​​​​Wouldn't it be awesome to go anywhere in the world and you know there is a Matie nearby or a Maties network with whom you can connect? This idea might not be at all impossible with the new initiative of the SU Alumni Office where we aim to establish alumni-hubs across the globe.

Why should I join an alumni-hub near me?

Your graduation is a momentous occasion and marks the beginning of your continued relationship with your alma mater. As an alumnus or alumna of Stellenbosch University (SU), you are our most valuable stakeholder and ambassador. You form part of a global community of more than 120 000 graduates. Your involvement with us ensures that you are kept abreast of developments at SU, that you receive a range of opportunities to remain connected to other alumni and that your degree  and alma mater remains relevant. Creating a hub or joining one in your area is an excellent way of expanding your "connectedness" to other alumni.

What would my duties be if I become a hub coordinator or hub committee member?

• Serve as the primary communicator between the local alumni and the Alumni Relations team;
• Help with recruitment of additional volunteers;
• Make a collective annual gift to SU;
• reach out to local alumni; asking them to partake in local alumni events and in the annual giving programme; and
• coordinate alumni events

You won't be alone on this journey to hub-connectedness. The Alumni Office will support you in various ways. Some of them include:

• Identifying and approaching active alumni in regions and countries.
• Setting up a local LinkedIn group, through which the hub can communicate.
• Notifying all alumni in the region of the hub, and:
  
  Provide them with the coordinators contact details; and
  
  Invite them to join the local LinkedIn group
• Assisting in coordinating local events by:
  
  Sending out invitations to alumni in the region;

Managing RSVPs; and

Since we started this initiative we have established alumni-hubs in different cities across the globe – here on South African soil we created one in Durban, and in the USA we have hubs in Washington DC, New York and San Francisco!

Here is a list of confirmed coordinators. Should you wish to know more, drop us an e-mail at alumni@sun.ac.za.  We will gladly offer our support!

​Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, takes the listener on a magical journey through a gallery of enchanting paintings. The University of Stellenbosch Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Maestro Corvin Matei. Mozart's sublime piano concerto K 271 with soloist Pieter Grobler, and Stefans Grové's Elegy for Strings are also on the programme.  

S. Grové: Elegie

W.A. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat maj, K. 271 

M. Mussorgsky/M. Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition

​​​The principle that children should be taught in their mother tongue for at least the first six years of their schooling life, is universally acknowledged. But sadly, twenty years on from our birth as the 'rainbow nation', we have still not resolved the issues that hamper delivery of mother tongue instruction to primary school children across South Africa.

On International Mother Language Day the question remains: Can, and will we ever solve this crisis? 

Internationally, the 1996 Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities proposed that "in primary school, the curriculum should ideally be taught in the minority language (mother tongue)."  Our own Constitution unambiguously states that our eleven official languages should all enjoy parity of esteem and that "everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable".

Nearly 8 years ago the former National Education Minister, Naledi Pandor, acknowledged that "Study in the mother tongue should introduce a diversity of learning opportunities that have been unavailable in South Africa in the past. The policy recognises that past policy and practice has disadvantaged millions of children and it also promotes the effective learning and teaching of the previously neglected indigenous languages of South Africa."

Why under these circumstances, have we made so little progress with the implementation of mother tongue education for our children - and why are the many schools that continue to provide it under such pressure?

At the heart of the problem is the belief held by most black South Africans that their home languages are of subsidiary educational value. In the absence of the government adequately communicating the benefits of delivering foundation skills to primary school children in their mother tongue, many capable children embark on primary school learning in a language that they do not understand - and that their teachers often cannot speak properly. 

The unwitting result, despite the well-meaning intentions of parents, is that these young children go through the schooling system and emerge with cognitive development that may be seriously impaired. Naturally the social problems these children have to face become exceedingly challenging and disadvantageous to their future success.

Mother tongue education at primary school level provides an essential basis for sound education at higher levels. The challenge is for the government to commit more towards engaging parents and gaining their confidence and trust that their children will receive a better education if they are taught - at least at primary school - in a language that they can understand.  

Dr Le Cordeur is  the Chairperson of the Afrikaanse Taalraad (ATR) and the Western Cape Language Committee. He is also a lecturer in Afrikaans Education at SU where he manages the B.Ed Programme.

​

Netball is what makes her happy even the times when she has to do fitness, said Maties' Juline Rossouw after she was chosen for the South African netball squad for the Commonwealth Games later this year.

Rossouw (22) has been playing for Maties since 2011 en last year she was the captain of the team. She plays goal-defence or wing-defence.

"I have been playing since the age of 6. I have realised at an early age that my passion is people and that I don't want play individual sports. Netball is that one thing in life that has never been effort. It makes me happy. Even when we do fitness!"

Rossouw, who matriculated at Paarl Gymnasium, played at every level since u15 for her province and region. She also played for the SA Schools team.

According to Rossouw playing for the Proteas has always been the big goal, but that her inclusion in the squad for the Commonwealth Games in June in Scotland was a surprise.

"I only finished with u21 level netball last year and I believe that the gap to the national team is quite big. You are never certain of your place in the team because the competition for places is very intense. I started the training camp with a positive mind and played like I have nothing to lose. Because I am young, that comes pretty easy. To my surprise all my hard work paid off."

Rossouw is now focused to make sure of her place in the squad. "I want to be part of the team going to the Commonwealth Games."

She also has big goals for Maties.  "I want Maties to be in the top 3 at USSA and play in the finals of the Varsity Sports series."

The new ERWAT Chair in Wastewater Management, to be hosted at the Stellenbosch University Water Institute (SUWI), was launched during a special function at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies on Monday 3 February 2014.

Mr Pat Twala, ERWAT Managing Director, said one of the biggest challenges facing the water industry is finding environmentally-safe methods of disposing the large amounts of sludge generated by water treatment works. ERWAT operates 19 wastewater treatment plants in East Gauteng, with a capacity of 696 ML of water per day.

