​A major, new study on the country's emerging Shadow State

Wearing the green and gold for the first time at the IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports) World Games in 2011. Being selected for the SA World Champs team in 2013. Kicking the conversion as fullback of Paul Roos Gymnasium's second team to draw the match against Grey College in matric.

These are just a few of Kerwin Noemdo's (22) sporting highlights and this fourth-year BSc Conservation Ecology student at Stellenbosch University (SU) will no doubt add to them when he competes at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London from 14-23 July.

Kerwin, along with fellow Maties Parasport athletes Charl du Toit, Anruné Liebenberg, Dyan Buis, Arnu Fourie, Ilse Hayes, Zanele Situ, Reinhardt Hamman and debutant Ruhan van Rooyen, have all been included in the team to represent South Africa at this elite event.

"It's a huge honour to represent my country again and I'm extremely happy, but also relieved. I made many sacrifices since 2013 and it was a huge disappointment not to make the World Champs team in 2015. It was a tough journey, but I'm glad I pushed through." 

As a below-elbow arm amputee, Kerwin will compete in the shot put and discus events in the F47 category and he hopes to achieve personal best results in both events. Ultimately this athlete, who was only 13 years old when he participated in his first national championships after being noticed by a member of the South African Sports Association for Physically Disabled, hopes to represent his country at the Paralympic Games.

As an unborn baby, the umbilical cord wrapped around his wrist and he was born with a small, deformed right hand. A few of months after his birth the doctors decided to amputate.

This hasn't stopped him from participating in sport.

"I obviously did not know how it was to have two hands, so I learnt how to play with one hand and adapted accordingly. I played soccer and cricket in primary school and rugby all the way up until matric (2012). I enjoy all sports, but if I have to choose a favourite it will no doubt be rugby. I am a real fanatic."

It comes as no surprise that his sporting hero is a rugby player – former All Black Dan Carter.

"He was arguably the best player at his time, but he always seemed humble. He would just go about his business getting the job done without being loud or getting in anyone's face."

As a student-athlete, Kerwin knows how important it is to put your head down and get the job done. Apart from being a final-year student hoping to graduate at the end of this year, he also trains approximately 12 to 14 hours per week under the guidance of Karin le Roux, who has been his coach since 2010.

"It was a struggle at the beginning (to balance sport and studies), but you get used to it quite quickly. You need to find and work out a system that is best for you. Once you have a fixed routine, it becomes easier to stay focused."

It helps being a resident of Huis Neethling, a SU residence housing mostly student-athletes.

"Being in this environment helps you when you're feeling a bit demotivated. We understand one another, talk about familiar things, and figure out ways to overcome challenges. It also helps when you see another student-athlete studying and realise that you should put in a couple of hours behind the books too, otherwise you will fall behind."

Kerwin chose conservation ecology because he has a real passion for nature and wildlife, especially animals.

"The protection of ecosystems and wildlife is of extreme importance to our survival, and not many people realise this," he says.

He is also a High-Performance Integrated Medicine & Science (IMAS) bursary holder. This bursary is awarded to athletes who have shown exceptional performance in their sport, and assists the athlete to enhance his/her performance through integrated interventions across the areas of sport medicine, performance enhancement and empowerment

"Being an IMAS bursary holder helps in many different ways. Obviously the financial burden is lifted a bit which always helps. But the services that are offered to us, whether it is physiotherapy sessions, gym sessions and even mental sessions, are also very valuable. The whole support structure plays a massive role in making a student-athlete's life much easier."

Kerwin also counts on his family for support.

"They had and always will have the biggest influence on my life. They all play a key role in everything I do and why I do it."

​Photo credit: Martin Potgieter, Bonzai Photograpby

​As a popular South African dance form, 'Langarm' often conjures up images of couples sokkie dancing sedately to the beat of Afrikaans pop music. This is especially how many white South Africans view Langarm.

But 'Langarm' as we know it today, is more than just sokkie; it has a rich history and was already used as a form of recreation and entertainment in the Cape during the colonial period.

Having been influenced by many styles of dance and music over time, such as English Country Dancing, the Quadrille or Square Dances, military dance bands and Cape Malay Quadrille Bands, 'Langarm' over time became increasingly popular especially within the Coloured community.

"The term 'Langarm' was in widespread use by the so-called Coloured communities of District Six and the Cape at large in the late twentieth century, to refer to the then current Ballroom dances and dance bands as well as earlier Ballroom dances and dance bands from the 1930's onward," says Michael Dunseith who recently completed his Master's Degree in Musicology at Stellenbosch University. He's currently exploring additional topics of research for publication, inspired by his thesis.

Inspired by the late Willie Jales' passion for preserving the legacy of Coloured 'Langarm' dance bands in the Cape, Dunseith explored the meaning 'Langarm' holds for the Coloured people of Cape Town, and its origins in Ballroom dancing. Jales was a tenor and alto saxophonist, originally from District Six, who lead both a Christmas Choir and a Ballroom-Langarm dance band, namely Willie's Starlite Orchestra.  

During the course of his research, Dunseith used primary and secondary sources to collect historical data and also conducted numerous interviews with leaders and members of two active dance bands: The Strand Combo and Kallie's Dance Band from Grabouw, in addition to attending many of their functions.

Dunseith followed Jales' lead and joined the terms Ballroom-Langarm in a duel language moniker that clearly positions the culture firmly rooted in classic Ballroom practice but with a local flavour especially to be found in the use of the vastrap rhythm, which was exclusively used in the Square Dances but is currently used for loose dancing or line dances.

"The Coloured people of the Cape have embraced the term 'Langarm' as their own and for them, it refers specifically to a Ballroom dance event and the dancing and music associated with it," says Dunseith.

