​The evidence is clear on how to best manage asthma, but ignorance about the treatment guidelines and the implementation thereof is resulting in patients not accessing potential life-saving care.

South Africa has more than four million people living with asthma and has one of the highest rates of asthma deaths in the world, according to a report by the Global Initiative for Asthma. World Asthma Day is marked annually on May 5.

Globally asthma is one of the most common lung diseases, and is characterised by the recurrence of symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing. The severity of the disease varies from person to person and while an asthma attack may only cause mild symptoms in one person, it could be deadly in another.

"The evidence is very clear. A patient's asthma can be well controlled when health care workers follow the treatment guidelines, which are based on the best available evidence," says Dr Michael Pather, with the Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).

Asthma cannot be cured, but it can be effectively treated. Research shows that with proper treatment nearly all asthma patients can achieve and maintain good asthma control, enabling them to participate in everyday activities.

Pather's research – which looked at the quality of care for asthma patient in the Western Cape – found the standard of care at primary level to be inadequate, mainly because treatment guidelines were not being followed by health care workers.

"These guidelines are widely available, but we found they weren't being incorporated into patients' care regimens," says Pather, whose research also investigated the causes behind the non-use of guidelines. He also investigated methods that could be implemented in order to improve the uptake of treatment guidelines.

Through educational drives where doctors and nurses were schooled in the guidelines, Pather was able to make a significant improvement in the implementation of guidelines, which could translate in a higher level of asthma control in patients – although this was not assessed in the study. But despite this advance, Pather believes there is still a lot of room for improvement.

He identified further challenges to the quality care for asthma patients through his research, including the high number of patients that health care staff at primary care level have to attend to daily, the high prevalence of smoking in the Western Cape, and poor inhaler technique among patients. Many patients also have more than one disease, making treatment more complex as certain medications can interfere with asthma. 

"There is also no asthma register in existence. If you know how many asthma patients there are in clinics around the Western Cape, you can improve the quality of care," adds Pather, who also advocates for audits and ongoing evaluation of the level of care patients receive in the primary care facilities. 

"We have good guidelines, but it will only translate into good patient care if health care practitioners are aware of it, and are able to put it into practice on patients sitting in their consultation rooms," he concludes.

Media enquiries:

Media Office
27 (0)21 938 9202
tygermar@sun.ac.za
Marketing and Communications Office
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Stellenbosch University

The National Assembly congratulated the team of pioneering surgeons from Stellenbosch University (SU) and Tygerberg Hospital that performed the first successful penile transplant in the world in December 2014. Prof André van der Merwe, Head of the Division of Urology in SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, led the operation.

In a congratulatory letter dated 24 March 2015, Ms Baleke Mbete, Speaker of The National Assembly, informed Dr Dimitri Erasmus, Chief Executive Officer of Tygerberg Hospital, that the National Assembly acknowledged that the first successful penile transplant in the world was part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital and SU to help scores of initiates who lose their penises in botched operations each year.

"The Assembly believed that the procedure could eventually be extended to men who have lost their penises to cancer or as a last resort to severe erectile dysfunction," Mbete said.

"The Assembly congratulates the doctors of the Tygerberg Hospital and the University of Stellenbosch for raising the South African flag high."

In reaction to the congratulatory message from the National Assembly, Prof Jimmy Volmink, Dean of SU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, said the first successful penile transplant "is another excellent example of how medical research, technical know-how and patient-centred care can be combined in the quest to relieve human suffering".

Prof André van der Merwe expressed his appreciation and said: "It means a lot to us as a team that Parliament has acknowledged Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital. It makes us their choice of experts in this area and paves the way for improved negotiations between management and Western Cape and national health authorities – probably in more areas than just combined tissue transplant."

• Click here for the article on the first successful penile transplant in the world.
• Photo: Prof André van der Merwe of SU's Division of Urology
• Photographer: Stefan Els

​USB’s Prof Marius Ungerer speaks about the challenges of ‘Me too’businesses in the latest City Press. 

When deciding on starting a business venture it is important to not simply follow the crowd, says Prof Ungerer, professor of Business Strategy at USB. He says the challenge is to find a way to make your offering unique. 

Wim Tijmens is a man of full stories. Well-known and respected in botanical circles, he has travelled the world hunting for plants. Several of these excursions had been to China, a place he and fellow botanists refer to as the "Mother of Gardens". In the last five decades Netherlands-born Tijmens has undertaken no less than 17 expeditions to China, acquiring a number of paintings and artefacts during his journeys. 

A private collection of artworks from his botanical and cultural journeys to China will be on display at the Stellenbosch University Museum from Wednesday 20 May 2015. Tijmens Images of China exhibition will run for three months. It is run under the auspices of the Confucius Institute at Stellenbosch University, part of the Postgraduate and International Office.

The Stellenbosch-based Tijmens says the exhibition will give an introduction to Chinese history with the main items emphasising the country's rich diversity of flora. His collection consists of mainly scroll paintings of bamboo and flowers. Among the items on display are paintings of Peony, the Chinese National Flower and clay figures of the Terracotta Army which guards the tomb of the first emperor or China.

Tijmens, who spent more than 35 years working as curator of the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden (1962 – 1999), speaks passionately about plants and recall trips to Europe, New York and Japan sharing knowledge and collecting plants.

After a trip to Japan, Dr Masahiko Hayashi, an expert on genus Haworthia, personally delivered seeds of the Camellia chrysantha, an extremely rare plant discovered in China, to Tijmens and Stellenbosch University. Another story he share is being part of a scientific expedition from Stellenbosch to Cairo with renowned scholar Norio Kondo, former director of the Evolutionary Biology Research Institute in Tokyo - also the man who discovered the wingless chicken.