Another major challenge is finding highly-skilled technicians and engineers to enable the South African water industry to participate more competitively in the global arena, he said.

Prof Eugene Cloete, Vice-rector: Research and Innovation at SU and chair of SUWI's advisory board, said industry should start thinking of municipal wastewater as a resource rather than waste: "In other words, clean water should be the by-product and not the main focus of a wastewater treatment plant. Imagine an industry using municipal wastewater as a resource to produce valuable products such as enzymes or harvest valuable resources such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphates."

The focus of the new ERWAT chair will be on scientific and technical advances in wastewater management, water quality, water use and demand, as well as fostering partnerships to improve the water research and management skills of scientists, engineers and technical personnel.

Prof Gideon Wolfaardt, a recognised expert and leading researcher in the biological and engineering aspects of water research, will be the first research professor to hold the chair. He recently returned from Canada where he held a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Interfaces and Biofilms.

About ERWAT

The East Rand Water Care Company (ERWAT) was established in 1992 as a Section 21 company. Its shareholders are the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (majority shareholder), Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Lesedi Local Municipality. ERWAT provides bulk wastewater conveyance and a highly technical and proficient wastewater treatment service to some 2000 industries and more than 3.5 million people who have access to sanitation services. It is currently custodian of 19 wastewater care works, treating a combined capacity of some 696 megalitres of wastewater per day. The majority of the operations are in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council (Eastern Gauteng). For more information, visit the website http://www.erwat.co.za/default.php

About the Stellenbosch University Water Institute (SUWI)

Established in 2010 in response to the formidable and unprecedented challenges that face South Africa and the African continent at large, SUWI is a multi-disciplinary research enterprise that coordinates research from a multitude of academic disciplines such as natural science, social science, agriscience, engineering and law. Research is done in collaboration with government and industry to solve water-related challenges, to provide technology transfer and to develop human resources. For more information, visit our website at http://water.sun.ac.za

(Photo: Anton Jordaan)

The newly established Agricol Chair in Agronomy at Stellenbosch University (SU) will address the shortage in talented plant breeders and agriculturists in South Africa and on the continent. Experts in these fields are needed to keep grain farming, livestock farming and the vegetable industry in South Africa, and in Africa, healthy and flourishing.

Dr Nick Kotzé, former managing director of the seed company Agricol, holds the Chair. It is based in the SU Department of Agronomy.

Mr Antonie Jacobs, managing director of Agricol, says the company is looking forward to forging a close relationship with the SU through the activities of the Chair. He believes that it will help expand research and development in the seed industry, and increase product knowledge and opportunities for further training to ensure a competitive edge to the industry.

"There are ample career opportunities in the seed industry for qualified experts who are able to provide in producers' need for cultivars and varieties that are disease resistant, high yielding or are adapted to specific regional areas," Mr Jacobs explains. "Because genetic progress is the backbone of a growing agricultural industry it is therefore important that the work of students and researchers in this area should receive extensive support."

A strong focus of the Chair is the recruitment of postgraduate students in Agronomy. This discipline includes, among other things, aspects of agriculture and crop production. Dr Kotzé will also be working closely with the agricultural industry to help identify and plan relevant research projects and to ensure funding for the studies conducted by SU researchers. These could, among other things, include further research into the viability of various crop rotation systems, the minimum standards required for the cultivation of specific crops, seed selections that are suitable for specific regions or optimum farming practices for emerging crops such as soya beans. Dr. Kotzé will also assist in lecturing, and help obtain bursaries to support students in agronomy.

Dr Kotzé worked for the former Department of Agriculture in Potchefstroom and at Elsenburg before joining Agricol in 1994 as director of research and development. Dr Kotzé, who hails from Nieuwoudtville, was appointed as the company's managing director in 2011.

He completed his doctoral studies at Stellenbosch University on the crop rotation possibilities of using the pasturage medics together with corn. He also obtained a MBA at the Stellenbosch University Business School. Dr Kotzé served on the board of the South African National Seed Organization (SANSOR) for many years and continues his involvement as member of the SANSOR pasturage committee.

"After being in the industry for years, I am looking forward to giving back by helping develop an all-important younger, dynamic generation," says Dr Kotzé, who will remain involved with Agricol by, among other things, mentoring their emerging agriculturists. "I hope to be a mentor for students, and to keep my ear close to the ground to establish which research the pasturage and fresh produce industries need in order to progress."

"We are excited about the impetus that this Chair can offer our field of study and the possibilities for further research whereby we can keep addressing industry related problems," says Dr PJ Pieterse, chairperson of the SU Department of Agronomy. "The serious shortage of agronomists will undoubtedly grow with increased worldwide demand for food, fuel and fibre, coupled with the challenges of climate change."

Photo caption:
Dr Nick Kotzé, who holds the Agricol Chair in Agronomy in the Department of Agronomy at Stellenbosch University. Photo: Engela Duvenage

​Thanks to the team from MFM 92.6 the play area at the Vlaeberg Community Centre, which was an unsafe environment for children, has been turned into a fun place where they can all spend their afternoons outside. 

The team took up a NekNomination from Tuks FM and organised paint, tyre swings, food, lawn mowers and soccer balls to upgrade the play park. At the end of the afternoon MFM was able to donate a lawn mower to Vlaeberg's Community Centre.

Tuks FM announced on Tuesday 11 February that they are NekNominating MFM 92.6 after they had done their own NekNomination.

MFM was given a week to do a community initiative. The station decided that they would select Vlaeberg Community Centre as their community project.

"We as MFM take pride in forming part of the community and giving back whenever we can. We thank Tuks FM for our NekNomination as it created another one of these opportunities, especially since these community centres really provide such an excellent service and are always in need of help," said Charita van der Berg, Station Manager. "MFM would like to play its part in making life a little easier for these children. It is important for us to acknowledge and assist everyone in our community."

Lorraine Snay, principal of the Vlaeberg Community Centre, expressed her gratitude to the station: "Everyone that helped here today literally just fell in and started working. It all went so perfectly and we are extremely grateful for the help MFM has given us and we look forward to working with them again in the future. I would also like to say thank you for the donation of the lawn mower. MFM is a good team that provided happiness to the children today."