"No other cultural group in South Africa manifest an evening of Ballroom-Langarm dancing in the same way that the members of the Coloured community do, with a high level of traditional Ballroom skills as well as the remnants of the 'Squares' utilising the vastrap rhythm which has now been adapted to modern versions of the American line dance, echoing strongly the old Longways of the English Country Dances."

According to Dunseith, research has shown that the Ballroom-Langarm music and dance practices of the Coloured people of the Cape, represent an unbroken tradition of musicianship and dance skills that span from the beginnings of the Cape colony until the present.

Regarding the future of 'Langarm' dance, Dunseith says it is far from dead. "According to research consultant Shireen Steenkamp, a leading dance teacher in Cape Town, there are at least fifty small dance studios functioning within the Cape Town Metropole and teaching the next generation of Ballroom-Langarm dancers."

"The ages of those in attendance at these events, which take place regularly across the Cape Town Metropole in town and community Halls, are evenly spread across all age groups from mid-twenties upward and this applies to the band members as well. There are approximately ten top dance bands that function in the Cape Town Metropole, which rely on fundraising efforts for revenue."

Dunseith says there is still a strong awareness and knowledge of formal Ballroom-Langarm dancing among patrons of all ages as well as the dance bands and their choice of music.

"As long as this awareness can be maintained, through the help of the dance studios, combined with the fun and comradery of the new line dances, the dancing public will continue to enjoy these unique events as prime occasions for social interaction in a fun and civil environment within the community."

Pictures:

Top:

Bottom:

This is an example of a band in action circa 1950's. It is the May-Wedel Troubadours from District Six. Davy May and the Wedel brothers were the founders of the band. Davy May was a mentor to Willie Jales and lived down the road from his family house in District Six. Courtesy of Jerome Jales and the Willie Jales Collection.

​We aim to collect non-perishable food items and toiletries for students who are in dire need.

As part of Mandela Day celebrations, we would like encourage all fellow students, residences, PSO and student societies to donate toiletries (comfort packs) and non-perishable food items to students who are in dire need. 

The following items are needed:

Non-perishable food items

• baked beans                           tinned mixed vegetables,
• peas                                        tinned fish
• sweetcorn                               rice
• oats                                         two minute noodles
• tea                                           packet soups
• sugar
• pasta and any other nutritional non-perishable food

Comfort packs

Toiletry packs should please contain the following basic items:

• soap                                        vaseline
• toothpaste                               body lotion
• roll-on                                      small packed of washing powder

Use your 67 minutes to deliver these items from the 17^th until 28^th of July 2017 to the following drop-off points:

• The Registrar's Division;
• Centre for Student Counselling and Development (SSVO) at 37 Victoria Street or the Office of the Social Worker at 49 Victoria Street
• Transformation Office at Admin A Building (Use the IT Hub Entrance);
• Office of Interpreting service (Language Centre), Room 1028,  at Admin A Building;  (Use the IT Hub Entrance)
• MAD² Office in the Neelsie;
• Tygerberg Campus - TSS – (Adri Brits's Office)
• We would like to challenge each department/faculty to create their own drop–off points within their departments or faculties;
• Residences and PSO should have create their own drop-off points within their residences or clusters;

For enquiries, please contact the following staff members:

• Ghafsa Gamiet:        ghgamiet@sun.ac.za;     021 808 4833

• Cheryl Cornelissen: cherylc@sun.ac.za;       021 808 4182
• Lize Kruger:              lizek@sun.ac.za ;         021 808 4182
• Lizzie Witbooi:          lgwitbooi@sun.ac.za;    021 808 4511
• Grizelda Adams:       grizeldaa@sun.ac.za;   021 808 4010

•    Carla Johnson:         mad@sun.ac.za;           083 843 0878
•    Adri Brits:                  a3b@sun.ac.za;            021 938 9591

Stellenbosch University (SU) again improved its position on the QS World University Ranking 2017/18. SU is now second in South Africa after it was placed third in the 2016/17 rankings.

SU is now in position 361 on the rankings after it was ranked at number 395 last year. A total of 950 universities (43 more than last year) in 84 countries were included in the latest rankings.

The QS World Rankings for Universities is viewed as one of the most popular international rankings for universities. It is also the only global rankings that have been independently reviewed and approved by IREG, the Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence.

Universities included in the latest rankings were evaluated according to the following six performance indicators: academic reputation (40%), employer's reputation (10%), faculty / student ratio (20%), research citations per paper (20%), proportion of international faculty (5%) and proportion of international students (5%).

Prof Eugene Cloete, Vice-Rector: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, says that SU's view on rankings has always been to not place too much emphasis on them, that academic excellence is non-negotiable, that quality always comes first and that no attempt is being made to artificially influence any rankings.

"That said, we are delighted with our improvement on the rankings and regards it as a confirmation of SU's status as a world-class institution."

The University of Cape Town is still the best in South Africa – 191. The University of the Witwatersrand is now third –  at no. 364. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) still occupies the first place worldwide –  for the 6th consecutive year.

• See www.topuniversities.com for more information.

​

Stellenbosch University (SU)'s Division for Research Development (DRD) won two national awards on Wednesday (24th May 2017) for its contribution towards research management in Southern Africa.

The DRD won the Organisational Award for Excellence in Research Management at the annual Department of Science and Technology (DST)/Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) Excellence in Research and Innovation Management Awards. The winners were announced at a gala event at the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek, Namibia.

The annual DST/SARIMA Excellence in Research and Innovation Management Awards celebrate excellence in research and innovation management in Southern Africa. These awards also acknowledge and encourage growth and achievement in the field of research and innovation management as a key enabler of research and innovation outputs and impact.

The Organisational Award for Excellence in Research Management recognises an organisation that is considered to be a path setter in research and innovation management and which has made a significant impact on building, encouraging and championing research and innovation within their organisation over many years. The nomination criteria also include that such an organisation should have developed and implemented initiatives and interventions during the period under review (2016), and that they should have shared their knowledge of best practice with the R&I Management community or had an impact in the R&I Management community beyond their own organisation.