Tijmens who majored in horticulture and landscape architecture in the Netherlands came to South Africa in the early 1960's to study fynbos. Job offers from Prof Brian Rycroft, third director of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and Stellenbosch University, kept him in the country ever since.

Given the name Wei Mu by Chinese associates, meaning somebody of standing who is knowledgeable about plants, Tijmens says most plants around the world have their origins in China.

"I would say that if you look around Stellenbosch and ask a plant what is your name, where do you come from and how did you get here, you will find out that about 70 % of all the plants in a general garden originate in China.

This exhibition is putting a number of facets to that amazing country called China to the people here, students and scholars - a learning experience."

​Contact details for the University Museum:

52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch

​021 808 3691/3/5

All the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science's top awards for 2014 were taken by female students, with the prestigious Merck Award for the best final-year chemistry student going to Ms Jean Lombard.

Ms Lombard also walked away with the award for the best performance in Analytical Chemistry in the second and third year. This is a new award, initiated by Prof Klaus Koch, to encourage the study of Analytical Chemistry.

The other prize winners were:

• Ms Roxine Staats – Merck award for the best final-year student in Biotechnology
• Ms Petronella Wessels – Element Six (Pty) Ltd DST/NRF Centre of Excellence award for the best third-year student in Chemistry, including Polymer Science
• Ms Sunel de Kock – SMM award for the best honours student in chemistry
• Ms Inge Weideman - Element Six (Pty) Ltd DST/NRF Centre of Excellence award for the best honours student in Polymer Science
• Ms Jana Botha – Book prize for the best second-year student

During a special award ceremony on Friday 24 April 2015, departmental head Prof. Peter Mallon said the department strives towards producing the best graduate students for South Africa's chemical industry.

"The chemical industry and chemists will be central to addressing many of the challenges South Africa faces. We are producing some of the best chemistry graduates in the country, students who will be able to go out and tackle those challenges. Many of our graduates have gone on to leading roles both nationally and internationally" he said.

Over the past 27 years winners of the Merck award, for example, have established a tradition of excellence. The 2009 winner of the Merck award, Sean Robertson, is busy with his doctorate at Oxford University, while other winners like Leigh-Anne Loots (2005), Carola Niesler (1994), Japie Goldie (1990), Lizl Simpson (now Cronjé) (1991), Stefan de Goede (1993) and André de Villiers (1997) are making their mark in academia and industry.

Prof. Louise Warnich, Dean of the Faculty of Science, congratulated the students on their achievements: "If one considers that we have thousands of students going through the system each year, ending up as the best is really special in more than one respect. And remember, we are now watching out for you!"

On the photo, from left to right: Sunel de Kock, Jana Botha, Petronella Wessels, Roxine Staats, Jean Lombard and Inge Weideman.

​I feel displaced. I feel embarrassed. I feel disgusted.

These were some of the sentiments expressed in a discussion about violent attacks on foreign nationals held on campus on Thursday, 30 April 2015. About 50 students gathered at Metanoia residence to take part in the XenoFactor: #TalkIsCheap Critical Engagement organised by the Zimbabwean Society at Stellenbosch University (ZimSoc).

Local and international students expressed their feelings about safety on and off campus following recent xenophobic attacks in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

"I feel disgusted at how one person can kill someone just because there is a border separating our countries," a participant told the group who started the conversation by each telling how they feel about the attacks. I feel surprised at the way people treat other people, human beings, another echoed. Nigel Tatenda Zhuwaki, an Engineering master's degree student, told the audience Africans killing each other makes him feel hopeless. "I feel like there is no hope for Africa."

Steering the conversation Tanya Mushohwe, a former chairperson of ZimSoc, asked what should be done to "prevent Africa from being disunited in this manner again". Talking about similar attacks in 2008 the group discussed possible reasons for the attacks. More than one speaker blamed poverty, inequality and colonial borders for the violence. Some blamed those in leadership positions, more specifically Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who according to some media reports fuelled the attacks.

Localising the incidents students raised concerns about safety on and off campus. One student said that as a woman and a foreign national she was worried about her safety around workers from nearby areas where xenophobia attacks were mostly to take place. Another added that talks about xenophobia seems to be a problem only for international students and that local students are not much involved in the fight.

Hazel Sekeso, current chairperson of ZimSoc, said discussions on the issue should remain open. "We as a university nest future leaders and have the ability to practically empower positive relations and unity in our immediate communities as well as the surrounding areas. Xenophobia can be curbed by extending love."

Representatives from Stellenbosch University's Student Parliament and the Listen, Live & Learn (LLL) village also took part in the conversation. 

The investment expert and business leader, Prof Niel Krige, is to strengthen the fundraising initiatives of Stellenbosch University (SU). Krige, of the Stellenbosch University Business School (USB), has been appointed as Chairperson of SU's Development Office.

Krige will assist Prof Wim de Villiers, SU's new Rector and Vice-Chancellor, with special fundraising initiatives. One such an initiative is the establishment of a bursary fund for descendants of people who were forcefully removed from Die Vlakte, an area close to the town centre of Stellenbosch, in the 1960s.  De Villiers announced the bursary at his inauguration last week.

Krige has been involved in the financial services sector for 30 years, among others as Managing Director and Deputy Chairperson of Momentum Life. In 2003, he joined the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at SU. He was also responsible for the establishment of the popular Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning. At the USB, Krige presents courses in Portfolio Management and International Finance.

"It is a fact that universities are functioning against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and shrinking state subsidies, making them increasingly dependent on external funds. Our Vision 2030 is to become more inclusive, innovative and future-focused. And to do so, we will be broadening access to SU and maintaining our excellence, while making a difference in society. However, to truly help us to continue on our path of excellence, we'll need increased involvement from our stakeholders such as alumni, friends and industry partners who share our vision," De Villiers said.

