What would happen if South Africa were to place the interests of children and adolescents front and centre of all policy and responses? This is the question Prof Mark Tomlinson from the Institute for Life Course Health Research tried to answer in an opinion piece for Daily Maverick (27 July).

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

Why are children and adolescents not at the centre of everything we do?

Mark Tomlinson*

Focusing decisions through the lens of children's well-being is how the government must address hardships brought about by the pandemic – as well as the decisions we make in everyday life.

One of the things about a pandemic is that suddenly there is a seemingly endless array of experts telling us about mask wearing, nutrition, infection, behaviour change, the differences between physical and social distancing, and how to preserve our mental well-being during lockdown. We have infectious disease experts, education experts, public health experts, commerce and industry experts – not to mention the social media and communication experts among them.

One of the things about experts, however, is that for the most part what they do best is push their own agendas – and often very narrow ones. In public health, we would call this a siloed approach. You are an HIV expert, and your task is to get as much funding for HIV research and treatment as possible, and for you this is the number one health priority that you advocate for. Whether obesity and non-communicable diseases kill as many or more people every year is only peripherally your concern. Mostly this is fine because knowledge and expertise are useful and pushing an agenda has its place.

But what happens in a pandemic, when seeing the bigger picture – and not simply your own narrow agenda – is of paramount importance.

Having said this, pushing an agenda is normal and inevitable, and those doing it should continue doing so. But in the context of a seemingly endless array of priorities and a catastrophic lockdown, is there one thing we could perhaps use to better guide our responses – to the pandemic now, but also into the post-Covid-19 world? Is there a single issue, a single group that can be placed centre stage and whose interests be considered as primary?

As a thought exercise, what would happen if South Africa were to place the interests of children front and centre of all policy and responses?

Earlier this year I was part of a World Health Organisation-Unicef-Lancet Commission called A future for the world's children? In the report, we showed how the health and rights of children and adolescents – particularly the most marginalised and vulnerable – are under immediate threat from climate change, commercial marketing of harmful products, and growing inequities. We made the case for countries putting children and adolescents at the core of their plans, their budgets and their programming, and called for a global movement for change, and one that invited children and adolescents to meaningfully engage as key stakeholders.

In the context of the current pandemic, might focusing on children help us get our priorities right and prevent short-sighted responses to Covid-19, make government and societal response more rational and reasoned, and minimise the influence of both narrow groupings within government and corporate interests from defining the current Covid-19 response?

What would such an approach look like?

Six years ago, Michael Komape was at his school in Limpopo. The run-down and dilapidated pit latrine he was using was not strong enough to hold his five-year-old body and he fell into the pit of human excrement and drowned. I have reflected often on the utter horror of his last minutes of life as he screamed for help. When we put Michael right at the centre of all that we do, then we will address the horrific state of so many schools and we will not pour R57-billion into an inefficient and dying airline.

When a provincial government plans new roads, but with children and communities at the heart of it, and explicitly sees roads primarily as connectors of communities to each other, and links to employment and health facilities, then everybody wins – even industry and the trucking industry. When we put children at the centre, effective policies and the policing of alcohol, cigarette sales and gambling advertising becomes part and parcel of our everyday actions – not just when we have a pandemic.

When children are the lens through which we approach decisions, we would have immediately understood that lockdown meant that 9.1 million children were no longer receiving school meals. It would have meant that a coherent contingency plan would have been developed, or at the very least – as the months dragged by and we were confronted with the sheer horror of the impact of the lockdown on child hunger – it would not have taken a court case for the government to be compelled to ensure that children get a nutritious meal a day. 

This is my plaintive cry to President Cyril Ramaphosa: the most vulnerable in our society are suffering and it is getting worse. We have to put children at the centre of all that we do. Opening casinos is not as important as feeding children. Protecting teachers cannot come at any cost to children. Teachers are vital, and I am not suggesting they be sacrificed at the altar of children's education. But currently, children are being sacrificed at the altar of teacher safety.

This does not have to be a zero-sum game.

The thing about children (to quote a very cliched song) is that they are our future. When we put them first, we are forced to think a little further than only the next peak in our infection. We are compelled to think of the lifetime effects of stunting, years of lost education, the school dropout rate, and entire industries being wiped out that we may never get back. And we will by definition protect teachers from infection because they are so important to our children. 

President Ramaphosa, if you were to think like this, it might presage a shift to a more decisive and authoritative leadership where you are prepared to consider the bigger picture, to make announcements that are more coherent and that perhaps appear less arbitrary, and even provide you with the steeliness to resist the pressures from those with narrow agendas (be they corporate interests or unions from without, or cabinet ministers from within).

If you are not able to do this, our children (and by extension all of us) will be carrying the most unbearable burden across the next generation.

• Photo credit: PickPik

*Professor Mark Tomlinson is co-director of the Institute for Life Course Health Research in the Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University.

​A new national facility for water and soil analysis is currently being set up at Stellenbosch University.  The new facility will form one of the nodes of BIOGRIP,  a national research infrastructure platform hosted by UCT and with nodes at several South African institutions. The Stellenbosch BIOGRIP Node for Water and Soil Biogeochemistry will focus on the interdisciplinary study of the chemical, physical, geological and biological processes that influence the environment.

Stellenbosch University's Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) has successfully launched the first in a series of conversations with national and international leaders, titled the Matie Crest Talks.

On Thursday, 23 July more than 1 600 alumni, donors and friends of the University, from as far afield as New Zealand, the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Europe, Asia, and of course South Africa joined the first Matie Crest Talk with Rassie Erasmus, former head coach of the triumphant 2019 World Cup-winning Springboks and current Director of Rugby at the South African Rugby Union (SARU), as speaker. The online conversation was facilitated by Alison April, herself a Matie and currently DAR's Alumni and Fundraising Director in Europe.

According to Karen Bruns, DAR's Senior Director, the aim of these leadership talks is to provide platform for various speakers to inspire, strengthen, guide and intrigue current and future leaders.  

Erasmus' conversation centred around how to negotiate the journey from crisis to success, with him returning from Ireland in November 2017 and taking over the reigns as Springbok coach, as the starting point.

“Our whole approach to tackle the 2019 World Cup was to focus purely on lessons learned from mistakes made in previous World Cups. I was a player in '99 at the World Cup, in 2003 I was not there, in 2007 and 2011 I was on the management team and in 2015, I was the high-performance manager at SARU. So, I always said, consider all the times we nearly won and lost out. That's where you get your plans and options from."

