever the case may be, the UWC Media Office would really like to hear from you. Just email us on [email protected] , call us on 021 959 3637, or drop by our offices.

Matthews MfubuNastasha Crow

Notukela MzilikaziAidan Van Den Heever

Myolisi GopheYolanda Makosi

Nicklaus KrugerLuthando Tyhalibongo

CONTRIBUTORS

Staff and students helped the Saartije Baartman Centre by getting their hands dirty.

Oncampus 4

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Transcript of Oncampus 4