"With his vast experience and knowledge of the financial sector, Prof Krige is just the right person to assist the University in securing the necessary funds," he added.

According to Mr Thys du Toit, Chairperson of the Stellenbosch Trust, Krige is ideally suited for his new role as Chairperson of the Development Office. "He is well-known in Stellenbosch, a former Matie, and has a proven track record as a successful businessman.

"He was a senior member of the very successful FirstRand group and the Managing Director of Momentum. In addition, Prof Krige is a recognised scholar who made a great contribution to further establish investment management at Stellenbosch University. He has the gravitas to liaise at the highest level and the energy to lead the Development Office as Chairperson. Stellenbosch University is fortunate and privileged to have someone like him on board."

Ms Karen Bruns, the recently appointed Senior Director of the SU Development Office,  said she was honoured to be working together with Krige to advance the University in its fundraising efforts and looked forward to working with him in his capacity as Chairperson.

“Working closely with Professor Krige, we hope to shape the long term future of the University by strengthening our valued partnerships with funders and donors. The Development Office will be supporting the significant fundraising initiatives leading up to the centenary celebrations in 2018, acknowledging the establishment of the university in 1918,” Ms Bruns said.​

Krige said that he is "excited to work with the new Rector and the Development Office to ensure continued excellence at the University in the future".​

• Photographer: Stefan Els
  

​A group of postgraduate students and researchers from the Faculties of Science and Engineering are on their way to Europe for two months as part of an international exchange scheme.

Prof. Ben Herbst, head of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at SU, says during the visit they will meet with their counterparts to work on a project called QOSTREAM. Funded by the European Union, it involves researchers from eight universities in Europe, the USA, the UK, Brazil and Japan.

The aim of the project is to combine expertise from different fields to solve problems associated with high quality multimedia streaming applications across next-generation wireless networks. The project was initiated by Prof. Dibravko Culibrk and Prof. Vladimir Crnojevic from the Faculty of Technical Science at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia.

The group from Stellenbosch University will bring their expertise in machine learning, computer vision and signal processing to the table. The students will be accompanied by Prof. Herbst and Dr Riaan Wolhuter, senior researcher in the signal processing and machine learning research group​ in the Faculty of Engineering.  

"We are providing the more theoretical foundation on which many of these new technologies are based," Prof. Herbst explains.

In other words, your average handheld mobile device requires some cool algorithms to decode the information it receives via wireless networks. By exploring different approaches and techniques to optimise this process, the researchers hope to maximise the quality of images and videos received via mobile devices.

"We are nowhere near the type of technologies showed in popular television series like CSI. They are typically given a blurry photograph and then asked to extract additional, not visible, information from it. With some knowledge about the degradation, one could extract some information from the photograph. But what is shown in CSI cannot be done in reality, not now, not ever. 

"Reality is much more complicated. We are currently playing around with novel approaches such as layered media coding, deep learning and neural networks," he explains.

"Applied mathematicians like working with problems for which there are no answers yet," he adds.

The postgraduate students are all working on different aspects of this problem. They are Andrea Fourie and Marco Grond (applied mathematics), Jacques Marais (MIH Media Lab), S.P. le Roux, M.N. Struwig, W. Pretorius and J.P. Meijers (signal processing and machine learning research group).

Other SU researchers involved with the project are Prof. Johan du Preez, Dr Pieter Holtzhausen and Mr Willem Smit.

The theft of bicycles is a big problem on the Stellenbosch campus.

Follow these tips to NOT become a victim:

• Lock your bicycle with a u-lock. Fasten it to both the bicycle frame and a bicycle stand.
• Don't use a thin chain or cable locks. These locks are broken by thieves without any difficulty.  
• The use of a combination lock is also not advised.
• REGISTER your bicycle for FREE at Campus Security. If your stolen bicycle is recovered, Campus Security can identify the owner immediately.
• Make use of the bicycle sheds on campus.
• Those who want make use of the sheds must register and activate their bicycle and student card at Campus Security to obtain entry.  
• Rather lock your bicycle inside the shed than outside to the framework of the shed.
• Keep a record of the bicycle's serial number, model, colour and any outstanding characteristics. Write it down and/or take a photograph.
• Label your bicycle with your name and information. Be creative.

Report any suspicious people, with a good description, to Campus Security immediately. 

Memorise the emergency numbers of Campus Security, 021 808-2333 (Stellenbosch) and 021 938-9507 (Tygerberg). Or send a whatsapp message  082 808 2333.

Their work made an impression on her when she was but a teenager at school because it was innovative and smashed through divides.

Prof Louise Viljoen, head of the Department of Afrikaans and Netherlands at Stellenbosch University is clearly excited as she talks about the works of poets Antjie Krog and Breyten Breytenbach.

Her book on Breytenbach, Die mond vol vuur: Beskouings oor die werk van Breyten Breytenbach was published recently by African SUN MeDIA (ASM). She makes an in-depth study about Breytenbach's poetry and prose oeuvre. She also looks at Breytenbach in Africa, father figures in his early poetry, first names he uses in his poetry, his prison poetry and other Afrikaans poets who enter into conversation with his poetry and with him as public figure.

"However, I left his work as a fine artist for the art critics," Viljoen says with a smile as we sit in her garden in Stellenbosch. .   

Her book about Krog: Ons ongehoorde soort: Beskouings oor die werk van Antjie Krog (2009) was also published by ASM.

