On Monday (21 March 2016) we celebrated Human Rights Day. In an opinion piece in Sunday Weekend Argus (20 March 2016), Wayde Groep of the Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Institute at Stellenbosch University writes that the human dignity of many South Africans are still being devalued.

• Read the complete article below of click here for the article as published.
  

Human Rights and the P's in Higher Education

Wayde Groep

South Africa is a deeply unequal society. The remnants of an unjust system continues to plague us as a nation. Every year, on the 21st March, we commemorate Human Rights Day. This day is positioned in our history as one we simply cannot forget. It is a day etched in our memories as a reminder of inflicted pain and the use of law to rob millions of South Africans of their dignity. Opposing the carrying of passbooks and police brutality all provide us with a reality so violent; seeing the lives of amongst others, women and children massacred on that infamous day in Sharpeville. It also reminds us of the legacy of an oppressive system. As we remember that tragic day in 1960, we are also compelled to reflect honestly on the current reality in SA, especially in terms of our of current higher education context as a microcosm of what is happening in SA.

Over the last year and a half, the trajectory of where we are going as Higher Education (HE) Institutions has been challenged. Now more than ever before in our young democracy, we are positioned and obliged to question and evaluate the current state of human rights.

Upon assessment, it may not always be explicit but when we look at the following P's in HE in particular we need to confront a cold truth. We still have so much more to do to ensure that our often praised Constitution, the highest order of our land, can truly realise its essence.

In light of the current climate in HE allow me to reflect on our often distorted understandings of Patriarchy, Privilege, Paintings & Property, Pain, Policies & Procedures, Power & Police and Politics and how they blind us to human rights violations daily.

When in 2016, we fail to understand how Patriarchy empowers one group over another and slows down societal progress we bear witness to human rights violations.

When in 2016, Privilege whether, as men, white, heterosexual etc. is not acknowledged, we bear witness to human rights violations.

When in 2016, Paintings and Property are experienced as being valued more than the lives of People then we bear witness to human rights violations.

When in 2016, Pain is excused, invalidated and disregarded, we bear witness to human rights violations.

When in 2016, Policies and Procedures receive priority over the effects of structural inequality and how systems oppress certain groups and reward others, we bear witness to human rights violations.

When in 2016, the use of Power and Police supersede listening and engagement, we bear witness to human rights violations.

When in 2016, Politics, and agendas are deemed more important than the concerns of the People, we bear witness to human rights violations.

So, where to from here?

Rebuilding and reimaging South Africa and what we want it to be, means we have to do more than just break down the walls of colonialism and Apartheid. We cannot build on a foundation that refuses to acknowledge the continued injustices faced by many citizens. We cannot build on a foundation that continues to excuse perpetrators under the banner of reconciliation in the absence of justice. We cannot build on a foundation that is filled with an understanding that Apartheid was not all that bad. We cannot build on a foundation that perpetuates ideas and misconceptions about being black in this country; ideas that believe blacks are violent, a threat and possess a strong sense of entitlement.

Let us rebuild, but we must first and foremost uproot the foundation that essentially still devalues the human dignity of many South Africans.

*Wayde Groep is a Programme Co-ordinator at the Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert Institute for Student Leadership Development at Stellenbosch University.

It is that time again: time to put on your running shoes and take part in the annual fun walk hosted by the SU Wellness Division. This 5km fun walk takes place on Friday 1 April 2016 and will start at 13:30 at the Coetzenburg Sports ground.

The Wellness division is already hosting this event since 2012 to encourage staff and students to live healthily.

Mrs Maureen Kennedy, Manager at the Wellness division says this is one of their efforts to invest in the health of our staff. She says annual health screenings shows that staff, in general, is not active enough.

"An event of this nature gives staff the opportunity to actively participate and engage with colleagues and enables them to enjoy a fun filled wellness activity. This can have a positive impact on their physical and social wellbeing," Kennedy said.

Click her​​​​​e for entry forms

Details of the event:

Date: 1 April 2016

Time: 13:30

Place: Coetzenburg Sports grounds

Enquiries: Maureen Kennedy 021 808 4824 / maureenk@sun.ac.za or Ricardo Steyn 021 808 2755 / rzsteyn@sun.ac.za.

Stellenbosch University has started the process to revise its current Language Policy. Stakeholders such as staff, students, alumni and donors received e-mail invitations on 22 March 2016 to comment on the first concept of the new proposed Language Policy until 22 April 2016. This concept was compiled by the Language Revision Workgroup and is available at http://www.sun.ac.za/language. Respondents may provide general and specific comments on the concept policy, as well as any additional suggestions. The workgroup will consider all the input for possible inclusion. However, it may not be possible to include all suggestions in the second concept of the policy. Respondents may complete an online form, or send comments to language@sun.ac.za. Please refer to http://www.sun.ac.za/language for more information about the process and the time line. 

For World TB Day, marked on 24 March, leaders in paediatric TB highlight the additional challenges that children face while suffering from this life-threatening disease.

Long treatment regimens, bitter-tasting adult-size tablets and painful injections with serious side effects are some of the challenges researchers at Stellenbosch University (SU) are tackling in order to try and ease the treatment of children with TB.

Despite these challenges, most children do well on treatment, says Prof Anneke Hesseling, director of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre (DTTC) at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).

"We can cure children with TB, but the challenge is to make the treatment more child and family friendly by making the regimen shorter and giving children medication that is easy to swallow," says Hesseling, whose team is doing pioneering research aimed at addressing the challenges of paediatric TB.

The current treatment regimen for a child with drug-sensitive TB lasts six months, while treatment for multi-drug resistant TB can last between 12 and 18 months – including six months of daily injections during which the child most often is hospitalised.