He shared how important it is to align the thinking of the entire team. Success is not about leadership, but ownership: each player had to take full ownership relating to his on field and off field aspects. He pointed out that the players had to see themselves as a cohesive team. It proved to be a successful starting point to build on. Subsequently, with the focus on teamwork and a true Springbok spirit, they could get to work.

Erasmus shared several insights on the role of management, of each player, and emphasised that to achieve success one has to select and appoint the right people. Success is down to also having a diverse team. “We had four women in the management team who played a very important role for our players. I can tell you now, at the World Cup we had a 100% happy, transformed and diverse playing and management team."

Many of the points he shared were beneficial for people in business, sport, institutions of learning and various other organisations.

Bruns is excited about future Maties Crest Talks and the benefit they could hold for alumni in their professional lives. “Through the Maties Crest Talks we are creating a platform for leaders from different walks of life, different industries and various contexts to share their views on leadership exclusively with Matie alumni - as diverse and original as their presentations might be. We will invite speakers with different views in order to inform leadership that is creative, innovative and informing workplace satisfaction. Watch this space – we plan on hosting more inspiring talks in the coming months." 

​Stellenbosch University will not oppose the court application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) relating to the independent investigation by retired Judge Burton Fourie.

The court application followed an earlier PAIA request from Dr Leon Schreiber to make available information that Judge Fourie had in his investigation into the allegations that SU's Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers, irregularly interfered in the court case between SU and Gelyke Kanse regarding the University's 2016 Language Policy.

After considering the court application and supporting statements, as well as related circumstances, SU has decided not to oppose the application. This decision does not imply that SU agrees with the applicants' views and allegations. SU is of the opinion that the independent investigation of Judge Fourie refutes Dr Schreiber and the DA's allegations. The record of the Fourie investigation, namely the transcripts of verbal proceedings, written communication and other documents to which the applicants want access, will also support Judge Fourie's findings regarding the Rector and Justice Edwin Cameron.

The SU Council accepted the Fourie report in December 2019 and also made it available to the public. In his report, Judge Fourie found that there was no merit in the allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the SU Rector, Prof De Villiers, or Justice Cameron in the Constitutional Court case regarding the University's 2016 Language Policy.

Background

On 10 October 2019, ten judges of the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled in favour of SU in the case in which SU opposed a court application by Gelyke Kanse to force the institution to return to the 2014 Language Policy. This ruling by the Constitutional Court confirmed the ruling of the Western Cape High Court of 2017 that SU's multilingual and inclusive 2016 Language Policy complies with the Constitution and the National Language Policy for Higher Education (2002).

On 24 October 2019, Dr Schreiber, in his capacity as an SU alumnus, requested that the University launch an independent investigation against Prof De Villiers regarding his role in the nomination of Justice Cameron as a candidate for the office of Chancellor at SU.

These allegations by Dr Schreiber followed after the Rector approached Judge Edwin Cameron in July 2019 to make himself available to be nominated for the office of Chancellor, which would have become vacant at the beginning of 2020. An electoral college consisting of members of Council, members of the Executive Committee of the Senate, as well as the president and vice-president of the Convocation of SU, elected the new chancellor in September 2019.

After considering Dr Schreiber's complaint against the rector, the Executive Committee of the SU Council (EC (C)) decided on 31 October 2019 to launch an independent investigation in accordance with good governance and transparency. The EC (C) appointed retired Judge Fourie to conduct the investigation.

On 26 November 2019, retired Judge Fourie, based on the interviews he conducted and the documentation made available to him, concluded that there was no evidence that the Rector's action regarding the nomination of Justice Cameron for the position of SU Chancellor had constituted a serious violation of the law, or serious misconduct. According to the Fourie report, the evidence at most showed that the Rector, as he was obliged to do, had helped – and possibly even taken the lead – to identify suitable candidates for the nomination of a new Chancellor. Justice Cameron, on the other hand, only made himself available for nomination after Advocate Jan Heunis SC indicated in writing on behalf of Gelyke Kanse that he would not object to Justice Cameron's nomination. According to Judge Fourie, the evidence as a whole did not indicate improper conduct by the Rector or Justice Cameron. (Read SU's statement here.)

END

​​​Stellenbosc​h University (SU) has launched a process to rename the RW Wilcocks Building on its Stellenbosch campus. SU staff, students and representatives of the Stellenbosch community have been invited to participate in the process.

The RW Wilcocks Building was opened in 1966 and named after Prof RW Wilcocks who was Rector of the University from 1935 to 1954.

“The University acknowledges that visual symbols evoke different emotions and experiences amongst people, especially in a diversified and historically divided country like South Africa," says the Registrar, Dr Ronel Retief, who also chairs the standing Committee for the Naming and Renaming of Buildings, Venues and other Facilities/Premises (Naming Committee).

“It is our fervent hope that this long-anticipated renaming process of this prominent building, that also marks the entrance to the Stellenbosch campus on the corner of Ryneveld and Victoria streets, will allow for broad participation towards reflecting the journey of this institution and the surrounding community."

The renaming of the RW Wilcocks Building forms part of a long-term and extensive visual redress process on SU's campuses in an attempt to not only remove offensive symbols, but also to introduce new visual symbols which point to a shared history, our diverse stories and public spaces that are welcoming to all. This process was launched a few years ago and much progress has been made in recent years to create student- and staff-friendly living and work spaces that conform to the needs of a diverse group of students, staff and other stakeholders, and at the same time promote a welcoming campus culture.

Complex process

“Changing the name of the RW Wilcocks Building is a complex process and one that has been debated by various role-players over the last few months and years," says Dr Leslie van Rooi, Senior Director: Social Impact and Transformation who also chairs the Visual Redress Committee.

“The University acknowledges the varied viewpoints and opinions of staff, students, alumni and the public about the current name, but at the same time cannot ignore that due to his association to apartheid-related matters and race-based policies and due to his connection to Hendrik Verwoerd, the legacy of Prof Wilcocks is shrouded in controversy. It also cannot ignore the pleas from successive Student Representative Councils and other student movement leaders, as well as staff, to change the name."

Van Rooi adds that there is well-documented criticism from the South African Psychology academic community (Prof Wilcocks's field of expertise) on the current name. “Importantly, the University has over the years received specific requests from the academic disciplines and divisions housed in the building to change the name. These include the Department of Psychology, the Division of Research Development and Stellenbosch University International."

Of real importance is that the University operates in a very specific time and that the current context requires SU to think anew about the names of buildings and symbols, comments Van Rooi. “This was all taken into consideration in taking a decision to start the process of obtaining a new name for the building as guided by the principles of the SU Policy on the Naming of Buildings, Venues and other Facilities/Premises.

