​​​The Centre for Learning Technologies (CLT) and the Centre for Student Counselling and Development (CSCD) collaboratively developed an interactive open-source online publication titled Entering the world of digital wellbeing. The purpose of this resource was to raise awareness of the importance of digital wellbeing and to consider our relationship with digital devices and the internet. This is of particular relevance in the current situation where most of our daily encounters are via some form of digital platform.

Three staff members of the two centres, namely Dr Sonja Strydom (CLT), Dr Elmien Sinclair (CSCD) and Ms Christa Koch (CSCD) were involved in the creation of this e-book. The e-book consists of three main sections, namely:

• an introduction to digital wellbeing;
• self-image, identities, and online relationships; and
• managing the role of digital technology in your life.

This e-book offers an interactive and exploratory journey and aims to equip the readers with knowledge and skills needed to take responsibility for their wellbeing in a digitalised world.

An introductory video can be accessed at https://bit.ly/DWIntroVideo

The online booklet can be accessed at https://bit.ly/DWeBook  

​Dear students and colleagues

At the time of writing this, nearly 11 million of South Africa's population of approximately 60 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. This is great news, but we'll need to increase this number significantly over the next few weeks if we want to have a chance of beating the coronavirus.

As you are aware, anyone over the age of 18 is now eligible for the vaccine in SA. This means that the overwhelming majority of you are able to get the jab. And I urge you, not just as Rector and Vice-Chancellor but also as a medical professional, to get vaccinated. I received the vaccine as soon as I could and experienced no side-effects.

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok are abuzz with people receiving their shots, flooding social media timelines and newsfeeds with videos and selfies from vaccination sites across the country. I support this one hundred percent. If there were ever a time to be proud of a selfie, that time is now! I encourage you to show your friends and family that you got vaccinated by downloading the vaccination profile picture frame on the Stellenbosch University (SU) Facebook page and tagging SU in your post. 

Seeing photos of the long queue outside SU's  vaccination site at the Lentelus Soccer Clubhouse in Hammanshand Road, Stellenbosch, have made me extremely proud of our students and staff members who have decided to be part of the solution. Like I've said before: “No jab, no jol!"

For those of you who have already received your vaccination, well done and thank you.

For those who are hesitant, I want to reassure you: The COVID-19 vaccine, whether you receive the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson dose, is completely safe. It has been tested, approved by medical authorities and – most significantly – it is saving lives.

That's what vaccines are designed to do and have been doing for decades across the globe. Vaccines helped eradicate smallpox and prevent diseases like polio and TB from causing severe illness and death. And now it is doing the same for COVID-19.

In this time of misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories, we all have to be vigilant about our information sources. So, when you read up about COVID-19 and the vaccine, or watch videos on the subject, check your sources and make sure they're reputable. The FAQs section on our vaccination page is a good place to start.

Please continue to mask up, maintain your distance from others, sanitise, avoid crowded and poorly ventilated spaces and follow all COVID-19 protocols.

We live in challenging times. Don't be afraid to ask for help and contact the Centre for Student Counselling and Development and our Campus Health Service or Human Resources Division if you have any questions.

Go get your jabs!

Regards,
Prof Wim de Villiers
Rector and Vice-Chancellor

​

The RW Wilcocks building of Stellenbosch University (SU) has been renamed the Krotoa building. This building on the Stellenbosch campus houses the departments of History and Psychology, the Division of Research Development, SU International, the SU Archives, as well as the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology.

Krotoa (1642–1674), a woman of the Khoe people, lived at the Cape in the time of Jan van Riebeeck, who came to establish a settlement for the Dutch East India Company (the VOC) at the tip of Africa in 1652. Named “Eva" by the Dutch, Krotoa served as, among others, an interpreter and interlocutor between her people and the VOC. Click here to read more about her.

SU's Executive Committee of Council (EC(C)) approved the renaming at its meeting of 16 August 2021 after the Rectorate received a shortlist of proposals from the Committee for the Naming of Buildings, Venues and Other Facilities/Premises in June. Following extensive debate and taking various aspects into consideration, including Krotoa's complex personal history, the Rectorate proposed the name to the EC(C).

“The name Krotoa is particularly significant now that we are celebrating Women's Month. Apart from a few residences, no SU buildings have previously been named after women," says Dr Ronel Retief, Registrar and chair of the Naming Committee.

“The Rectorate also considered it important that the name, although linked to a historical figure, has symbolic value and, as such, represents more than simply a person. The name Krotoa is not only linked to a woman, but also to an entire underrepresented group of people indigenous to Southern Africa and the area now known as the Western Cape. As such, it acknowledges the heritage of the First Nation people of our region, and we also acknowledge something of our shared and complex history.

“In addition, Krotoa's role as interpreter between different cultural and language groups is a demonstration of bridge building, which is particularly relevant to conversations on multilingualism, inclusivity and creating a mutual understanding between different groups of people," Retief concludes.

“So, with this name, we wish to send a strong message about our commitment to transformation and redress at SU."

Dr Leslie van Rooi, Senior Director of Social Impact and Transformation, and member of both SU's Visual Redress and Naming committees, adds: “SU acknowledges the role and place of the First Nation people in the broader history of Southern Africa. The significance of linking the name Krotoa to a prominent building on campus should also be understood against the backdrop of ongoing conversations about supporting and formalising Khoekhoegowab language-related courses at SU.

“SU decided in 2019 already to call the new dining hall of Goldfields residence Sada Oms, a Khoekhoegowab term for 'our home'. Therefore, this added symbolic acknowledgement through the Krotoa building forms part of our ongoing partnership and engagement with the First Nation people of Southern Africa.

“Conversations about the name, also with the relevant Khoe structures, gives recognition to Krotoa as an important figure, but does not ignore her complex, tragic history as a person."

Installations contextualising both the Wilcocks and the Krotoa stories are being planned for inside and outside the building.

Process

Back in 2019 already, the Rectorate gave approval for the Registrar and the Senior Director of Social Impact and Transformation to follow an institutional and inclusive process for the renaming of the Wilcocks building.

As part of the process, various stakeholders were interviewed. The University also notified more than 100 community organisations and institutions of the planned renaming. These included the Stellenbosch Co-management Forum (including Die Vlakte Forum), Stellenbosch Municipality, the Western Cape Education Department (Stellenbosch), the Stellenbosch Civil Advocacy Network, and the Stellenbosch Ratepayers' Association, all of whom have seats on the University's Institutional Forum.

A call for proposals was distributed among all staff and students as well as members of the community (as represented by the structures serving on SU's Institutional Forum) in July 2020. In October 2020, the Naming Committee, which had been expanded for the purpose of renaming the RW Wilcocks building, agreed on the process to arrive at a short list. The 17 proposals received were subsequently whittled down to the most suitable options, which were presented to the Rectorate.

The Rectorate also requested that the relevant stakeholder groups be approached to determine whether there would be any opposition to using the name Krotoa in the context of SU. Keen support for the use of the name was expressed by the relevant leaders and representatives of the First Nations structures.

A date for the unveiling of the new name is yet to be determined. In the meantime, SU's new Visual Redress Policy will serve before Council for approval in September.

More information

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

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 not only to remove certain symbols, but also to introduce new visual symbols that 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 meet the needs of a diverse group of students, staff and other stakeholders, and at the same time promote a welcoming campus culture.

Recent name changes at SU:

Some name changes over the past few years include the Coetzenburg Centre (previously the DF Malan Centre), the Stellenbosch University Library (previously JS Gericke Library), the Adam Small​ Theatre Complex (previously HB Thom Theatre), Pieter ​Okkers House (7 Joubert Street, now named after the first resident of the building, Mr Pieter JA Okkers, 1875-1952) and Simon N​koli House (39 Victoria Street).