"There are fewer actual TB organisms in a child with pulmonary [lung] TB and therefore fewer organisms to kill. So there is a real opportunity to shorten the treatment for drug-sensitive TB in children," says Hesseling, a distinguished professor of paediatrics at the FMHS.

Her research group is testing new treatment strategies to try and shorten the treatment regime for drug-sensitive TB from six to four months for children with non-severe forms of the disease. This trial will utilise a new child-friendly formulation that combines all the TB drugs (fixed dose) in a small, pleasant-tasting tablet that can be dissolved in water.

Currently adult-size tablets have to be halved, quartered or crushed in order to administer the correct doses to infants and children. "These tablets were made to be swallowed whole and taste terrible when you crush them," says Dr Tony Garcia-Prats, medical director of Brooklyn Chest Hospital and head of the Paediatric Pharmacokinetics Unit at the DTTC.

With their research into the safety and dosing of new drugs in children, they also hope to shorten the treatment for multi-drug resistant TB (a strain of TB resistant to most first-line drugs) from the current 12 to 18 months, to six to nine months, and also do away with older toxic drugs, including the six months daily injections which can lead to permanent hearing loss.

The DTTC is part of the first ever trial of a new TB drug (delamanid) in children and will also contribute to studying the safety and dosing of a drug (bedaquiline) that recently came on the market. "Bedaquiline has been licensed in South Africa since October 2014, yet children still have no access to it because no paediatric research has been done," says Garcia-Prats.

Their research on delamanid has already helped to identify its paediatric dosing and show its safety in children six years and older, which has led to it becoming available for compassionate use in this group.

"Of course the most effective way to treat TB in a child is to prevent it," says Hesseling, explaining that children often get TB from other members of their household infected with the disease.

"There is very clear evidence to show that if you give one drug called isoniazid preventative therapy (IPT) daily for six months, you will prevent TB in children – yet the implementation is still very poor. Sixty percent of children lying here at Brooklyn Chest Hospital have had a household contact with TB, yet very few of them had preventative therapy."

Hesseling acknowledges that the six months daily therapy is burdensome, especially in a healthy child. The DTTC along with other research partners are testing whether a new drug combination (including new and old drugs) administered in 12 once-a-week doses is as safe and effective as IPT. This would shorten the treatment from six to three months and would entail weekly, rather than daily medication.

"Prevention is not only better for the child, it is also hugely cost effective and much less burdensome on the health system," says Hesseling.

*Photo caption: The typical daily dose of medication for an HIV-positive child with MDR-TB. Photo credit: Desmond Tutu TB Centre

Media enquiries:

Wilma Stassen

+27 (0)21 938 9359

wstassen@sun.ac.za

Marketing and Communications Office

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences         

Stellenbosch University

Website:       www.sun.ac.za/health

Facebook:     www.facebook.com/SUhealthsci

Twitter:         @SUhealthsci

​​It is that time again: time to put on your running shoes and take part in the annual fun walk hosted by the SU Wellness Division. This 5km fun walk takes place on Friday 1 April 2016 and will start at 13:30 at the Coetzenburg Sports ground (see entry form below).

The Wellness Division is already hosting this event since 2012 to encourage staff and students to live healthily.

Ms Maureen Kennedy, Manager: Employee Wellness in the Division of Human Resources, says this is one of their efforts to invest in the health of our staff. According to Kennedy annual health screenings shows that staff, in general, is not active enough and does not (amongst other criteria) meet the one criteria for a healthy lifestyle, which is exercising for at least 150 minutes (or more) per week.

"An event of this nature gives staff the opportunity to actively participate and engage with colleagues and enables them to enjoy a fun filled wellness activity. This can have a positive impact on their physical and social wellbeing," Kennedy said.

Details of the event:

Date: 1 April 2016

Time: 13:30

Place: Coetzenburg Sports grounds

Enquiries: Maureen Kennedy 021 808 4824 / maureenk@sun.ac.za or Ricardo Steyn 021 808 2755 / rzsteyn@sun.ac.za.

Closing date is 24 March 2016.

• Click here for the 2016 Fun walk Entry Form ​
  

For World TB Day, marked on 24 March, leaders in paediatric TB highlight the additional challenges that children face while suffering from this life-threatening disease.

Long treatment regimens, bitter-tasting adult-size tablets and painful injections with serious side effects are some of the challenges researchers at Stellenbosch University (SU) are tackling in order to try and ease the treatment of children with TB.

Despite these challenges, most children do well on treatment, says Prof Anneke Hesseling, director of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre (DTTC) at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).

"We can cure children with TB, but the challenge is to make the treatment more child and family friendly by making the regimen shorter and giving children medication that is easy to swallow," says Hesseling, whose team is doing pioneering research aimed at addressing the challenges of paediatric TB.

The current treatment regimen for a child with drug-sensitive TB lasts six months, while treatment for multi-drug resistant TB can last between 12 and 18 months – including six months of daily injections during which the child most often is hospitalised.

"There are fewer actual TB organisms in a child with pulmonary [lung] TB and therefore fewer organisms to kill. So there is a real opportunity to shorten the treatment for drug-sensitive TB in children," says Hesseling, a distinguished professor of paediatrics at the FMHS.

Her research group is testing new treatment strategies to try and shorten the treatment regime for drug-sensitive TB from six to four months for children with non-severe forms of the disease. This trial will utilise a new child-friendly formulation that combines all the TB drugs (fixed dose) in a small, pleasant-tasting tablet that can be dissolved in water.

Currently adult-size tablets have to be halved, quartered or crushed in order to administer the correct doses to infants and children. "These tablets were made to be swallowed whole and taste terrible when you crush them," says Dr Tony Garcia-Prats, medical director of Brooklyn Chest Hospital and head of the Paediatric Pharmacokinetics Unit at the DTTC.