In the foreword of Mond vol vuur Viljoen writes: "Die belangrikheid van Breyten Breytenbach in die literêre, kulturele en politieke landskap van Suid-Afrika kan moeilik oorskat word.  As skrywer het hy ʼn monumentale oeuvre opgebou wat bestaan uit digbundels, kortverhaalbundels, romans, prosatekste, outobiografiese tekste, reisboeke, teaterstukke, essaybundels en skrywershandleidings." Translated: "The importance Breyten Breytenbach in the literary, cultural and political landscape of South Africa cannot be overestimated. As writer he built up a monumental oeuvre consisting of collections of poetry and short stories, novels, other prose texts, autobiographical texts, travel books, dramas, essay collections and writing guides."

As high school learner she first came into contact with Breytenbach's work through the poetry collection Die ysterkoei moet sweet. This piqued her interest in the works of the group of Afrikaans authors knows as die Sestigers.  Her first "meeting" with Krog was in the 1970s when she read Krog's poetry. At university Krog's poetry collection Januarie-suite strengthened her interest.

"Both Breytenbach and Krog drew me in because their work was 'strange' and different. I was also attracted by the passion, intensity and dedication with which they approached poetry. The melodious and lyrical quality of Breyten's work enchants even before you start deciphering the meaning of the words."

At Stellenbosch University's Woordfees earlier this year, the academic Francis Galloway spoke to Viljoen about Mond vol vuur. In 1990 Galloway also wrote an important work about Breytenbach – Breyten Breytenbach as openbare figuur.  According to Viljoen no research project will be complete without also consulting this important work.

"Krog and Breytenbach offer so much material for research and there are many MA- and doctoral theses out there. It is always a pleasure to work with writers who work in so many genres."

The conversation focuses on the different names Breyten uses for himself: Jan Afrika, B.B Lasarus (BB is a play with the first letters of his name and surname and is used for the poetry he wrote while he was incarcerated), Bangai Bird, Don Espejuelo (Mr Mirror) and Panus (a combination of penis and anus). He also uses Kamiljoen (a play on chameleon).

"These are his many alter-egos and fragments of personalities he assumes," explains Viljoen. "It reflects the fact that he is not just one concept but that there are many facets to this self. He is an Afrikaans writer who interacts with the rest of South Africa, the African continent and the rest of the world."

In a recent interview with Willem de Vries of Die Burger, Viljoen said: "Breytenbach's work is not only a barometer of his own life, but also of what is happening in his motherland, Africa and the world. Because of his nomadic movement through the world and his many journeys, he is able to comment on a number of issues."

She adds: "While Breyten is no stranger to the rest of the world, he is also connected to Afrikaans on a primordial level. This one sees in the richness of the way he uses the language – including swear words and archaic language. He always identifies with anti-hegemous groups. He does not easily choose the side of those in power.  As young man in exile, he idealised the African continent. But as he got older, Africa becomes a more complicated concept. I believe he still identifies strongly with the continent and its history, but he does not hesitate to speak out strongly about that what he perceives to be wrong. His criticism stems from a place of deep identification and intimate knowledge of Africa."

As academic, reviewer and member of a number of literary awards panels, Viljoen is closely connected to Afrikaans and the written word. It is therefore interesting to learn that many years ago she had to choose in pursuing a career in either mathematics or literature (she achieved all her academic qualifications at Stellenbosch University).

"Literature won, and I have never been sorry about my choice," she says. "It is a field that can keep me busy for a few lifetimes especially now that the boundaries between literature and other disciplines are becoming more vague. Exciting things are happening across language and cultural divides."  

She also embraces technological advances regarding books.

"I am extremely fond of paper books, but I will not say no to an electronic book. It is wonderful to be able to read about a specific book somewhere on the internet in the middle of the night and have it downloaded on an e-book reader within seconds." 

South Africa's most famous botanical garden – Kirstenbosch – is like a time bomb waiting to explode.

At a Science Café on fire and fynbos held in Stellenbosch this week, Prof Brian van Wilgen said that fynbos in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens have not experienced a fire since the 1960s.

"The vegetation has been growing for nearly sixty years now. There is also more forest around the gardens than in the 1960s. When it lights up, it is going to be very difficult to control," he warned.

Prof van Wilgen, an applied ecologist from the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (C•I•B) at Stellenbosch University (SU), says nearly 40 years of data shows that fires in fynbos recur on average every 12 years.

"You need three things to be in place for a wildfire," he explained, "fuel, a dry and hot climate and a source of ignition. In the Cape we have all three."

That is why, over millions of years, plants like fynbos have adapted to survive fires to such an extent that they now need fires to propagate and survive. In other words, if we did not have fire, we would not have had fynbos.

With reference to the recent wildfires on the Cape Peninsula, he said the same area burned about 15 years ago. And in ten to 12 years' time, it will burn again when there is sufficient fuel, meaning regrowth of vegetation, a dry summer and a random source of ignition.

In the meantime, Kirstenbosch needs to grapple with the question of public opinion when it comes to burning the gardens in order to rejuvenate the fynbos.

Science Café Stellenbosch is an initiative of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University to engage the public in conversations about science and topical issues in the news. For more information, contact sciencecafe@sun.ac.za

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

​

Research on grain cultivation at Stellenbosch University will in future be made much simpler, thanks to the donation of a new South African designed Equalizer minimum till plot planter. The donation was made to the Department of Agronomy by the Theebo Tech company in Cape Town.

The Department of Agronomy is involved in research on a variety of cereal crops cultivated in the Western Cape winter rainfall areas, including wheat, oats, lupine, barley and canola. Grain is sowed on a number of farms in the region for research purposes. With the Department's outdated equipment most soil had to be tilled up to three times before this could be done.

