An ethical exposition of Muslim education can help address many contemporary ills and global challenges such as social and societal conflicts, discrimination, exclusion and marginalisation, violence and the humiliation and dehumanisation of people.

This is one of the key messages of a new book by Dr Nuraan Davids and Prof Yusef Waghid of the Department of Education Policy Studies in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University.

Their book Ethical Dimensions of Muslim Education was published recently by Palgrave MacMillan. Comprising 12 chapters, it focuses on three main themes namely Ethics, Islam and education; Participants in Muslim education; and Instances of ethical dimensions.

The authors say they drew on the Quran for their primary arguments because every aspect of human conduct, endeavour, strength and vulnerability finds articulation in its verses, expositions, parables and stories.

"The book shows how salient aspects such as democratic citizenship, globalisation, cosmopolitanism, injustices and exclusion can be dealt with from a Muslim education perspective," says Davids.

She points out that one of the main reasons for writing Ethical Dimensions of Muslim Education was because of their growing concern about particular interpretations, justifications and manifestations of Muslims and Muslim education that constitute fundamental fractures and contradictions to their own understanding of Islam, and what it seeks to achieve.

According to the authors, the scope of the book has largely been defined and shaped by the contemporary context of unease and mistrust in which Islam and Muslims currently find themselves.

In this regard they highlight the association of Islam with, among other descriptions, backwardness, intolerance, violence and terrorism – as dramatically supported by the destruction of the New York twin towers (11 September 2001); London's tube bombings (7 July 2005); Paris's Charlie Hebdo killings as a consequence of some people's dissatisfaction with satire against the Prophet Muhammad (7 January 2015), as well as Boko Haram and ISIL or ISIS.

The authors say the book aims to satisfy two points of contestation: the growing climate of Islamophobia in liberal democracies; and the seemingly misaligned interpretation of the Qurān, which continues to shroud Islam as a religion of intolerance and backwardness.

"It confronts the reader with explications of Muslim education that are incongruent with violence, abuse, terrorism and bigotry".  

"It also helps to answer questions such as what Islam is and does; what it advocates and cultivates through its foundational sources; how it conceives of, and delineates between that which is right and just, and that which is not, and what constitutes an ethical framework of Islam."

Apart from its focus on Muslim education, the book also considers conceptions of philosophical engagement, which addresses ethical conduct, ways of doing and being, beyond that which might be considered as specific to a religious belief or tradition.

The authors say the book is addressed at both a scholarly and wider audience across different communities because it offers opportunities for critical engagement not only with the foundational source of Islam, but for contemplation on how ethical conduct might address contemporary dystopias.

"It envisages bridging the erroneous theoretical and practical divide in and about understandings of Muslim education vis-à-vis ethical dilemmas in the contemporary world."

• The e-book version of Ethical Dimensions of Muslim Education can be purchased online at http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-29317-2. The printed version will available in August.

The magnificent great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias L.) is one of the oldest shark lineages with an evolutionary origin dating back about 14 million years. New research from Stellenbosch University (SU) shows that the South African white shark population is in double jeopardy. Not only do these sharks have the lowest genetic diversity of all white shark populations worldwide; there are also only between 353 to 522 individuals left.

"The numbers in South Africa are extremely low. If the situation stays the same, South Africa's great white sharks are heading for possible extinction," says Dr Sara Andreotti of the Department of Botany and Zoology at SU and lead author of the study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

The findings are based on six years of fieldwork in South Africa's shark mecca, Gansbaai, and along the South African coastline. It represents the largest field research study on South Africa's great white sharks undertaken to date.

Counting great whites

It is not that easy to find, let alone count, these mysterious animals. Andreotti had to rely on the expertise and logistical support of shark behaviour specialist Michael Rutzen of Shark Diving Unlimited to track down these elusive creatures. He had been operating a white shark cage diving operation at Gansbaai for the past 15 years and is better known as 'Sharkman' – the man who free dives with white sharks to dispel the myth that they are man-eating monsters.

"If you want to count white sharks, you need a boat with a crew and someone who knows where and how to find them," Andreotti explains.

They had to make sure that the animals got close enough to the boat to take a clear picture of the dorsal fin and to collect a biopsy for genetic analysis. The genetic sampling technique comprised poking the shark with a small sterilised biopsy sampler, an operation that is rarely noticed by the sharks.

The field work kept Andreotti and Rutzen busy for six years, sometimes living at sea for up to two months at a time.

Between 2009 and 2011 they collected nearly 5 000 photographs of the dorsal fins of white sharks frequenting Gansbaai. Notches in a great white's dorsal fin are like a unique fingerprint with a specific number of notches on its trailing edge. Andreotti manually organised the photographs into a database, specifically documenting the date when an individual was resighted. To their surprise, once 400 individuals had been identified, they struggled to find new individuals to photograph.

Using mark-recapture techniques, the results from this part of the study indicate with 95% confidence a population estimate of between 353 and 522 individuals. According to Andreotti, this is 52% fewer than what was estimated in previous mark-recapture studies.

However, they needed to be sure that the white sharks that they identified and counted in Gansbaai were representative of the entire white shark population along the South African coastline. Thus they set sail again and spent another four years sailing along the coastline, collecting biopsy samples and photographs of dorsal fins. The subsequent genetic analysis then proved that there is only one population and that the same sharks are roaming the coastline.

The results from the genetic study show that the South African population of great whites is made up of an effective population size of only 333 individuals. The effective population size is the number of individuals in a population who contribute offspring to the next generation.

Andreotti explains: "The genetic analysis is not the same as counting the sharks. Here one estimates the number of successful breeding individuals who generated the sampled population. The results can also be used to indicate the survival potential of a population. Although we don't know if this will be the case for white sharks, previous research on other species indicate that a minimum of 500 breeding individuals are required to prevent inbreeding depression.

"When looking at the number of adults counted with the photo identification work, we have come to the conclusion that South Africa's white sharks faced a rapid decline in the last generation and that their numbers might already be too low to ensure their survival.

"The chances for their survival are even worse than what we previously thought," she warns.

Reasons for the sharp decline

Andreotti says that among the reasons for the sharp decline in white shark numbers are the impact of shark nets and baited hooks implemented on the eastern seaboard of South Africa. Other contributing factors are poaching, habitat encroachment, pollution and depletion of their food sources.

"For example, between 1956 and 1976, the number of large sharks caught in KwaZulu-Natal's shark-netting programme declined by over 99%. Between 1978 and 2008 approximately 1 063 white sharks were killed in shark protection measures," she says.

She says that it is a popular misconception that white sharks are predating uniquely on marine mammals such as seals: "White shark juveniles particularly feed on bony fishes and smaller, commercially fished elasmobranches. But to date we still don't know the minimum amount of food required by our white shark population, and therefore fishery management cannot take it into consideration."

The survival of white sharks in South African water is also threatened by the illegal poaching for trophies (jaw sets) and fins.

Why are great whites so important?

Apart from the iconic status of these magnificent animals, they are apex predators, which means that they do not have many natural predators. The loss of such an apex predator will have a cascade of detrimental effects on the ecological stability of the marine environment.

Great whites are among the few shark species feeding on Cape fur seals. A decrease in white shark numbers will lead to an increase in the seal population, which in turn will have an impact on fish populations and thus on fisheries.