“It is of vital importance to name buildings and residences in a way that points to a shared history, that tells our diverse stories and that creates public spaces that are welcoming to all. Renaming the RW Wilcocks Building is an opportunity to expand on this process and to allow for a critical conversation about names and symbols in general."

Process

A call for proposals for a new name was sent to SU staff and students, as well as the community structures represented on the SU Institutional Forum. The closing date for nominations is 26 August 2020.

All nominations, signed by at least 10 staff members, students and/or members of the community structures represented on the Institutional Forum of SU, will be considered by the Naming Committee. Each nomination must also be accompanied by a motivation for the specific name, and may include supporting documents, such as the relevant research, publications or opinion pieces. A shortlist will then be presented to the Rectorate for their consideration. The Rectorate will table the proposed name at the Executive Committee of Council, who is responsible for the final approval.

The current name will be removed from the building sometime over the next few weeks, but will, as was the case in the HB Thom Theatre (now the Adam Small Theatre Complex) be contextualised in the building.

Completed nomination forms should be sent to tarien@sun.ac.za ​by Wednesday 26 August 2020.

MORE INFORMATION 

The community structures

Among the 107 community organisations and institutions that the University notified are the Stellenbosch Co-management Forum (including Die Vlakte Forum); Stellenbosch Municipality; the Western Cape Education Department (Stellenbosch); the Council for Church Co-operation in Stellenbosch; the Stellenbosch Civil Advocacy Network and the Stellenbosch Ratepayers Association.

Recent name changes

Some name changes over the last few years include the Coetzenburg Centre (previously the DF Malan Centre), the Stellenbosch University Library (JS Gericke Library), the Adam Small Theatre Complex (HB Thom Theatre), Pieter Okkers House (7 Joubert Street and now named after the first resident, Mr Pieter J.A. Okkers (1875-1952) and Huis Simon Nkoli House (39 Victoria Street).

New residences included Huis Russel Botman House (named after the late Prof Russel Botman), Huis Ubuntu House, Nkosi Johnson House and the Jan Mounton Building (that is under construction). 

​Other recent projects:

• “The Circle", a bronze art installation featuring 11 phenomenal South African women thought leaders, that was erected on the Rooiplein towards the end of last year.
• Welcome messages in 15 languages have been carved onto benches in public areas on campus, including braille, Sign Language and San.
• A map of Die Vlakte was installed at the entrance of the Arts and Social Sciences building which is built on the grounds were families were evicted under the Group Areas Act in the 1960's.
• The creation of the Lückhoff Living Museum
• Displaying the University's Centenary Restitution Statement at the SU Library
  

​

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers, invites all personnel of Stellenbosch University (SU) to the second Staff Assembly of 2020. In a first for our institution, the meeting will be held online because of restrictions on gatherings to slow the coronavirus pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 on SU – taking stock and looking ahead

Date:                    Wednesday, 5 August 2020
Time:                   11:00–12:00
Format:               MS Teams Live 

Link: Please check the latest edition of the news@StellenboschUni (distributed to all staff on Friday, 31 July) for the link.​

​Members of Management will brief staff on important developments since our  last Staff Assembly in February, and take questions from participants. (It will be possible to pose questions during the meeting, but get them in early by emailing them to ecomms@sun.ac.za.)

Most of us are still working from home and have not returned to campus yet. But staff members can follow the meeting from where-ever they are by clicking on the link above. It will work as long as you are connected to the internet, even if you don't have MS Teams on your computer or smartphone.

Let's come together even though we might be apart! Take a selfie and share it with your colleagues in the meantime – email it to ecomms@sun.ac.za and we'll do the rest.

Three researchers from Stellenbosch University (SU) walked away with top honours at the annual National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)/ South32Awards. Dr Richard Walls and Profs Christine Lochner and Conrad Matthee were announced winners in their respective categories during a live-streamed gala event on Thursday, 30 July 2020.

The prestigious NSTF/South32 Awards recognise, celebrate and reward the outstanding contributions of individuals, teams and organisations to science, engineering and technology in South Africa.

Walls (Fire Engineering Research Unit at SU or FireSUN) received the TW Kambule-NSTF Award in the Emerging Researcher Category for establishing FireSUN, a dynamic research group pursuing methods to improve informal settlement fire safety as well as structural fire design – both crucial to ensuring safety in our communities. A leading expert on fire safety engineering, Walls played a key role in the analysis of the Knysna fire disaster in 2017, in which almost 1 000 homes were destroyed, and has contributed to the United Nations “Global Assessment Repot on Disaster Risk Reduction" which looks at how to mitigate the effect of disasters on society. He has been involved with the roll-out of smoke alarms in informal settlements in South Africa. More than 5 000 smoke alarms have been installed in low-income homes, with the alarms typically being sponsored by industry or government. Walls also established the first fire safety engineering qualification in Africa.

Commenting on the award, Walls said “not only do we get paid a salary to burn stuff down, now our team is being recognised for advancing science and engineering. Our PhD & MEng students, postdocs and undergrads have worked extremely hard, and we hope we are making an impact. I appreciate that all of their contributions are being recognised in this award."

Lochner (South African Medical Research Council Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders and the Department of Psychiatry) was honoured with a TW Kambule-NSTF Award in the Researcher Category for raising awareness about obsessive-compulsive disorder, a common and debilitating d condition that contributes to individual and societal suffering and massive economic costs.

Since 2001, Lochner has launched several awareness campaigns and comprehensively collected clinical and genetics data from almost 1 000 patients with these conditions and MRI data from a subset, culminating in an extensive database that has facilitated collaborations with leading scientists worldwide, and resulted in numerous publications. Her research contributes to current knowledge of these impairing conditions which may translate into increased accuracy of diagnosis and better care – of the individual as well as society. The burden of disease associated with these conditions – i.e. on a personal/emotional level, as well as the financial burden – is thus ultimately decreased by work of this nature and scale.

The NSTF-Lewis Foundation Green Economy Award went to Matthee (Department of Botany and Zoology) and his team for inventing the first eco-friendly shark specific barrier SharkSafe^TM, which can protect beachgoers without harming the marine life. This innovative novel technology solves international problems associated with shark attacks including loss of lives, loss of income for local businesses, loss of recreational opportunities and loss of biodiversity in marine ecosystems. SharkSafe^TM contributes to the preservation of a healthy ocean ecosystem while it also promotes sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth and in turn will improve livelihoods of local communities. Since patenting the locally manufactured SharkSafe^TM barrier, a privately owned company, SharkSafe PTY LTD, was created during 2014. This invention has also attracted international attention with interest coming from La Réunion Island, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

“The inventors of SharkSafe Barrier^TM by name, Mike Rutzen, Dr Sara Andreotti, Dr Craig O'Connell and myself are indeed honoured to receive this award," said Matthee.