With their research into the safety and dosing of new drugs in children, they also hope to shorten the treatment for multi-drug resistant TB (a strain of TB resistant to most first-line drugs) from the current 12 to 18 months, to six to nine months, and also do away with older toxic drugs, including the six months daily injections which can lead to permanent hearing loss.

The DTTC is part of the first ever trial of a new TB drug (delamanid) in children and will also contribute to studying the safety and dosing of a drug (bedaquiline) that recently came on the market. "Bedaquiline has been licensed in South Africa since October 2014, yet children still have no access to it because no paediatric research has been done," says Garcia-Prats.

Their research on delamanid has already helped to identify its paediatric dosing and show its safety in children six years and older, which has led to it becoming available for compassionate use in this group.

"Of course the most effective way to treat TB in a child is to prevent it," says Hesseling, explaining that children often get TB from other members of their household infected with the disease.

"There is very clear evidence to show that if you give one drug called isoniazid preventative therapy (IPT) daily for six months, you will prevent TB in children – yet the implementation is still very poor. Sixty percent of children lying here at Brooklyn Chest Hospital have had a household contact with TB, yet very few of them had preventative therapy."

Hesseling acknowledges that the six months daily therapy is burdensome, especially in a healthy child. The DTTC along with other research partners are testing whether a new drug combination (including new and old drugs) administered in 12 once-a-week doses is as safe and effective as IPT. This would shorten the treatment from six to three months and would entail weekly, rather than daily medication.

"Prevention is not only better for the child, it is also hugely cost effective and much less burdensome on the health system," says Hesseling.

*Photo caption: The typical daily dose of medication for an HIV-positive child with MDR-TB. Photo credit: Desmond Tutu TB Centre

Media enquiries:

Wilma Stassen

+27 (0)21 938 9359

wstassen@sun.ac.za

Marketing and Communications Office

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences         

Stellenbosch University

Website:       www.sun.ac.za/health

Facebook:     www.facebook.com/SUhealthsci

Twitter:         @SUhealthsci

Being "on time" in the world of science does not exactly have the same meaning as "being on time" in everyday life.  In fact, there are physicists whom have constructed clocks so accurate that, were those clocks first turned on at the time of the big bang, the time they report today would still not be out by more than a second.

​Dr. Hermann Uys, a quantum physicist from the CSIR and Stellenbosch University, agreed to give us a look into the weird and wonderful world of keeping time with atoms.

Let's start with the basics: What is time?

Without getting too philosophical, time characterises the order in which events take place.  To measure time, one basically needs two things:  something that 'ticks', by which I mean that it produces a repeated signal, and you need something that counts those ticks. Then you can say "this event happened between tick 8 and 9", or "let's do that between ticks 12 and 13".  Your device characterises the order in which events took place relative to the ticks. And there you have it! A time-keeping device.

One obvious 'ticker' is the earth itself, which goes through day-night cycles. You can create an extremely simple time keeping device by making a mark on a stick once a day when the sun is at its highest in the sky. Then you can make separate marks on the stick to indicate when certain events had taken place relative to the timing marks. I would imagine that this is what the first calendars looked like thousands of years ago. 

However, checking the height of the sun in the sky by eye is not very precise. On any given day you are probably off by half an hour give or take. To make very precise time keeping devices you need to improve in two ways. Firstly, the ticks must follow each other very quickly so that you can order events that happened in very quick succession. Secondly, those ticks must follow each other very regularly, i.e. with exactly the same delay between successive ticks.

A grandfather clock, based on a swinging pendulum, is better than the earth as clock in that it ticks much faster than once a day, but its ticks are also not perfectly regular. So after some days or weeks the time it reports will have drifted compared to when the sun is highest in the sky. 

Over the years many technologies have improved our ability to build better time keeping devices, and the most successful of these are the atomic clocks.

How do we measure time with atoms?

Remember I said that to measure time accurately we need something that ticks both quickly and very regularly? It turns out that the right kinds of atoms fulfil both those requirements. Specifically, caesium-133 atoms are used world-wide to define what is called Atomic Time. When electrons in the ground energy state of those atoms have oscillated 9,192,631,770 times, then we say a second has passed. This is the internationally accepted definition of the second. Caesium atoms are very fast tickers, but that is not all. Physicists believe that every caesium atom in the universe ticks in exactly the same way. So caesium atoms are also very regular tickers. 

What is Atomic Time?

International Atomic Time (TAI – for the French Temps Atomique International), is the time based on about 400 of these atomic clocks in many different laboratories around the world. By the way, South Africa also has atomic clocks that give our national time.  They are hosted by the National Metrological Society of South Africa (NMISA) in Pretoria. Dial 1026 on your phone and you'll hear a voice indicating the time provided by these clocks every 10 seconds.

But there is a slight problem with using Atomic Time to run our daily lives. The trouble is that the earth's rotation is not as regular as Atomic Time due to various physical effects. So had we used only Atomic Time then midnight would not always be at exactly 24:00. Instead we use what is called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to run our daily lives. UTC compares the time determined by the earth's rotation, also called astronomical time or Universal Time 1 (UT1), to Atomic Time. Whenever there is a difference of 0.9 seconds between them, a leap second is added to UT1 so that the earth's rotation remains well synchronised with our time standard.

How accurate are these clocks?

One way to test how accurate the clocks are is to build two of exactly the same clocks, and then to see how long it takes before the time those two clocks report has drifted apart by one second. It turns out that for the best caesium atomic clocks this will take about 300 million years! 

Future inventions – are there efforts to make atomic clocks even MORE accurate? Why would that be important to do?

Many laboratories around the world are working very hard to build even better atomic clocks. There is a sort of friendly competition between these laboratories to be the leader in this race. Two technologies in particular are usually neck and neck at the front. They are what we call trapped ions and optical lattice clocks. These clocks are so accurate that they will not lose nor gain a second over many billions of years, if one could run them that long.