"The survival of South Africa's white shark population and the ecological interactions of the coastline will be seriously compromised if urgent management measures to prevent the decline are not put in place," Andreotti warns.

Future action for the conservation of white sharks

Andreotti says that their study is the first of its kind on white sharks: "Not only did we sample known free-ranging white sharks; we also built a database which links the genetic profile with the photographic identification of each individual shark. Due to the inherent ease of use, the accuracy associated with the method and the ability to 'resight' individuals rapidly within a large photographic database, our noninvasive technique represents a validated and feasible technique for future white shark photo identification studies.

"Our hope is that from now on white sharks will be monitored more closely and that better protection measures will be put in place. Lastly, we hope that delicate arguments such as the estimate of a vulnerable population will henceforth be based on extensive data collections and assessments," she concludes.

Rutzen concurs: "Even internationally nobody really knows how many great white sharks are left in the oceans. Many speculate that population numbers are increasing, but their claims cannot be backed up by solid research or an extensive database like the one created by Dr Andreotti and her team of collaborators.

"We need to replicate the study on an international scale and standardise the techniques for collecting data on population numbers of vulnerable species such as the great white. While everyone is working on their own, the king of the ocean could be on the brink of extinction," he warns.

• The title of the paper is 'An integrated mark-recapture and genetic approach to estimate the population size of white sharks in South Africa', with coauthors Michael Rutzen (Shark Diving Unlimited), Dr Stéfan van der Walt (Department of Applied Mathematics, SU), Dr Sophie von der Heyden and Dr Romina Henriques (Department of Botany and Zoology, SU), Michael Meyer and Herman Oosthuizen (Department of Environmental Affairs, Branch Oceans and Coasts) and Prof. Conrad Matthee (Head: Department of Botany and Zoology, SU).
• The research was made possible with funding from the Department of Botany and Zoology at SU and the financial support and logistical assistance of Michael Rutzen and his company, Shark Diving Unlimited.

Photo: Stefan Els

Media interviews

Dr Sara Andreotti

Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University

T: +27(0)21 808 3229

M: +27(0)72 321 9198

E: andreottisara@gmail.com

Michael Rutzen

Shark Diving Unlimited

T: +27(0)82 441 4555 or +258849364918

E: info@sharkdivingunlimited.com

Prof. Conrad Matthee

Head: Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University

T: +27(0)21 808 3957

M: +27(0)84 453 4344

E: cam@sun.ac.za

Media enquiries

Wiida Fourie-Basson

Media: Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University

T. +27(0)21 808 2684

M: +27(0)71 099 5721

E: science@sun.ac.za

Martin Viljoen

Head: Media relations, Stellenbosch University

T. +27(0)21 808 4921

M: +27(0)82 775 2396

E: viljoenm@sun.ac.za

There were two groups of athletes. First they cycled for 30 seconds as fast as they could on a stationary bicycle. Then they ran as fast as they could for 40m. And then they were asked to jump as high as possible off each individual leg.

One group was a set of able-bodied athletes. The other was a set of Paralympic athletes who have cerebral palsy, a neuro-muscular condition caused by damage to one of three areas of the brain before, during or immediately after birth.

The idea was to see how the Paralympic athletes’ performance compared with that of the able-bodied athletes.

Previous research has shown that people with cerebral palsy are limited when it comes to the ability to exercise. They have up to 73% lower exercise capacity compared with typically developed able-bodied people when doing a variety of exercises.

We expected the results of our studies to replicate this previous research. However, our studies provided the first evidence that long-term exercise training interventions – represented by elite athletes – may provide more benefits to people with cerebral palsy than previously believed.

And the results suggest that if children with cerebral palsy exercise from a young age, they may avoid negative secondary changes associated with cerebral palsy later in life.

The effects of cerebral palsy

Globally there are more than 17 million people with cerebral palsy. Two to three children out of every 1,000 born in the US have the condition. The rates of cerebral palsy are similar in South Africa.

People who have cerebral palsy have complex neural and muscular dysfunction. The condition ranges from affecting all their limbs, which results in quadriplegia, to only affecting one side of the body, which results in hemiplegia. Some only have monoplegia, where only one limb is affected. In the areas affected by cerebral palsy, there are spastic contractions, severe muscle weakness and the muscles are smaller in size and don’t function the way a typical muscle would.

Due to their weak muscles, people with cerebral palsy often lead very sedentary lives. These people are often inactive and do not come close to meeting the international physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week.

As a result, their bodies undergo secondary changes that include even weaker muscles and worsening of symptoms of cerebral palsy, such as contracture and cortical bone loss from lack of activity. This increases the burden of their disability later in life.

But our research may show that exercise interventions from a young age may change this in people with cerebral palsy.

Surprising findings

Until recently, no research existed on adults with cerebral palsy who took part in high levels of physical activity.

Most of the previous studies used sedentary children, inviting the question: is what we see in a person with cerebral palsy the effect of the cerebral palsy, or the effect of not engaging in physical activity?

In the first studies to evaluate elite adult Paralympic athletes with cerebral palsy, we suggest that participating in physical activity from a young age may have more of an impact than previously thought.

Elite Paralympic track and field athletes, as well as able-bodied athletes, took part in three studies. We did various tests on them.

We measured their body composition, the strength of their bones (bone density) and their muscle and fat mass composition. We compared the affected and non-affected sides of their bodies.

We also looked at their physical performance by getting them to do a 30-second cycling trial on a stationary bicycle, as well as 40m sprints and jumps, jumping on both their affected and non-affected sides.

We found that both groups had a similar bone mineral density and fat mass on the affected and non-affected sides. This disputes previous research that shows the affected areas of those with cerebral palsy have significantly lower bone mineral density on the affected side due to lack of activity.

And there was less than 10% difference in their sprint performance in both cycling and running activities. This was in direct contrast to the previous research, which predicts an average of 30% to 60% difference in performance between people with cerebral palsy and able-bodied people.

Their results for jumping on their affected and non-affected legs separately showed that cerebral palsy athletes had a 33% difference to able-bodied athletes on their affected legs. But their jumping performance on their non-affected legs showed no difference to that of the able-bodied group.

Changing the status quo

It has been well documented that the non-affected sides of people with cerebral palsy also have lower capacity than those of able-bodied people. This is due to the brain adapting the body’s entire neuromuscular system toward the capacity of the affected side.

But our studies show that the Paralympic athletes’ non-affected sides were not affected at all. Our finding may be the result of these athletes training for years and possibly adapting their total body physiology toward their non-affected side’s capacity. Effectively the deficits remaining may be the actual effect of cerebral palsy on the body without the confounding effect of physical inactivity.

This indicates that long-term, high-level exercise training may positively influence the physiology of cerebral palsy sufferers toward maximum level of adaptation possible. Through exercise it may be possible for people with cerebral palsy to restrict the secondary effects of physical inactivity and cerebral palsy on the body.

The most important finding of these studies is that exercise holds the potential to radically change the lives of all people with cerebral palsy. We propose that the change in attitude in the treatment of children affected by cerebral palsy should shift from minimal play-based functional therapy toward higher levels of exercise training from a young age.

This new perspective of exercise training would allow these children the opportunity to achieve the full potential of their bodies.