Recently constructed buildings have been given the following names: Russel Botman House (named after the late Prof Russel Botman), Ubuntu House, Nk​osi Johnson House and the Jan Mouton Learning Centre.

Other recent projects:

• “The Circle", a bronze art installation featuring 11 phenomenal South African women thought leaders (including Krotoa), which was erected on the Rooiplein towards the end of 2019
• Welcoming messages carved on benches in public areas on campus in 15 languages, including in Braille, South African Sign Language and San
• Installation of a map of Die Vlakte at the entrance of the Arts and Social Sciences building, which is built on land from where families were evicted under the Group Areas Act in the 1960s
• The creation of the Lückhoff Living Museum
• Displaying the University's Centenary restitution statement at the SU Library
  
  
  

Women's ethic of caring for others and the environment has interested Dr Khayaat Fakier's since her student days and is today also her research topic in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Stellenbosch University.

As part of South Africa's Women's Month celebrations, she tells us more about her work in this field.

Tell us more about your research?

My main research interest is the feminist ethic of care − how and why women care for other people and for the environment. I am especially concerned with how much effort and energy women with limited or no resources put into making their physical and social environments safer and more supportive for those more vulnerable than them. Often, women do so under conditions of great deprivation, and with little recognition or reward for the tremendous effort they put into securing the future of the vulnerable and of society.

I have been appointed as incumbent of the Prince Claus Chair in Equity and Development at the International Institute for Social Studies in The Hague from September 2021 until August 2023. My research in this capacity will elaborate on this interest in women caring for others and the environment, and will involve building links between international women movements and the women's movements and organisations I have been working with in South Africa.

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

Even as an undergraduate student, my research focused on gender and class. At the end of my first degree, in 2006, I co-wrote an article about the impact that outsourced employment relationships have on the economic and care relations of women who are poorly paid. This engagement with the paid and unpaid labour of black women continued into my graduate research as I started exploring the role of reproductive work in sustaining apartheid and post-apartheid economies. This evolving understanding was elaborated upon in my PhD, which I completed in 2010. While my PhD tackled the topic of internal migration – the exploitative labour system on which apartheid capitalism had been built – it was the distorted relations of care that captured my attention and characterised my post-PhD work.

Since 2010, my research has focused on predominantly black, underprivileged women involved in the public employment programmes of the post-apartheid state, and illustrates how state and corporate responsibility to care for the vulnerable and for the environment is outsourced and externalised to women (and sometimes also to children, as my PhD shows). What is also evident from my work is that women are committed to preserving the natural environment, and to fighting back against its destruction. This connectedness is not because of an intrinsic link to nature, but stems from the conditions under which they care for others. So, my research also involves the perspectives of women who live on mine dumps or close to mining activities, on farms where they are often unable to secure healthy nutrition for themselves, and in townships where public provision of safe areas, clean energy, etc. is lacking.

I have led research projects and written and co-edited research publications across multinational contexts, such as Brazil, Argentina, India, Mozambique, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States, which enabled me to explore how the position of women intersect with class, race, nationality and sexuality.

Why do you think this is such an important research area for women/young girls in South Africa (or globally)?

The need for care, in a context where there is little support for children and adults from poor households, the elderly and the disabled, can be a space of enjoyment, creativity and love, but is also characterised by sacrifice and obligation. Yet our care for others and the environment also provides us with a motivation to develop bonds of solidarity and community (in social movements and community-based organisations), which could be a counterforce to loneliness, neglect and despair for the future.

The pandemic has changed the way we work and live. What keeps you motivated during these times?

The pandemic has heightened the need to look at how care can be conducted with limited resources, as well as how this affects caregivers. What keeps me motivated is the creative ways in which my postgraduate students have conducted research in this period, using technologies such as WhatsApp calls, MS Teams and Photovoice. All of their research shows that an ethic of care is not only a topic to be studied and researched, but also something to practise.

What would your message be to the next generation of women researchers?

Stay committed to your political ideals about the kind of society you want for yourselves, for others and for the future. Different forces in society will make you want to change your views or your path. But stick to what you want. It is worth your while. ​

​

Stellenbosch University (SU) students are heeding the call to vaccinate, following the recent announcement of the extension of the COVID-19 vaccination programme to persons 18 years and older.

More than 300 students have already turned up at the COVID-19 vaccination site at SU's Lentelus soccer clubhouse in Hammanshand Road, Stellenbosch. On Friday (20 August 2021), the first day of vaccination for persons older than 18 years, 106 students made use of the walk-in opportunity offered at the vaccination site. On Monday, 23 August, 244 students and on Tuesday, 24 August, another 206 students were vaccinated at the site.

The vaccination programme, driven by SU's Campus Health Service, commenced on 10 August by administering Pfizer vaccines to eligible staff members aged 35 years and older.

Currently, students 18 years and older are entitled to be vaccinated and are using the vaccination services offered at walk-in sites at Lentelus between 11:00–14:30 (Monday–Friday) or at the Van der Stel sports ground between 11:00–14h00 (Monday–Friday).

The site is also open to members of the public.

SU's Corporate Communication and Marketing Division spoke to some of the students who received their jabs at the vaccination site.

Supporting the safety of the vaccine, Jhade Bredenkamp, an MSc Physiological Science student, encouraged those who think the vaccines are not safe to seek accurate information.

Caleb Cousins, a fourth-year Electronic Engineering student, also received his vaccine on Monday. “I am excited about the vaccination. It is the best option to protect yourself."

Two other jabbed students, Rochelle van Heerden and Jamie Llewellyn Lamprecht encouraged their peers to be responsible and get vaccinated and to make use of the easily accessible vaccination service that is available to the SU community. Many students said they were excited about the vaccine and were not deterred by having to wait in line for their opportunity to get jabbed.    

Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of SU, who also received his vaccine at the site last month, was encouraged by the turnout at the vaccination site.

“Seeing photos of the long queue outside Stellenbosch University's (SU) own vaccination site at the Lentelus soccer clubhouse has made me extremely proud of our students and staff members who have decided to be part of the solution. Like I've said before: 'No jab, no jol!'"

De Villiers also urged the SU community to vaccinate.

“For those who are hesitant, I want to reassure you: The COVID-19 vaccine, whether you receive the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson dose, is completely safe. It has been tested, approved by medical authorities and – most significantly – it is saving lives.

“That's what vaccines are designed to do and have been doing for decades across the globe. Vaccines helped eradicate smallpox and prevent diseases like polio and TB from causing severe illness and death. And now it is doing the same for COVID-19."

Dr Pierre Viviers, Senior Director of the Campus Health Service, also urged eligible persons to use the site. “Vaccines are the quickest way to achieve herd immunity to limit the spread of the virus and mitigate the disaster it has caused," said Viviers.

• Click here to read more about the SU vaccination programme.
• Click here for more information on vaccination sites closer to your home.
  
  

For more information, visit www.sacoronavirus.co.za/active-vaccination-sites

Photographer: Stefan Els

​

There is a clear link between gender diversity and good business performance, and the promotion of more women into leadership positions boosts the entire economies of countries. This was the strong Women's Day message put forward by Professor Agnes Binagwaho, the Vice Chancellor and cofounder of the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda.

Binagwaho (MD, MPed, PhD), a former Rwandan Health Minister who was named as one of the 100 Most Influential African Women for 2020, was the keynote speaker at the Women's Day 2021 webinar, hosted by the Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), on 5 August.

In an address entitled Advancing Opportunities in Women's Health and Education, she highlighted the importance of enrolling girls in education as a means to increasing the wealth of countries.

“Investing in girls and women is smart. It is known that when 10% or more girls go to school, a country's GDP increases on average by 3%."

Binagwaho said gender equity is a powerful tool that can generate change in society. “We have made some progress but much more needs to be done."