“We want to give credit to the many role players who showed trust in our technology and assisted us on the long path to commercialization, specifically to Anita Nel and her team at Innovus, and Marius Ungerer from SU's Business School for assistance with strategic planning, and Laurie Barwell and Rory Bruins for endless product development and logistical support." 

Through this award, we hope to make people aware that this technology has the potential to permanently solve the global conservation and socioeconomic tribulations associated with human-shark conflicts, added Matthee.

• ​Photo: Dr Richard Walls, Prof Christine Lochner, and Prof Conrad Matthee with members of his team.

Stellenbosch University's #Train4Fees campaign, that aims to help student athletes who have lost financial backing due to the impact of COVID-19, is going into extra time. 

Launched on 1 June 2020 by Maties Sport and the Development and Alumni Relations Division (DAR), the campaign, now has an end date of 31 August 2020 and a new fundraising target of R2 million.

To date R732,137 has been raised, the number of registered fundraisers stands at 102 and this will enable to give 23 students a financial lifeline thanks to funds raised by coaches, players, sport stars and ordinary Maties alike.

However, for Hans Scriba, Fundraising Manager, the finish line is not yet in sight. In fact, he is looking to double the funds already raised... All thanks to a generous donor who has committed to match all funds raised on a rand-for-rand basis.

"We currently have over 300 student athletes who have applied for financial assistance and we would ideally want to help all of them. COVID-19 is giving them a very tough time. These students are trying to pay the balance of their tuition fees, but lockdown, the virus and the economy are making things extremely difficult. And here at Stellenbosch University we're not going to drop our student-athletes after all the time and effort they've put in – and still do," says Scriba.

"We are grateful for the tremendous support that our athletes have received thusfar, and we urge others to take up the challenge. For the past two months, supporters have been running, cycling and walking to raise funds. Many of our loyal Maties Alumni have made significant contributions towards this campaign. We even have a 5-year-old who took on a 50km walk," says Karen Bruns, Senior Director of DAR.

So how can YOU get involved?

You can sponsor any of the fundraisers on the Maties GivenGain platform in your chosen sport - rugby, soccer, cricket, netball and hockey – or support other sporting codes on the Maties Sport Page - or you can sign up to become a fundraiser for #Train4Fees, by either running, cycling, skateboarding or power walking yourself … whatever fitness training you enjoy.

• #Train4Fees on Maties Alumni website: https://www.matiesalumni.com/train4fees/
• #Train4Fees on GivenGain website: https://www.givengain.com/cc/train4fees/
  

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Energy at Stellenbosch University (SU) is to benefit from large financial awards from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) made to universities forming part of ARUA. The programme is aimed at tackling global challenges such as disease, poverty, climate change, fragile states and food insecurity.

The awards being made through this research programme are a key part of UKRI's three-year partnership with ARUA, developed through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), to strengthen pan Africa-UK collaborations across all disciplines, mobilise excellence and build robust research ecosystems across Africa.

ARUA, launched in 2015, is a network of 16 research intensive African Universities from different countries and different historical backgrounds, with the common vision of enhancing research and graduate training in member universities through a number of channels, including the setting up of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to be hosted by member universities.

SU's ARUA CoE in Energy will receive R12 million over a 2-year period. 

Says Dr Neill Goosen of the SU Department of Process Engineering and Director of the ARUA CoE in Energy: "The ARUA CoE in Energy at Stellenbosch University is very pleased to receive this grant. It will allow the Centre to identify and engage talented early career African academics, and help to establish a multidisciplinary African community of collaborators around renewable energy issues. As Africa develops and requires increasing amounts of energy to power its economies and societies, renewable energy will become ever more important. Building a strong community of researchers in the field and encouraging collaboration between disciplines, will ensure that Africa can create the new knowledge required to build its renewable energy sector".

Adds Prof Wikus van Niekerk, Dean of the SU Faculty of Engineering: "The award is fitting recognition of the extensive expertise and research facilities at Stellenbosch University that will support the ARUA CoE in Energy. The ARUA CoE in Energy will be hosted in the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Study, arguably the most productive research centre focussing on renewable energy based at a university on the African continent."

The ARUA CoE in Energy aims to develop renewable energy solutions to address challenges related to African water and food supply systems.

One part of the project will be to strengthen young African researchers' capabilities through structured courses presented by SU's acclaimed African Doctoral Academy, while the other part will create the opportunity to tackle real world problems through collaborative research projects with SU's research partners. 

Liaise with Dr Neill Goosen, Director of the ARUA CoE in Energy, at arua@sun.ac.za  ​

Three researchers from Stellenbosch University walked away with top honours at the annual National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)/ South32Awards. Dr Richard Walls and Profs Christine Lochner and Conrad Matthee were announced winners in their respective categories during a live-streamed gala event on Thursday, 30 July 2020.

The prestigious NSTF/South32 Awards recognise, celebrate and reward the outstanding contributions of individuals, teams and organisations to science, engineering and technology in South Africa.

The NSTF-Lewis Foundation Green Economy Award went to Matthee (Department of Botany and Zoology) and his team for inventing the first eco-friendly shark specific barrier SharkSafe^TM, which can protect beachgoers without harming the marine life. This innovative novel technology solves international problems associated with shark attacks including loss of lives, loss of income for local businesses, loss of recreational opportunities and loss of biodiversity in marine ecosystems. SharkSafe Barrier^TM contributes to the preservation of a healthy ocean ecosystem while it also promotes sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth and in turn will improve livelihoods of local communities. Since patenting the locally manufactured SharkSafe Barrier^TM, a privately owned company, SharkSafe PTY LTD, was created during 2014. This invention has also attracted international attention with interest coming from La Réunion Island, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

“The inventors of SharkSafe Barrier^TM by name, Mike Rutzen, Dr Sara Andreotti, Dr Craig O'Connell and myself are indeed honoured to receive this award," said Matthee.

“We want to give credit to many role players who showed trust in our technology and assisted us in a long path to commercialization, specifically to Anita Nel and her team at Innovus, and Marius Ungerer from the SU Business School who assist with strategic planning, and also Laurie Barwell and Rory Bruins for endless product development and logistical support." 

Through this award, we hope to make people aware that this technology has the potential to permanently solve the global conservation and socioeconomic tribulations associated with human-shark conflicts, added Matthee.