Phoebe Runciman, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Stellenbosch University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Photo by: Wil Punt (Peartree Photography)

The Department of Food Science within the Faculty of AgriSciences received one of four nGap positions allocated to Stellenbosch University (SU). A total of 79 allocations were made to universities across South Africa.

The New Generation of Academics Programme (nGap) initiated by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) is intended to support universities to recruit new academics in line with their staffing and development plans. Applicants must be younger then 40.

The DHET carries the costs of the position for the first three years, after which the university starts to contribute to the young academic's cost to company. The nGAP will also enable the newly-recruited lecturers to benefit from teaching and research development opportunities.

Prof Gunnar Sigge, Head of the Department of Food Science, said he is very relieved and happy about the nGap position allocated to his department as staff member capacity has been a challenge for the past few years. Although the new appointee will not be expected to handle a full workload in his/her first three years, this appointment will assist in easing the teaching and supervisory load of the current staff members.

Student numbers in the Department of Food Science have increased by 54% since 2008 but the academic staff complement only increased by one from five to six, even though an external evaluation suggested that the academic staff contingent should be doubled by 2013.

"Furthermore, students from other degree courses, for example BSc Agric (Aquaculture) and BSc Agricultural Economics also follow certain food science modules, further increasing the class sizes," added Prof Sigge.

"Undergraduate BSc Food Science numbers totalled 231 in 2015, while 30 MSc students and 22 PhD students were enrolled at the same time. Thus, it is clear that the academic staff have a high undergraduate teaching load, as well as a high postgraduate supervisory load. Applications to the undergraduate BSc Food Science degree are still increasing with over 100 applications for admission in 2016. There is also an increasing trend in applications to the postgraduate programmes in food science (MSc and PhD).

"An additional academic staff member will thus benefit the undergraduate programme, broaden the expertise base, increase research outputs and strengthen postgraduate supervisory capacity."

He believes everyone will benefit from this arrangement. "The new employee receives the opportunity to enter the academic world and has time to establish him- or herself, while the department gets an extra staff member and has time to ensure that this post is economically viable."

The importance of food science in food and nutrition security, alleviating hunger and contributing to health and well-being is recognised by the fact that food science has been declared a "scarce skill" in South Africa.

"Well trained, skilled, creative and dynamic food scientists with a multitude of different areas of specialisation are thus a critical requirement in addressing these challenges," said Prof Sigge.

On the 26^th of May, the Stellenbosch University Language Centre Intensive English Programme (IEP) international students, celebrated Cultural Day in a unique and exciting way.

The United Nations declared 21 May of each year World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, a day aimed at providing us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the value of cultural diversity and to learn how to live together in harmony. IEP students embraced the opportunity to embody this day at the University, albeit a few days after the official date.

The event took place at the Khaya (Kruiskerk), corner Victoria Street and Ryneveld Street, where groups of IEP students explored the broader concepts of their beliefs, values and culture. The countries that were represented were Libya, Egypt, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, Reunion Island, Madagascar, Congo, South Korea, Cameroon and Benin.

On display were numerous stalls portraying the culture of the various ethnic groups, highlighting their custom, tradition and food. In addition, each group presented how they identified with their culture.

Our Cultural Day event was a product of many hours invested by both students and mentor teachers, achieved through meticulous planning, rehearsals and cross-culture teamwork. As a result, the outcome was truly remarkable, with prizes being awarded to the top three groups based on a specific criteria. The presentations were a wonderful opportunity for the students to share with the audience, their understanding about culture and indeed, themselves, and in doing so further enhance their English Language skills.

The award for Best Publication for 2016 was presented to Prof Susan van Schalkwyk at a recent conference of the South African Association of Health Educationalists' (SAAHE).

Van Schalkwyk, who heads the Centre for Health Professions Education (CHPE) at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), received the award for an article entitled "Understanding Rural Clinical Learning Spaces: Being and Becoming a doctor" that was published in the journal Medical Teacher. Profs Juanita Bezuidenhout (a former colleague at the CHPE) and Marietjie de Villiers, from the Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, were co-authors of the article.

It is one of a number of articles that have come from a longitudinal (5-year) study that was conducted to evaluate the implementation of the FMHS' Ukwanda Rural Clinical School (RCS).

"This was one of seven articles that have been published about the implementation of the RCS… and we moved on further from simply analysing the qualitative data, to look at developing a theoretical position that can help explain the RCS 'phenomenon'," explains Van Schalkwyk.

According to her this award is a feather in the cap of the FMHS and the CHPE and serves as a catalyst to finalise the last few articles from the study.

Health professions education research is a growing field of enquiry internationally. "Research is critical if we are to understand the unique contexts within which our students learn and our teachers teach. We need to grow the body of knowledge so that we are better positioned to recommend meaningful teaching and learning practices," says Van Schalkwyk.

In the past 15 years, the global community has provided US$109.8 billion in development assistance to curb HIV/AIDS. Several international aid organisations created in this period have been instrumental in galvanising the resources needed to combat the epidemic.

But meeting the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets – that 90% of HIV positive people will know their status, 90% of those people will be on antiretrovirals and 90% will be virally suppressed by 2020 – will require major changes in how programmes are delivered and financed.

Maintaining and scaling up the funding of AIDS efforts in the next 20 years to end the epidemic is crucial.

The challenge is that since 2010 development assistance for HIV has remained nearly constant. Researchers estimate that $36 billion is needed annually to achieve the United Nations goals.

Current epidemiological and financial trends suggest there’s a major risk of a substantial shortfall in the funds required to sustain life-saving antiretroviral programmes.

The three phases of the epidemic

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS steadily increased to 38.8 million in 2015, according to the 2015 Global Burden of Disease study.

The unfolding global HIV pandemic has advanced through three phases. In the first phase, 1981 to 1997, HIV moved from being ranked as the 39th leading cause of death worldwide to the 11th.

In the second phase, from 1998 to 2005, incidence declined by 25.4%. But because of the lag between infection and mortality, the number of deaths caused by HIV increased.

In the third phase, from 2005 to 2015, the mass scaling of prevention of mother-to-child transmission and antiretrovirals – particularly in low-income sub-Saharan Africa – led to several developments. These included declining HIV mortality, a stagnation in the decline of global incidence rates and steadily rising prevalence. These global patterns mask well documented but extraordinary heterogeneity across countries.

The need for HIV programmes, particularly antiretroviral ones, keeps growing. This is due to both the sustained high number of infections and the success of antiretrovirals in extending the lifespan of people living with HIV.

Dealing with the financing gap

Enormous progress has been made in reducing HIV deaths. This is particularly true in low-income countries. But this is mainly because programmes that prevent mother-to-child transmission and antiretroviral interventions, largely funded through development assistance for HIV, have been expanded.

This scaling up has been fuelled by the increase in development assistance for HIV from $1.3 billion in 2000 to $10.8 billion in 2015.

UNAIDS and other international development agencies hope that the growing need for funding will be partly solved by expanded health spending in low-income countries.

But the scarcity of adequate funds to provide antiretrovirals to people living with HIV – together with the possibility of rising drug resistance to existing antiretroviral treatments – will make achieving the goal to end AIDS by 2030 extremely difficult.