Binagwaho cited studies to demonstrate how gender equity improves business performance. “A study conducted in California found that, among 400 companies, the 25 firms with the highest percentage of women in leadership positions had returns on assets and equity that was 74% higher than the overall group. In a study among 11 000 publicly traded companies across the globe, companies run by women performed much better than those run by men."

She stressed that health systems also function better when women are in leadership positions.

“Women expand the agenda for the vulnerable and give more attention to issues that disproportionately affect women."

Yet medicine, as a historically all-male profession, is still affected by negative stereotypes about women's capability.

“Salaries for female academic-physicians are 8% lower than that of their male counterparts. Women are generally viewed as support staff, not leaders.

“Currently only 25% of global health leadership positions are held by women. We, as female global health fighters, need to keep challenging the negative stereotypes about the capability of women; to take ownership through action and evidence-based data and to use our positions to influence attitudes. We must serve as role models and train other women in leadership skills."

Binagwaho cited the phenomenon of the 'leaking pipeline' which prevents women from advancing in their careers.

“We need to identify how to fix this leaking pipeline and ensure the high interest from women in undergraduate and graduate school translates into an increase in similar representation in leadership positions in the health sector.

“We need to ensure young women seek career advancement opportunities and help them build leadership and management skills while in university. 

“Mentorship is also a clear component of fighting the status quo. Mentors should provide holistic advice – not just academic but also advice for life."

Binagwaho offered advice on how to engage in the ongoing 'fight' for equity. “Don't fight to be excluded at the first battle… but to advance the agenda because you might be replaced by a misogynist man or careless woman. Don't take gender bias personally. You cannot let it destroy you. This is a long-term war not a single battle so don't create unnecessary enemies that will block your progress. Lastly you need to teach others the skills you have learnt. Advocacy is crucial."

Citing Rwanda's own journey towards gender parity, Binagwaho said the adoption of policies and strategies that incorporate gender equity into the legal framework has been key. Rwanda ranked ninth globally and first in sub-Saharan Africa in closing gender gaps.

“The constitution, aligned with our national vision, requires that no less than 30% of any gender are in leadership positions.

“We have established various laws that protect women's rights, including, in 2008, a law for the prevention and punishment of gender-based violence; while in 2013, a law requiring gender to be included in education, infrastructure, health and agricultural budgets was passed. In 2018 we also passed a law institutionalizing financing for gender equality. By requiring this aspect to be considered in each budget, Parliament and the nation can examine where we need to allocate budget to more issues of gender equity."

Binagwaho said it is also critical to mitigate gender inequity in education. At her university, UGHE, women constitute 70% of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) students. “While government and individuals have the responsibility to advocate for gender equity, universities also have a role."

Opening the webinar, Professor Nico Gey Van Pittius, FMHS Vice Dean Research and Internationalisation said the Covid-19 pandemic was having a huge impact on women in academic science. While there were increased research outputs from males, there was a decrease from females who were struggling to balance work and home demands.

“It is imperative that the recruitment, promotion and retention of women in academia be redressed."

In a panel discussion chaired by Professor Rene English, PhD candidate Silindile Ngcobo, described how, while female graduate students take up the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects, the numbers decrease at PhD level. Early leadership development and institutional support for women are vital in addressing the leaky STEM pipeline, she stressed.

PhD candidate Hannah Simba spoke about how Covid-19 has created vulnerability for women's health and careers and had exacerbated inequalities.

Dr Zethu Mtimkulu described her personal journey “surfing the waves" of the healthcare environment, including the challenges she faced in a male-dominated sector and the unconscious biases she encountered against women. She described, the phenomena of the “glass ceiling"; the “glass cliff" (where women were set up for failure); the “sticky floors" phenomenon (where women hold themselves back) and the “queen bee" syndrome, where women do not want to see other women succeed.

Dr Therese Fish, FMHS Vice Dean: Clinical Services and Social Impact, concluded that everyone should be advocates for gender equity. “Our work is not yet done," she said.

This article was first published on IOL, read the original article here.

OPINION: Many women have been hovering on the fringes of exhaustion, not only from the demands that are placed on them at work and at home, but also from the energy depletion resulting from gender-power struggles, writes Keymanthri Moodley.

For decades, working women have been striving to achieve work-life balance, juggling professional and domestic responsibilities. Many women have been hovering on the fringes of exhaustion, not only from the demands that are placed on them at work and at home, but also from the energy depletion resulting from gender-power struggles.

The unprecedented increase in multi-tasking during the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the risk of burn-out and emotional distress.

Alarming levels of domestic violence remain threats to physical, mental and emotional health. The need for self-preservation has become critical.

To start with, we may reflect on the women who have served as role models – our grandmothers, mothers, aunts, teachers or mentors. Many of them have struggled under more hostile conditions than we can ever imagine – poverty, discrimination under apartheid, fewer social support systems, lack of technology, disparate salaries based on gender, fewer conveniences like restaurants and takeaways, less developed infrastructure and poor health-care options. Yet, they survived.

Sadly, many women in disempowered communities in South Africa still face these challenges today.

Although most women in formal employment today have better support at a macro level such as maternity leave (paid or unpaid), equal salaries for equivalent work in most work environments and formal sexual harassment policies at work, they still struggle with poor representation in leadership positions, suboptimal childcare support and lactation facilities at work and career interruption related to family responsibilities.

Women also struggle with a range of subliminal forms of discrimination – patriarchal work environments, bullying by male colleagues in superior positions, patronising or paternalistic electronic communication from male superiors, dismissive attitudes from male colleagues during meetings, punitive action for challenging authority, among others.

Those in less formal work settings are worse off and they may not have the power to negotiate for fair working conditions, benefits and safe working environments.

That women even need to fight these additional battles every day is unnecessary, unacceptable and untenable. Yet we do. So, how do we reboot at the end of each day to face the next challenge with renewed energy?

How we define “work" is important. For some, cooking and cleaning may be regarded as unwelcome chores or tasks best delegated to others or robotic cleaning systems. Others, often as a position of compromise, view this as a chance to de-stress or exercise.

The middle ground here is shared responsibility for household duties with partners and dependants, freeing up women to allocate dedicated time for relaxation. Some women have hobbies that provide enjoyment, fulfilment and relaxation. Support groups and book clubs also serve to provide diversions.

Many women today engage in mindfulness practices ranging from meditation to yoga but also other simple activities like a walk on the beach, gardening or time with nature. In general, mindfulness practices assist to calm the mind and body and help to release negative thoughts. The methods are easy to learn, accessible to all including via mobile applications and inexpensive.

Creating space and time for rejuvenation and replenishment is not self-indulgent nor should it be regarded as a luxury … it is essential to survival and growth. Self-care involves nurturing oneself – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Taking care of one's physical, mental and emotional health is a pre-requisite for a holistic and authentic life. As women, we need to be kind to ourselves.

*Moodley is a professor and director at the centre for medical ethics and law department of medicine faculty of health sciences at Stellenbosch University.

* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL and Independent Media.

​

​

Dr Selina Palm wears many hats, including that of an educationalist, a curriculum designer, youth leader, gender equity facilitator, feminist theologian and researcher. These diverse roles are driven by her singular commitment to promote intersectional social justice.

Based in the Unit for Religion and Development Research of the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University (SU), Dr Palm works to disrupt existing social systems that have a negative effect on efforts to create a good life for all genders and ages. Vulnerable children, womxn, persons with marginalised sexualities and those living with disabilities are particular focuses.

Since joining the faculty in early 2017, she has been applyi​​ng her interdisciplinary expertise to examine a wide range of dilemmas relating to religion, culture, development, human rights, social violence, justice, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

As part of commemorating South Africa's Women's Month, she tells us more about her work.

Tell us more about your research.

I work with the Unit for Religion and Development Research, an interdisciplinary unit in the Faculty of Theology. I take a feminist lens to my research, which seeks to open up spaces for those who are often excluded from study and society so that they too can participate in our research and tell their stories and experiences in ways that can shape a different future for our African society and the world.