The value of the new equipment is about R150 000.  Similar equipment imported from abroad would have cost about R1.5 million.

With the Equalizer single minimum tilling implement a farmer only has to till his fields once per season. With this method, the soil is prepared and sowing takes place at the same time. The Equalizer planter can thoroughly cultivate any soil type and through various types of crop residue, to ensure a uniform emergence of seed.

According to Gideon Schreuder, managing director of Theebo Tech, the donation is part of an initiative to invest in the industry within which the company operates, and also to contribute to a creditworthy research institute such as SU.

SU is also his alma mater, as he obtained his degree in mechanical engineering here in 1996.

Schreuder hopes the equipment will make a contribution to highlighting best practice in grain cultivation, through agronomic research. He would like to achieve clarity on whether a tine or a disc planter is most advantageous in Western Cape conditions, among other issues.

The handover function coincided with the first winter rain in the Western Cape. At this event Prof Danie Brink, acting dean of the Faculty of AgriScience at SU, praised private sector partners like Theebo Tech for their support of research and development endeavours, and in the process also promote food security.

According to Prof Nick Kotzé, chairperson of the Department of Agronomy, the challenge is to remain at the forefront of research on industry-specific aspects, and to supply the agricultural community with answers for their specific problems, based on scientific trials. "The Equalizer minimum till plot planter will enable researchers of the department to do timeous planting trials and research a wide range of crops, while also intensively studying cultivation practices," he said.

He described Schreuder to the students present as an inspiration and an example of a real entrepreneur. Although Theebo Tech was only launched in 2000, it has been the market leader in the sales of similar air pressure planters in the Western Cape since 2006, and already has 110 employees. It also supplies wide frame precision planters for the planting of various crops in South Africa's summer rainfall areas, in other countries in Africa and in Australia.

His enterprise was launched after he achieved success with a grain sieve which he initially designed for use on the Schreuder family farm outside Hopefield. The Equalizer minimum till planters followed in 2000. They were based on existing principles but adapted to the robust local conditions, such as the rocky soil of the Western Cape.

​A bursary fund for descendants of people who were forcibly removed from Die Vlakte, an area close to the town centre of Stellenbosch, in the 1960s, was established this week.

Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, announced the bursary at his inauguration last week (29 April 2015) while the University's management met this week to determine the initial criteria.

"The bursary is in direct response to students calling for the creation of such a bursary. It also serves as a further sign of redress the University committed itself to at the turn of the century," Prof De Villiers said. "Last year, Stellenbosch University paid out R588 million in bursaries and loans to the 37% of our students in need of financial assistance. Of this amount, 55% went to black, coloured and Indian students based on merit and financial need."

Among others, academic faculties at the University, already earmarked nearly R350 000 for the bursary.

Criteria for the bursary fund are currently being finalised, but bursaries will be made available to undergraduate students for the normal duration of a degree programme up to the maximum of four years. Applicants who are no longer living in the Stellenbosch area but who can give proof of their parents or grandparents being affected by the evictions, will also be considered. Community leaders will also be requested to form part of the panel that will consider applications.

The bursary creates, apart from the existing recruitment bursaries available to coloured, black and Indian students, new opportunities to local residents to further their studies at the University.

• The public can also contribute to the bursary. Liaise with Lorenza George at tel 021 808 3090 or via e-mail at lcg29@sun.ac.za for more information.

MORE INFORMATION ON DIE VLAKTE, THE UNIVERSITY'S MEMORY ROOM AND THE OLD LÜCKHOFF SCHOOL

Die Vlakte was declared a white group area on 25 September 1964 in terms of the Group Areas Act of 1950. Besides the 3 700 coloured residents, six schools, four churches, a mosque, a cinema and 10 business enterprises were affected by the forced removals that followed. As an institution, the University did not protest against the evictions at the time and in general the university authorities went along with the government policy.

For decades, the removals from the Die Vlakte, and the Battle of Andringa Street (info below) were not part of the official history of Stellenbosch and were only placed on record with the publication of In ons Bloed (2006) and Nog altyd hier gewees: Die storie van ʼn Stellenbosse gemeenskap (2007) – publications on the history of the area and supported by the University.

In 2013, the University opened a Memory Room in the Wilcocks Building as a gesture of reconciliation between Stellenbosch University and the town's coloured community (video here and article). The Room is a permanent contemporary exhibition space depicting the suppressed history of people of Die Vlakte – as the area in the Stellenbosch town centre demarcated by Muller Street, Ryneveld Street, Banghoek Road, Smuts Street, Merriman Avenue and Bird Street was known in the 20th century – and the Battle of Andringa Street.

The brainchild of the late Prof Russel Botman, the then Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, the Memory Room originated from the apology (available here) in 2012 offered by student leaders in Dagbreek men's residence for the role they played in the Battle of Andringa Street (when white students attacked Coloured residents of the adjacent Vlakte and damaged their residences in 1940) and the subsequent meeting between students and former residents of Andringa Street at Botman's house. "It's a place where we can reflect on the past, and hopefully learn to reconcile with one another. Reconciliation is born of memory and cannot happen if there is denial and amnesia," Prof Botman said at the time of the opening.

Forced removals from Die Vlakte under the Group Areas Act also resulted in the Lückhoff School in Banghoek Road being given to the University. The Lückhoff School has since been rededicated to the local community (in 2007) and houses various community organisations in addition to the University's Community Interaction division.  In 2008 and 2009 a permanent photo exhibition was installed in the building to give recognition to old boys and girls of the school who had become prominent role players in South African society.

 Photo: Later Prof Russel Botman, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, with Mr John Abels and Mrs Sybil Kannemeyer, residents of Idas Valley, at the opening of the Memory Room in 2013. Photographer: Anton Jordaan.