Expressing her gratitude for the award, Dr Therina Theron, Senior Director: Research and Innovation at the DRD, said: "As a team we are very happy and humbled to have receive this acknowledgement from our professional peers. It inspires and further strengthens the DRD's commitment to offer an excellent professional support service to our research community".

At the same ceremony, Ms Aasima Gaffoor, also from the DRD, received the Award for Excellence in Early Career Research Management. This award recognises individuals who are newcomers (less than 5 years in the profession), who have demonstrated achievement within their own organisation, have contributed to improvements in processes/systems related to their role within their organisation, have contributed to the standing of the research or innovation support function at their organisation, and/or have shown engagement in the broader R&I community through involvement in relevant workshops, courses, conferences, etc.

"I am pleased and honoured to have received this award. It is a great motivator to continue to contribute to research management within our institution and beyond. The constant support and sound leadership provided by the Division for Research Development has afforded me the opportunity to grow and for that I am truly thankful," said Gaffoor.

• Main photo: Dr Therina Theron (middle) accepting the Organisational Award for Excellence in Research Management.
• Photo 1: Ms Aasima Gaffoor (middle) posing with the Award for Excellence in Early Career Research Management. Photographer: Elena Gaffurini
  

MORE ABOUT SARIMA

Established in 2002, the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association is a stakeholder organisation that provides a platform for the promotion and facilitation of best practice in research and innovation management in Southern Africa. It strengthens the research and innovation system to ensure the social and economic development of the Southern African region. For more information visit www.sarima.co.za.

​Yes, it is that time of the year again where the opportunity for social responsibility is given to staff and students who would like to get involved with volunteer work.  

The focus at institutional level is to create these opportunities in lieu of Mandela day with the vision of sustainability in effort for volunteer work, as well as ongoing involvement with volunteer work on a personal level.

The following information outlines the opportunities for volunteer work during the month of July 2017. If you wish to volunteer your time (67 minutes), please contact the relevant persons.

We aim to collect non-perishable food items and toiletries for students who are in dire need.

As part of Mandela Day celebrations, we would like encourage all fellow students, residences, PSO and student societies as well as staff to donate toiletries (comfort packs) and non-perishable food items to students who are in dire need. 

The following items are needed:

Non-perishable food items

Comfort packs

Toiletry packs should please contain the following basic items:

• soap                                 
• vaseline
• toothpaste                        
• body lotion
• roll-on                    
• small pack of washing powder
  

Use your 67 minutes to deliver these items from the 17^th until 28^th of July 2017 to the following drop-off points:

• The Registrar's Division;
• Centre for Student Counselling and Development (SSVO) at 37 Victoria Street or the Office of the Social Worker at 49 Victoria Street
• Transformation Office at Admin A Building (Use the IT Hub Entrance);
• Office of Interpreting service (Language Centre), Room 1028,  at Admin A Building;  (Use the IT Hub Entrance)
• MAD² Office in the Neelsie;
• Tygerberg Campus - TSS – (Adri Brits's Office)
• We would like to challenge each department/faculty to create their own drop–off points within their departments or faculties;
• Residences and PSO should have create their own drop-off points within their residences or clusters
  

Personnel are kindly requested to be extra vigilant by taking note of suspicious people entering campus buildings or attempting to gain access with personnel into buildings during recess.  Please take note of the following tips:

Keep your personal property safe
• Lock your office when leaving, even if it is just for a short while. Close the windows, especially those on the ground floor, even those fitted with burglar bars.
• Avoid leaving valuable items close to or in sight of windows, irrespective of it being open or closed.
• Do not leave office keys where it is easy to find, for example under a doormat.
• Lock away valuable items such as handbags, cell phones and wallets in a cabinet.
• Do not keep large amounts of cash inside an office.
• All personal valuables need to be taken with during the recess.
• Always walk in a group rather than alone. Be aware of your direct surroundings and be on the look-out for suspicious behaviour or strange activities.
• When carrying a cellular phone on your person, keep it out of sight.
• If you suspect you are being followed, change direction and walk to the nearest place where there are people. Contact the Campus Security emergency number at 021-808 2333 or SAPS at 10111 to report it.
• Never leave valuable items on display inside vehicles – it is an invitation to criminals. Also remove the face of the radio/cd player if possible, and take it with you.
• A gear-lock is the best form of preventing vehicle theft.

Tips in case you work after hours in your office
• Park as closely as possible to the front entrance of your office. Avoid isolated or remote parking areas. At night, park your vehicle in a well-lit area only.
• Walk confidently and purposefully.
• Avoid dark or deserted areas.
• Take note of any behavioural risk of people in your surroundings when leaving your office.
• When leaving your office after dark, arrange beforehand telephonically with Campus Security (extension 4666) to escort you to your vehicle.

Access control at university buildings
• Access control must be strictly enforced at all times, even during daytime. Doors must be locked so that access is only possible with an access card.
• Bona fide visitors should be met and accompanied by the staff member personally and the visitor should be escorted until he/she leaves the building.
• Avoid giving unknown individuals access to SU facilities.
• If a card is lost or stolen, cancel the card immediately.

Report suspicious people on campus
• Memorise the emergency numbers of Campus Security: 021 808- 2333 (Stellenbosch Campus) and  021 938-9507 (Tygerberg and Bellvillepark campus) as well as the SAPS-emergency number: 10111. Report any suspicious-looking individuals immediately to the Campus Security and try to provide an accurate description of them.

At the Information Science Department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU), a group consisting of computing and information scientists and engineers are leading the way in algorithm improvements in software as they search for the correct construction techniques to use when designing new algorithms in future.  According to the researchers, the project's findings will help reduce the amount of software bugs that so many consumers have learned to live with in everyday items over the years. 