In our laboratory at Stellenbosch University we are now constructing an ytterbium ion trap, which we could ultimately use for pursuing improved atomic clocks.  We also do a lot of theoretical physics research to better understand what causes the small inaccuracies in atomic clocks and how to overcome those problems.

Many technologies rely on precise timing, such as the internet and the telecommunications industry. And did you know that every GPS satellite has more than one atomic clock on board?

So all of modern navigation relies heavily on precise time keeping. Today the best laboratory clocks are so accurate they will literally tick slightly faster if you lift them just a few centimetres off the ground. This is due to the slightly lower gravitational field as one moves a little farther away from the Earth.

This is an effect that can only be understood through Einstein's theory of general relativity. Anyhow, they would also tick detectably slower if they were positioned above some area with very dense rock or mineral deposits directly below them as compared to say very porous rock. One can therefore imagine doing geo-exploration for minerals using precise enough clocks. 

Far from being just interesting laboratory experiments, accurate atomic clocks are very useful!

On the photo, Physicists at Stellenbosch University are constructing an ytterbium ion trap, which could ultimately be used for pursuing improved atomic clocks. The process also involves a lot of theoretical physics research to better understand what causes the small inaccuracies in atomic clocks and how to overcome those problems. Pictured here, the heart of the experiment, the ion trap where single ionized atoms are captured. Picture: Stefan Els

The original article was published in the popular science magazine Quest as part of a series of articles on "time". 

The newly-established advisory board of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University met for the first time on Friday 4 March 2016 at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS).

Prof. Pieter Swart, Vice-Dean: Research, says the aim with the appointment of an advisory board is to foster a closer relationship with industry: “The management team of the Faculty of Science will meet with the advisory board at least twice a year to discuss issues such as skills development and the development of multi-disciplinary approaches to tackle the complex technological challenges of the future.

“We want to get feedback from industry on the skills that we need to develop in our future students to operate and flourish as professional scientists in the modern industrial era.”

Matters to be discussed at the next meeting will include internships for undergraduate and postgraduate students in different industrial sectors, while researchers from the Faculty of Science will present their research focus areas.

Serving on the advisory board for 2016/2017 are:

Dr Shirley Ferris (Managing Director: Whitehead Scientific); Dr Tertius Cilliers (Technical Director Sales: DuPont Nutrition & Health: SSA Danisco SA); Mr Kobus Viljoen (Managing Director: Airbus Defence and Space, AIRBUS DS OPTRONICS); Dr Einar Ronander (Director: Klydon Gas); Prof. Patrick Bouic (Chief Technical Officer: Synexa Life Sciences); Dr Luthando Dziba (CSIR: Natural Resources and the Environment); Mr Willem van Biljon (Chief Executive Officer: Takealot.com); Ms. Karin van Deventer (Chair, Mineral Education Trust Fund); Mr Carlos Costa (Executive Director Technical & Procurement: Kansai Plascon); Dr John Mellor (SASOL – Technical manager, polymers, nitros and solvents); Mr July Ndlovu (Executive Head Process: Anglo Platinum); Dr Thulani Dlamini (Vice-President: Strategic Research and Technology and CIBI, SASOL); Prof Barry Axcell (Advisor to the Board, SABMiller plc); Mr Luke Brouckaert (General Manager – Technical for RCL Foods, Sugar & Milling).

The Faculty was represented by the Dean, Prof. Louise Warnich, Prof. Ingrid Rewitzky (Vice-Dean: Teaching and Learning), Prof. Pieter Swart, Vice-Dean: Research, Ms Mariétta van den Worm (Director: Faculty Management), as well as the departmental heads.

In front, from left to right, Ms. Karin van Deventer, Dr Thulani Dlamini (SASOL), Prof Pieter Swart (SU), Prof Patrick Bouic (Synexa Life Sciences), Prof Louise Warnich (SU) and Dr Luthando Dziba (CSIR). At the back, from left to right, Dr Einar Ronander (Klydon Gas), Mr Carlos Costa (Kansai Plascon), Dr Shirley Ferris (Whitehead Scientific), Prof Ingrid Rewitzky (SU), Dr John Mellor (SASOL), Dr Tertius Cilliers (DuPont Nutrition) and Mr Kobus Viljoen (Airbus DS Optronics). Photo: Anton Jordaan

The newly-established advisory board of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University met for the first time on Friday 4 March 2016 at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS).

Prof. Pieter Swart, Vice-Dean: Research, says the aim with the appointment of an advisory board is to foster a closer relationship with industry: “The management team of the Faculty of Science will meet with the advisory board at least twice a year to discuss issues such as skills development and the development of multi-disciplinary approaches to tackle the complex technological challenges of the future.

“We want to get feedback from industry on the skills that we need to develop in our future students to operate and flourish as professional scientists in the modern industrial era.”

Matters to be discussed at the next meeting will include internships for undergraduate and postgraduate students in different industrial sectors, while researchers from the Faculty of Science will present their research focus areas.

Serving on the advisory board for 2016/2017 are:

Dr Shirley Ferris (Managing Director: Whitehead Scientific); Dr Tertius Cilliers (Technical Director Sales: DuPont Nutrition & Health: SSA Danisco SA); Mr Kobus Viljoen (Managing Director: Airbus Defence and Space, AIRBUS DS OPTRONICS); Dr Einar Ronander (Director: Klydon Gas); Prof. Patrick Bouic (Chief Technical Officer: Synexa Life Sciences); Dr Luthando Dziba (CSIR: Natural Resources and the Environment); Mr Willem van Biljon (Chief Executive Officer: Takealot.com); Ms. Karin van Deventer (Chair, Mineral Education Trust Fund); Mr Carlos Costa (Executive Director Technical & Procurement: Kansai Plascon); Dr John Mellor (SASOL – Technical manager, polymers, nitros and solvents); Mr July Ndlovu (Executive Head Process: Anglo Platinum); Dr Thulani Dlamini (Vice-President: Strategic Research and Technology and CIBI, SASOL); Prof Barry Axcell (Advisor to the Board, SABMiller plc); Mr Luke Brouckaert (General Manager – Technical for RCL Foods, Sugar & Milling).