​​Tonderai Clive Mandizvidza won a slogan competition held among postgraduate students of the Department of Agronomy, as part of an effort to promote the field of study.

His winning entry was a quote from the Canadian agribusiness expert and author Brenda Schoepp: "My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher, but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer."

Mandizvidza is studying towards his MSc in agronomy. He is doing research on ways to ensure that better quality lettuce heads are grown in greenhouses.

His winning slogan has been printed along with other entrees on a series of banners that can be seen around the Department. These will also be used to marked agronomy as a study option at talks and career expos.

His prize was awarded to him by Prof Leopoldt van Huyssteen, chief operating officer of Stellenbosch University, and former dean of the Faculty of AgriSciences. Mandizvidza received a voucher from a wellknown family restaurant.

A bursary fund for descendants of people who were forcibly removed from Die Vlakte, an area close to the town centre of Stellenbosch, in the 1960s, was established this week.

Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, announced the bursary at his inauguration last week (29 April 2015) while the University's management met this week to determine the initial criteria.

"The bursary is in direct response to students calling for the creation of such a bursary. It also serves as a further sign of redress the University committed itself to at the turn of the century," Prof De Villiers said. "Last year, Stellenbosch University paid out R588 million in bursaries and loans to the 37% of our students in need of financial assistance. Of this amount, 55% went to black, coloured and Indian students based on merit and financial need."

Among others, academic faculties at the University, already earmarked nearly R350 000 for the bursary.

Criteria for the bursary fund are currently being finalised, but bursaries will be made available to undergraduate students for the normal duration of a degree programme up to the maximum of four years. Applicants who are no longer living in the Stellenbosch area but who can give proof of their parents or grandparents being affected by the evictions, will also be considered. Community leaders will also be requested to form part of the panel that will consider applications.

The bursary creates, apart from the existing recruitment bursaries available to coloured, black and Indian students, new opportunities to local residents to further their studies at the University.

• The public can also contribute to the bursary. Liaise with Lorenza George at tel 021 808 3090 or via e-mail at lcg29@sun.ac.za for more information.

MORE INFORMATION ON DIE VLAKTE, THE UNIVERSITY'S MEMORY ROOM AND THE OLD LÜCKHOFF SCHOOL

Die Vlakte was declared a white group area on 25 September 1964 in terms of the Group Areas Act of 1950. Besides the 3 700 coloured residents, six schools, four churches, a mosque, a cinema and 10 business enterprises were affected by the forced removals that followed. As an institution, the University did not protest against the evictions at the time and in general the university authorities went along with the government policy.

For decades, the removals from the Die Vlakte, and the Battle of Andringa Street (info below) were not part of the official history of Stellenbosch and were only placed on record with the publication of In ons Bloed (2006) and Nog altyd hier gewees: Die storie van ʼn Stellenbosse gemeenskap (2007) – publications on the history of the area and supported by the University.

In 2013, the University opened a Memory Room in the Wilcocks Building as a gesture of reconciliation between Stellenbosch University and the town's coloured community (video here and article). The Room is a permanent contemporary exhibition space depicting the suppressed history of people of Die Vlakte – as the area in the Stellenbosch town centre demarcated by Muller Street, Ryneveld Street, Banghoek Road, Smuts Street, Merriman Avenue and Bird Street was known in the 20th century – and the Battle of Andringa Street.

The brainchild of the late Prof Russel Botman, the then Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, the Memory Room originated from the apology (available here) in 2012 offered by student leaders in Dagbreek men's residence for the role they played in the Battle of Andringa Street (when white students attacked Coloured residents of the adjacent Vlakte and damaged their residences in 1940) and the subsequent meeting between students and former residents of Andringa Street at Botman's house. "It's a place where we can reflect on the past, and hopefully learn to reconcile with one another. Reconciliation is born of memory and cannot happen if there is denial and amnesia," Prof Botman said at the time of the opening.

Forced removals from Die Vlakte under the Group Areas Act also resulted in the Lückhoff School in Banghoek Road being given to the University. The Lückhoff School has since been rededicated to the local community (in 2007) and houses various community organisations in addition to the University's Community Interaction division.  In 2008 and 2009 a permanent photo exhibition was installed in the building to give recognition to old boys and girls of the school who had become prominent role players in South African society.

Photo: Later Prof Russel Botman, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, with Mr John Abels and Mrs Sybil Kannemeyer, residents of Idas Valley, at the opening of the Memory Room in 2013. Photographer: Anton Jordaan.

The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences has lost one of its most loyal and devoted colleagues with the untimely passing of Mrs Hazel Moses (57) on Sunday morning, 3 May 2015.

Hazel, who joined the faculty in 1989, worked as Principal Assistant in the Dean’s Office. She was a stalwart – versatile, friendly, composed, and always ready to help.

The five Rector’s Awards she received for outstanding service and general achievements bear testimony to her commitment. She also completed the Professional Learnership programme of Stellenbosch University (PLUS). This programme offers staff members the opportunity to attend national certificate courses and obtain formal learnership qualifications.

“Hazel was a dear colleague who worked at the Faculty for more than 25 years, and even longer at the University. We will miss her dearly,” Prof Stan du Plessis, Dean of the Faculty, said.

“Our thoughts are with her family, friends and colleagues in whose lives she was a sparkling presence, wife, mother, grandmother and friend.”

She is survived by her husband, Godfrey, her mother, two children and three grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 on Saturday, 9 May 2015 at Trinity Methodist Church in Bloekom Avenue, Idas Valley

Photo: Last year Hazel received her long service award (25 years) from Prof Leopoldt van Huyssteen, chief operating officer of Stellenbosch University. Her husband, Godfrey Moses, also attended the award function.