In middle-income countries, increased commitments to funding health programmes from national budgets could fill the gap.

But domestic resources won’t be sufficient in low-income countries where, as in eastern and some southern sub-Saharan African countries, HIV rates are the highest.

Researchers have projected that government health expenditure in southern sub-Saharan Africa is going to increase from $30.8 billion in 2015 to $53.1 billion in 2030.

Meeting the needs of people living with HIV will require a combination of the following evidence-informed strategies:

• concentrating development assistance for HIV in these low-income countries;

• improving the efficiency of HIV programmes;

• increasing domestic financing;

• lowering the cost of treatment (including the prices of antiretrovirals); and

• reducing future incidence through more concerted efforts.

Development assistance efforts will also need to be scaled up if the free flow of low-cost generic drugs is hampered.

The World Health Organisation now recommends universal antiretroviral treatment for all people with HIV.

In 2015, only 41% of people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy. But the 90-90-90 goals imply that 81% should be receiving antiretrovirals and 73% will have viral suppression. No country has achieved this yet. To do so, antiretroviral coverage will need to be extended to at least 15.5 million additional people by 2020. This implies an addition of 3.1 million per year between 2015 and 2020, while ensuring complete treatment adherence.

It will require concerted efforts to scale up detection of new infections to meet the target of 90% of people knowing their status. The targeted expansion in antiretroviral therapy coverage would play an important part in reducing the still high number of people dying from HIV.

But such expansion has enormous cost implications in an era when even maintenance of coverage in some low-income settings could be at risk in the presence of declining development assistance for health.

Increased antiretroviral coverage might also play a part in reducing population transmission of HIV and therefore incidence. The quality of antiretroviral therapy embodied in the third 90 target of the UNAIDS strategy remains a major issue, as does the potential role of other care in extending survival.

Charles Wiysonge, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

CIGR is umbrella body of the world's agricultural engineers

Stellenbosch University distinguished professor and research chair Prof Umezuruike Linus Opara has been elected as the incoming president of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (Commission Internationale du Génie Rural or CIGR). It is the worldwide umbrella agricultural engineering organisation, and consists of a network of regional and national societies of agricultural engineering as well as private and public companies and individuals globally.

Prof Opara was elected to the position during the recent International Conference on Agricultural Engineering held in Denmark and organised by the European Society of Agricultural Engineers under the auspices of the CIGR.

The election means that he will first serve on the Presidium of the CIGR for two years as incoming president, before taking up the position as president around 2019. He will then serve the CIGR for another two years as past president. Prof Opara is the first engineer from sub-Saharan Africa to be elected into this position and his term coincides with the 90^th anniversary of the CIGR.

He will juggle his new responsibilities in tandem with those placed on him as holder of the DST-NRF South African Research Chair in Postharvest Technology at Stellenbosch University and as distinguished professor in the Department of Horticultural Science.

Prof Opara, who has been a SU staff member since 2009, is a recipient of the 2016 African Union Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Award for senior researchers. He qualified as an agricultural engineer from universities in Nigeria and New Zealand, and serves on numerous international committees and editorial boards. He is a fellow of the South African Institution of Agricultural Engineers. Prof Opara is also the founding president of the Pan African Society for Agricultural Engineering (AfroAgEng), which was established during a CIGR International Technical Symposium held at Stellenbosch University in 2012.

His multi-disciplinary research team is the leading group worldwide working on postharvest practices that improve the postharvest handling, packaging and marketing of pomegranate fruit. His research group also tests and develops packaging and quality control methods relevant to the handling and storage of fresh fruits and vegetables such as table grapes, citrus and apples. These efforts are focused on alleviating unnecessary food loss and waste, maintaining quality and adding value in the fruit and vegetable sector.

Although Stellenbosch University does not have a degree in agricultural engineering per se, Prof Opara says he is looking forward to using the new opportunity presented to him. He hopes it will help to deepen and strengthen the contributions of engineering and related programmes at SU in the agriculture, food and related sectors.

"The work of individual SU staff and postgraduate students in these areas are widely recognised by our peers, locally and internationally," he says. "Through collaboration and co-supervision we have several PhD and MEng students registered in the faculties of Engineering and AgriSciences working on different research topics in agricultural and biosystems engineering."

• Background information about Prof Linus Opara
  
  
• Photo caption:
  Prof Linus Opara (left) of Stellenbosch University with the immediate CIGR past president, Prof Tadeusz Juliszewski of Poland. Photo: Supplied

​

On 18 July 2016, the Military Academy members participated in 67 minutes as part of Mandela Day celebrations, in order to make a change in the Saldanha Military Area, as well as in the Saldanha Bay community.  This year the Military Academy collaborated with members from Arcelor Mittal, under the guidance of Ms Lebo Mokete.

Under the leadership of the Military Academy Sergeant Major, Master Warrant Officer Cedric Abrahams, the students and staff members were divided into teams and several areas were attended to.

Inside the Military Base, the two children's play parks were cleaned and the play equipment were repaired.  Another grouping cleaned the beach at North Bay as well as the braai areas at the bay.  Members also cleaned the historical graveyard of the Sadie family inside the base.

Three Day Care Centres were attended to during the day.  At Hopland Day Care Centre, members cleaned the yard by cutting the grass and cleaning the premises.  The mess personnel of the Military Academy under the leadership of Warrant Officer Class 1 Gordon Phongolo handed out soop and bread to the children and staff of the centre.  At the Albertina Sisulu Day Care Centre, the Military Academy members planted tyres along their pathway and cleaned the whole area.  They used paint donated by Arcelor Mittal to paint all the outside play equipment.  The Military Academy also donated carpets for their classes.  At the Mfesane Day Care Centre, members cleaned the play area and fixed their fence, as well as donated some carpets to the centre.

Through a collaboration with Arcelor Mittal, the Military Academy tended to a household full of young children of which the eldest is 20 years old.  Bedding, food, etc were donated.  Arcelor Mittal will replace their house structure in the near future and the Military Academy student community interaction group (Masiza) will visit them regularly and act as mentors for these young people.

Another group lend their support towards the Anglican Church in Saldanha, where the walls were scrubbed, gutters cleaned and shrubs and rubbish were removed.  The trees and plants around the church were also trimmed.  The last group assisted the West Coast Association for Persons with Disabilities (APD Centre) to clean the area and establish a vegetable and herb garden with plants donated by Arcelor Mittal.

Although this day was about giving, the Military Academy members received irreplaceable moments and memories of gratitude by interacting with the different entities and people.  It also reflected the Military Academy's commitment to the community and the overall aim of 67 minutes.

Photos and Article: Major Engela Meintjes (Military Academy Communication Officer)

Photos

1 – Sergeant Barry Plaatjies (left) and Captain Swipey Lourens taking a donated carpet inside the Mfesane Centre

2 – Members at the Albertina Sisulu Day Care Center

The Beyers Naudé Archive houses many good protest artworks especially in the Pro Veritate collection and the Belydende Kring (literally: "Confessing Circle") which offered theological commentary on relevant social matters. Botha included some of these artworks in his powerpoint presentation to point out that many of the causes Beyers Naudé pursued are stil relevant in the South Africa of today where they keep society divided.