Walls (Fire Engineering Research Unit at Stellenbosch University or FireSUN) received the TW Kambule-NSTF Award in the Emerging Researcher Category for establishing FireSUN, a dynamic research group pursuing methods to improve informal settlement fire safety as well as structural fire design – both crucial to ensuring safety in our communities. A leading expert on fire safety engineering, Walls played a key role in the analysis of the Knysna fire disaster in 2017, in which almost 1 000 homes were destroyed, and has contributed to the United Nations “Global Assessment Repot on Disaster Risk Reduction" which looks at how to mitigate the effect of disasters on society. He has been involved with the roll-out of smoke alarms in informal settlements in South Africa. More than 5 000 smoke alarms have been installed in low-income homes, with the alarms typically being sponsored by industry or government. Walls also established the first fire safety engineering qualification in Africa.

Commenting on the award, Walls said “not only do we get paid a salary to burn stuff down, now our team is being recognised for advancing science and engineering. Our PhD & MEng students, postdocs and undergrads have worked extremely hard, and we hope we are making an impact. I appreciate that all of their contributions are being recognised in this award."

Lochner (South African Medical Research Council Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders and the Department of Psychiatry) was honoured with a TW Kambule-NSTF Award in the Researcher Category for raising awareness about obsessive-compulsive disorder, a common and debilitating d condition that contributes to individual and societal suffering and massive economic costs.

Since 2001, Lochner has launched several awareness campaigns and comprehensively collected clinical and genetics data from almost 1 000 patients with these conditions and MRI data from a subset, culminating in an extensive database that has facilitated collaborations with leading scientists worldwide, and resulted in numerous publications. Her research contributes to current knowledge of these impairing conditions which may translate into increased accuracy of diagnosis and better care – of the individual as well as society. The burden of disease associated with these conditions – i.e. on a personal/emotional level, as well as the financial burden – is thus ultimately decreased by work of this nature and scale.

Photo: Dr Richard Walls, Prof Christine Lochner and Prof Conrad Matthee with members of his team.

​​​​Professor Samantha Sampson, a senior researcher with the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics at Stellenbosch University, is one of three eminent researchers who has received an award from the American National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research on therapies aimed at the eradication of tuberculosis.

The research will be done at three different sites, two in South Africa, and one in the United States. There will also be collaborators on the project from the University of Zimbabwe.

"This project provides an opportunity to take an innovative and multi-disciplinary approach in tackling the enormous public health problem represented by TB," said Sampson. "On a personal note, I have enjoyed collaborating with Professor Dube [from the University of the Western Cape] since 2016, so it is great that our groundwork and the potential of this research has been recognised by the NIH."

But, according to Professor Sampson, the award is the result of a team effort: "I would also like to include a thank you to Professor Helena Kuivaniemi (also in the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics), who very capably and graciously mentored me through the grant writing process."

TB remains a global public health threat

Tuberculosis remains a major global public health threat and the World Health Organisation estimates that just in South Africa, around 301 000 people fell ill with TB during 2018. In the same year approximately 63 000 thousand South Africans died from this disease – about two-thirds of them were HIV-positive. TB is the leading cause of death due to infectious disease in this country.

Although available treatments are mostly effective, the incidence of drug-resistant TB strains and bacterial persistence continue to be problematic.

Research on eradication of all forms of TB

The research for which the NHI has given this award, focuses on using engineered nanoparticles to modulate the response of the white blood cells, which are rendered less effective by the TB bacterium when the immune system tries to fight this bacterial infection. These nanoparticles mimic the appearance of the bacteria, and appear to induce the killing of the virulent mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is thought that they may be effective in eradicating all forms of tuberculosis, including those that are drug-resistant and persistent.

The award, given over a five-year period, is worth just under R30 million ($1,632, 268), and Stellenbosch University is one of the sites where the research will be done.

Principal Investigators and collaborators

The other two recipients of the award, who, together with Sampson, will be the principal investigators on this project, are Professor Admire Dube and Professor Joshua Reineke (South Dakota State University in the USA) and these universities will also be research sites, making this an inter-institutional project.

Collaborators on this project will also include the following

• Dr Nelita du Plessis, senior scientist, Stellenbosch University (role: co-investigator)
• Dr Charles Maponga, professor, University of Zimbabwe (role: mentor and supervisor)
• Ms Faithful Makita, PhD candidate, University of Zimbabwe (role: trainee)
• Dr Gene Morse, professor, University at Buffalo (role: mentor.
  

Photo credit: Stefan Els

Stellenbosch University will, for the first time in the university's history, have a student working towards a PhD in neuromuscular diseases, thanks to a £105 000 (R2.2 million) grant from the Guarantors of Brain, an organisation in the UK that funds research in neurology.

Dr Kireshnee Naidu, a neurology graduate from the university, who finished last year, will start her PhD soon under the supervision of Dr Franclo Henning, senior lecturer in Neurology.

In an interview, Henning said the grant came about after the university was approached by investigators from the University College London (UCL), who, last year launched an international collaboration called the International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Disorders (ICGMND).

The centre – headed by Professor Michael Hanna, Director of UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology – brings together skills and resources from five countries with the aim of advancing the genetic diagnosis of patients with neuromuscular disorders. These include motor neurone disease, inherited neuropathies and muscular dystrophy.

The centre is collaborating with a few South African universities, besides SU, including the Universities of Cape Town, Pretoria and North-West University, as well as centres in other lower-middle-income countries, including Brazil, Turkey and India.

Their research will look into the phenotyping and genotyping of inherited neuromuscular disorders in lower-middle-income countries where genotyping has not been available up till now.

"Genetic diagnoses are becoming increasingly available, thanks to technology, but at the moment most inherited disorders cannot be treated. Only those related to inherited enzyme deficiencies can be treated.

"We have no idea what the genetic landscape in South Africa is like with regard to inherited disorders – of which neuromuscular disorders are just one example – because we've never been able to apply modern genetic analysis outside of research and on a small scale in this country.

"Through this project, we are going to be able to genotype all our patients with inherited neuromuscular disorders, so we will get a better idea of what forms of neuromuscular disorders we see. Of course it is very likely that the mutations causing these disorders in our population is different from high-income countries as we have a different population make up. In addition, we are able to contribute, through data sharing, to the global research community in search of treatments for these conditions," said Henning.

"Part of the project involves the training of a PhD fellow, which is the position which Naidu is taking up."

"This is an awesome opportunity because we would not be able to train a PhD fellow without this kind of funding, as it covers salary and tuition fees for a period of three years," said Henning. “This has never been possible in the past. We are excited that this will be the first PhD in neuromuscular diseases that will be done at this university.