The Faculty was represented by the Dean, Prof. Louise Warnich, Prof. Ingrid Rewitzky (Vice-Dean: Teaching and Learning), Prof. Pieter Swart, Vice-Dean: Research, Ms Mariétta van den Worm (Director: Faculty Management), as well as the departmental heads.

In front, from left to right, Ms. Karin van Deventer, Dr Thulani Dlamini (SASOL), Prof Pieter Swart (SU), Prof Patrick Bouic (Synexa Life Sciences), Prof Louise Warnich (SU) and Dr Luthando Dziba (CSIR). At the back, from left to right, Dr Einar Ronander (Klydon Gas), Mr Carlos Costa (Kansai Plascon), Dr Shirley Ferris (Whitehead Scientific), Prof Ingrid Rewitzky (SU), Dr John Mellor (SASOL), Dr Tertius Cilliers (DuPont Nutrition) and Mr Kobus Viljoen (Airbus DS Optronics). Photo: Anton Jordaan

During the seventy's they were classmates in the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University (SU) and today they are leading international theological organisations.

Proffs Johann Cook of the Department of Ancient Studies and Johan Cilliers of the Discipline Group Practical Theology and Missiology at SU graduated together in 1979 and today they are the presidents of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT) - the biggest Old Testament organisation in the world - and Societas Homelitica respectively. ​​Cook was elected in 2013 and Cilliers in 2014. Their terms end this year.

At the recent Societas Homelitica conference in Stellenbosch, which was held in Africa for the first time, Cilliers delivered the presidential address. Cook will do the same at the IOSOT conference to be held at SU from 4-9 September. Cook was instrumental in bringing the conference to Africa for the first time. It will only be the second time that the conference will take place outside of Europe.

Both Cook and Cilliers say they enjoy working with colleagues from all over the world. They add that it is an honour to lead their respective organisations.

Cilliers says he is fortunate to have a capable team helping him deal with the administrative challenges of his position.

Prof Louis Jonker, from the discipline group Old and New Testament in the Faculty of Theology, will serve as conference secretary of IOSOT 2016.

• Photo: Proff Johann Cook (left) and Johan Cilliers
  

Another piece has been added to the puzzle about the role of ancestry in the South African Coloured population's susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB).

This population is the result of the African click-speaking, African Bantu speaking, European, South Asian and East Asian populations coming together a few generations ago.

"Such admixture is a well-known confounder in genetic association studies, and should be considered in statistical models," explains Dr Michelle Daya, who completed her PhD in biomedical sciences under supervision of Prof Eileen Hoal and Prof Lize van der Merwe.

When genome-wide data is not available, researchers use ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to take admixture into account. Using the large genotypic data sets collected over many years by the DST-NRF Centre for Biomedical TB Research, Daya developed a small set of AIMs specifically for the South African Coloured population. These now make it easier to distinguish the genetic influences of its five ancestral source populations.

"This cost-effective method helps researchers who study tuberculosis and other diseases in this population to correct for ancestry, knowing that their findings are valid," she hopes.

A further admixture mapping study identified genetic regions where ancestry between TB cases and healthy controls differ markedly. Immune-related genes, as well as ones associated with anaemia, glucose metabolism and developing diabetes are found in these regions.

"Iron is essential in the growth and metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and diabetes is a risk factor for developing TB ," explains Daya. "The admixture mapping study may provide direction to investigate how these factors influence the development of TB , based on the genetics underpinning them."

Researchers argue that some people's susceptibility to recurrent TB infections cannot simply be overcome with current medications and vaccines.

"Insight into the genetic mechanisms driving this susceptibility is important for the effective development of drugs and vaccines for the South African Coloured community, as well as many affected communities worldwide," believes Daya.

This article appeared in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences' annual publication. Visit www.sun.ac.za/FMHSpublications to subscribe.

Another piece has been added to the puzzle about the role of ancestry in the South African Coloured population's susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB).

This population is the result of the African click-speaking, African Bantu speaking, European, South Asian and East Asian populations coming together a few generations ago.

"Such admixture is a well-known confounder in genetic association studies, and should be considered in statistical models," explains Dr Michelle Daya, who completed her PhD in biomedical sciences under supervision of Prof Eileen Hoal and Prof Lize van der Merwe.

When genome-wide data is not available, researchers use ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to take admixture into account. Using the large genotypic data sets collected over many years by the DST-NRF Centre for Biomedical TB Research, Daya developed a small set of AIMs specifically for the South African Coloured population. These now make it easier to distinguish the genetic influences of its five ancestral source populations.

"This cost-effective method helps researchers who study tuberculosis and other diseases in this population to correct for ancestry, knowing that their findings are valid," she hopes.

A further admixture mapping study identified genetic regions where ancestry between TB cases and healthy controls differ markedly. Immune-related genes, as well as ones associated with anaemia, glucose metabolism and developing diabetes are found in these regions.

"Iron is essential in the growth and metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and diabetes is a risk factor for developing TB ," explains Daya. "The admixture mapping study may provide direction to investigate how these factors influence the development of TB , based on the genetics underpinning them."

Researchers argue that some people's susceptibility to recurrent TB infections cannot simply be overcome with current medications and vaccines.

"Insight into the genetic mechanisms driving this susceptibility is important for the effective development of drugs and vaccines for the South African Coloured community, as well as many affected communities worldwide," believes Daya.

This article appeared in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences' annual publication. Visit www.sun.ac.za/FMHSpublications to subscribe.