Among the topics discussed were reconciliation, migrant labour, economic injustice and racial segregation -  issues that are still prominent in society today, especially in Stellenbosch. The aim of the talk was for the audience to think critically about the society they live in and help maintain. Beyers Naudé's message was firstly that there should be an awareness of the prevailing injustice. Secondly that each person initially as an individual then as a community should together take responsibility for a future non-racial, more equal and free democracy where everyone's dignity is acknowledged, not only constitutionally but also by the people and institutions in the country.

Botha told the audience that it was both an honour and challenge for him to allow Beyers Naudé's words to challenge him as a Christian in the NG Church.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, with millions of people worldwide affected by this crippling disease. The extent of the disease burden has not been well determined in South Africa, but the National Arthritis Foundation in the USA reports that one in five people over the age of 18 have OA.

"Although this disease has been largely attributed to 'wear and tear' or degenerative disease, newer studies suggest that obesity - which is a risk factor for OA - may cause OA resulting from the discharge of substances released from fatty tissue which cause inflammation," said Dr Mou Manie, Head of the Division of Rheumatology at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The disease affects people differently, with joint damage developing over years or in some cases more quickly. It can have a negative influence on the patient's physical well-being, as well as an adverse effect on lifestyle and finances.

Dr Manie answered the most frequently asked questions about this disease.

Osteoarthritis (OA) – FAQ`s

1.    What is OA?

Arthritis is a term meaning inflammation of a joint or joints. OA is a form of arthritis resulting from degeneration of the protective cartilage which lines the ends of the bones around the joint.

2.    How common is OA?

It is the most common form of arthritis. The onset is typically in the fifth decade of life and it progressively affects increasing numbers of people, so that by the age of 70 years most individuals will be affected by this disease.

With increasing numbers of people living to an older age, OA is likely to be an important contributor to the burden of disease affecting the musculoskeletal system.

3.    Why should members of the public and organisations know about OA?

OA comes in various guises and many people have the condition without knowing about it. Not only is OA the most common form of arthritis, but it is also is an important contributor to the global burden of disease. In a study done in Cape Town it was found that one of the forms of OA, namely mechanical backache, was a very common cause of sick leave, thus having an adverse effect on the economy of the country.

4.    Which joints are affected by OA?

The joints typically affected are the hands, where the distal and proximal (front and back) finger joints and the base of the thumb are affected. Other joint areas affected include the knees, hips, base of the big toe, lower cervical spine and lower lumbar spine.

5.    What are the risk factors for developing OA?

The well-known predisposing factors for OA are:

• Age.
• Gender – females are more commonly affected than males.
• Genetic – the nodal (bump) form affecting mainly the hands (see below), tends to run in families. In contrast, in the form of disease which affects the weight bearing joints such as the knee and hip, the genetic component is not that strong.
• Obesity – this is thought to be the result of weight bearing and strain, especially of the knee joint.
• Previous joint damage, particularly of the cartilage. Typical examples of these include:
• Trauma.
• The presence of joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and gout.
• Abnormalities of the underlying cartilage caused by other illnesses such as Perthes' disease.
  
   

6.    How does one distinguish between OA and other forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and gout?

The main distinguishing features are the distribution of the joints affected and the nature of the pain. In OA the pain is typically made worse by activity, whereas in RA the pain is relieved by activity. In OA, the hands are affected, but the disease generally spares the wrist and elbows, whereas with RA the joint involvement is often more widespread and the associated morning stiffness is often more prolonged. In gout, the onset is characteristically more acute and is not an uncommon cause of a single very painful and swollen joint. It is also not uncommon for OA to occur in a patient with gout and vice versa.
 

7.    How is OA treated?

There is no cure for OA and therapy consists mainly of medication such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or diclofenac, which relieves pain and inflammation. In those patients with nodal OA of the hands, disease modifying therapy like chloroquine may result in relief of the severe pain and inflammation that some patients experience.

Topical applications such as methyl salicylate ointment have been shown to be of benefit. A more recently launched complementary topical gel called Flexiseq has shown some promise.

Evidence is lacking that over the counter therapies such as glucosamine and chondroitin works, but some patients report relief of symptoms. In cases where a single joint is involved, for example those with OA of the knee, physiotherapy and weight reduction may be of value. In very severe cases surgery, such as a knee or a hip replacement, may be necessary.

8.    Are there any new developments or novel ideas in the field of OA?

Despite extensive research internationally, the search for more options, including the use of biologic agents (genetically-engineered proteins derived from human genes) for changing the course of the disease, has not yielded convincing results.

Of interest is that whereas OA has been thought to be a largely "wear and tear" or degenerative disease, newer studies suggest that obesity - which is a risk factor for OA - may cause OA resulting from the release of substances released from fatty tissue which cause inflammation.

Newer studies also suggest that although the primary target for joint damage is the cartilage lining the joints, other factors such as bony abnormalities and altered pain perception may also be involved in the aetiology of OA.

Media enquiries

Mandi Barnard
Marketing Coordinator
+27 (0)21 938 9505
mandi@sun.ac.za
Division of Marketing and Communications
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences     
Stellenbosch University                            

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A new research unit geared towards making TB drugs safe and accessible for children recently opened its doors at the Brooklyn Chest Hospital.

"It is a child's human right to be given medication in doses that are safe and effective, and in a form that is easy to take," said Prof Mariana Kruger, head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Stellenbosch University (SU), at the opening of the new Paediatric Pharmacokinetics (PK) Unit at the Desmond Tutu TB Centre. According to her considerable numbers of drugs are being used "off label" in children because no safety trials have been done in this group.

"Children have been underserved in the field of TB," said Dr Tony Garcia-Prats, the medical director of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre Paediatric PK Unit at Brooklyn Chest Hospital. "In order to improve access to safe, effective treatment, this unit will test how best to use TB drugs in children with drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB."

The unit is helping to conduct the first ever trial of a new TB drug (delamanid) in children and their research has already helped to identify its paediatric dosing in children six years and older. They will also study the safety and dosing of a new TB drug (bedaquiline) in children, and their other research studies are contributing to efforts to develop child-friendly TB drug formulations that are dissolvable and pleasant tasting.

The unit has also led the first study of TB drugs in small babies under one year of age, which is informing treatment and research in this especially vulnerable group. The DTTC is also planning a study of bedaquiline in children with MDR-TB, along with several other trials, including treatment shortening for children with drug-susceptible TB.

"The research you are doing here will not only improve the lives of South African children but will have an impact globally, as it informs international guidelines on the use of these drugs. We are very proud of the work the Desmond Tutu Centre is doing," said Prof Nico Gey van Pittius, Vice Dean for Research at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).

Prof Anneke Hesseling, head of the DTTC and Director of the Paediatric TB Programme, attributed the centre's success to strong partnerships with stakeholders like the Western Cape Department of Health, local communities and other research institutions. She also acknowledged the work done by senior paediatric TB researchers at the FMHS that has laid the scientific foundation on which the DTTC and the Paediatric PK Unit are built, as well as the pioneering work in adult TB trials and support given to the paediatric group by TASK Applied Sciences, led by Prof Andreas Diacon.

"This new paediatric unit is the culmination of work done over several decades. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, and we are fortunate that these giants are still among us and we continue to learn from them," said Hesseling. To honour the enormous contributions that Profs Peter Donald and Simon Schaaf have made to paediatric TB (both NRF A-rated researchers and distinguished professors at the FMHS), the administrative and clinical buildings at the Paediatric PK Unit are named after each of them respectively.