​A bursary fund for descendants of people who were forcibly removed from Die Vlakte, an area close to the town centre of Stellenbosch, in the 1960s, was established this week.

Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, announced the bursary at his inauguration last week (29 April 2015) while the University's management met this week to determine the initial criteria.

"The bursary is in direct response to students calling for the creation of such a bursary. It also serves as a further sign of redress the University committed itself to at the turn of the century," Prof De Villiers said. "Last year, Stellenbosch University paid out R588 million in bursaries and loans to the 37% of our students in need of financial assistance. Of this amount, 55% went to black, coloured and Indian students based on merit and financial need."

Among others, academic faculties at the University, already earmarked nearly R350 000 for the bursary.

Criteria for the bursary fund are currently being finalised, but bursaries will be made available to undergraduate students for the normal duration of a degree programme up to the maximum of four years. Applicants who are no longer living in the Stellenbosch area but who can give proof of their parents or grandparents being affected by the evictions, will also be considered. Community leaders will also be requested to form part of the panel that will consider applications.

The bursary creates, apart from the existing recruitment bursaries available to coloured, black and Indian students, new opportunities to local residents to further their studies at the University.

• The public can also contribute to the bursary. Liaise with Lorenza George at tel 021 808 3090 or via e-mail at lcg29@sun.ac.za for more information.

MORE INFORMATION ON DIE VLAKTE, THE UNIVERSITY'S MEMORY ROOM AND THE OLD LÜCKHOFF SCHOOL

Die Vlakte was declared a white group area on 25 September 1964 in terms of the Group Areas Act of 1950. Besides the 3 700 coloured residents, six schools, four churches, a mosque, a cinema and 10 business enterprises were affected by the forced removals that followed. As an institution, the University did not protest against the evictions at the time and in general the university authorities went along with the government policy.

For decades, the removals from the Die Vlakte, and the Battle of Andringa Street (info below) were not part of the official history of Stellenbosch and were only placed on record with the publication of In ons Bloed (2006) and Nog altyd hier gewees: Die storie van ʼn Stellenbosse gemeenskap (2007) – publications on the history of the area and supported by the University.

In 2013, the University opened a Memory Room in the Wilcocks Building as a gesture of reconciliation between Stellenbosch University and the town's coloured community (video here and article). The Room is a permanent contemporary exhibition space depicting the suppressed history of people of Die Vlakte – as the area in the Stellenbosch town centre demarcated by Muller Street, Ryneveld Street, Banghoek Road, Smuts Street, Merriman Avenue and Bird Street was known in the 20th century – and the Battle of Andringa Street.

The brainchild of the late Prof Russel Botman, the then Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, the Memory Room originated from the apology (available here) in 2012 offered by student leaders in Dagbreek men's residence for the role they played in the Battle of Andringa Street (when white students attacked Coloured residents of the adjacent Vlakte and damaged their residences in 1940) and the subsequent meeting between students and former residents of Andringa Street at Botman's house. "It's a place where we can reflect on the past, and hopefully learn to reconcile with one another. Reconciliation is born of memory and cannot happen if there is denial and amnesia," Prof Botman said at the time of the opening.

Forced removals from Die Vlakte under the Group Areas Act also resulted in the Lückhoff School in Banghoek Road being given to the University. The Lückhoff School has since been rededicated to the local community (in 2007) and houses various community organisations in addition to the University's Community Interaction division.  In 2008 and 2009 a permanent photo exhibition was installed in the building to give recognition to old boys and girls of the school who had become prominent role players in South African society.

 Photo: Later Prof Russel Botman, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, with Mr John Abels and Mrs Sybil Kannemeyer, residents of Idas Valley, at the opening of the Memory Room in 2013. Photographer: Anton Jordaan.

The Military Academy has turned 65 on Wednesday 1 April 2015.  The unit celebrated this joyous occasion with a sports day and a braai on 31 March. 

The Military Academy came into being on 1 April 1950 under the auspices of the University of Pretoria, as a branch of the SA Military College at Voortrekkerhoogte.  The Military Academy was established with the aim of elevating the training of permanent force cadets to the level of a baccalaureate, to provide the Defence Force with a competent, highly professional corps of officers.

In order to establish the Academy as a separate institution, and facilitating the participation of naval students, it was decided in 1953 that the Military Academy would be moved to Saldanha.  Here it was to resort under the trusteeship of Stellenbosch University.  The first group of students began attending classes at Stellenbosch at the beginning of 1955.

In December 1957, the headquarters of the Military Academy moved to Saldanha.  An important milestone was reached in January 1961 when the Academy became a faculty in its own right - the Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University.

In celebration of the 65^th birthday, the unit members gathered at the sports fields of SAS SALDANHA, since the Military Academy sports grounds are undergoing renovations.  After a great warming up session, and with great enthusiasm, staff and students divided into teams to participate in potted sports.  This provided for lots of fun and laughter.

After the completion of the sports, the Commandant of the Military Academy, Brigadier General Lawrence Mbatha, addressed the members and cut the birthday cake.  Members then proceeded with a unit braai and the day was well spent socializing with each other out of the offices.

Photos:  Warrant Officer Class 1 Melanie Smit

Photos

1.The 65^th Birthday cake

2. Brig Gen Lawrence Mbatha cutting the birthday cake

3. Members participating in the ski-race

​When Maties and Ikeys run out on the field tomorrow (Saturday 9 May) for the annual Intervarsity clash, it will be the 103rd time.

Full translation to follow.