​

TomTom released the results of the TomTom Traffic Index 2016 report on 22 March 2016. This annual report quantifies and rates the congestion levels in cities around the world. This year, Mexico City was classified as the most congested city in the world, followed by Bangkok, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro and Moscow. Cape Town is the most congested city in South Africa and is ranked 47^th in the world. The TomTom Traffic Index considers traffic congestion in 295 cities in 38 countries across the globe. According to TomTom, congestion globally has increased by 13% since 2008.

The Traffic Index is the percentage of additional travel time that drivers experience during the heavily trafficked parts of the day when compared to uncongested travel conditions, for example in the middle of the night. Cape Town has a Traffic Index of 30%, which means that drivers will experience an average increase of trip length of 30% throughout the day. During the morning peak period (the period during the morning that experiences the highest traffic volumes), Capetonians can expect to add an additional 71% to free flowing travel time. Johannesburg has a daily Traffic Index of 27%, and a morning peak hour index of 60%. Cape Town congestion exceeded that of Johannesburg in 2013, as a result of the upgrades to the Gauteng Freeway network which had a positive effect in reducing congestion.

The Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Lab (SSML) was asked to provide an expert analysis of the 2016 TomTom Traffic Index Report. This analysis has been published by TomTom with their 2016 Traffic Index report. Refer to their website: http://www.tomtom.com/en_za/trafficindex/expertview for the full SSML report.

Whilst congestion is a global challenge, it is apparent from the 2016 results that nine of the ten most congested cities are in developing countries. The SSML researches mobility solutions within the developing country context and the TomTom dataset will become a valuable means of assessing transportation mobility in these countries.

The TomTom data reveals that in South Africa small cities have shown an increased rate of growth in congestion of nearly 7% per annum, which is far higher than the rate observed in larger cities in South Africa and worldwide (typically found to be between 1.5% and 3% per annum). This could reflect the rate of urbanisation in developing countries, particularly in smaller cities and highlights the urgent need for infrastructure and traffic management projects in these countries. 

The annual progression of the TomTom Traffic Index data clearly reflects the impact of intervention projects on congestion such as the recent major Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme. A significant reduction in the Traffic Index is observed following the roll out of the freeway improvements between 2010 and 2012.

​World TB Day, 24 March

Humans are not the only species affected by tuberculosis – two of South Africa's popular 'Big Five' are also threatened by the disease, including the mighty lion.

As many as half the lions in the southern regions of the Kruger National Park (KNP) may be infected with a form of animal tuberculosis (TB), called bovine TB (BTB), according to new research by Stellenbosch University's (SU) Animal TB Research group.

"The prevalence of BTB is estimated to be 54% in the southern KNP lion population, with decreasing numbers in the central areas, based on a new molecular technique that we have developed for detecting infection" says Mrs Tashnica Sylvester, a doctoral student at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS). BTB has also been confirmed in lions in other locations in South Africa, including the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal.

BTB is a slow-progressing disease and the estimated time from infection to death is between two and five years.

"The majority of lions appear healthy. But lions with advanced disease may show symptoms like swollen elbows, slow-healing wounds, poor coat condition, weight loss, coughing and difficulty breathing," says Sylvester, who was part of the research group that developed a diagnostic test to diagnose BTB in lions using a single blood sample. Previously a lion had to be captured twice in three days to perform a TB skin test, but with the new method (gene expression assay) a lion will only have to be captured once.  

Lions can be infected with BTB when they eat infected buffaloes and other animals.

"Around 40% of the buffaloes tested in the southern part of the KNP were positive for BTB and buffaloes are one of the top prey species for lions. Since buffaloes with BTB may be weaker and lag behind the herd, they may be more susceptible to predation," says Sylvester.

A recent study by the Animal TB Research Group also suggests that lions may be able to transmit bacteria between themselves through respiratory secretions (droplets transmitted through sneezing or coughing). These findings still have to be confirmed.

Lions are apex predators which determine the balance of species and therefore impact biodiversity in an ecosystem.

"In a park such as the KNP, which is South Africa's largest wildlife refuge and a critical biodiversity resource, the loss of lions could have significant effects on the ecosystem," says Sylvester.

"In 2006, KNP generated approximately R1.5 billion for the region. Lions are one of the main attractions for visitors and a loss of one of the 'Big Five' could have economic consequences."

Although lions infected with BTB do not pose a direct threat to humans, sick lions may be too weak to hunt their normal prey and may roam closer to areas inhabited by humans and livestock.

"Increased awareness of TB in wildlife is the first step in addressing the ecological, conservation, socioeconomic and public health issues associated with this disease," Sylvester says. "Since BTB affects a wide diversity of species, including domestic animals, wildlife, and humans, research is crucial to understanding the origin, prevalence and risk factors associated with intra- and interspecies transmission."

**Photo caption: A blood sample is collected from a lion to test for TB. 
Photo credit: Stellenbosch University Animal TB Research Group.

Media enquiries:

Wilma Stassen

+27 (0)21 938 9359

wstassen@sun.ac.za

Marketing and Communications Office

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences         

Stellenbosch University

Website:       www.sun.ac.za/health

Facebook:     www.facebook.com/SUhealthsci

Twitter:         @SUhealthsci

For his significant contribution to academia as well as industry Prof Niël le Roux, emeritus professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at Stellenbosch University (SU) was recently honoured with the South African Statistical Association's Thought Leader award for 2015 (sponsored by SAS).

In their nomination letter, Prof Sugnet Lubbe from the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Cape Town and Prof Wille Conradie of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at SU said that Prof le Roux has made a phenomenal impact on the South African statistical community across a wide range of activities over the past 40 years.

"Further to this, Prof le Roux made an exceptional impact on the lives of many South African statisticians who had the privilege to be his students or colleagues with his dependable wise advice on statistics issues and life in general."