An algorithm is a set of steps designed to allow a computer programme to perform a task such as a calculation, the processing of data or even reason.

"People seem to have a high tolerance for software bugs in things like computers and even in navigation systems like those on airplanes. However, through our research we are aiming to find ways to build software that functions correctly from the start especially where there is a life and death component, as is the case with software used in cars and airplanes today," says Prof Bruce Watson, the Head of the Information Science Department and a Professor of Informatics specialising in cyber and information security, algorithms, artificial intelligence, computing and data science.

The project, called Correctness-based taxonomies and toolkits for algorithms, aims to "use correctness-by-construction techniques for the design of new algorithms, while at the same time creating classifications of existing algorithms". Watson is working on the project together with Prof David Pearce, a computer scientist from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, Prof Ina Schaefer, an automotive software engineer from the Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany, and two research associates, Prof Loek Cleophas, who specialises in computer science and engineering at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and Prof Derrick Kourie, who specialises in artificial intelligence, information systems (business informatics), and programming languages at the SU department.

As part of their research, the academics are also exposing undergraduate students to their work by teaching them how to "build systems that work correctly the first time around".

"We are doing this by borrowing tried and tested ideas from other fields of engineering. If you look at mechanical and civil engineers, they took centuries to analyse and understand how physical structures are built. They did this by taking existing structures, scaling them and then looking at how different supports used in these structures linked together to work effectively and how different components in these same structures worked to make the whole structure function. They were basically looking at the mathematics of these structures," explains Watson.

"This is exactly what we mean when we talk of the correctness for programming. While we know what a program must do, we are now breaking it into small pieces and testing each piece to see if the parts work. The reality is that if you build correctly in the first place then you don't have to create software updates to fix these bugs later and the end user is guaranteed a much better user experience."

While a lot of what they are doing in this project is based on mathematics principles, Watson's says they have taken the "sting out of it" by figuring out how to make the mathematics component fun, but still rich enough for effective learning.

"We've gone to a lot of effort to make the math intuitive and fun so that students with a basic understanding of mathematics can "get it" easily even if they're not a mathematician," adds Watson.

First-year students completing a BA in Socio-Informatics are already being taught about algorithms through the Whiley programming language and tools developed by Pearce.

"While there may be scepticism that we are trying to do something in the information sciences which seems to belong in engineering or computer science, we have seen that information, computation and maths literacy are actually important no matter what career students decide to pursue in future. We are living in a digital age where our ability to absorb and process knowledge accurately in a work environment is vital. At the same time, information systems – examples include computers that store data on customers' in-store and online purchases at large retailers like Edgars, Woolworths or Takealot, as well as at banks like Capitec and medical aid schemes like Discovery Health – have become an indisputable part of our world and play a vital role in helping us understand for example customer preference, in modern organisations," explains Watson. 

"As a society, we recognise the value of literacy and the importance of reading and writing skills. There is also a universal acceptance that these skills are important to master irrespective of whether we intend using those skills in pursuit of a career as a poet or author. Over the years, people have also started recognising the value of math literacy for everyday life, even if you don't intend becoming a mathematician in future. South Africa still needs to go quite a distance in this regard, but at the same time, there is a worldwide need for the new generation to recognise the value of information and computation literacy to be able to function in a digital society. In future, you won't even be able to function without these skills and it is one of the reasons that the research we do is also directly linked to the skills and knowledge we share with our students."

Photo: Discussing computational equations: Prof Derrick Kourie (left) and Prof Bruce Watson, both from the Information Science Department at Stellenbosch University, discuss computational equations for a research project investigating algorithm improvements in software. (Richard Barnett)

Social anthropologist and Stellenbosch University academic Prof Steven Robins' memoir, Letters of Stone, has been nominated as one of five books to make the Sunday Times shortlist for the Alan Paton Award for non-fiction for 2017. The award is presented in association with Porcupine Ridge.

Through Letters of Stone, Robins, who lecturers in the Sociology and Social Anthropology Department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, chronicles his family's desperate attempt to escape Nazi Germany and the concentration camps which led to the deaths of millions of Jews. Sparked by a single photograph of his grandmother, Cecilie, and his aunts, Edith and Hildegard, displayed in his family home, he provides a deeply personal and painful reflection of the true horror and extent of the Nazis' racial policies against Jews. Read the full story about Robins' memoir here.

"I am really pleased and honoured to be shortlisted. Writing such a personal book was very important for me and for my wider family. Being recognised by the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award for the book is a wonderful bonus," said Robins.

The winner of the award will be announced on Saturday, 24 June, and will receive a R100 000 prize.

According to a statement by Pippa Green, Chairwoman of the judging panel, the initial long list, which consisted of 26 books, included "a number of memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, which tell the stories of intimate family relationships against a backdrop of the huge historical forces that have swept the last century". The other members of the judging panel include Prof Tinyiko Maluleke, an adviser to the principal and vice-chancellor at the University of Pretoria and an extraordinary professor at the University of South Africa; and Judge Johann Kriegler, a former Constitutional Court judge.

This year marks the 28th year that the Alan Paton Award will be bestowed on a book that presents "the illumination of truthfulness, especially those forms of it that are new, delicate, unfashionable and fly in the face of power", and that demonstrates "compassion, elegance of writing, and intellectual and moral integrity" read the statement released by the Sunday Times.

"The shortlist reflects a diverse range of subjects and historical eras: from human origins to the Marikana of just three years ago, from CapeTown today to wartime Berlin," said the Sunday Times.

The four other books that made the short list are Under Nelson Mandela Boulevard: Life Among the Stowaways by Sean Christie, Darwin's Hunch: Science, Race, and the Search for Human Origins by Christa Kuljian, Murder at Small Koppie: The Real Story of The Marikana Massacre by Greg Marinovich, and My Own Liberator by Dikgang Moseneke.