I want to better understand how different forms of social violence intersect, for example, social violence against womxn, children, queer people and those living with disabilities, especially in low-resource and conflict-related settings. In my work, I take a critical yet constructive lens to religions and cultures to contribute towards social norms change and how different groups are treated.

I operate across multiple faith settings and five continents, working with tiny organisations in Cape Town through to larger institutions such as the United Nations at an international level. My work seeks to end a range of harmful practices that threaten girls' well-being, such as child marriage, and to engage faith actors as important allies in these processes.  

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

Before I joined SU, I worked for many years as a hands-on practitioner with vulnerable children and people living with HIV and Aids across East and Southern Africa. In that time, I saw many kinds of family-related violence and sexual stigma in families and communities, often trapped in vicious cycles of intergenerational abuse, poverty and other challenging dilemmas. I had many questions about what we needed to learn and understand better to transform these harmful social patterns in sustainable ways. In my work now, I seek to build bridges between theory and practice, between the academy and grassroots activism, and between secular and religious perspectives.

Why do you think this is such an important area of research for women/young girls in South Africa (or globally)?

South Africa has some of the highest rates of violence against womxn and children in the world today. So much of this is shaped by our long colonial history of intersecting inequalities, and the intergenerational trauma still playing out in people's lives. We intentionally need to disrupt cycles of violence by tackling the root causes of how masculinity and femininity are framed, as well as the gendered social norms that continue to position many women as inferior to men, or entrap them in homes of bondage, instead of allowing women, men and children to flourish together in households of freedom. We have many great laws in this country, but there is a large gap between those laws and people's daily lived experiences. In this respect, South Africa has important research contributions to make to the global conversation, which still needs to be decolonised.

The pandemic has changed the way we work and live. What keeps you motivated during these times?

Many of my research projects had to shift focus midway. For example, in early 2020, colleague Dr Elisabet le Roux and I had just kicked off with a Photovoice 2.0 project with female students at SU, exploring the drivers of campus rape culture here. And then suddenly, no one was on campus. So, many pivots were needed. My research constantly shows me the need to be agile and adapt.

Despite all its griefs and stresses, I feel this pandemic also offers us possibilities to “build back better". We don't have to return to a normal that was often very unsafe for womxn and children; we can move forward to create a 'new normal'. Social norms can change: Just look at how South Africans and the world have adapted to tackle this latest crisis in just one year. South Africa has also been a leading voice in making connections between the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and violence against womxn and children. In fact, as part of my involvement with the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, we just launched a book (free to download) entitled A Time Like No Other: COVID-19 in Women's Voices (August 2021). It showcases the experiences of women and girls across South Africa living with these twin pandemics. These diverse voices speaking out give me hope. 

Tell us something about yourself that few people would expect.

In my spare time, I love doing Afro-Latin dancing, especially Kizomba, which comes from Angola. My dad grew up dancing in the streets of Johannesburg with his sister, and when I dance, I feel as if I connect to all my African ancestors in new ways as a form of self-care. It helps me get out of my head and into my own body, which can often be difficult for academics. Finally, it connects me to many other genders in a celebratory and joyful way, which I feel is an essential balance to my feminist research on violence prevention, which can feel overwhelmingly negative at times.

What would your message be to the next generation of women researchers?

Firstly, to remember that female self-care is a feminist act; to believe that research methodologies can be a site of disruption, and to cultivate the virtue of curiosity.

Secondly, to do generative research, and not to focus only on the tasks of deconstruction. Nurturing shared visions for all genders and ages also means disrupting the systems where some are valued more than others; not seeking to merely join the system and become the new “one at the top".

Thirdly, I do feel frustrated when I see feminist movements polarising over issues such as sex work, violence against boys, or transrights. We need to build intersectional alliances of trust, have robust dialogues about complex issues and find ways to listen to one another's stories. After all, when our movements fragment from within, patriarchy, which also harms many men and boys, gains power.

• Dr Palm has authored many publications, ranging from research papers and journal articles to reports and book chapters. To have a look at some of her work, click here.
• To read her contribution as co-author of the recently published UN Women research publication “Engaging faith-based and traditional actors for VAWG prevention", click here.
  

​

​​Learning facilitators play a key role in helping children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cope in mainstream schools.

This is one of the key findings of a recent study at Stellenbosch University (SU).

“Learning facilitators are an essential part of inclusive education for children with ASD. They provide specific services to these children who often suffer from anxiety which hinders their learning and social interactions," says Mignon Elliott who recently obtained her Master's degree in Psychology at SU. Her supervisors were Dr Bronwyne Coetzee from SU's Department of Psychology and Mr Ben Truter from the Neurodiversity Centre.

As part of her study, Elliott interviewed learning facilitators in the Western Cape to get a better understanding of their experiences working with children with ASD in mainstream schools.

Elliott points out that since the passing of the White Paper on Special Needs Education – Building an Inclusive and Training System in 2001, children with barriers to learning have been included in South Africa's mainstream school system. She adds that these children often need (and/or are required to have) specialised and individualised support in the mainstream classroom and this is where learning facilitators make a valuable contribution.

“Unfortunately, we know very little about the experiences of learning facilitators, including whether they have received sufficient training for their important role."

Elliott says her findings show that they facilitate the emotional, social and academic functioning of children with ASD in the classroom and also offer support during recess. Generally, learning facilitators would work with these children throughout the school day.

“Learning facilitators focus on monitoring anxiety in these children and recognise the triggers so that they can know when the child might need a break. They also reinforce good behaviours and achievements, re-teach material taught in class by the teacher, and redirect the child's attention to the teacher or the task at hand.

“Learning facilitators emphasised the importance of communication and working together with all professionals involved (i.e. the facilitator, parents, teachers, psychologists, speech therapists and occupational therapists).

“The overall experiences varied. The facilitators who reported having a more positive experience were often trained, received support and built good relationships with other professionals, particularly the teacher. Those who reported more negative experiences were often lacking in one or more of these." 

Elliott adds that there is no specific training for learning facilitators and that several of the learning facilitators who participated in her study did not receive any training. 

“Learning facilitators definitely require more training, particularly in the knowledge of ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders, and in how to navigate in a practical way those difficult situations that may present themselves in the classroom or in social situations.

“They flagged their relationship with the teacher as the most important one for successful inclusion of children with ASD and indicated that professionals like psychologists should be more involved in the school. They also expressed the need for a support group where they can confide in each other and exchange ideas."

Some schools do not have policies regarding facilitators, their roles and expectations. It may be helpful for schools to revise this and implement a policy regarding learning facilitators, adds Elliott.

She says it's important to keep in mind that there's no “one-size-fits-all" solution when it comes to facilitating the inclusion process of a child with ASD in a mainstream school, as each child has unique demands and requirements. This means facilitators have to be adaptable and flexible in their roles.

According to Elliott, her research contributed to better understanding the role of learning facilitators, the training received (if any), their coping skills and how they managed demands, and the access they have to additional resources and support, which is essential to the inclusion of ASD children in mainstream schools.

“Understanding their experiences would provide insight into the areas of facilitating work that need development. It could also assist in highlighting factors that would bring long-term improvement through identifying how to improve the quality of learning facilitator services. This would eventually result in providing a better inclusive environment for children with ASD in mainstream schools." 

FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES ONLY

Mignon Elliott

Email: mignonelliott7@gmail.com

ISSUED BY

Martin Viljoen

Manager: Media

Corporate Communication and Marketing

Stellenbosch University

Tel: 021 808 4921

Email: viljoenm@sun.ac.za

​

Motheo Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College is the first TVET College in South Africa to have established a technology-driven greenhouse tunnel. The objective is to develop the skills of TVET graduates in the agri-horticultural sector and enhance their employability.