"All in all it is a really great opportunity for us to pursue."

Photo credit: PIXABAY

​Sponsored by Entersekt, Capitec and Explore, the third annual Stellenbosch University Hackathon was held remotely over the weekend of 31 July to 2 August 2020.

The SU Hackathon is hosted by Innovus and Stellenbosch University and focuses on bringing talented student programmers, designers, builders, statisticians, scientists and engineers together to learn, build and share their creative ideas, while solving industry-relevant problems innovatively. It is open to all SU undergraduate and postgraduate students, and participants have the option of signing up for one of two challenges: a fintech coding challenge or a data science challenge. 

This year, postgraduate students of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences won the data science section of the competition. The winning team comprised Ulrick Kotze (MCom in Statistics), Niel van Zyl (MCom in Statistics), Claudia di Santolo (MCom in Statistics) and Thamu Mnyulwa (MSc in Applied Mathematics). Another EMS team, that of David Rodwell (MCom in Financial Risk Management), received an honourable mention.

The team that came second was from Engineering.

Said Prof Paul Mostert, chair of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science: “We are extremely proud of our postgraduate students!"

​

What does it mean to decolonize the science curriculum at a higher education institution? How can lecturers help students to bridge the gap between abstract and applied knowledge of chemistry, specifically in the case of first year medicine and engineering students?

These are only two of the topics covered in a new book on Building Knowledge in Higher Education, published by Routledge as part of a series on the use of Legitimation Code Theory to enhance teaching and learning in higher education. Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) is a sophisticated framework, comprising several distinct tools, which enables scholars to shape their research and teaching practice within the context of social justice and knowledge-building.

Prof Ingrid Rewitzky, Vice-Dean for teaching and learning in the Faculty of Science, says since the establishment of the Faculty's teaching and learning hub in 2013, several lecturers have been engaging with Legitimation Code Theory and presenting their research at international LCT conferences.

In the chapter “Decolonizing the science curriculum: When good intentions are not enough", Dr Mags Blackie, from the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, and Dr Hanelie Adendorff, senior adviser at SU's Centre for Teaching and Learning, investigate the “Sciencemustfall incident during the #Feesmustfall student protests in 2015. Using Legitimation Code Theory's concept of specialization codes, they show how current decolonization attempts might be perceived as perpetuating past injustices, despite every intention to respond positively and effectively: “We explore the relations between the actors, ideas and objects in the field of science to reveal what is at stake and what needs to be addressed," they write in the abstract to the chapter.

They argue that it is “almost impossible" to find common ground in this debate, and that to equate indigenous knowledge systems with scientific knowledge would be to “completely eviscerate science". They then suggest an alternative approach and rephrase the question in terms of autonomy. In other words, simply adding indigenous knowledge to the existing curriculum, as in bringing traditional beer making into the microbiology curriculum as an example of how it is practiced in Africa, still serves the purpose of science as a western concept. But when science is placed in the hands of students as a tool to explore their own lived circumstances, they argue, “it still has the feel of science, but a science that is starting to look beyond itself to some extent".

In the chapter “Missing the target? How semantics can reveal the (mis)alignments in assessments", Dr Blackie and Dr Ilse Rootman-le Grange, blended learning coordinator for the Faculty of Science, explored the gap between first year students' theoretical understanding of key concepts in chemistry and their ability to transfer that knowledge into other domains, such as medicine and engineering.

“Chemistry is a hidden science," they write, “As a subject in its own right, it took far longer to emerge than the closely related disciplines of physics and biology. This is precisely because the molecular and atomic understanding of matter is neither intuitive nor obvious to the casual observer. Precisely because of this profoundly abstract nature of the subject, students have no real life context, or frame of reference for Chemistry".

Using the semantics concept from Legitimation Code Theory, called LCT(Semantics), their assessment of the questions asked in the final chemistry exam for first year health science students showed that the questions primarily assessed students' grasp of the language of chemistry, but failed to adequately test the depth of their conceptual understanding of the subject.

Other chapters in the book from SU lecturers are “From principle to practice: enabling theory-practice bridging in engineering education" by Karin Wolff; “Building the knowledge base of blended learning: implications for educational technology and academic development" by J.P. Bosman and Sonja Strydom; and “Legitimate participation in program renewal: the role of academic development units" by Gert Young and Cecilia Jacobs.

Two more books in the series will feature authors from the Faculty of Science: Decolonising knowledge and knowers: struggles for university transformation in South Africa and Enhancing Science Education: Exploring knowledge practices with Legitimation Code Theory, to be published in 2021.

​​

For years, the reproductive health and well-being of women were considered a taboo subject among many communities. This resulted in poor maternal health care services, especially among the most marginalised women in society.

Dr Efua Tembisa Prah, who works in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at Stellenbosch University, is trying to change the narrative and practices by exploring the gender dynamics, identity and culture as these relate to South Africa's maternal health record.

As part of South Africa Women's Month celebrations, Prah shares insight into her research on reproductive health and the importance of shedding light on the silent histories of marginalised women in South Africa.

Can you tell us more about your research?

I am currently exploring both historic and contemporary ethnographic research on reproductive health in South Africa. The aim of the research is to contribute to an anthropological platform that seeks to better understand gender dynamics, culture, society, belonging and personhood as it relates to South Africa's maternal health record. As a means to locate and embed stories shared within a wider library of embodied knowledge, the research traces and weaves through descriptions of reproductive health and well-being in South Africa's history. It has a special focus on slave experiences of pregnancy, birthing and motherhood and how these pasts have shaped our current maternal health outcomes.

Why or how did you become interested in this specific area of research?

I have always been interested in exploring the body as both a subjective and performative construction. Additionally, something fascinates me about pregnancy, birthing and women's health in general. I have always loved history and have been fascinated about how the historical record in many instances silences and obscures particular narratives and lives. So, from early on in my academic training I was drawn to histories that accounted for the emergence of a more medicalised treatment of female anatomy, sexuality, pregnancy and birthing in general and what this medicalisation meant for women, particularly black, Indian and coloured women in South Africa.

Why do you think this is such an important area of research for South African women?

I think as South Africans, we have a responsibility to learn as much as we can about our pasts and the ways in which our present moment reflects these often-silenced histories. Women and especially their reproductive well-being have historically been relegated to the margins. We see the results of this in our very unequal and fragmented maternal health care governmental practices. The policies seemingly are impeccable yet the rollout of these policies is in disarray for a number of very complex reasons, much of which reflects our racially divided past.