Prof Le Roux was surprised by the accolade.

"I'm grateful that I have been able to share the wonders of statistics with other students of the subject and that I might have inspired some."

Prof Le Roux's association with SU started 50 years ago when he was appointed as a junior lecturer in the Department of Psychology in 1966.

Two undergraduate degrees, three honours degrees, three master's degrees and a doctorate later he "retired" as professor in the Department of Statistics, also at SU, in 2004. However, he was immediately appointed on contract with full teaching and research responsibilities.

In 2009 he was contracted as part-time lecturer to teach and supervise postgraduate students and to continue with research. This contract was extended in 2016.

"Statistics is a hobby and it is easy to be excited about something you love. I'm grateful for good health and the wonderful relationships I have developed with other statisticians. Without this I wouldn't have been able to keep on postponing my retirement.

"I have to express my thanks and appreciation to SU for all the opportunities I've received. I've especially enjoyed the past 20 years during which my research became focused on the graphical representations of multivariate data."

Prof Le Roux was recently awarded a B rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF), which means he is not only regarded as an established researcher in his field but also enjoys considerable international recognition by his peers.

Prof Paul Mostert of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at SU emphasised that Prof Le Roux has contributed enormously to academia, industry and overall knowledge generation.

In the past 10 years (since his retirement), Prof le Roux has published two books and 36 papers in peer-reviewed journals, presented workshops locally and abroad, delivered seven invited conference papers at international conferences and participated in more than 30 conferences nationally and internationally.

"Many students have benefitted from his knowledge," added Prof Mostert.

The leading contribution made by Prof le Roux in education and promoting the field of statistics was acknowledged by SU with the Rector's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994 (one of the first group of 10 lecturers to receive the award) and the Rector's Award for Excellence in Research in 2005.

In the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science Prof Le Roux was instrumental in the development of the first structured Master's programme in Mathematical Statistics and Statistics. In terms of postgraduate supervision, Prof Le Roux has been sole supervisor for three PhD dissertations and 27 Master's dissertations. He also co-supervised several dissertations in Psychology, Geography and Business Science. Currently, he is supervising one Master's and three PhD dissertations.

As researcher, Prof Le Roux's most significant contribution has been as principal investigator of a Biplot project funded by the NRF since 2007 which involves national and international researchers in the field of multivariate graphical representations. The developments in biplot methodology have been implemented in industry with great success.

For his significant contribution to academia as well as industry Prof Niël le Roux, emeritus professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at Stellenbosch University (SU) was recently honoured with the South African Statistical Association's Thought Leader award for 2015 (sponsored by SAS).

In their nomination letter, Prof Sugnet Lubbe from the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Cape Town and Prof Wille Conradie of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at SU said that Prof le Roux has made a phenomenal impact on the South African statistical community across a wide range of activities over the past 40 years.

"Further to this, Prof le Roux made an exceptional impact on the lives of many South African statisticians who had the privilege to be his students or colleagues with his dependable wise advice on statistics issues and life in general."

Prof Le Roux was surprised by the accolade.

"I'm grateful that I have been able to share the wonders of statistics with other students of the subject and that I might have inspired some."

Prof Le Roux's association with SU started 50 years ago when he was appointed as a junior lecturer in the Department of Psychology in 1966.

Two undergraduate degrees, three honours degrees, three master's degrees and a doctorate later he "retired" as professor in the Department of Statistics, also at SU, in 2004. However, he was immediately appointed on contract with full teaching and research responsibilities.

In 2009 he was contracted as part-time lecturer to teach and supervise postgraduate students and to continue with research. This contract was extended in 2016.

"Statistics is a hobby and it is easy to be excited about something you love. I'm grateful for good health and the wonderful relationships I have developed with other statisticians. Without this I wouldn't have been able to keep on postponing my retirement.

"I have to express my thanks and appreciation to SU for all the opportunities I've received. I've especially enjoyed the past 20 years during which my research became focused on the graphical representations of multivariate data."

Prof Le Roux was recently awarded a B rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF), which means he is not only regarded as an established researcher in his field but also enjoys considerable international recognition by his peers.

Prof Paul Mostert of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at SU emphasised that Prof Le Roux has contributed enormously to academia, industry and overall knowledge generation.

In the past 10 years (since his retirement), Prof le Roux has published two books and 36 papers in peer-reviewed journals, presented workshops locally and abroad, delivered seven invited conference papers at international conferences and participated in more than 30 conferences nationally and internationally.

"Many students have benefitted from his knowledge," added Prof Mostert.

The leading contribution made by Prof le Roux in education and promoting the field of statistics was acknowledged by SU with the Rector's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994 (one of the first group of 10 lecturers to receive the award) and the Rector's Award for Excellence in Research in 2005.

In the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science Prof Le Roux was instrumental in the development of the first structured Master's programme in Mathematical Statistics and Statistics. In terms of postgraduate supervision, Prof Le Roux has been sole supervisor for three PhD dissertations and 27 Master's dissertations. He also co-supervised several dissertations in Psychology, Geography and Business Science. Currently, he is supervising one Master's and three PhD dissertations.

As researcher, Prof Le Roux's most significant contribution has been as principal investigator of a Biplot project funded by the NRF since 2007 which involves national and international researchers in the field of multivariate graphical representations. The developments in biplot methodology have been implemented in industry with great success.

​Dear Student in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

I am thoroughly aware of the uncertainty created by the language interdict of Afriforum, which requires  us to strictly apply  the language specifications of the 2016 Yearbook from 29 March. What happens now to the principle that no student should be excluded on the basis of language? To address this uncertainty I would like to convey the following to you about the language practice that you can expect from 29 March in your classes.