"These books raise critical questions about our past, present and future," says Green. "The big question being asked is, who are we?"

Photo: Prof Steven Robins with his memoir, Letters of Stone, that has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award. (Lauren E.H. Muller)

A generous investment of R5 million from Absa Bank into a Scholarship Programme at Stellenbosch University (SU) is set to benefit talented and deserving students in need of bursaries in 2017. 

At a cheque handover ceremony on the Stellenbosch campus on Wednesday morning (21 June), Absa confirmed its R5m contribution and clarified their aim, as part of the Shared Growth strategy, to increase access to tertiary education for young people, thereby helping to realise Africa's potential and contributing to long term economic growth.

Using a combination of academic performance, subject focus, and financial need, the university will identify qualifying students and disburse the funds in consultation with Absa. The qualifying students will be selected largely from the "missing middle" category of students, those whose parents or guardians can at best only afford to pay a portion of the required university fees.

Dr Reaan Immelman, General Manager: Education and Skills at Absa Bank, said that the Bank recognises that as a significant economic player on the continent it has a responsibility to use its substantial resources and skills to build a more prosperous Africa for the next generation.

"The opportunities created by the Scholarship Programme will not only meet a pressing need, but is also critical to the future success of many students," he added.

Speaking at Wednesday's handover, Mr Clinton Clarke: Head of SA Coastal Regions, Absa Corporate and Investment Banking said: "Absa is proud to be able to make a difference in the lives of thousands of young South Africans by making university tuition more accessible to them and by offering them the skills development that will prepare them for a bright future.

"We are especially pleased to be able to make this donation to an institution where we have a long history of partnership. We thank you for the great work you are doing in preparing future leaders at Stellenbosch University. We are proud to partner with an institution that plays a role in ensuring our contributions are meaningful and that our impact is sustainable".

Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, of Stellenbosch University said there is a perception that Stellenbosch is a well-to-do university, attracting only affluent students. "But let me put the record straight. Substantially more than a third of our most recent graduates received some form of financial assistance during their studies, but more than 40% desperately need financial help. The need far exceeds what we are able to facilitate."

According to Prof De Villiers, the University disbursed close to R700 million to students last year. "Some of it from our own funds, some from the State, and the rest from donors."

He added that "if it weren't for donations such as the one we have now received from ABSA, not only would talented individuals be denied an opportunity to study further, but society at large would not get the benefit that well qualified graduates offer – skills for development, which we need very much.

"So, thank you. On behalf of all our students – the current ones, and the ones still to come."

Photographer: Anton Jordaan

Should we tolerate everything people say or do? Does tolerance imply that we have to accept or tolerate things with which we disagree profoundly? Are there limits to the controversies that we are prepared to tolerate?

These were some of the questions Prof Nuraan Davids of the Department of Education Policy Studies at Stellenbosch University (SU) tried to answer on Thursday (22 May 2017). She was the speaker at the third Stellenbosch Forum lecture of 2017. The Stellenbosch Forum lecture series provides regular opportunities to staff and students at SU, as well as interested people from the public, to learn more about the relevant, world-class research that is being done at SU.

Davids spoke about the importance of having tolerance for divergent and controversial views in democratic societies. In this regard, the focused on hate speech as a form of controversy.

Using the recent Nazi-inspired posters on the SU campus as an example, she said "while we do not have to accept such ideas and ideologies or other forms of hate speech, we have to accede the right and the legitimacy of people to hold particular beliefs, to express them, and to defend them."

"People should be allowed to express and explain their views. People have the right to believe what they want but accepting this is up to us."

"Liberal democracies have to be prepared to tolerate views that are seemingly undermining of liberal values."

Davids added that when we silence people, we are in fact acting in an undemocratic way.

She argued that tolerance preserve and cultivate difference, disagreement, dissonance and controversy; and not the defense of harmful and alienating language and actions.

"Tolerance helps us to recognize that, perhaps, there are other considerations and other imperatives, which drive divergent thought."

Davids argued that instead of denying something like hate speech, we should counter it by resignifying or turning it around in a way that denounces violence against humanity without conceding that the hate speech be endorsed.

"This implies adopting a kind of tolerance in one's disagreement with another's claim. In other words, demonstrating a tolerance of disagreeable speech is simply a way of counteracting hate speech."

Tolerance does not mean people can't simply do what they want, Davids said.

• Prof Davids' lecture was based on the book Tolerance and Dissent Within Education: On Cultivating Debate and Understanding (2017) that she co-authored with her colleague Prof Yusef Waghid.

Photo: Prof Nuraan Davids delivers the Stellenbosch Forum lecture.

Photographer: Justin Alberts

Stellenbosch University (SU) will be setting up a permanent mechanism to monitor RapeCulture and gender violence on its campuses. Monitoring activities will include an annual climate survey to compile a RapeCulture report, which will be presented to the Rector's Management Team (RMT).

This is one of the key recommendations of the SU End RapeCulture task team. The team was initiated by the RMT in March 2016 to generate proposals aimed at changing the culture underpinning gender violence and RapeCulture at SU, being a manifestation of the broader societal challenge in this regard.

The monitoring function will operate from the Equality Unit of the Centre for Student Counselling and Development in the Division of Student Affairs and will monitor all campuses.

RapeCulture refers to attitudes, beliefs, behaviour and practices that normalise gender discrimination and sexual violence, including rape. (For a more formal definition, see "More about RapeCulture" below.)

"Universities' role in addressing RapeCulture is not only about engaging students in the here and now at SU, but also about equipping our graduates as agents of change to have a real and sustainable impact on the wider South African society," said Dr Birgit Schreiber, Senior Director: Student Affairs and chair of the task team. "We seek to develop graduates who can recognise injustices and power asymmetries, and can act powerfully on these in acceptable ways that lead to sustainable transformation in South Africa."