The NekNomination trend sees someone completing the initiative and then extending the NekNomination to someone else. MFM 92.6 has extended the NekNomination to Heart 104.9 FM and Smile 90.4 FM.

MFM 92.6 would like to extend a thank you to Coca Cola for providing refreshments, Builders Express for donating paint, brushes and a lawn mower to the cause, Marco, the owner of Julian's restaurant for not only providing the platters for the children, but also taking the time to help MFM reach its goal and thus ensure that MFM can invest back into the improvement of the local community and thank you to Sorted Design and Advertising for making the video.

Watch the video here.

About Vlaeberg Community Centre

Vlaeberg Community centre is an outreach that cares for over 70 children from the ages of 4 to 18 and also reaches out to the older generation. The organisation dedicates itself to serving the community, their children and their elderly while also ensuring a better education.

About MFM 92.6

Broadcasting to a potential audience of 39 000 in the greater Stellenbosch community for the past nineteen years, MFM 92.6 is a youth radio station broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Audio streaming is available on www.mfm.co.za. 

With a final round of election registration scheduled for 8 and 9 February, political scientists at Stellenbosch University (SU) and non-governmental organisations are encouraging citizens, especially the youth, to register for the upcoming elections.

"Your vote does count," says Dr Nicola de Jager from the Department of Political Science.

"The proportional representation system applied by South Africa at provincial and national level means that your vote does count unlike a majority electoral system where the winner takes all."

During the negotiations leading up to the first democratic elections in 1994, it was agreed that a proportional representation (PR) system for elections would be used. "What this means, is that the percentage of votes that each party receives translates into the number of seats they are allocated in Parliament."

"In light of South Africa's divisive history, this method was chosen, because it is a very inclusive system.  It enables parties that are perhaps on the margins of the political spectrum, to participate in the legislative (law-making) branch of government."

According to De Jager and Ryan Smit, executive member of the human rights organisation Cause for Justice, one of the main reasons that South Africans do not vote, is apathy.

"Many people feel that it is obvious who is going to win, so why bother to vote. This is however an incorrect understanding of our electoral system," explains De Jager.

"Another major problem is voter ignorance. We fear that voters do not know what they are voting for or how to determine for which party to vote. Because this is a Parliamentary election, we vote to determine which political party's policies will become the laws that govern our nation for the next five years," Smit says.

Unlike some other countries, South Africans have to register to vote before they can participate in the elections. So although one may be eligible to vote, you cannot do so without registering.

"The registration allows the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to draw up a voters' roll and to ensure accountability. The voters' roll is made available to political parties and the public to scrutinise, to ensure that there aren't ghost voters, or deceased people listed on the roll. This is also the reason why we have a registration process. It counters fraudulent activity and the manipulation of the elections," explains de Jager.

Statistics from 2009, paint a sad picture of the current participation rate of South Africans in the elections.

• Of the voting age population (18 and above) who were eligible to vote in 2009, 40.2% chose not to vote. 
• Of the voting age population, 38.8% voted for the African National Congress and 20.1% voted for opposition parties.

We thus have a large section of floating voters. The group of voters that De Jager and Smit are rather worried about though, is the youth, the next generation of voters.

"There is big concern that the youth is not entering the electoral system. That is also the reason that the IEC is driving a campaign to get the younger generation to vote."

The Department of Political Science has joined the IEC's drive by focusing on the youth through its own Democratic Citizenship project. 

"One of our key goals is to raise awareness amongst young people and to help them understand their democratic responsibility. A democracy is hard work and requires participation to work. According to Freedom House, an international organisation that monitors democracy, freedom and human rights, freedom in the world has been declining in the last seven years and it is something that we must continually fight for and claim and our first starting point to do so, is the elections."

Cause for Justice carries a mandate of promoting people's constitutional rights and freedoms. "Rights and freedoms only have meaning and practical significance to the extent it is exercised," explains Smit.

"To exercise a democratic right to vote in ignorance is like mistakenly buying the wrong house or car in a world where no returns or corrections are possible. You pay a big price: You get what you don't want. There are no second chances when it comes to voting."

For this reason Cause for Justice has made it its mission to help voters to cast an educated, informed vote.

"We aim to help voters see that with their cross they get a chance to choose what the country they will live in for the next five years, will look like. This is both a great opportunity and responsibility."

According to De Jager and Smit, President Jacob Zuma will announce the election date soon after the upcoming election registration weekend. 

"The voters roll will close at that point and no one will be able to register to vote thereafter," they say.

All voters must note that they will have to go to a specific voting station to cast their vote. More information about this can be obtained at www.elections.org.za. A green barcoded ID must be taken along when you vote.

Photo: Learners at Rhenish Girls' High School participate in a mock election organised by the Political Science Department through its Democratic Citizenship project.​ Photographer: Stephanie Nieuwoudt

In a beauty-and-the-beast kind of relationship one of South Africa's critically endangered flowers have developed extraordinary mechanisms to ensure pollination by rodents such as the hairy-footed gerbil.

And then this little fellow may not even be that good at getting the job done!

The Redelinghuys pincushion (Leucospermum arenarium) is only known to occur on three farms between the towns of Redelinghuys and Aurora in South Africa. It is described as critically rare and threatened on the South African National Botanical Institute's Red List of Plants (SANBI).

Chris Johnson, a PhD student in the Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University and supervised by Prof Anton Pauw, described the Redelinghuys pincushion's remarkable adaptations for rodent pollination in a paper for the journal Annals of Botany, currently in press.

Chris explains the first clue that a flower uses rodents rather than birds and insects as pollinators, is usually evident from the fact that it presents its flowers at ground level.

With the help of a farmer in the area, Mr Charles Wykeham from the farm Uitkyk, he found a sizable patch of Redelinghuys pincushions to study.