There are two main points of departure that the Faculty will follow from 29 March, the first of which is demanded by the interdict:

• As of 29 March 2016 we have to strictly adhere  to the language specifications of the 2016 Yearbook (Afriforum court interdict, and the SU Council requirement not to reduce the Afrikaans offering).
• SU wants  to be 100% accessible to students that are not academically literate in Afrikaans and therefore all module content covered  in lectures will  also be available in English (SU Council resolution supporting  an increase of the English offering to 100%).

In practice this will entail the following:

• ​​Most Departments  will return to the conventional T-modules, with the proviso that this will be implemented with the utmost circumspection to ensure that no student is excluded on the basis of language of tuition. You will be informed at the beginning of the term and at the beginning of lectures about this intention and the two points of departure mentioned above, and also about what exactly will be done in each module in order to implement these points of departure.
• In order to ensure that all lectures are at least available in English, and that Afrikaans is available as specified in the 2016 Yearbook (50% or more), some Departments will provide extra lectures in Afrikaans and/or English.
• In cases where lecturers are only proficient in English, Departments will provide interpretation in Afrikaans, and/or extra lectures in Afrikaans.

​​Until such time as the Language Policy and Plan of the University  is  officially changed, we will have to live with these arrangements.  I will depend on your understanding and cooperation to help implement the abovementioned arrangements  with dignity and respect. 

I hope this letter will help allay any uncertainty, but if you have any further questions, please send an e-mail to Tanja Malan (tanja@sun.ac.za), who will convey it to me.

Kind regards

Johan Hattingh
Dean, 24 March 2016

The Nelson Mandela Museum, in cooperation with the Stellenbosch University Museum, cordially invites you to the Nelson Mandela Colloquium.

Keynote speakers:

Prof Xolela Mangcu, professor of sociology, University of Cape Town

Prof Amanda Gouws, distinguished professor of political science, Stellenbosch University (SU)

Mr Bradly Frolick, SU Student Representative Council, Transformation portfolio

DATE:  30 March 2016

TIME: 18:00

VENUE: Stellenbosch University Museum (Sasol Art Museum), Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch

RSVP: Mrs Nwabisa Moshenyane at nmoshenyane@sun.ac.za or  on 021 808 3691.

Refreshments and wine will be served after the discussions. 

​Stellenbosch University's School of Accountancy is thrilled with the 94% pass rate obtaine​d by the BAccHons class of 2015 in the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)'s first professional exam (Initial Test of Competence (ITC)).

This is the first of two exams conducted by SAICA that individuals who want to qualify as chartered accountants (South Africa) have to pass. The students took the exam in January this year.

SAICA and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia recently announced that SU achieved the best past rate in the country among the SAICA-accredited universities for students who had taken this exam for the first time.

The University of Pretoria achieved a pass rate of 92%, NMMU and the North West University 86%, the University of Cape Town 83%, the University of Johannesburg also 83% and the University of the Witwatersrand 74%. The average pass rate was 80%.

SU's Matthys Lourens achieved tenth place in the country.

Prof Pieter von Wielligh, professor in auditing and co-coordinator of the BAcc and BAccHons programmes, explained that the exam was taken by 2 561 candidates countrywide of whom 2 318 took it for the first time (students who obtained their postgraduate qualification in 2015).

"In total, 163 of SU's 2015 BAccHons students took the exam and 153 passed."

SU also had the best past rate in 2009 when the School of Accountancy's students of 2008 achieved a pass rate of 99%.

SU is currently one of 14 universities in South Africa accredited by SAICA to train prospective chartered accountants.

"Given the number of options available to prospective chartered accountants, reputation is of the utmost importance to draw good students as well as good lecturers," says Prof Von Wielligh.

"The excellent achievement by our BAccHons students in the ITC not only underlines the quality teaching offered by the School in a very concrete and visible way but also the quality of students the School draws."

According to Prof Von Wielligh, the School follows a strong student-centred teaching philosophy.

"We strive to offer our students high-quality teaching in a productive environment. Our goal is to encourage independent and constructive critical thinking in our students. We also want to nurture the principle of life-long learning, which is of critical importance in the fast-changing world of the professional accountant. Together with this we place a high premium on the development of ethical principles and many other professional skills. In addition to what the Faculty and University already offer, the School itself also offers various forms of assistance to students who struggle academically.

"Our team of top-quality, top-qualified lecturers are experts in their subject fields and are continuously encouraged to do further research."

The School of Accountancy is very proud of its honours class of 2015's excellent performance.

"Their hard work and perseverance, and also the confidence they put in their lecturers, are admirable. It is even more so when we remember that 2015 was a disruptive year with, among other things, the fire in the Van der Sterr building. This is where the BAccHons students have their classes and their lecturers are situated. And then there was the protest action at the end of 2015."

Prof Stan du Plessis, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, congratulated the students and lecturers.

"Congratulations on this excellent achievement and sincere thanks for the hard, goal-orientated and intelligent work that has gone into this."​

Students from the Department of Sport Science's Adapt2Move programme participated in the Bridging Abilities Day recently.

Bridging Abilities is a non-profit organisation. Its main goal is to organise camps or sports days to create opportunities for persons with disabilities to be active and to improve their quality of life. Bridging Abilities does all the paperwork related to the day and the Department of Sport Science facilitates the programme and provides the facilities.

"It is the responsibility of third-year students specialising in matched motion programmes (adapt2move) to present the programme. It is also a community engagement project for the group of students," says Dr Suzanne Ferreira of the Department of Sports Science.

"In terms of student training, the purpose of the day is to expose students to the abilities of persons with disabilities and to give them an opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge in practice. Overall, it is important that both groups have fun."

Toni Mould, director of Bridging Abilities, adds: "I think the day went really well. The students do a great job at these events. We had a lot of new faces and Senecio joined us for the first time. It is great to see new children and organisations join as we want to grow the events each year."