This is one of the milestones in the Stellenbosch University (SU) and Maastricht School of Management's (MSM) three year Orange Knowledge Programme titled “Strengthening Skills of TVET Staff and Students for Optimizing Water Usage and Climate Smart Agriculture in South Africa". The project is funded by the Netherlands Universities Foundation for International Cooperation (NUFFIC), through the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The installation of the greenhouse tunnel is the result of a number of assessment activities which involved researchers from SU, Dutch greenhouse experts coordinated through MSM, as well as TVET staff from Boland, Motheo, and Vhembe Colleges. One of these assessments, conducted from December 2019 to January 2020, highlighted the key industry-driven skills requirement by the private horticulture sector in the domain of water-smart agri-horticulture. The investment in the greenhouse will therefore develop and enhance the skills and employability of TVET graduates.

During the handover on Friday 13 August 2021, Prof Dipiloane Phutsisi, principal of Motheo College, emphasized the need for cooperation and knowledge exchange to ensure successful crop production training in the greenhouse. Dr Rykie van der Westhuizen, a crop production specialist, inspected the greenhouse and approved its operation and functionality by carrying out the official handover and sign-off to Motheo College. Over the next few weeks, Dr Van der Westhuizen will play a crucial role in the operationalization of the greenhouse and starting with horticultural training in the greenhouse for college students. 

Mr Brent Stevens from Vegtech, the suppliers of the tunnel, also introduced a number of TVET staff to the technical aspects of the greenhouse tunnel. Another greenhouse tunnel has since been completed at Vhembe TVET College in Limpopo, and a third tunnel, at Boland TVET College, should be completed by November 2021.

Media inquiries

Mr Peter Makae

Manager in the Office of the Principal, Motheo TVET College, Bloemfontein

E-mail: makaep@motheotvet.co.za

Mr Manuel Jackson

Programme officer, Stellenbosch University Water Institute

E-mail: jacksonm@sun.ac.za

​

With a research background in gender equity and women's sport and her diligence in reforming the sports space, Dr Nana Adom-Aboagye from Stellenbosch University's Centre for Sport Leadership at Maties Sport has made ground-breaking contributions to address the injustices against women in sport.

 As part of commemorating South Africa's Women's Month, she tells us more about her research.

Tell us more about your research.

My area of research looks at gender equity (not equality), women's sport and gendered (sport) policies. I like to explore the intersections of policy to practice for South African and African women, specifically in sport. This is to assess and understand their experiences about what we are informed by, through policy and what they need, as women in sport, at recreational or elite levels. My approach is to be as inclusive as possible of all women involved in sport.

Many believe that women have come a long way in sport in South Africa. Yet, if one speaks to women and girls regarding their sports experiences and challenges, very little has changed since 1994, beyond a numbers game. I strive to help give a voice to women's issues in sport at a national and regional level. Issues that are often not considered or overlooked. I believe in research for impact, and not research for research' sake, within the sports space. By this, I want my work to spark conversations and contribute towards actionable reform, no matter how minor the reform.

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

While completing my Master's degree at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), I explored funding support for elite athletes. I realised how few women were available or even interested in taking part in my study. I started reading up about women in sport, and I realised a gap in the literature regarding African voices, concerns for and issues about African women in sport. As a black African woman and a former sportsperson, I also could not relate to some of the literature published in terms of perception and/or experiences, for example. I thus decided to find a way to contribute to the conversation, which led me to pursue a PhD.

Why do you think this is such an important area of research for women/young girls in South Africa (or globally)?

I believe it is an important area of research because many issues still affecting women in the sport globally are being challenged, advocated for, etc. Yet, in Africa, we find ourselves lagging behind specific topics and not contributing towards them as Africans, especially when it concerns us. I will provide two examples. Firstly, in developed countries, women are fighting for (near) equal pay to men within the same sports. Yet, for African women in sport, earning a living as a full-time sportsperson is still considered a dream for many. Secondly, the issue of testosterone testing in athletics, which we saw make headlines before the Tokyo Olympics, appears to proportionately affect African women the most. This has been an ongoing issue for over a decade. However, we have not come together as an African scientific community of intersecting disciplines to explore and perhaps even challenge such a ruling. We are letting the women fight the cases alone to the best of their ability with the support they can garner from varying sectors and/or individuals.

The pandemic has changed the way we work and live. What keeps you motivated during these times?

The support of my family (parents and brother). I am privileged to come from a sporting family, meaning they understand the field I have chosen to pursue. They also believe in me, even when I, at times, may not believe in myself (it can happen, researchers are human too). A sound support system is vital for any researcher, and it does not have to be your family.

Tell us something about yourself that few people would expect.

I was part of a provincial hockey team (KwaZulu-Natal Midlands A) that won the national interprovincial title here in the Western Cape in 2000. I was a bronze medal winner in the long jump at the South African junior championships in 2003. I also understand Afrikaans reasonably well, although I do not speak it anymore.

What would your message be for the next generation of women researchers?

If it is your passion and you want to pursue it, it does not matter if there is no one or very few people in that research field that look like you. Be that inclusive voice that brings in a new and unexplored perspective. There will definitely be challenges; you might not achieve certain milestones as you have personally projected, but do not give up! Everything happens for a reason, as I have learnt after disappointments. Also, if you give up, who will those behind you look towards for inspiration? As my friend, Dr Lombe Mwamba from the National Organisation for Women in Sport Physical Activity and Recreation (NOWSPAR) in Zambia likes to remind me: “We are the ones we have been waiting for (June Jordan)."

​

For the third time in her academic career as a chemist, Dr Katherine de Villiers (39) has been honoured by the South African Chemical Institute (SACI) for her outstanding contribution to research in this field.

Dr De Villiers, a senior lecturer in bioinorganic chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science at Stellenbosch University (SU), is the recipient of the 2021 Raikes' Medal of the SA Chemical Institute. The gold-plated medal, together with a monetary prize of R2500, is awarded annually to a member of the institute, under the age of 40, whose original chemical research shows outstanding promise.

However, as a postgraduate student in chemistry and the University of Cape Town, she was also the recipient of the SACI James Moir Medal for the best BScHonours student in chemistry in 2004, and in 2008 she received the SACI Postgraduate Medal for her PhD thesis, which she completed at the age of 26 under the guidance of Prof Timothy Egan. She joined SU's Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science in 2009 as a lecturer, and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2013.

Dr De Villiers works in the field of bioinorganic chemistry, and in particular the rational development of antimalarial drugs to target the asexual blood stage of the malaria parasite lifecycle. Having grown up in Zimbabwe, she witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of malaria:  “When I learned as an Honours student that my passion for chemistry could make a contribution to transforming the lives of people at risk of this parasitic disease, I knew I had found my path," she writes in a blog for the National Research Foundation recently.

As she recently become the mother of two, Christopher (4) and Caroline (2), she has opted to put her career path on a slower trajectory by giving up her full-time position for a five/eights post: “While I know my career progress will not be as fast as it could have been, if I remained in a full-time position, I believe this option gives me the time and space to separate my work and home life. I love my work and look forward to my time in office each day, but I also want to play an active role in my children's lives."

Prof Peter Mallon, head of the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, says this is an outstanding achievement. Previous recipients of this award currently working in the department include Prof Willem van Otterlo (2004), Prof Erick Strauss (2013) and Prof André de Villiers (2015).

​

Dear colleagues and students

Getting vaccinated a priority

Let me share some feedback from a scheduled meeting of Stellenbosch University's (SU) Institutional Committee for Business Continuity (ICBC) on Friday, 27 August 2021.

COVID-19

As usual, we had a briefing from Prof Juliet Pulliam of SACEMA (the South African Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis). She confirmed that the country is still in the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and that the decline in cases is slower than previously expected.

This is unlikely to change over the next two weeks – neither in the Western Cape, nor in most other provinces. Stellenbosch has experienced a worrying increase in infections recently, particularly among young adults in the 15–25 age group.