What would you consider the greatest impact of your research on women in the country?

I can only hope that the work that I do, whether through film or ethnographic study means something to the women that I work with directly. The stories these women share are powerful records that provide an important archive for others to continue building and infusing with critical analysis.

Do you have any message for the next generation of women researchers?

I think we are at our mightiest when we work together. Sharing ideas and inspiring and supporting one another is one way we become tellers of our own stories.

​The COVID-19 pandemic should also be seen as an opportunity to reach out to vulnerable foreigners who try to make a living in South Africa, writes Dr Judy-Ann Cilliers from the Department of Philosophy in a doctoral-based opinion piece for the Mail & Guardian (31 July).

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Stellenbosch University (SU) to reinvent its methods of learning and teaching to enable students to complete the 2020 academic year successfully. While adapting to this new way of learning may have been frustrating for some, SU's Disability Unit used it as a golden opportunity to review their way of work and to identify gaps.

According to the head of the SU Disability Unit, Dr Marcia Lyner-Cleophas, the unit has continued to enhance and live out inclusivity amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. “This is also the current theme of SU's Year for Persons with Disability. Despite challenges, students with disabilities managed to access their academic work and continue their studies online.

“The pandemic gave us the chance to review what we are doing well and what the gaps are. We were also able to see what is reasonable for every student as everyone has different needs in conducting teaching, learning and assessments," says Lyner-Cleophas.

“Our way of accommodating students writing tests and examinations proved useful and effective. There wasn't a very big shift for academic staff. The students were given extra time for quizzes and other assessments. Staff were open and flexible about adapting assessments," she says.

The lockdown also contributed to enhancing a collaborative network between the Disability Unit, the Exams Office, lecturers, their administration staff, as well as students.

“Together, we could iron out most challenges in the online space. We also developed a teaching and learning document to guide staff with the inclusion of students with disabilities during online learning and assessments."

All staff at the Unit are set up adequately to continue working off-campus and online. They have the necessary hardware and software. Consultations between student and staff take place telephonically, via WhatsApp messages or calls, emails and online platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Most of the students with disabilities adapted to the online environment after initial hiccups and manage their time between their academic work and assessments fairly well, says Lyner-Cleophas. “It was more challenging for some students, but we managed to look at alternative ways for them to complete their studies like through course extensions."

In addition to providing student support, the Disability Unit is focused on activities related to the Year for Persons with Disabilities, an initiative that flows from SU's commitment to inclusivity and equality for every person with academic merits to be able to participate fully on equal grounds in the academic journey at the University.

“As far as we could, we moved physical activities into the online environment," she says. We have been publishing articles since February 2020 in collaboration with the African Network of Evidence to Action (AfriNEAD)* and the Transformation Office."

Further activities for this semester will include webinars with students and staff in September; virtual video workshops; the SA Sign Language Higher Education Code webinar in collaboration with the SU Language Centre; a Universal Access Campaign that will run into December 2020 and the Sign Language video series of eight sessions. The Sign Language series will be available online for staff and students.

AfriNEAD will also virtually host its sixth conference from 1–3 December, which would have physically taken place at Artscape in Cape Town this year. This event is the highlight of the year.

According to Prof Gubela Mji, Chairperson: AfriNEAD, the conference encapsulates the theme of the year but also brings together various role-players sharing research and reflecting on civil society and how policy is being translated into practice across Africa, fostering the inclusion of people with disabilities.

*AfriNEAD is a Pan-African network founded by the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at SU in 2007. The network promotes, facilitates and coordinates the implementation of disability research evidence into policy and practice through engaging persons with disabilities; researching through them, with them, not only about them; and, where possible, making them the lead researchers.

To read Dr Marcia Lyner-Cleophas' published opinion editorial about online learning, click here.

Some contact details:

disability@sun.ac.za – for any disability-related query

Braille@sun.ac.za – for the conversion of classroom material into readable formats

skryftyd@sun.ac.za – for extra writing time queries

Wentzel Barnard – ww2@sun.ac.za – for any sports-related enquiry

​ 

“Many revolutions have been started not because of philosophies, but because of hunger."

This stark warning about the potential impact that the Covid-19 pandemic could have on South Africa was presented by Prof Thuli Madonsela, Law Trust Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University (SU) during a webinar presented by the Southern Africa Food Lab. Hosted by Stellenbosch University's Faculty of AgriSciences, the initiative has for the past decade brought diverse groupings and stakeholders together to seek creative responses to the problem of hunger in order to foster a thriving, just and sustainable food system.

Prof Madonsela was joined on the panel by Mr Kevin O'Brien, Group Sustainability and Risk Executive at The Spar Group Ltd to reflect on human rights, inequality and how to secure food systems. The webinar series was presented in collaboration with the Development and Alumni Relations Division of Stellenbosch University.

Both Prof Madonsela and Mr O'Brien focused on the need to build trust and to democratize decision making, along with the necessity of transparent, adaptive and collaborative governance to achieve cross-cutting coordination between different societal actors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Prof Madonsela, access to food is protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and in the South African Bill of Rights.

She warned that it implies not only the provision of enough food so that people do not go hungry, but also efforts to ensure adequate nutrition.

“Many diseases, such as kwashiorkor, are going to be experienced by increasing numbers of children. Parents get food just to fill the stomach, but this is not necessarily nutritious food," she warned.

South Africa is one of a few countries in the world with a specific commitment to social justice, which Prof Madonsela describes as the equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms, the just and fair distribution of all opportunities, privileges and burdens in societies or groups, and is about embracing everyone's humanity.

“We need to think carefully about food security, and we need to beg government to democratize decision-making so that it can be all hands on deck," said Prof Madonsela, who underlined the need for “multiple eyes" to ensure transparency in the process of issuing of tenders and to seek out wrongdoing in the distribution of food parcels, overpriced tenders and wrongful billing activities.

She mentioned that since the pandemic first hit South Africa in April, a Social Justice and Covid-19 Policy and Relief Monitoring Alliance (referred to as SCOPRA) was established to discuss policy and regulatory responses to the pandemic.

SCOPRA pointed out to government that food security is a human right, and that all policies and regulations passed should take it into account as it is part of government's constitutional duties. SCOPRA also engaged with government on the need to democratize decision making, in particular because it is set out in the Disaster Management Act.

They'd like to see government use data analytics to predict how all policies and regulations impact on food security, even if it is not directly about food.

Decisions to close schools and stop school feeding schemes have had substantial implications for the food security of many children who relied on the one meal per day they received at school.