Role-players

The task team, which consisted of various SU academic, support and administrative staff, representatives from the Student's Representative Council (SRC), student leaders from SU communities as well as student activists, recently submitted their report to the RMT, who subsequently approved the recommendations contained therein.

"The task team did a thorough job, and the University management accepted the report with appreciation. The recommendations will go a long way towards helping us address this challenge, which we share with the rest of society. Every member of the University community has a responsibility to do their bit," said Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor.

Schreiber added: "In exploring gender violence and RapeCulture, the task team found that, just as in society at large, this was a pervasive problem on campus, not only violating the victims/survivors, but affecting everyone – staff, students, friends and family of victims/survivors, as well as the perpetrators themselves. We live in a brutally violent society, of which gender violence is but one of the manifestations."

She emphasised that students and staff alike carried the responsibility to change the culture in which gender violence is embedded: "We need men and women who have the courage to expose RapeCulture, and to change it by not only speaking against sexist slurs, derogatory images, cruel jokes and explicit gender violence in our society, but also to take positive steps to change the culture that makes these seem normal."

Recommendations

Apart from setting up a RapeCulture monitoring mechanism, the task team recommended that SU senior management, staff and students take part in End RapeCulture training. In commenting on the report, the RMT indicated their commitment and enthusiasm to do so.

"We think it is very important for senior management to model, lead and live the changes they wish to see. We all should in fact model End RapeCulture behaviour and attitudes, and explicitly address this within line management to have a direct impact on culture. We also require a commitment from all students and staff so that issues around gender violence and RapeCulture are incorporated into their conceptualisation of transformation, culture change and renewal," said Schreiber.

Interventions

The task team facilitated a range of activities and interventions during 2016 that enabled the wider SU community to join in the discussions about RapeCulture. This included student and staff conversations, media releases and newspaper articles, training for student leaders, the wider student community as well as staff, a video about RapeCulture, student support and development programmes, and a dedicated website.

END

• Click here to read the report.

MORE ABOUT RAPECULTURE: DEFINITION

The SU End RapeCulture task team defines RapeCulture as follows:

RapeCulture refers to attitudes, beliefs, behaviour and practices that normalise gender discrimination and sexual violence, including rape. Behaviour commonly associated with RapeCulture include gender discrimination, sexism, victim blaming, sexual objectification, 'slut shaming', trivialising rape, denial of widespread rape, refusal to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence be that implicit or explicit, or some combination of these that lead to sexual violence becoming so normalised that rape and gender violence is not viewed as a serious problem. Rape Culture also includes the subtle behaviours and subconsciously held attitudes and beliefs which underpin our patriarchal culture in South Africa into which RapeCulture is embedded.

RapeCulture includes all forms of discursive, visual and audio expressions of gender violence, including sexist jokes, media messages via for instance television, music, advertising, social discourse and imagery that normalise violence against women and sexual coercion.

​On Friday (16 June) we celebrate Youth Day. In opinion pieces published in the media, the following staff members and students from Stellenbosch University focus on some of the pressing challenges facing our youth and what should be done to solve them. Click the links below for the respective articles.

• Prof Yusef Waghid (Mail & Guardian)
  

• Folkers Williams (Cape Argus)

• Sibonele Sosibo (News24) 

CP van der Merwe has been named as the recipient of the HORTGRO Science/Daan Strydom Award as the best student in horticultural science at Stellenbosch University.

In 2015, at the end of his third year of study, CP also received the Ballie Wahl Award as the best student in citrus studies. Last year his hard work was also acknowledged when he received the Faculty of AgriSciences' Perold Medal.

Van der Merwe grew up on a farm outside Piketberg. In his matric year, this top achiever was head boy and Dux pupil of Piketberg High.

He says that he started studying horticulture because of his love for farming. He also wanted to find out more about how plants grow, and the methods that can be used to increase yield.

"I chose horticulture as a career because there are so many challenges in the industry," he explains. "I can seldom say 'no' to a challenge."

He believes in the value of having good mentors so that he can learn as much as possible to set himself up as a horticulturalist.

He is currently working for AnB Investments.

CP's advice to prospective horticultural science students:
* Chose a field of study that you can identify with, and that you can enjoy.

* Try to spend a week or two working on a farm, to find out if plants and the activities that are part and parcel of the horticultural industry is to your liking.

* Talk to lecturers and people working in the industry to get a clearer picture about what the work entails.

 * Try to decide which line of horticulture interests you the most.

CP's advice to current students:

• Spend as much time as possible on your studies.
• Your lecturers are invaluable sources of information. Make full use of every learning experience.
• Do holiday work or job shadow to get a foot in the door.
• Chat to your lecturers about your goals and options for the future.
• Make time for old and new friends – one day they will be your contacts in the industry!

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Why do some people commit violent crimes seemingly just for fun? Have they had particularly bad childhoods, or are they in some way "pre-programmed" to simply get their kicks from vicious aggression?

In his PhD research, Khethelo Xulu uses his knowledge of molecular biochemistry and genetics to investigate this phenomenon of so-called appetitive aggression. His work forms part of efforts by the SARChI Chair in Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) in the Department of Psychiatry to understand how violence and trauma affect South Africans, and why some people cope better than others.

"Those who perpetrate acts of appetitive aggression seem not to be traumatised by what they see and hear while committing such offences, and feel comfortable in unsafe and cruel environments," Xulu explains. His PhD is supervised by Dr Sian Hemmings, Prof Soraya Seedat and Dr Stefanie Malan-Muller.

Xulu's study is the first on the topic to be conducted in a South African population of young male former offenders. Genetic samples were taken from 290 Xhosa men and the 5-HTT gene was assessed. It plays a role in transporting serotonin, a neurotransmitter that influences how people respond to stress. 