Chris used live trapping and differential exclusion experiments to compare the role of rodents versus birds and insects as pollinators. Most of this fieldwork was done at night! Back in the lab, he investigated the Redelinghuys pincushion's bizarre nectar production and transport systems by means of microscopy, nectar composition analysis and other experiments.

He found that the nectar is unusually viscous and is presented on the petal tips where rodents can access it without destroying the flowers: "We found that while the nectar is produced at the base of the nectar tube, the Redelinghuys pincushion then transports the nectar to the tips of the petals, where it is held in a cup-like structure.

"In the pincushion family this is a unique adaptation to facilitate pollination by rodents," he adds.

To determine the role of rodents in pollination, he trapped hairy-footed gerbils and striped field mice just after they visited the Redelinghuys pincushion and physically counted the pollen grains on their foreheads and rostrum. Further experiments in the lab showed that grooming, a daily ritual, exponentially diminished the amount of pollen they carry.

The hairy-footed gerbil is well-known for its grooming habits. It tends to scratch and wash its face with its forepaws, with frequent licking and tail cleaning. A bout of grooming usually ends with a vigorous body shake.

So, if a significant amount of pollen is lost to the grooming habits of the hairy-footed gerbil, why would the Redelinghuys pincushion persist with this relationship?

"We don't really know!" says Chris. "Our thinking about this is still speculative because we have not tested it."

"Flowers adapt to unusual, perhaps less 'effective' pollinators when other 'traditional' pollinators are rare or are heavily used. It is easy to comprehend the first explanation. If there is no potential pollination aside from rodents, then they are the best pollinators even if they are inefficient."

But what happens if there are typical pollinators like birds and bees in the area – why go for the rodents? According to Chris this could be because the birds and the bees are already heavily utilised by other flower species.

"If the typical pollinators are heavily utilised by other plants and you wanted to use this pollinator, you would have to compete with flowers of other species and there would be pollen flowing back and forth between different species of plants, which is not good."

"So, if all your sources for pollination are already occupied, or if you are not doing very well in attracting birds and bees, then you switch to a new strategy.

"And sometimes that is something strange and fantastic!" Chris concludes.

Photos: Chris Johnson & Anton Pauw

Media enquiries

Mr Chris Johnson

E-mail: cmjohn@sun.ac.za

Tel: 021 808-3314

Issued by Wiida Fourie-Basson, media: Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, science@sun.ac.za, 021 808-2684, 071 099 5721

Karin Brynard - acclaimed author, freelance journalist and guest at the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT)'s first Fun with Words (Woordpret) event of the year on Friday 21 February - promised to sponsor five words as part of WAT's Sponsor a Word campaign.

The author of the novels Plaasmoord and Onse Vaders paid immediately but wanted to think about her choice first. She even did a Facebook experiment and received more than 110 suggestions. Eventually she decided on the following words: 'Moor', 'Moer', 'Moffel', 'Antie', and 'N!abbas' (kalahari truffels).

Do all these words appear in a dictionary? According to Dr Willem Botha, Chief editor of the WAT, it doesn't matter.

"Sponsor a word is a virtual game. You can sponsor any Afrikaans word, inlcuding your own creations or you children's idiolect. It's a fun way to support a serious cause - the documentation of Afrikaans."

The conservation of Afrikaans is very important to Brynard.

A big part of her discussion at Friday's event was about the way the language is used.

"It's commendable to speak good Afrikaans," she said.

"How can we save the full register of Afrikaans? Language is constantly growing. How do we grow with it? What do we allow and what not?"

Many people ask why she doesn't write in English because then she only has to write "once" and the book doesn't have to be translated.

"I can't," she says. "If I want to say something that comes from inside and not from my head, I have to do it in 'my taal' (my mother tongue). And that's why guys like you (at WAT) who document the language are so important."

In 2009 Brynard's first novel Plaasmoord received the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize for Creative Writing and the MNet Literary Award in the Movie Category (which means her book had the most potential to be reworked into a screenplay). Her second novel Onse Vaders was released in 2012 and received the ATKV Prize for Prose and the MNet Literary Award in the Movie Category in 2013.

"I'm overjoyed that the crime/suspence genre is becoming so popular in Afrikaans," Brynard said.

But in an ideal world she would like to offer a R500 000 prize to the writers of Afrikaans romance novels. According to her these books cultivate readers and when the mothers read the children grow up in a reading culture.

She just wants to tell a lekker storie.

A short debate ensued about the writing of crime novels in a country where crime is a very emotional issue.

"Our reality leads to our fiction," said Dr Botha.

"And our reality fascinates us," added Brynard.

A member of the audience said that the crimes in novels are usually solved at the end and that is offers a type of escapism in the same was as the international suspence and crime series, movies and books.

Brynard is currently working on her third novel Tuisland.​

​Maties claimed their second consecutive victory in the 2014 FNB Varsity Cup, presented by Steinhoff International, when they defeated the visiting team  from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) by a score of 18-15 in the Danie Craven Stadium on Monday 24 February.

This win follows on a superb performance against NWU-Pukke in Potchefstroom the previous week where Maties earned an excellent 33-21 away win. The team currently occupies fourth place on the points table. After two defeats in the opening two rounds of the competition against NMMU (29-45) in Port Elizabeth and Ikeys (16-33) in Stellenbosch respectively the team is now building important momentum for a potential semi-final challenge.

The encounter against Wits was a tough one with the wind playing a significant role during the course of the evening. The visitors established a 10-0 lead courtesy of two unconverted tries but Maties hit back with a try of their own (through hooker Freddie Kirsten) shortly before the break to reduce the deficit to 10-5 at half time. The men in maroon played with the wind at their backs during the second half and eventually drew level in the 56th minute when lock Jan de Klerk went over for his team's second try.

The home team then took the lead through a try by flyhalf Robert du Preez who converted to give his team an 18-10 lead. However, the visitors would not lie down and they went over for their third try of the match in the dying moments of the game, creating the possibility of a draw with the three-point conversion to come. The difficult attempt into the wind and from the side line failed and as a result Maties claimed an 18-15 win on the night. 