Government unfortunately did not follow the ideas about a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to decision making, and had to be ordered by the courts to reinstate the school feeding schemes.

Prof Madonsela says SCOPRA anticipated that corruption would hamper food security efforts during the pandemic, and that there would be differences in competencies.

“Again, a multi-stakeholder approach closes gaps in decision making and leverages social responsibility to make sure the right things are done."

“Multiple eyes create transparency," she says. “The glimmer of hope is that there are eyes, and that people are suing (the government).“

She warned that food security is about more than providing food to fight hunger, but also entails ensuring adequate nutrition. This can be hampered when food becomes unaffordable, and when there are challenges in transporting it to where it is needed.

According to Prof Madonsela, the main problem in Stage 3 of lockdown is not the creation of food per se. This might, however, at some stage become a problem if people start abandoning farming because they cannot make a profit from their endeavours.

“We either stand together, or we fall apart. As a nation we are falling apart. We need to talk," says Prof Madonsela who advocated for a Covid-19 summit open to every business and organised by government.

“We should bring everyone to the table to agree on the way forward."

According to SPAR's Kevin O'Brien, a world of crisis conversations must seek to proactively build trust and democratize decision-making across the food system more than ever before.

He says Covid-19 has brought to the fore societal issues that were known to be fundamentally wrong, but to had turned a blind eye for years.

“Now it has hit us like a train without a light in a tunnel," he said. “It has exposed the deep fragility of our food system, our corporate culture, our societal faults and governmental weaknesses. Most of all it has exposed how weak our leadership is in business, society and government."

He asked why countries and societies never before reacted in the same drastic fashion upon issues like malnutrition among children as they have done in response to Covid-19 and surmised that the reason is perhaps that Covid-19 hits close to home for all of us.

According to O'Brien, leadership, purpose, trust, and collaboration should be meshed into the fabric of any society's sustainable future. He believes South Africa's complex and broken food system will need collaboration from all stakeholders to improve.

“The competitive, profit-driven ethos of traditional business often means that they struggle with the concept of the greater good, preferring self-interest as a driver," said O'Brien, who acknowledges that  governments and community-based organisations also grapple with these issues.

He believes systems thinking and an obsession with rebuilding trust should be the basis of effective collaboration.

“Purpose lies at the heart of the change we need to make so that all people can live well in future. It's about the why, not the how or the what," said O'Brien.

“Poverty and every person's right to nutritional food will never solved by CSI and charity," he added.

He believes the issue of affordable nutritional food can only be addressed if organisations collaborate with other stakeholders, and sometimes even their competitors. He also sees no value in forming relationships with organisations and people who do not have similar purposes.

“The process will need to include acknowledgment by all stakeholders that their past actions have caused the current problems in our current broken food system," he added.

O'Brien says that a report drafted in 2018 by the Southern Africa Food Lab and WWF-SA showed that South African businesses have an appetite to work together. One of the biggest challenges they face, however, is the “the elusiveness of government" to collaborate with private-owned enterprises.

He ascribes this to a “justifiable lack of trust" between government and the business sector, due to the legacies of apartheid and the past 10 years in South Africa.

He says that the responsibility of local food-related businesses to pursue the common good has never been greater, and needs courageous, curious and activist leadership.

“Collective commitment to collaborate to reduce their environmental impact, to create employment and to pursue inclusive economies should be at the forefront of businesses' minds," he added.

“It is has been challenging to get my organisation (SPAR) to believe that it has a role to play in changing the course of our future by improving the impact we have on the environment, society, and the economic wellbeing of our people. Authenticity in our marketing approach needs to be carefully evaluated as we mature into a more purpose driven organisation. Our leadership should be more skilled in the art of collaboration and understanding effective systems thinking. Transparency, empowerment and innovation need to replace secrecy, hierarchy, control and obsessive planning."

Summing up the discussion, Dr Scott Drimie, Director of the Southern Africa Food Lab, asked, “What got us here? The underpinnings of a failing food system are hierarchies, control, planning, and exploitation by the state and private sector. We need a new, purpose-driven, transparent and inclusive approach going forward."

View the recording of the full webinar here. 

In 1997, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) started appointing women in all types of positions, including combat positions. Since then, Prof Lindy Heinecken from the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Stellenbosch University (SU) has been researching the challenges and debates associated with incorporating women in the military. Looking back, her research on military women has not only shifted gender binaries in the SANDF but also increased people's mindfulness and understanding of the different tensions that gender integration evokes.

As part of SU's Women's Month celebrations, Prof Heinecken tells us about her research.

Can you tell us more about your research?

For the past 30 years, I have been researching the military, with a specific focus on personnel issues. With the military being a highly masculine institution, gender integration has been a key research focus.

Why or how did you become interested in this specific area of research?

Initially, I worked at the Centre for Military Studies (CEMIS) at the Military Academy in Saldanha. In 1997, all the SANDF positions, including combat posts, opened up to women. As part of my work as a researcher at CEMIS, I was commissioned to do a study on the challenges and debates associated with incorporating women in the military, particularly in combat positions. Since then, my research on women in the military has expanded considerably, and I looked at a range of issues that affect women who serve in the military. These include issues affecting recruitment and retention, their deployment on peacekeeping missions, issues of sexuality and gender harassment and the impact that more women have on the military in terms of 're-gendering' the military.

Why do you think this is such an important area of research for South African women?

Violence and war affect men and women differently. The United Nations Security Council Resolution, 1325, called for the greater inclusion of women in the military and on deployment on peacekeeping missions. The need to have more women in the military is not only a right but also a necessity. In many ways, they make a unique contribution in addressing the challenges that local women face in areas affected by armed conflict. They can engage more readily with the local population; local customs often do not allow men to talk to other 'local' women. Besides that, women have a more conciliatory approach to conflict resolution. Hence, understanding the obstacles that affect women's integration in the military and their deployment on peacekeeping missions is critical. Even more so where the military is deployed within and among the local population, whether internally or on peacekeeping missions.

What would you consider the greatest impact of your research on women in the country?

I consider myself a 'public sociologist' and therefore, the type of research I do is meant to be of some 'practical' value, beyond academia. I have been a keynote speaker at many of the Department of Defence Gender Conferences and have briefed the South African Infantry Formation and Army Command Council on issues of gender integration. I definitely think I have been able to shift gender binaries in the SANDF and been able to get them to understand the different tensions that gender integration evokes.

Do you have any message for the next generation of women researchers?

To always have a gender perspective in their work. Gender matters as the events that unfold around us, like COVID-19 affects men and women differently due to the power dynamic embedded within society.​