Xulu and his co-researchers found no link between aggressive behaviour and specific genetic variations in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) promoter region of the particular participants.

However, there seems to be an association between appetitive aggression and the presence of the intron 2 (STin2) 10-repeat allele. This bit of genetic material is linked to a low expression of 5-HTT, and in the process to a dysregulated, poorer response to stress. Its presence is linked to a greater likelihood of novelty seeking behaviour and aggressive deeds, as well as a heated temperament.

"Knowing more about the molecular mechanisms and genetic architecture of essential genes that encode for neurotransmitters helps us understand the molecular underpinnings involved in how appetitive aggression and other mental health disorders develop.

"This is particularly important in finding out how PTSD and aggression behaviours develop in a uniquely South African population," Xulu says.

Caption: Khethelo Xulu is investigating a phenomenon called appetitive aggression.

Over the past few years the state of democracy in South Africa has been increasingly threatened by large scale corruption, mismanagement of state funds and improper governance practices under President Jacob Zuma's leadership. This is evident from media reports and public commentary by a range of political analysts. Globally, democracy is also not faring well with rising populism undermining liberal values.

Tracking democracy since the heady days of its global spread in the wake of the collapse of the former Soviet Bloc in the 1990s, the Transformation Research Unit (TRU): Democracy Globally at Stellenbosch University (SU) has taken the lead with a number of other research organisations across the world to interrogate the reasons behind this apparent unravelling of democracy. The TRU, which is based in the Political Science Department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, focuses on examining South African democracy comparatively in the regional southern African and global contexts from a political, economic and social perspective.

"The proposed data centre is not meant to become yet another data archive. What we envisage instead is the creation of an "Intelligent Node" to help us locate data needed for analyses and teaching in the general area of democracy research by searching the repositories of already existing international archive networks. This will allow us to contribute to the creation of new knowledge in the field of democracy studies, with a specific contextualisation for South Africa, and at the same time we will help integrate South African social research into global networks via the Research Data Alliance (RDA)," says Prof Ursula van Beek, the Head of TRU.

The RDA was launched in 2013 by the European Commission, the United States National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Australian Government's Department of Innovation. The RDA aims to build bridges to enable the global research community to openly share data across technologies, disciplines, and countries to address the grand challenges of society.

Since its inception, TRU has taken a mixed-method approach in its research by combining in-depth qualitative country studies with quantitative analyses. Its heavy reliance on empirical data over the years led TRU's local and international partners to the idea of establishing a data centre.

"During a recent TRU workshop the participants also discussed the growing need for postgraduate students to improve their research methodology skills in quantitative research, which is regarded as a 'rare skills' area in South Africa," explains Van Beek.

To this end, a concurrent training programme has been proposed to expand the pool of young African scholars.

"Postgraduate students will therefore also be instructed by international experts on the data selection process to support their research hypotheses, and they will learn where to look for this data and how to do the analyses by utilising our Intelligent Node."  

TRU also recently completed one of two comparative projects, which was focused on democracy in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana.

"I am happy to report that the findings of the all-African team will be published in a dedicated edition of the international journal of politics, the Taiwan Journal of Democracy, on 1 July 2017."

"The second project that TRU is working on is nearing completion and focuses on democracy in South Africa from a global perspective. The research has established a decline in the legitimacy of democracies over the last 20 years in countries like Turkey, where the recent referendum has effectively killed democracy; Poland, where a populist government has come to power; and South Africa, where poor quality of governance has given rise to radicalism and polarisation that are threatening democracy."

"The discouraging findings," says van Beek, "convinced us that further research into the state of democracy in South Africa was imperative and that the investigation ought to be supported by solid empirical evidence. We want to focus on social cohesion, which we consider to be the bedrock of democracy.  We believe that the problem of social cohesion can no longer be meaningfully investigated in isolation from regional and global trends as the globalisation of capital and the mass flows of refugees and immigrants bring additional pressures on efforts directed at attaining social cohesion at the nation-state level. At the same time, one particular research methodology is not likely to add much new knowledge and practical advice on the subject. For these reasons we   decided to create the Intelligent Node and thus integrate into global networks."

PHOTO: A group of national and international academics recently participated in a workshop by the Transformation Research Unit (TRU): Democracy Globally at Stellenbosch University. From the left in the first row are Dr Catherine Musuva (AU: Electoral Commission), Dr Cindy Steenekamp (SU), Prof Ursula van Beek (SU), Dr Nicola de Jager (SU), PhD candidate, Annemie Parkin (SU), and Ms Jordan Fredericks (Honours student, SU). In the second row are Prof Dieter Fuchs (Stuttgart University, Germany), Prof Dirk Berg-Schlosser (Philipps University in Marburg, Germany), Dr Webster Zambara (Institute for Justice and Reconciliation), Prof Hans-Dieter Klingemann (Research Centre, Berlin), and Prof Ursula Hoffmann-Lange (Bamberg University, Germany). In the third row are Dr Krige Sieberts (SU), Prof Laurence Whitehead (Oxford University), Prof David Sebudubudu (University of Botswana), and Ms Helen Kores (MA student, SU).

In an article published on The Conversation website on Tuesday (6 June 2017), Prof Sophie von der Heyden, from the Department of Botany and Zoology, writes that we must look after our oceans because without them our chances of survival are low.

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

Time to reflect on the big blue

Sophie von der Heyden*

World Oceans Day, an international event that is commemorated on the 8th June every year, is a chance to reflect on the importance of oceans, whether you live next to the sea or many thousands of kilometres inland. Most of us do not realise the impact of the oceans on our daily lives, nor how humanity has changed vast parts of the big blue and its inhabitants. About one quarter of all species live in the sea (roughly about 2.2 million, with the current estimates of all species on earth at about 8.7 million) and their linkages with us are far-reaching and more pervasive than we can imagine.