"The ongoing research at this unit, as well as the research planned for the future, is informing clinical care and local and international guidelines on an almost real-time basis given the large research gaps in the field of treatment of MDR-TB in children and the enormous burden of TB disease in children in the Western Cape.  This unit offers a significant opportunity to impact positively on the lives of children and their families affected by TB in the Western Cape," Hesseling said.

Caption: Profs Mariana Kruger, Simon Schaaf and Nico Gey van Pittius in front of the "Simon Schaaf Clinical Building" at the opening of the Paediatric Pharmacokinetic Unit.

A new method of male contraception that is as effective as a vasectomy, but will be entirely reversible and has little or no side-effects, is expected to become available within the next two years.

"If successful, this will drastically change the field of contraception," said Stellenbosch University (SU) urologist, Dr Amir Zarrabi, of a new male contraceptive that is currently showing promising results in human trials.

"It will give couples a lot of flexibility. They will have a safe and reliable form of contraception – with no hormonal effects or other side effects – that can be reversed when they want to start a family," he said ahead of the Western Cape Sterilisation Week marked from 23 to 27 July.

The new contraceptive, Vasalgel, which is currently being tested by the American Parsemus Foundation, is a type of "no-scalpel vasectomy". Like a vasectomy, it also blocks the flow of sperm from the testicles to the penis, but instead of severing the tube that carries sperm (called the vas deferens) a gel is injected into the tube forming a barrier that blocks sperm, but allows other fluids to pass through.

"Vasalgel does not require any surgery. Although a vasectomy is a small procedure, it does carry some risks, like bleeding or infection, and there is also a small chance that a man might experience post-vasectomy pain due to pressure build-up in the testicles. Vasalgel does not carry any of these risks," explained Zarrabi, a specialist in male fertility and microsurgery at the Division of Urology at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Another major advantage of Vasalgel is that it is reversible and can be used as a short- or long-term form of contraception. When a couple wants to conceive the Vasalgel can be flushed from the vas deferens with an injection of a sodium bicarbonate solution.

Although Vasalgel is already being tested in humans, reversal has only been attempted in animal studies where it showed rapid restoration of sperm flow.

Zarrabi warns that although Vasalgel blocks the flow of sperm, it does not offer any protection against the transmission of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV.

Previous efforts to develop a male contraceptive focused on hormonal manipulation, which is how the contraceptive "pill" for women works.

"The male hormone testosterone is linked to sperm production and by lowering the testosterone level in a man's testicles you can prevent the production of sperm," Zarrabi explained.

"It sounds counter-intuitive, but to lower testosterone in the testicles, you have to increase testosterone levels in die blood. But study after study showed that there were too many unpleasant side-effects," said Zarrabi. Side-effects of increased testosterone levels in the blood include aggression, depression, fatigue, low libido, high blood pressure and an increase in cholesterol levels.

"Researchers tried to tweak the method by adding other hormones, like the female hormone progesterone, but at the end of the day it still had too many side effects and wasn't effective enough. The idea of the 'male pill' was abandoned a couple of years ago and most new research has been focusing on intra-vas devices like the Vasagel," said Zarrabi.

Five, four, three, two, one… Stellenbosch University alumnus, Dr Noel du Toit, is taking the plunge and braving the deep sea on 26 July to live and do research at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for eight days as part of a NASA mission.

The mission, known as NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project 21 (NEEMO 21), involves studying human/robotic interaction and preparing for future deep space missions. NEEMO missions typically involve sending three to four astronauts from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and other subject matter experts to live underwater for up to three weeks.

During these missions, the astronauts (known as aquanauts) focus on evaluating tools and techniques being tested for future space exploration. The aquanauts live in simulated spacecraft conditions and conduct simulated spacewalks outside of their undersea habitat (as though they are on the International Space Station). The mission takes place at the Aquarius habitat (https://aquarius.fiu.edu/), an undersea research station off the coast of Key Largo in Florida - the last facility of its kind in the world.

"I will be performing science tasks ranging from DNA sequencing to coral sampling, as well as human-robot interaction tasks. My stay will include five 'spacewalks' and a multitude of habitat-based science tasks and human physiology studies. This unique opportunity will result in me becoming one of less than 800 people around the world that have lived underwater like this," explains Du Toit, who currently works as a Research Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.  

Du Toit's focus is on the development and deployment of maritime robotic systems and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). "I have always been particularly interested in the ocean, and maritime robotics are the perfect way for me to utilise my technical training to contribute to society in a direct and meaningful way by providing increasingly capable technologies and tools to explore our oceans," he says.

He grew up outside of Pretoria on a rose farm, completed his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Maties and went to the United States in 2003 for graduate school. He obtained a Masters' degree from MIT in 2005 and a PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 2010. "My academic focus was on control theory and robotics, and I have worked on unmanned ground vehicles (self-driving cars), aerial vehicles (quad rotors and fixed-wing UAVs), surface vehicles and underwater vehicles," he says.

According to Du Toit, Stellenbosch University's world-class education gave him the ideal launch pad for his pursuit of engineering research. "There are many opportunities for graduate work in the States and beyond, and though that may not be an appropriate path for everyone, my sense is that the students in South Africa do not pursue those opportunities because they are unaware or simply do not believe it possible. My advice is: pursue your dreams because you will never know if you do not try."

• You can follow this mission live on https://aquarius.fiu.edu/media/watch-live/. For social media updates on Twitter, follow @aqua_dutoit; @NASA_NEEMO and on Facebook you can go to https://www.facebook.com/NASANEEMO/ and https://www.facebook.com/AquariusReefBase/
• Photos courtesy: Noel du Toit & NASA
  

South Africa's 162 sun loving dragonfly species are not only beautiful to watch, but are also helping conservationists, water managers and farmers get to grips with the state of local freshwater sources, such as rivers, streams and dams. To show how this can be done, two Stellenbosch University (SU) researchers have written a new book which sets out how these insects can be used as freshwater monitors. The new 224-page full colour Manual of Freshwater Assessment for South Africa: Dragonfly Biotic Index is written and compiled by Prof Michael Samways, renowned insect conservationist of the SU Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, and water ecologist Dr John Simaika, a research fellow in the SU Department of Soil Science.

"Using dragonflies in freshwater assessments is so simple, because they are relatively easy to identify," says Prof Samways. "All you need is a good guide, a pair of close-focus binoculars, and a sunny day."

The book synthesizes the research they have been doing together over the past decade to compile an easy-to-use biotic index that is relevant for South African water systems. In the process they have also been involved in finding new species or re-discovering ones that were thought to have become extinct.

The manual, which contains full-colour photographs and line drawings, can also be used as a field guide to locate and identify dragonfly species. Many of the photographs were taken by the authors themselves during the course of their research work on dragonflies, a broad term used for the true and familiar dragonflies as well as the small and usually more slender and delicate damselflies.

Dr Simaika describes the book as an easy read. "It is easily accessible, as anyone can download it, print it or share it, anywhere in the world," he notes.

The manual is available as a book or on CD, and will also be made available to download for free in the near future. It is published by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), as part of its Suricata series.