We must, therefore, continue with actions to reduce transmission of the coronavirus. These include wearing a mask, maintaining a safe distance from others, sanitising our hands and surfaces, and avoiding crowded and poorly ventilated spaces.

In fact, we must stick to all COVID-19 protocols, including that currently, lecture halls and other venues may only be occupied to a maximum of 50% of their capacity.

Vaccinations

At the same time, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is of the greatest importance.Since our previous meeting a month ago, there have been very encouraging developments in this regard. We have opened our own COVID-19 vaccination site at Lentelus in Hammanshand Road, Stellenbosch, and in terms of the national vaccination programme, everyone of 18 years old and above can now receive their vaccination.

Our staff and students have responded well to the calls to be vaccinated. In the last week alone, nearly 1 000 students received their jabs here, and many others continue to make use of other facilities. I want to thank everyone who has already gone for their first, and in some cases, second vaccinations. We should all do as a matter of the greatest urgency and encourage our friends and colleagues to join us. It is an institutional priority for all staff and students to be vaccinated – in the interest of health and safety.

Along with many other institutions and organisation in South Africa and world-wide, we are investigating the possibility of mandatory vaccinations. To that end, a task team has been appointed to do a risk assessment of various factors involved for employees and students at SU. This is required in terms of a direction on health and safety promulgated by the Department of Employment and Labour in June. The outcome of the assessment will inform our vaccination policy.

In the meantime, please do the responsible thing and get fully vaccinated as soon as possible.

International travel

Full vaccination before travelling abroad is highly recommended and encouraged, and for some countries, an entry requirement. All students and staff travelling abroad must please complete the SU travel registry before their departure.

STAFF MATTERS

The return of staff to campuses

We are still following a hybrid model for SU staff, which implies that employees work interchangeably from home and on campuses according to the workplace plans of their environments. The ICBC has now provided more detailed guidance. Return to campuses should be called for by line managers under the following conditions:

1. Tasks that require physical presence
2. Tasks that need to be done to advance higher levels of engagement with colleagues and with the priorities at hand
3. Physical presence on campuses to facilitate spontaneous interaction and exchange of ideas that facilitate innovation, and that cannot be achieved in case of remote only work
4. To prevent estrangement from campuses as primary spaces of work in the context of residential universities
5. To strengthen cohesion and cooperation among staff, especially with regard to the induction of new staff and students.

Our hybrid model implies a phased and functional return of staff to campuses, and allows for flexibility and contextuality. Remember, under risk adjusted COVID-19 alert level 3, the basic position remains that those who can work from home, must do so.

Open Day 2022

The ICBC accepted a proposal that a hybrid model should be followed for SU's Open Day next year – with the institutional event taking place online, as it did earlier this year, followed by smaller in-person events at faculty or department level, possibly in clusters. The tentative date for the institutional event is 9 April 2022, to be followed by on-campus events scheduled for specific Saturdays in the first semester of 2022 (SU timetable depending). These dates will support the 2023 admissions cycle from April to July 2022.

STUDENT MATTERS

Amended dates for discontinuation of studies

The date for the discontinuation of studies in the second semester has been amended. There are now two dates:

• 31 August for students who did not write A4 assessments; and
• 17 September for those who wrote the A4s.

The last day for loading A4 marks will be 10 September, with ratification of the June/July exam marks by the DVC Learning and Teaching to follow by 14 September.

Summer graduation

Because of COVID-19, graduation at the end of the year will again follow a hybrid model – with undergraduate, honours and master's degree ceremonies taking place online, supplemented by small in-person ceremonies for the awarding of doctoral and honorary degrees, as well as the Chancellor's medal and awards. The dates are 13 to 16 December. Further details will be communicated in due course.

Student representation on the ICBC

Student leadership elections will be taking place soon and the current SRC Chair, Mr Xola Njengele, will be stepping down before our next meeting. The ICBC thanked Mr Njengele for his participation this year. He has made valuable inputs and we wish him well with his studies. We look forward to working with his successor.

CONCLUSION

Colleagues and students, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a high toll so far, though I note with gratitude that with your help, we have been able to meet and overcome many challenges. Two priorities stand out at this point: get fully vaccinated and stick to all COVID-19 protocols.

Best wishes for the remainder of the semester,

Prof Stan du Plessis
Chair: ICBC ​

​

THE Women's March of 1956 was a watershed event as women of all races united to challenge an oppressive system that saw women exploited and deprived of economic opportunities, with no share in the country's wealth.

We celebrate Women's Day to create awareness of the injustices against women, interrogate and engage with the current challenges facing women, and identify possible responses to the challenges. Poverty is one major challenge that continues to undermine the dignity of women in South Africa.

The state of not having enough income for a person's basic needs can be escaped by securing a decent job through decent education. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation and inequality with the oppressed subjected to educational marginalisation, thus limiting their chances of better job opportunities. African, coloured and Indian women were marginalised, meaning they achieved low levels of education which limited their ability to access decent jobs. The repressive apartheid laws had distressing effects on the economic well-being of African women. The migratory labour system, in particular, contributed to the poverty of an African woman.

Poverty is widespread throughout South Africa, but not all women experience it at the same level. Poverty is more prevalent among the African and coloured racial groups. It is also more prevalent among rural women than urban women. While some women have experienced generational poverty, others have experienced situational poverty. The apartheid system plunged most families into generational poverty. This is evident in repeated cycles of poverty within a household where more than two generations are social security beneficiaries.

The surest means to escape poverty prior to 1994 was through a decent education that would guarantee gainful employment. While some women have been able to escape generational poverty, others are still trapped in the cycle of poverty. Most women who are living in poverty are without vocational education and with no access to decent paid work.

Women across racial groups and cultures may experience situational poverty when their income and support is decreased due to a sudden event.

This could be a job loss, divorce, death of a spouse or caregiver, for example. Single women with children are among the most financially vulnerable as they are mostly in low paying jobs but are also primarily responsible for the physical and financial care of their children.

Many women are falling into situational poverty due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The economic well-being of these women is compromised as they struggle to feed their families. Fuel price increases, exorbitant food prices and huge municipal bills are constant financial obligations facing employed single women.

Although most women in this category are reassured that they have job security, their ability to make economic choices is compromised as they tend to make unwise choices like ceding policies and prematurely withdrawing from investments to fend for their families.

Women get into debt, thus placing their future financial security at risk. What has been achieved?

South Africa has acknowledged the profound impact of poverty on women, hence the initiatives aimed at their economic empowerment. Women have been afforded access to business opportunities and business funding schemes.

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) provides financial aid to undergraduate students to help pay for the cost of their tertiary education after finishing high school. Through NSFAS women can get a decent education and secure decent jobs, thus escaping poverty.

What has not been achieved? The idea of the “deserving poor" must be revisited for a broader and more realistic understanding. This would assist in how support can be provided for women at various poverty levels. The current myopic view of the concept is creating the impression that some women are more deserving than others, something which is not in the interests of equity.

The pay gap between women and men continues to be a challenge for women. It pushes women deeper into the hole of debt as the cost of living increases. Levels of education and work experience are some of the structural reasons for the gender pay gap that must be addressed as a matter of urgency. What should be done? In taking the lead in the fight to eradicate poverty, the government should disaggregate women according to their experiences of poverty. The government should carry on attending to women living in acute poverty but should not neglect those who are in situational poverty and might slide into acute poverty.

While government interventions concerning unemployed women are lauded, there is a need for serious attention to be paid to employed women whose predicament has been aggravated by Covid-19 effects.

The idea of “encashing" a certain percentage of their pension sounds good but one should be wary of its implications for the future. Is thought being given to how this withdrawal will affect these employees after retirement?