Oceans are key to our survival

Water covers about 71% of the planet's surface, which means that it is not only home to much of life on earth, but it is also closely involved in many functions that provide a stable environment for life to thrive. For example, oceans are an integral part of our weather and climate patterns, absorbing, storing and redistributing heat through currents and they play a critical role in maintaining stable climates. They are also the largest absorbers of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the greenhouse gasses that actively contribute to global warming.

Oceans absorb about one quarter of all CO2 produced by human activities, providing an invaluable service to life on land, especially in mitigating some of the effects of human driven climate change. In addition, microscopic plants, called phytoplankton produce between half to 70% of all oxygen. To put this into perspective, researchers have tried to calculate how much oxygen humans use just for breathing, a figure that comes to over 6 billion tonnes of oxygen per year.

The oceans also provide many other important benefits; they have been extensively used to transport goods around the globe and they are a source of renewable energy from the action of wind and waves. Marine waters are also a potential goldmine for the pharmaceutical industry with some bacteria, sponges and algae showing great promise for treatments for diseases such as cancer. It is difficult to put a price on all of this, but researchers have tried to provide a monetary estimate of all that the oceans provide for humanity and arrived at a conservative value of a about US$2.5 trillion per year. Add to that the spiritual and cultural benefits and the sheer fun of being at the beach and the list of ocean services becomes very impressive.

So why a World Oceans Day?

If it isn't a 'catch of the day', we tend to forget about the myriad of life beneath the waves. This diversity is fantastic, from tiny microscopic plants and animals to the largest mammal that has ever existed on earth, the blue whale. Ocean life has evolved to inhabit many different kinds of environments, from the ocean surface to the deepest known point at about 11,000m and a range from frozen seas to tropical coral reefs. World Oceans Day celebrates this diversity and reminds us of the importance of the big blue. It also serves to highlight the plight that the oceans are facing from continued anthropogenic pressures.

Most people are aware that many of the fish, crustacean and shellfish stocks in South Africa and beyond are overfished and that the bounty of the sea is a fraction of what it should be. With over a billion people relying on protein provided directly by the ocean, it is easy to how much pressure humans are putting on natural resources.

Climate change too has contributed towards changing the temperatures and chemistry of the oceans. As the levels of CO₂ have been increasing in the atmosphere, so has the uptake of this gas into marine waters. The next effect has been that some parts of the ocean are getting more acidic, which is a real problem for some animals and plants that rely on calcium carbonate as part of their bodies, that are literally dissolving in these new environments.

In addition, temperatures have also been changing in the oceans, which has led to large-scale shifts in marine life; for example, in their search for cooler some fish species in the North Atlantic have been documented to shift their ranges towards the North Pole or into greater depths. Pollution, as effluent, agricultural run off that includes fertilisers and pesticides and plastics are also heavily contributing towards killing marine species at unprecedented rates.

As a global collective, with many of us living far from the coastline, we need to become more aware of the far-reaching consequences of our daily activities and how these play out not only on land, but also in the sea. All of us should be contributing towards the safeguarding of the big blue, because without it the chances of our own survival are very low indeed. So let's celebrate World Oceans Day and with it our future.   

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*Sophie von der Heyden is an Associate Professor of Marine Genomics and Conservation in the Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University. She is the author of the popular 'Southern African Seashores – a Guide for Young Explorers' (2012) published by Struik Nature. 

With its unique approach and dedicated team of healthcare workers, the new stroke unit at Tygerberg Hospital is already making great strides in helping to address South Africa's stroke burden.

Research indicates that dedicated care units can assist in optimising stroke care via relatively simple, low-cost methods. Yet in South Africa, where stroke is one of the top three causes of mortality, such units have not previously been prioritised. This is starting to change thanks to the establishment of the new Tygerberg Stroke Unit (TSU).

The new unit is the result of many months of preparation by Stellenbosch University (SU) and role players at Tygerberg Hospital, including Dr Naeem Brey, consultant neurologist at the Division of Neurology at SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Dr Neshaad Schreuder, Head of General Specialist Services of the Department of Medicine, Prof Jonathan Carr, Head of the Division of Neurology, and Prof Rafique Moosa, Head of the FMHS' Department of Medicine. Other South African hospitals are now using the unit as a model.

The concept stemmed from the recognition of the high stroke burden in South Africa, as well as the positive outcomes seen at Groote Schuur and GF Jooste Hospitals, where similar units were previously successfully established.

"The TSU concept was refined by means of some modification of local and international models," says Brey. "After many meetings and deliberation with the various department heads, the unit was quietly launched on 1 February 2016."

Since the unit opened its doors in what used to be a six-bed hospital ward, approximately 130 patients have been treated. During this time the team also assisted with the care of stroke patients in the medical wards, while working on improving referral streams, optimising various protocols and disseminating information to other hospital units – all in an effort to get the unit running smoothly for the official launch in February 2017.

The multidisciplinary team treating stroke patients at the TSU includes doctors and nurses, as well as occupational therapists, speech therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians and social workers – all of whom received specialised training.

According to Brey hyper-acute, acute and sub-acute stroke patients are all eligible for management by the TSU team. "Depending on the type of stroke and the time of presentation, patients are rapidly assessed for thrombolytic therapy (the administration of medication to dissolve blood clots) ... Those who aren't eligible for this potentially life-changing treatment are managed according to best medical and surgical practices."

Following its success during the first year, other hospitals have been in contact with the team to set up units of their own – a gesture welcomed by Brey and the rest of the TSU team. "To facilitate this process, we have shared our protocols with different hospitals and will shortly be hosting training sessions."

For more information about the TSU, contact Brey at breyn@sun.ac.za or call +27 21 938 5500.

Caption: Dr Naeem Brey, consultant neurologist at the Division of Neurology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences with members of the new stroke unit at Tygerberg Hospital.