"Books such as this one are a great starting point for getting people to care about something. If only one in ten readers were to think more deeply about freshwater conservation, then we will have done a good job," adds Dr Simaika. "I hope it will also encourage people already working in the water sector, particularly in the water resource arena, to think differently about freshwater biodiversity conservation, which all too often takes a back seat to providing water for human uses."

Why use dragonflies to assess freshwater systems?

Dragonflies are found in all parts of the world, except in the Polar Regions. Some are highly sensitive to any human impact, while others are real opportunists that are able to live in the most artificial of habitats, such as cattle troughs and even bird baths. "This range of sensitivities makes dragonflies very useful as good indicators of freshwater quality and conservation," says Prof Samways.

"When a water system becomes degraded through for instance pollution or damming there is always a change in the species found in an area, with a shift from sensitive specialists towards more generalists that are not that particular," he elaborates. "if you know which species are present in and around a water source you are able to measure the extent to which a freshwater body is for instance returning to its original condition after being polluted or after the clearing of alien plants."

How does the scoring system highlighted in the manual work?

Prof Samways and Dr Simaika developed their dragonfly biotic system over the course of the past decade.

"One of the advantages of the dragonfly biotic index is that you do not have to wade into water to collect samples when you want to do an assessment, but can do so from the reasonable comfort of a streambank or the edge of a dam," Prof Samways adds on a practical note.

The index takes three main features of each of the 162 South African species into account. Scores are given to each species, and these can be weighed up when weighing up the state of different water sources.

The features used are:

• The general distribution of a species (for instance if it is commonly found over a wide area, or only in a few localities);
• Its threat status (whether it is rated as threatened or near extinct on the so-called 'Red List' of the International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources); and
• Its sensitivity towards changes by humans to the water sources around which it is found.

When a system deteriorates there is a shift in the total scores of all the species present, from high to low. When the system improves again, there is a subsequent shift in the other direction.

"In short, we can use dragonflies to determine whether we should be worried about a system which is going downhill, or how well we are doing to improve another, " adds Dr Simaika.

The book is sold in most bookshops of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (bookshop@sanbi.org.za), or can be ordered from Prof Michael Samways at samways@sun.ac.za.

General information about the book:

• Suggested citation: Samways, M.J. & Simaika, J.P. (2016). Manual of Freshwater Assessment for South Africa: Dragonfly Biotic Index, Suricata 2. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
• ISBN: 978-1-928224-05-1
• It is available as a book or on CD, and will be free to download soon from http://biodiversityadvisor.sanbi.org/literature/4327-2/suricata/

Added information:

• 162 species of dragonflies have so far been recorded in South Africa.
• Of these, one in every five is endemic and found nowhere else in the world.
• Most South African species prefer full sunlight conditions.
• Alien plants and pollution are among the threats posed to our local species.

Staff and students on the Tygerberg Campus once again celebrated Mandela Day this year in the spirit of caring, giving and sharing for which they are well-known.

The management team of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, together with the Tygerberg Hospital's Facility Board and management team, started a week of celebrations on Monday, 18 July, when they distributed the first of more than 500 comfort packs to patients in Tygerberg Hospital.

Ms Nadia Goliath managed this initiative from the office of Dr Therese Fish, Vice Dean: Clinical Services and Social Impact. Staff contributed generously and zealously assisted with the packing and distribution of the gift packs, which included toiletries, scarfs and beanies. The Hospital Facilities' Board under the leadership of Ms De Jager donated cloth bags in which to pack the goodies. Donations were also received from Giant Hyper, Pepkor's IT Department and JDW Pathology Inc.

Gift packs were also given to the mothers who are staying with their babies and children in the Tygerberg Children's Hospital. The children and babies received brightly coloured knitted blankets and toys.

Goliath said the patients highly appreciated the gift packs. "An elderly gentleman commented that 'Stellenbosch University is like family' and the moms in the children's wards were surprised to be included."

Ms Marsha Maker of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre said she felt blessed that she could be part of the project. "It made me feel humble and grateful to participate and keep Madiba's legacy alive."

The balance of the items will go to the Tygerberg Hospital's social services to continue to provide some basic items to the patients admitted into the hospital. "We can give dignity to our community through a very simple act," said Dr Paul Ciapparelli, Director of Clinical Services at Tygerberg Hospital

Students thank Nursing Staff

Tygerberg students distributed approximately 1 700 chocolates, each wrapped with a special message, to the nursing staff at Tygerberg Hospital in acknowledgement of their contribution to their education. "We included as many students as possible so that they could make eye contact with the nursing staff and thank them in person for their selfless help," said Ms Adri Brits, the Administrative Head of the Tygerberg Student Council.

The Task Team on Rape Culture invites all Stellenbosch University (SU) students to a conversation to get as much information, feedback, and ideas from the student community as possible.

• The conversation is to be held 12:30 - 14:00 in Lecture Hall 1012 in the Wilcocks Building on Thursday 28 July.

At the conversation, the members of the Task Team will be introduced while the progress that the Task Team has made over the last few months and current thoughts on terms and definitions will also be discussed.

"Although there is strong student representation on the Task Team, we would like to use this opportunity to listen to even more student voices and to get their recommendations, thoughts and ideas about this very important issue," says Dr Birgit Schreiber, Senior Director: Student Affairs and chairperson of the Task Team. "We can only address this issue successfully if we all work together."

The Task Team, that was appointed by the Rector's Management earlier this year to investigate rape culture at the University, met for the first time in March to determine to what extent rape culture exists at the institution. Since then the Task Team made much progress with, among others, practices perpetuating rape culture at the University that were identified and as well as ideas on how to address these practices that are currently being discussed.

A rape culture website (link?) was created and the Task Team welcomes feedback on the website. The Task Team will also put out a survey among students to get feedback from a large number of students.

• Liaise with Maretha Joyce at tel 0218084585, email mjoyce@sun.ac.za for more information.

When first-year MB,ChB student Terrence Mngomezulu heard a few people singing gospel songs for fun, the seed to start a gospel choir on the Tygerberg campus was planted.

Mngomezulu, who was part of the youth choir and the Catholic choir in his hometown of Pietermaritzburg, put a post on Facebook inviting friends to join a yet-to-exist choir, the only requirements being a musical talent and a passion to sing praise to God. "It was really hard to start something that never existed before, but I had this sense of urgency pushing me," he recalls.

That was in March 2014. Now, more than two years later, the choir has grown from 15 people to its current 45 enthusiastic members.

"We were a little worried that the choir wouldn't work because of the low initial turnout, but we weren't disheartened," says Busi Maphanga, a fourth-year MB,ChB student that has been a member of the choir since its inception and is now chairperson of the group.

"At first we just looked for easy songs on YouTube and practiced to see if it worked out. It wasn't easy because we didn't have a professional to teach us," she recalls. "We would just listen to a song, work out the harmonies and start singing." But the effort paid off and soon they started sounding like a choir.

The word spread and more people started to join. Before long they had 35 members and enough people in all the voice groups. "We were ready to start performing."

Their first performance was at a Tygerberg Student Council (TSR) event which was held in the Tygerberg Student Centre (TSS). "We were all nervous and not sure how the campus would receive us. We performed two songs and the crowd cheered! That was the beginning of this amazing journey," Maphanga reminisces.