Their next opponents will be the visiting Shimlas on Monday 3 March (19:00). The match will be played in the Craven Stadium.

• Photo: Anton Jordaan
  

​The recent upward adjustment of the repo rate isn't "inexplicable". As a result of underlying factors South Africans should, in fact, prepare themselves for more of the same. This will have certain implications for the residential property market, Prof Stan du Plessis, Dean designate of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU), said in an interview in Eiendomme (published in Die Burger on 22 February 2014).

This article is only available in Afrikaans.

​Die onlangse opwaartse aanpassing in die repokoers was nie "onverklaarbaar" nie. Juis weens die onderliggende faktore kan Suid-Afrikaners hulle vir nóg daarvan staal. Dít sal noodwendig vir onder meer die residensiële eiendomsmark bepaalde implikasies hê, het prof Stan du Plessis, aangewese dekaan van die Fakulteit Ekonomiese en Bestuurswetenskappe aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch, aan Eiendomme (soos gepubliseer in Die Burger van 22 Februarie 2014) gesê.

"Die styging einde verlede maand van 50 basispunte (0,5%) in die repokoers was nie 'n kortstondige of 'n eenmalige aanpassing nie. Daar kom nóg.

"Dit gaan langdurige stygings wees, wat nie gou omgekeer gaan word nie," meen Du Plessis. "Van huidige huiseienaars met uitstaande verbande gaan dit knapper finansiële beplanning verg in so ver hierdie aanpassing hul kontantvloei gaan raak. En vir nuwe huiseienaars beteken dit dat finansieringskostes in die loop van die jaar kan styg."

Hierdie verwagte aanpassing kan oor die volgende 12 maande 'n verdere 1,5% beloop, en dit sal die Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (SARB) se repokoers op 7% en die prima-uitleenkoers op 10,5% te staan bring.

Sommige ekonome is deur die onlangse styging onkant betrap, en uit die geledere van party eiendomsmaatskappye is die aanpassing as "onverwags" bestempel, juis omdat dit nie in 'n verkiesingsjaar verwag is nie.

Maar Du Plessis meen daardie sentimente het nie onlangse monetêre verwikkelings voldoende verreken nie. "Die belangrikste verwikkeling aan die monetêre front was die verswakking van die rand gedurende 2013 en die gepaardgaande styging in verwagte inflasie. Hierdie kombinasie het beteken dat monetêre beleid al hoe meer akkommoderend geword het in die loop van 2013, al het die SARB se repokoers onveranderd gebly.

"Gegewe die eksterne risiko's vir die ekonomie – waarvan die groot tekort op die lopende rekening een simptoom is – en die stygende inflasie-risiko's kon die SARB nie toelaat dat monetêre beleid al hoe meer akkommoderend raak nie."

Om inflasieverwagtinge hok te slaan vra 'n meer beperkende monetêre beleid, wat in ons situasie 'n hoër repokoers beteken. Dit bring ons terug na daardie 7%.

"In die huidige omstandighede sou 'n normale vlak van die repokoers ­hoër wees as die geraamde inflasiekoers oor die volgende 12 maande. En nie net-net nie, maar minstens met een persentasiepunt," sê Du Plessis.

En hy reken dat 'n repokoers van nagenoeg 7% teen die einde van die jaar omtrent 1% bokant die geraamde inflasiekoers sal wees.

Die eerste rede vir die monetêre-beleidskomitee se onlangse en toekomstige aanpassings gaan dus wees om die huidige inflasionêre druk op die ekonomie te bekamp.

Die tweede rede is om die "eksterne risiko" te bekamp, dus die invloed van ander ekonomieë op ons eie. En dit geld ontwikkelde en ontwikkelende lande s'n.

"Die super-akkommoderende monetêre beleid van 'n land soos Amerika kom tot 'n einde. Die hoeveelheid likiditeit wat hierheen gevloei en die rand ondersteun het, gaan dus tot 'n einde kom. Die aanpassing in die repokoers moet die uitwerking daarvan teenwerk.

"Wat ontwikkelende ekonomieë betref, is daar ander lande waarvan die rentekoers reeds baie hoër as ons s'n aangepas is, en dit was ook daarom 'n voorspelbare tendens wat ons hier kon voorsien," het Du Plessis gesê.

In dié konteks moet huidige en voornemende huiseienaars nie binnekort 'n afwaartse aanpassing in die repo- en rentekoers verwag nie, maar hul beleggingsbesluite en finansiële beplanning doen met die vooruitsig van verdere en langdurige stygings.

​​Some of the world's leading experts on public mental health will participate in the second STIAS Roundtable that will take place on Monday and Tuesday 24 and 25 February 2014. Among them are Dr Pamela Collins, Prof Abdallah Daar, Dr Mary Ellsberg, Prof James Gilligan, Prof David Ndetei and Dr Shekhar Saxena (for more information, see below).

STIAS Roundtables are organised to create a forum for discussion where researchers can meet policy makers, practitioners, business and industry, and the social sector. The idea is to foster dialogue and understanding amongst all involved in the provision of services, including the intended beneficiaries. 

The theme of this year's Roundtable is Mental Health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa – moving to implementation. The Roundtable, planned in a workshop held at STIAS in November 2013, will examine ways in which this region's public mental health challenges can be met in the next twenty to thirty years.

During the last decade, an increased awareness developed not only of the substantial contribution of mental, neurological and substance use disorders to the global burden of disease - estimated at 14% - but also of the fact that mental health is one of the most underserved areas of health care.

In response, the World Health Organisation (WHO) introduced several programmes, one of which is the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP), an action plan to scale up services for mental disorders, especially for countries with low and lower middle incomes.

Following the WHO guidelines, several countries in Africa, including South Africa, developed mental health action plans or "road maps" to improve mental health care.