Poverty is largely an earnings problem. Celebrating Women's Month would be more meaningful for employed tax-paying women if they could be exempted from paying tax for the month of August. This would bring much relief to women in general and single women with children in particular. Through the suggested interventions South Africa would hopefully realise meaningful gender equality.​

Dr Zethu Mkhize

Head of Transformation

Stellenbosch University

South Africa is transitioning from a grossly unequal society to one where there is equality between men and women, and between people of all races. So said Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, in his keynote address at a Stellenbosch University (SU)_conference on customary law and social justice on 25 August 2021.

The Zoom event, hosted by Prof Thuli Madonsela, incumbent of SU's Law Trust Chair in Social Justice, attracted over 120 participants from both the public and private sphere, including government, the judiciary, academia, traditional leadership, and legal and civic organisations. Four conference panels explored themes such as the anatomy of customary law, the social-justice dimensions of customary property rights, gender equality and customary marriages, succession and inheritance challenges in traditional leadership, and gender-based violence in traditional communities.

Lamola assured the audience that South Africa's constitutional order remained committed to transforming society. Therefore, ongoing violations against women and vulnerable people were a cause for concern. “As South Africans, we know very well the crimes committed against women and vulnerable groups in our society. Some of these violations are perpetrated and motivated by customary practices," he said, with reference to practices such as ukuthwala, which allows females, particularly young girls, to be abducted and forced into marriages with older men.

The minister highlighted the advances made in customary law since the implementation of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. “Customary law only exists within the prescripts of the Constitution, which stipulates that customary law is protected. However, the rules of customary law must still be in line with the principles in the Bill of Rights, which protects the right to culture alongside the right to equality, non-discrimination and dignity," he said.

Lamola called on engagement platforms such as this SU conference to continue embedding the constitutional principles in South African society, educating people about their constitutional rights, and producing well-researched papers to help lawmakers and the courts craft a legal system that promotes social justice. “The Constitution, as the supreme law of the land, stresses the importance of redressing past injustices and achieving unity in diversity," he said. “The supremacy of the Constitution demands transformation in many areas of existing law, including customary law."

To date, various role players have helped shape and transform our customary law and cultural practices to conform to the Constitution, Lamola said. “Academics, researchers, the judiciary, traditional leaders and many others have been instrumental in aligning customary law with the Bill of Rights in particular," he said, and illustrated this with reference to cases concerning patriarchy and male primogeniture heard by the Constitutional Court. In the 2008 matter of Shilubana vs Nwamitwa, for instance, the Constitutional Court overruled the customary law forbidding females to become tribal leaders, allowing a woman from Baphiring near Rustenburg to succeed her late father as a tribal chief.

The minister also touched on other contentious customary laws concerning land rights, communal land ownership, the inheritance rights of women and children, and marriages. He concluded by reminding the audience that customary law was a “living law", which evolved and developed to meet the community's changing needs. This willingness to transform would be essential in facilitating the broad, systematic shift required in all aspects of society. “The status of women needs to be interrogated across the board. It is only through consistently probing the true status of women in our communities, our private spaces, our churches, the workplace and our economy that we'll be able to advance as a society," he added.

​
The top performers in the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science were rewarded for their hard work during 2019 and 2020 during an online awards ceremony on Friday 13 August 2021.

Michael-Phillip Smith and Emile de Wet received the coveted Merck Award for the best final year students in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Both students have performed exceptionally well over all four years of study, consistently completing all modules with an average of 80% and higher. Michael is currently pursuing his MSc-studies under the guidance of Prof Bert Klumperman, while Emile is busy with his BScHons-degree.

Emile also won a book prize for the best second year student in 2019, with an average of 87%, while Kyla Raoult was the best second year student in 2020 with an average of 83%.

Kayla Heinrich was the recipient of the SMM award for the best BScHons-student in chemistry in 2020, awarded only to students with an average of 75% and higher.

In the textiles and polymer science stream, Julie Jevon received the Mattie Jooste Prize, the Bernina Prize and the Truida Louw book prize for her achievements, including prize money to the value of R20 000.

Prof Peter Mallon, head of the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, says the Department consistently attracts some of the top learners in South Africa, and in turn the Department works hard to produce the best chemistry graduates, highly-sought after by industry.

Prof Louise Warnich, Dean of the Faculty of Science, congratulated the students with their outstanding achievements, even more remarkable during the pandemic. She also congratulated the chemistry lecturers for the role they played in the students' achievements.

​

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed major challenges to public health medicine specialists. For Extraordinary Professor Hassan Mahomed, who has been at the forefront of coordinating the response in the Western Cape, it has been an especially demanding period.

Mahomed, who holds a joint position with the provincial Department of Health and the Division of Health Systems and Public Health at Stellenbosch University's Department of Global Health, has been involved in combating the spread of the virus right from the start.

“In early 2020, we saw cases increasing around the world," he recalls. “Already by February – before we had our first cases – my colleagues and I began to set up information sessions for our staff, alerting them to the fact that there was this global threat and that we should be prepared for cases in the Western Cape.

“By March, we had our first diagnosed case of COVID-19 – someone who had returned from travelling abroad.

“By that time the national Department of Health and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases had developed guidelines and done some training in the provinces, which I was part of. From that time, I've been involved in coordinating the response to the COVID-19 pandemic as it played out in this province."

Mahomed chairs a monthly meeting of the COVIDCovid-19 outbreak response teams to coordinate responses and serves on a senior management technical committee which currently meets twice a week to provide technical support to the provincial leadership on how to respond.

His work included developing a COVID-19 vaccine strategy for the province “as an initial guide to start thinking through how we were going to implement the -19 vaccine programme".

Mahomed was then asked by the provincial government to set up an expert team in the province to provide advice on vaccination, now called the Western Cape COVID-19 Vaccine Expert Advisory Group.

This group includes vaccine experts, behavioural experts, ethical experts and representatives of the community. “It provides advice to the province depending on what the issue is," says Mahomed.

 “A major success of the expert advisory group has been around equity – making sure that fairness of access to vaccines is put on the agenda of the Province. We made the Province acutely aware of the fact that we need to make sure that the poorest and the vulnerable get access to vaccines," says Mahomed.

“The Province has put in place a number of processes where they engage with community organisations and set up local teams to support registration for vaccination in deprived communities and to facilitate access."

He adds: “The second key area is about providing technical advice to the province when there are difficult issues around vaccine administration – about who qualifies for vaccination, and some of the ethical issues around how the vaccination programme should be implemented, so that those who are at high risk and those who are most vulnerable are prioritised.

“One of the big challenges of the vaccination programme is that there is a limited supply, so one of the big ethical issues has been: how do you prioritise? The committee has provided extensive advice, both from a technical and ethical point of view, on how best to approach this issue."

Mahomed notes that the spread of misinformation is another particular difficulty: “That's been a global challenge, both for Covid and Covid vaccines – how to ensure that the population is properly informed about vaccines and the vaccination process.

“Our main way of responding is not to engage with individuals who are the source of misinformation, but to engage with the general public – firstly, to discourage the spread of misinformation, but mainly to provide an alternative narrative, and that is to say: vaccines work, and vaccines are largely very safe."

Mahomed comments on the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with a mixture of fortitude and hopefulness: “The science around COVID has evolved. Initially we had to make difficult decisions without enough information on how the virus behaves and how it spreads. We've learnt a lot over the past year."

Mahomed is certainly well-placed to play a leading role in addressing this challenge. He worked at various local hospitals after completing an MBChB at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1985. He subsequently did a Master's degree in community health at UCT in 1996 before joining the City of Cape Town in 1998 as an epidemiologist – the first such position at the municipality.

In December 2012, he joined the Western Cape Health Department, a position affiliated to Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. In addition to responding to the health needs of the province, Mahomed – who completed a PhD in public health at UCT in 2013 – teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students at Stellenbosch University.