The choir still doesn't have a professional conductor and is currently led by Sharon Mathole (MB,Chb II) and Mmathapelo Malope (MB,ChB IV). "Both the conductors have musical backgrounds and have been involved in their respective serenade (sêr) groups," Maphanga explains.

According to Mngomezulu, despite the lack of professional instruction, the choir has served as a platform where many members have honed their skills before being accepted in the Stellenbosch University Choir.

Once a semester they have a choir camp to learn new songs and to get to know each other better. "The Tygerberg Gospel Choir is not only a choir, but is has become family," says Maphanga.

The choir mainly sings gospel and traditional songs in different languages.

Last year the choir performed at the Stellenbosch Woordfees and annually they also perform at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences' Gala Concert. They also organise a "Clash of the Choirs" event where they invite different choirs to perform to help raise funds. They have been requested to perform at various events — from fundraisers to culture evenings and birthday parties. One of the choir's aims is to get involved in bigger projects and perform nationally.

Mngomezulu says sometimes he still can't believe that what was once only an idea is now a community of people with a common goal: "We are a multiracial group that challenge ourselves to break down walls and spread God's love through music."

• Membership is open to all Stellenbosch University students and staff that have musical talent, commitment, a good understanding of how to read music and a passion to worship God. The choir is non-denominational.
• Practice is every Thursday from 17:00 to 19:00, unless there is an end-of-block week when practice moves to a Monday.
• If you're interested in joining or for information about upcoming events, you can email Busi Maphanga at 16482638@sun.ac.za or visit their Facebook page.

"While many researchers who write about South Africa's history view history from a political perspective, my research is an attempt to look at the history from an entirely different perspective. Music offers that other lens. Many people listen to music, and my research shows that there is a link between the music we listen to and the values we hold."

This is the view of Dr Schalk van der Merwe, who is not only a lecturer but also a freelance bass guitar player, on his research on the history of Afrikaans music in South Africa that he did as part of his doctoral thesis in the History Department. Van der Merwe obtained his PhD degree from Stellenbosch University in December last year.

"It was my attempt to look at ordinary people," says Van der Merwe.

His thesis analyses the interaction between political events and popular music, with specific reference to recorded Afrikaans music over the last 115 years. It started with the first recordings of the national folk songs of the Boer republics during the Anglo-Boer War and concluded with expressions of racial exclusivity in post-apartheid Afrikaans pop music. His research provides examples of the support of, and resistance against, the master narrative of Afrikaner nationalism as it existed for large parts of the twentieth century, and also provides examples of how these values still are manifested in the present.

"By using popular music as a lens, a clearer idea could be obtained of the lives of ordinary people, viewed against the background of fundamental social and political change. By creating an overview of popular music over a long historical period, certain noticeable themes in the development of Afrikaner culture over this period – for example class tension and the repeated attempts of cultural nationalistic entrepreneurs to co-opt popular Afrikaans music for the Afrikaner nationalistic project – are exposed," he explains.

The first Afrikaans music recordings, says Van der Merwe, were recorded by musicians who lived in London in the early 1900s. By studying that music he could look at how these artists depicted their identity at that time.

"It was clear from music and correspondence that some of them were stalwart nationalists and also supporters of Hertzog. In my investigation I therefore did not concentrate on what the music sounded like, but at how the political history is reflected across the various decades of recordings. For example, in the thirties there was conflict between record companies that released country music (boeremusiek) records and the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK; Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Associations) – basically the FAK did not like the country music of the time because they regarded it as inferior. Afrikaners outside the FAK, however, thought very differently of their culture and Afrikaner music," says Van der Merwe.

His research also highlights the power struggle and elitism that developed between Dutch Afrikaners and other Afrikaners in the first decades of the 20^th century.

"To make recordings therefore also was a form of nationalism," he says. "For example, there were very strong class elements in the music – there was your country music and then you had the FAK, which had strong nationalistic links to the Broederbond. The only capital that they had as journalists, ministers of religion and teachers was their culture. The FAK therefore was strongly opposed to this other Afrikaans culture of listening to music and dancing and partying. There are even articles on how poor Afrikaners spent their money on records and music!"

Although Van der Merwe's research focuses specifically on Afrikaans music that was recorded by white artists, he explains that Afrikaans music has strong influences from all sides.

"Just as Afrikaans is a fluid and multiracial language with many cultures that influence it, so also is Afrikaans music. The roots of boeremusiek, which has now become such a big white symbol, are not nearly exclusively white. It was just that the coloured artists at the time were not given many chances to record their music.

"Some of the important fathers of country music, such as Hendrik Susan, performed with black jazz musicians such as the Jazz Maniacs in the thirties and he is known as the father of light Afrikaans music," says Van der Merwe.

He adds that kwêla music, for example, became very popular among white musicians after they heard the music style from young, black boys who played their penny whistles to while away the time while they waited for their mothers in the afternoons – women who usually worked as domestic workers in white communities.

In the sixties, Afrikaans music developed a strong European flavour with recordings such as Gé Korsten's Erika. "There was a positioning of Afrikaner culture as something European, as something that was not from Africa."

At the same time very little was sung about the political climate in South Africa, and especially about apartheid, but, says Van der Merwe, "that apparent hegemony had started to unravel, especially after events such as the Soweto uprising in 1976, as well as the arrival of TV in South Africa the same year."

"The border war also had a very big impact on the psyche of white men, and therefore the music of the seventies and eighties started to focus more on such issues."

During the eighties, artists started talking more about the border experience and the deconstruction of the male protector through cabaret and literature, and one also started seeing more of these sentiments in Afrikaans music.

"I think the Voëlvry movement in 1989 was the most acute outburst of this. Before this, David Kramer started projecting a clear message by means of his work, among others also with the late Taliep Petersen."

At the onset of the post-apartheid years in the 1990s there again was a resurgence of Afrikaans music and a growth in music festivals.

Besides playing bass guitar for groups such as Delta Blue and, more recently, Bed on Bricks, Van der Merwe also performs with Karen Zoid on a regular basis (and can be seen in her award-winning TV series Republiek van Zoid-Afrika), and he has also worked with some of South Africa's best-known Afrikaans artists, such as Anton Goosen, Laurika Rauch and Valiant Swart.

"Because I am a musician myself I have worked with many artists in the Afrikaans music industry and therefore know it quite well. The irony is that politics and Afrikaans music now is something that is more prominent among some mainstream artists, and no longer alternatives as in the eighties. The political content also differs completely. Artists such as Steve Hofmeyr, for example, appear regularly in the media in relation to political remarks on Afrikaner identity. His concerts function as culturally homogenous – and exclusive – platforms where people of a particular conviction feel safe to say what they want to say and that cannot necessarily be said in a public space – and that naturally can be problematic."

On his own research and the contribution that it has made to research on the history of Afrikaans music, as well as the impact of his research on current debates on the development of Afrikaans within university environments, Van der Merwe says: "My research offers a critical view on, and is a deconstruction of, the white verstalting of Afrikaans. It is an attempt to show how Afrikaans culture was subjected to a system that wanted to send it in a specific direction.

"I hope it is a history that shows how wide the boundaries are of what it means to be Afrikaans."