The focus of the STIAS Mental Health Roundtable is on the efforts of governments, professionals, non-profit organisations, charities and funders of research to implement the guidelines and to build partnerships for meaningful collective action. The programme and all other information about the concept of the Roundtable, directions to the venue, etc., can be found under "Events" on the STIAS website www.stias.ac.za.

The final session of the STIAS Roundtable, from 16:00 to 17:30 on Tuesday 25 February will take the form of a panel discussion that will be open to the public and the press. (Attendance at the rest of the Roundtable is by invitation only; for enquiries, see below).

Some leading international experts in global mental health will participate in the Roundtable, among whom (in alphabetical order):

Dr Pamela Collins, Director, Office for Research on Disparities & Global Mental Health, and the Office of Rural Mental Health Research at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. Studied cultural psychiatry and applied medical anthropology as a research fellow in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Conducted training of health care providers in mental health and HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, and counselling in Argentina, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda and South Africa. In South Africa Dr. Collins's research examined the role of mental health care providers in the development of HIV prevention interventions in psychiatric settings. She continues to study the integration of HIV and mental health services in sub-Saharan Africa.

Abdallah Daar, Professor of Public Health Sciences of the University of Toronto and a STIAS fellow. Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, Grand Challenges Canada. Member, United Nations Scientific Advisory Board. After attending medical schools in Uganda and London, England, Prof. Daar attended the University of Oxford, where he completed postgraduate clinical training in surgery and also in internal medicine, a doctorate in transplant immunology, and a fellowship in organ transplantation. His major research focus is on the use of life sciences to ameliorate global health inequities, with a particular focus on building scientific capacity and increasing innovation in developing countries, in addition to studying how technologies can be rapidly taken from 'lab to village.'

Dr Mary Ellsberg, Director: Global Women's Institute, George Washington University. Earned a doctorate in epidemiology and public health from Umeå University in Sweden and a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies from Yale University. Lived in Nicaragua for nearly 20 years, leading public health and women's rights advocacy. Member of the core research team of WHO's Multi-Country Study on Domestic Violence and Women's Heath. Has written more than 20 books and articles on gender-based violence and methodological aspects of violence research.

James Gilligan, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Adjunct Professor, School of Law and Collegiate Professor, School of Arts and Science, New York University. Former faculty member at Harvard Medical School, where he worked from 1966 to 2000. In 1977 he became the Director of the Harvard Institute of Law and Psychiatry. Best known for his series of books entitled Violence, where he draws on 25 years of work in the American prison system. Worked as adviser to the prosecutorial staff of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in support of their argument that the systematic mass rapes of "enemy" women (and men) that occur in wartime should be re-defined in the law as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

David Ndetei, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and founder and Director of the Africa Mental Health Foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to research for evidence-based policy, practice in and promotion of mental and neurological health and healthy behaviour. He also founded the Nairobi Psychotherapy Institute, which promotes psychotherapy in Kenya. He was trained in Kenya and in London at the Institute of Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital and the Institute of Psychotherapy. His special interest is in operational research on the common clinical issues in Kenya and development of mental health policies for Kenya.

Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO, Geneva. Psychiatrist by training, with about 30 years of experience in research and programme management, service delivery and information systems in the areas of mental health and neurological disorders, especially in low- and middle-income countries. One of the writers of the World Health Report 2001 on mental health. Editor and author, Lancet Series on Global Mental Health 2007 and Lancet Series on Global Mental Health 2011. Responsible for implementation of WHO's mental health Gap Action Programme. Addressed World Economic Forum in 2012.

Enquiries: Johann Groenewald, jpg@sun.ac.za or Dannielle Schellingerhout by danny27@sun.ac.za​

Photographer: Anton Jordaan

Prof Sam Moore, head of the Division of Paediatric Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, was awarded the prestigious Denis Browne Gold Medal for 2014 by the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons.

The medal is awarded for "an outstanding contribution to paediatric surgery," wrote Rick Turner, President of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons in a congratulatory letter to Prof Moore.

"This is a real feather in the cap for the Department of Surgical Sciences and the Division of Paediatric Surgery, as well as the Faculty in terms of international recognition," said Prof Moore.

In the 61 years of the association's history, Moore is only the third South African to be awarded this medal. The two previous awardees were Profs Jannie Louw and Alastair Millar.

"It's a tremendous honour for a South African paediatric surgeon to be listed among the eminent awardees," said Prof Moore. The proposal and support for his nomination came from David Drake and Ed Kiely from Great Ormond Street in London "which in itself a great honour".

"I am totally overcome and feel quite weak in the knees about it," said Prof Moore.

The medal will awarded at a special ceremony at the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons annual congress to be held in Edinburgh this July.

​Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel will serve as Acting Rector from Tuesday 25 February 2014 to Friday 7 March 2014 while Prof Russel Botman, Rector and Vice-Cchancellor of Stellenbosch University, travels to the USA to receive an honorary degree from Hope College.

During this stay at Hope College, Prof Botman will speak at the College's Chapel Service ("Living as if it were not"), deliver a public address ("Stellenbosch University's HOPE Project: A vision for academic renewal") and deliver the keynote address at the Presidential Colloquium after the honorary degree has been presented to him. The topic of his lecture will be "Mandela's children: Shaping a university".

According to a press release issued by Hope College, the honorary degree is conferred on Prof Botman in "celebration of his leadership not only in higher education but in service to society and promoting reconciliation and social justice".

During his time away Prof Botman will also visit the University of Aberdeen in Scotland where he will participate in their International Women's Day Conference on 7 March. There he will deliver an address on "Leadership in the international context" and participate in a panel discussion.

​​As part of his recent doctorate completed at the Institute for Plant Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University (SU), a researcher has discovered a gene linked to the production of much sought-after complex carbohydrates in red algae.  

As part of a broader project, which would allow for the eventual protection of red algae species, Dr Stanton Hector, focussed on genes isolated from an endemic red algae (Gelidium pristoides) native to Kalk Bay in Cape Town.

The aim of the study was to obtain the genes involved in the production of these precious carbohydrates (polysaccharides) and to transfer them to model plant systems for large-scale production of these compounds. "This, in the long run, would prevent harvesting and depletion of natural populations of red algae," Hector said.