Mahomed draws many lessons from the scientific community's rapid response to Covid-19. “We need to learn from the speed of development of COVID-19 vaccines and look at how we can apply this to other conditions," he says.

“We've had tuberculosis, HIV and diarrhoea epidemics for a long time. Many of these diseases are preventable. Let's look at what we can learn from our response to the COVID-19 pandemic to overcome some of these conditions."

But, for now, perhaps the most urgent challenge remains limiting the spread of COVID-19. “There is always the risk of COVID-19 virus variants in the background," says Mahomed. “The sooner we are vaccinated, the better. Our main message is: continue to follow all the normal infection control measures such as physical distancing, mask wearing and handwashing; avoid gatherings; support the vaccination programme.

“One key issue is that we need everyone to take responsibility and for us to build solidarity – to see ourselves as a community, where we help each other. If everybody follows the prevention and control measures, we will have a way of limiting the spread of the disease."

South Africa and Africa could become a hotbed of new SARS-CoV-2 variants if we don't take care, a top bioinformatician at Stellenbosch University (SU) has warned.

Speaking at the Annual Academic Day of SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Professor Tulio de Oliveira said that unlike other countries, South Africa had experienced “very distinct waves" of infection, each of which allowed the virus to evolve further.

De Oliveira, who recently joined the university to set up a new institute aimed at understanding and controlling epidemics and pandemics, received international acclaim for his team's work of identifying a new variant of the virus in South Africa. As professor of bioinformatics, he will hold a joint appointment in three different environments – the School of Data Science and Computational Thinking, the FMHS and the Faculty of Science. He will establish a new national institute – provisionally named the Centre for Epidemic Research, Response and Innovation (CERI) – to advance the understanding of epidemics in Africa and the global south.

In his address entitled Emergence and Spread of New Variants of SARS-CoV-2, De Oliveira said the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, had started producing genomes as early in March and had even sequenced the first case in the country. The team have continued to produce genomes throughout the various waves of the pandemic.

Through its research the team has also found evidence that prolonged infection in immunocompromised individuals is one mechanism for the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

They have also demonstrated that there are “multimutational escape variants" in an individual with advanced HIV and prolonged failure to take antiretroviral therapy (ART), and that the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the body was terminated shortly after the introduction of effective ART.

For this reason, De Oliveira recommended that people with HIV should be on effective ART, particularly if they also acquire Covid-19.

“People living with HIV should be prioritized for Covid-19 vaccination, and more research is needed to optimize vaccination strategies for people with advanced HIV and other immunosuppressive conditions," he said.

The need to prioritize Covid-19 vaccination in people living with HIV is so important that he and his team had informed both the South African president and the health minister about it.

“It is going to be very important to also increase the ART program and HIV diagnosis as soon as possible," he stressed.

De Oliveira said the first wave of the pandemic had created sixteen novel lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa. These had usually been created by superspreader events in the country. The team had been able to learn how the variants emerged, how they were introduced into South Africa and how they spread.

“In November-December 2020, a new lineage emerged that completely dominated infections in South Africa and went to displace all the other lineages present in the country. This lineage not only dominated all the infections, but it spread extremely fast."

Similarly, the second wave had also seen a large number of mutations which gave rise to a new lineage of the virus and allowed it to be more transmissible in humans as well as in animals. New lineages also emerged during the third wave. “This virus surprises us every week."

De Oliveira said there are now multiple cases in the literature of prolonged infections in immunocompromised individuals.

“We have learned that SARS-CoV-2 evolved very fast in a suppressed host." An examples of this had been found in a paper from Boston in the United States of a long-infected individual that could not clear the virus for at least 150 days, and that, when sequencing the virus, had found a “large accumulation of mutations … that was characteristic of various variations and mutations. Another individual in the United Kingdom had shown a similar case, and who is believed to have “caused the alpha variant there."

In South Africa, De Oliveira and his team studied a 36-year-old female patient with Covid-19, who was also HIV-positive and had “really bad adherence to ART". She stayed positive for Covid-19 for 216 days, during which there had been a “massive evolution" of the virus.

“What we saw in this individual is that this virus is not only mutating, but gaining and losing mutations. This indicates that if you have individuals that cannot clear the virus for so long – especially if they are immune suppressed – you are going to allow this virus to evolve very fast inside them which can give rise to new variants."

This had led to the conclusion that there is good evidence that prolonged infection in immune-compromised individuals is one of the mechanisms for the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

“If we do not take both the HIV and SARS-CoV-2 epidemics in South Africa and Africa seriously, we may risk that Africa can become a factory of variants," he said.

Photo credit: PIXABAY

In this article that appeared in Rapport of 22 August 2021, Dr Leslie van Rooi, SU's spokesperson on language, responded to an article of the 'Helpmekaar Studiefonds that was published in Rapport a week earlier. '​

-------------------

The sentiments about how to save Afrikaans as expressed in the open letter from the Helpmekaarfonds to Maties' Chancellor Edwin Cameron are significant, writes Leslie van Rooi.

The role of Afrikaans at Stellenbosch University (SU) has indeed become an emotional focal point, especially for Afrikaans speakers. This is because language is related to our identity, our place and role in South Africa and our variety of life stories.

But it is also more than that.

This conversation is also about being together in relation to others within the context of diversity and a variety of experiences. It is about cultivating healthy skills, unlocking knowledge, student success and establishing a human rights culture that shows that my rights should be recognised. But also that my rights are always in relation to those of others.

Language is therefore very important to SU. Through its language policy as well as the second draft version thereof, the University confirms language diversity at various levels in the learning and living experiences of students such as staff on our campuses.

Afrikaans is part of this because it forms part of the story of our University community. Indeed, Afrikaans has built up an academic repertoire over decades, to which SU has made a significant contribution and continues to contribute. Think of the Woordfees and the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT) in addition to the academic offer. SU remains committed to the utilisation and expansion of the academic potential of Afrikaans, together with English, as languages of teaching against the background of multilingualism.

Therefore, SU continues to emphasise that we believe that our students have more choices, greater access and a better future thanks to this approach.

We also reaffirm that Afrikaans ensures access and success for a large number of our current and future students' across borders. But we also know that language diversity enables Maties to acquire skills that make them sought after for appointments here and elsewhere.

The Helpmekaar Study Fund will agree that it is critically important for SU that access should lead to success. No wonder our throughput and pass rates are among the highest in the country. SU does not want to deprive mother tongue speakers of a learning and living experience that confirms the richness of language diversity. And that is precisely why the discussed second draft of the new policy confirms this!

 Read the full article, in Afrikaans, here.

• ​Dr Leslie van Rooi is Senior Director: Social Impact and Transformation and the language spokesperson at SU. 

​

​Lecturers and researchers from the School of Accountancy at Stellenbosch University (SU) and the College of Accounting at the University of Cape Town (UCT) recently attended a three-day writing retreat at the Mont Fleur conference centre near Stellenbosch.

The writing retreat was aimed at promoting research collaboration between SU and UCT, while allowing participants to focus on their own research projects. Prof Ruth Albertyn of the Department of Curriculum Studies at SU acted as writing consultant and facilitator.

According to Prof Pieter von Wielligh, Director of the SU School of Accountancy, it is the first joint writing retreat ever held by the School and the College of Accounting. “Research collaboration between our institutions is invaluable. Given the success of this initiative, I foresee many more."

Participants agreed that the cross pollination enriched their understanding of their research fields and approach, that engaging with other academics inspired research and helped with motivation, and that both the input and the feedback from the facilitator enhanced the research process. As one of the participants remarked, “This is an excellent approach with practical value".

Said Dr George Nel, Deputy Director of Research at the School of Accountancy, “Writing retreats are especially useful to create an atmosphere of trust and safety for productive research writing".

• ​​Photo caption: Participants used their time at the retreat to work on articles, research proposals and to share research ideas with each other, fostering an environment for future research collaboration and high-quality research.