According to Hector, these complex carbohydrates have been indicated to be effective in the treatment of, among others, tumours, viruses, bacteria, inflammation and blood clot formation. They are also used as food additives where they promote gastrointestinal health and stimulate the immune system.

In laboratories, these carbohydrates are also utilised as solidifiers for bacterial growth media and gels used for separating DNA fragments.

"Not surprisingly, red algae are highly prized for the production of these compounds," said Hector.

Although identification of the rest of the genes is still a work-in-progress, the gene identified by Hector is involved in the metabolism of a simple sugar (galactose) in red algae and aids in their ability to convert glucose to this simple sugar and vice versa.

"Galactose is important in the synthesis of these complex carbohydrates as they are comprised entirely of this sugar."

Hector said red algae are very difficult to work with from a molecular biology perspective, and he therefore had to find new ways in order to isolate genes and enzymes involved in synthesis of these carbohydrates.

He added that new ways must be found to protect natural red algae because an increase in global demand could lead to the decimation of natural populations.   

Hector said this is particularly important in South Africa where only a few algae farms exist.

"Large-scale farming of algae is still in its infancy and local algae are pretty much harvested traditionally by day labourers hand-picking them from exposed rocks in the inter-tidal zone, and later mechanically processed for carbohydrates".

We need more algae farms in order to prevent this type of harvesting which is detrimental for the survival of local algae species, Hector said.

"The use of biotechnology to farm algae and to find alternative methods to produce their economically valuable carbohydrates can stimulate the local industry, create more jobs and lead to the protection of natural seaweed species. In turn, monies generated from such farming operations can be ploughed back into algae research and conservation projects."

Hector added that more research and increased awareness in the field of seaweed biotechnology is needed in South Africa.

• Dr Stanton Hector is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Plant Biotechnology in the Department of Genetics at Stellenbosch University.​

​​The Alumni Relations Office in partnership with the Mandy Rossouw Scholarship committee recently announced S’thembile Cele as the first recipient of this prestigious award.

A selection committee for the scholarship comprising of leading editors, journalists and former colleagues of Mandy made the announcement earlier this week. 

The scholarship was awarded in collaboration with Mandy's family and SU's Department of Journalism to a female student who has been selected for the one year postgraduate BPhil degree. S’thembile (22) graduated with a BA International Studies from the University in 2013 and started reading for the BPhil in Journalism at the beginning of February. She is a presenter at campus radio station MFM, a member of the Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Leadership Institute and a recipient of a Media24 bursary. She impressed the committee with her political insights and charmed the socks off them with her confidence, humour and attitude. The selection committee believe S’thembile, who has already shown so much spirit, talent and ambition has the makings of a great political journalist.

S’thembile will be flown to Johannesburg later in the year for a celebratory event where donors, family, friends and colleagues of Mandy will have the opportunity to interact with her. The German Embassy has also confirmed its intention to send S’thembile to Germany this year on a media trip, and she is being considered for inclusion in a program for young female leaders.

Editor of Rapport Waldimar Pelser said: “Thank you to everybody who made it possible to launch the Scholarship in Mandy’s honour, including SU’s Alumni Relations Senior Director, Bev Witten, who suggested the establishment of the Scholarship last April and Friedrich Schröder for the generosity of his Embassy and government”.

Donors are thanked for their generous support - the Scholarship is already fully funded for 2014 and 2015! Only a proper endowment will make the Mandy Rossouw Scholarship viable in the long run, and that is why we ask you to consider favourably our invitations for future contributions later in the year.

Please liaise with Ms Bev Witten at bevwitten@sun.ac.za for more information on how you can contribute towards the scholarship

​​The success and achievements of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) staff members contribute tremendously to the Faculty's global excellence in many areas. FMHS staff members experience unprecedented success in an array of activities including funding awards, scholarships, fellowships and the appointment to international and national committees.

(Also visit www.sun.ac.za/health and www.facebook.com/SUhealthsci to view more staff and student achievements.)

 Funding and sholarships:

Dr Steve Innes, clinical research fellow at the Children's Infectious Disease Research Unit (KIDCRU), was awarded the Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER) grant at the International AIDS Society's 7th Conference of HIV Pathogenesis which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This $150 000 (R1,5 million) grant, to be disbursed over two years, was presented to Innes by the Nobel Prize winner, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who discovered the HI-virus in 1983.

Dr Celeste Naude, senior researcher at the Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care received the Medical Research Council (MRC) Career Development Award – one of the flagship awards of the Research Capacity Development Sub-Directorate of the MRC. The Career Development Programme is a partnership between the MRC and the tertiary education sector, and aims to build research capacity and scientific leadership by creating new positions for senior post-doctoral scientists that have demonstrated a potential to become established researchers. The award is for a period of two years and is renewable for a further two years.

Prof Hans Strijdom from the Division of Medical Physiology was recently informed that a proposal he had submitted as project coordinator of a 3-year multi-national study proposal had been awarded a research grant of R8million. It is one of two successful awards received by Stellenbosch University researchers after 124 proposals were initially submitted from various African and European countries.

The following staff members received Discovery Foundation Awards.

Academic Awards

• Dr Adrie Bekker: Department of Paeadiatrics and Child Health
• Dr Angela Dramowski: Department of Paeadiatrics and Child Health
• Dr Charles Kyriakakis: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine

Sub-specialist Awards

• Dr Mfundo Feketshane: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Dr Annari van Rensburg: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine

Ms Susan Bakelaar, Department of Psychiatry, received an NRF-DST Innovation Doctoral Scholarship for 2014.

Dr Adrie Bekker, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, received both the SAMA PhD Supplementary Scholarship and the MRC Clinical Research PhD Scholarship.

Dr Angela Dramowski, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health , was awarded the MRC Clinical Research PhD Scholarship.

Fellowships:

Ms Stefanie Muller-Malan, Department of Psychiatry, received an NRF-DST Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2014.

Dr Jane Moses, Department of Medicine, was awarded a Life Healthcare Fellowship to initiate her sub-specialisation in cardiology.

Dr Ndapewa Ithete, Department of Pathology, has been awarded a Claude Leon Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to study the ecology of emerging viruses in South African bat species.

Elected to committees:

Profs Wolfgang Preiser (Head: Division of Medical Virology) and Branislav Jeremic (Head: Division of Radiation Oncology) have been elected to membership of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

​Prof Wolfgang Preiser

​Prof Branislav Jeremic

Dr Ethelwynn Stellenberg, Division of Nursing, was appointed by the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, to the Board for the Office of Health Standards Compliance.

Prof Colleen Wright, Department of Pathology, has been invited to become a member of the International Board of Cytopathology Committee for 2013-2016.

 ​

Dr Lungi Nonke, Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, was appointed to the Competition Commission on Private Sector Health Care.

More achievements:

Prof Stefan du Plessis, head of the Division of Medical Physiology, received the "Excellence in Physiology" award at the 41st conference of the Physiology Society of Southern Africa (PSSA). This accolade, which has only been awarded twice before in the society's 42-year existence, is meant to honour mid-career physiologists with national and international standing, who has achieved excellent research- and, student outputs over a five-year period. Du Plessis, whose research focuses on male reproduction, particularly sperm physiology and andrology, said that he was truly honoured by the award and the recognition by his peers.
Prof Stefan du Plessis has also been selected for the Fulbright South Africa Research/Scholar Program.

Ms Caroline Pule, a MSc student at the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, has been awarded an Agency For Science Technology & Research (A*STAR) Singapore International Pre-Graduate Award to participate in a two month internship at the Bioinformatics Research Institute.

Dr Monique Andersson, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, has been elected to the NIH Aids Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) Hepatitis Transformative Science Group for a period of two years.

Dr Bonga Chiliza, Department of Psychiatry, received a SAMA South African Registrar Association Award for academic excellence.

Two scholarships of R25 000 each were recently awarded to two gifted undergraduate and postgraduate music students specialising in composition. The first Hans Roosenschoon Music Foundation Composition Scholarships were awarded to Roché van Tiddens and Lise Morrison this year.

Roché, who is an undergraduate student, passed his third year of BMus (Composition) with six distinctions, of which one was obtained for composition. Lise, who already holds a BComm degree from Stellenbosch University (SU), completed her BMus in 2013 and now specialises in composition at postgraduate level.

"The works by both these young composers showed distinct innovative thinking," said Prof Hans Roosenschoon, the founder of the Foundation and a lecturer in the Music Department specialising in composition.

The aim of the scholarship is to encourage musical creativity amongst young people and to recognise promise and cultivate excellence in creative work at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

"The bursaries were specifically set aside for composition students as we currently do not have any such bursaries for this area of specialisation in the Music Department or at the University. Students had to apply for the scholarship by submitting their CVs, study records as well as one of their own pieces. Our selection criteria are based on the quality of the composed work and how innovative the composer was in composing their work."

Scholarships are only allocated once-off at undergraduate and at postgraduate level.  

"Composition is an area of specialisation that starts in the third year of study and can only be followed by some students who qualify for this direction. There is but a handful of students studying composition at our university," says Roosenschoon, "however, the establishment of this scholarship will hopefully encourage more students to choose the specialisation area and perhaps even attract students interested in composition to Stellenbosch."

According to Prof Roosenschoon, composing music requires a very broad theoretical background and the ability to understand different instruments. "You have to understand, composers write music for instruments they may not necessarily play themselves."

Both Roché and Lise are thrilled to have received the scholarships.

"It has been really exciting and is definitely very inspiring to have received this scholarship," says Roché.

"It has given me a lot of confidence, and because I have such a confidence boost, I look forward to what I can achieve in this year. Generally when I write music, it is just for me to say if it is good or not, however, to win a scholarship because of something I've composed, tells me that I'm doing the right thing and that I'm moving in the right direction."

Roché's piece was written for a guitar and he describes it as a "character piece about a few completely arbitrary" utensils chosen from the kitchen cutlery drawer – a silver and a finger fork; a wooden and a silver spoon; and a butter and a steak knife.

"The silver fork represents Western civilisation, while the finger fork represents the bush men and people who eat with their hands. The same goes for the wooden and silver spoon and the knives. I used it to represent the divides in SA, in particular the divides between the rich and poor. I then recorded the sounds that the cutlery made while used as percussion and manipulated the sounds to make it sound completely different. After this experiment, I found that some sounded like birds, and others like a lion's roar. This turned out to be very effective. Those sounds were then programmed into a MIDI controller, so that it could be triggered by the percussionist performing Ad Libitum."

For Lise, receiving the scholarship is acknowledgement of the fact that her work as a composer is being recognised.

"I applied for the scholarship as a final-year undergraduate student and had to compete with existing postgraduate students to obtain the scholarship. I was initially hesitant about whether I should apply for the scholarship, especially because I just did not have the same level of experience as the other applicants, but as with all things, there is always someone you have to compete with. It is however good to know that someone thinks that your work is good enough."

The work that she entered was called a Work of Time and was specifically written for an orchestra. "Most of the piece is a tribute to the masters, such as Stravinsky and Bartók, that I have come to know in pieces written for orchestras. Rather than working with a theme and form, many discrete, non-developing musical elements are arranged to 'play off each other'," she explains.  

And now that they're set to continue following their passion, what are their plans for the future?

"I definitely want to carry on composing and enrich my knowledge of the craft of composition," says Roché.

"In the end, I want to have my music performed and be involved in my music being performed all over the world."

Lise is very excited about using her scholarship towards a visit to one of the most prestigious music institutions in the world, the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, which has a massive composition centre.

Photo: Prof Hans Roosenchoon, far left, with the two students, Lise Morrison (middle) and Roché van Tiddens, far right, who were awarded the composition scholarships named after him. (Anton Jordaan, SSFD)