Alhoewel die Ikeys daardie eerste kragmeting 9-0 gewen het, is dit die Maties wat die wedstryd tradisioneel oorheers. Die maroentrui het 67 oorwinnings agter die blad met die Ikeys wat 19 maal die wedstryd kon wen. Die twee spanne kon 16 maal nie geskei word nie, met die laaste gelykopuitslag in 2009 op Nuweland.

Daar was oor die jare 'n paar puik vertonings deur albei spanne.  In 1989 behaal die Maties hul grootste punteverskil toe hulle 54-9 gewen het. Losskokal Riaan Gous het 'n drie gedruk, tesame met 5 doelskoppe en 4 strafskoppe, wat hom 26 punte besorg het. Die vleuels Ros Kerkhoff (2) en Kobus van der Merwe het albei gaan druk met agsteman Ben Liebenberg, flanke Johan Burger en skrumskakel Fanie du Toit (2) wat ook gaan druk het.

Toekomstige Springbokke Breyton Paulse, Louis Koen, Bob Skinstad en Cobus Visagie speel almal in 1996 vir die Maties toe hulle van 14-13 halftyd gegaan het om uiteindelik 56-13 te wen. Paulse speel op daardie dag buitesenter en druk een van die Maties se sewe drieë, tesame met hakker en kaptein Johan Van Wyk (2) en vleuel Wayne Munn (4). Louis Koen het 4 strafskoppe, 2 doelskoppe en 'n skepskop op die dag oorgeklits.

In 2004 wen die Ikeys vir eerste keer in dekades op die heiligdom van die Danie Cravenstadion en dit was danksy 'n puik vertoning deur agsteman en kaptein Dave Ricketts en die toekomstige Blitsbok Mpho Mbiyozo. Die oorwinning van 26-20 was nog soeter vir die Ikeys aangesien hulle vroeër die seisoen teen die Victoriane vasgeval het.

Die puntemasjien Demetri Catrakilis skop in 2011 op Stellenbosch die Ikeys tot in die rekordboeke toe hy sewe strafskoppe oorklits tesame met 'n doelskop om 24 punte by te dra aan die Ikeys se wentelling. Die Maties was met rustyd 19-9 voor maar dansky Catrakilis en 'n drie deur die plaasvervanger agterspeler Therlow Pietersen het die Ikeys 28-19 gewen. Dit het beteken dat die Ikeys  'n seldsame dubbele oorwinning behaal het aangesien hulle vroeër ook teen die Maties gewen het in Kaapstad.

In 2012 verhang die Maties die bordjies in Kaapstad deur van 13-0 terug te baklei. Danksy drië deur die vleuel Danie Roux, heelagter André Smith (2), slot Reniel Hugo en senter Morgan Newman wen die Maties 36-21. Losskakel Gary van Aswegen het drie doelskoppe en 'n strafkskop bygedra.

2013 wen die Ikeys 23-14 in Kaapstad en verlede jaar wen die Maties 'n naelbytstryd 19-18. Met afskop wat vervroeg is na 15:00 beloof die jaar se kragmeting om kliphard te wees en moet beslis nie gemis word nie.

Bepalings vir Saterdag 9 Mei:

FNB UCT vs FNB Maties - 15:00 - UCT A

UCT 2 vs Steinhoff Cravens - 13:45 - UCT B

UCT 3 vs Steinhoff Junior Cravens - 14:30 - UCT A

UCT o/20A vs Steinhoff Junior Maties - 13:45 - UCT A

Vind program by www.facebook.com/SUMatiesSport ​

​Important changes are being implemented in the nursing profession that aim to equip nurses with the competencies and support they need to fulfil their role as the foundation of the country's health care system.

"Nurses fulfil an essential role. They are the first point of contact, and in many rural areas they are the only point of contact for patients," said Prof Anita van der Merwe, head of the Division of Nursing at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, ahead of International Nurses Day celebrated on May 12. This year's theme is: "Nurses: A force for change – cost effective and care effective".

According to the World Health Organisation, nurses bring people-centred care closer to communities where it is needed most, thereby helping improve health outcomes and the overall cost effectiveness of services.

"The escalating cost of health care globally requires that measures be taken to contain costs to levels that countries and governments can afford and sustain," the International Council of Nurses (ICN) said in a statement.

An effective and popular measure of cost saving in health care is task shifting. Through this measure, tasks and responsibilities that traditionally would have been performed by for example doctors, such as the prescribing of medicines, are being shifted to nurses, especially in the primary care context.

"Nurses have been able to prescribe ART [antiretroviral treatment] for some time and currently there are processes underway to extend it to other medicines in a well-regulated fashion," said Van der Merwe.

But she warns that task shifting has to be carefully planned and managed in order to prevent the overburdening of nurses, particularly in South Africa, which is plagued by health care staff shortages.

"A shortage of resources, in particular human resources, means that in addition to there not being enough health care staff, there is also a shortage of administrative staff. This means that tasks like supply and patient services management are also left to nurses, putting a further burden on nursing staff, limiting time and lessening energy for nurses to provide quality care.

"Burnout among nurses and midwifes is of great concern," Van der Merwe explained. "Having too much to do causes stress and depression. They become despondent and stop caring about their work and develop an attitude of 'I'll just do the minimum of what I have to do' – and this in turn impacts on patient care."

This touches on the second goal of the Nurses Day theme, namely "Being care effective", which relates to the extent to which health problems are solved. The basis for effective nursing is the competence and education of nurses – an area that is currently undergoing transformation.

The South African Nursing Council and higher education institutions are redesigning the curricula of nursing programmes to be in line with the national higher education framework. In future nurses will obtain a Bachelor's degree in general nursing and midwifery. Specialisation in areas such as psychiatry, critical care, or primary health care, will be obtained through additional postgraduate studies. The current dispensation of a fourfold basic nursing programme is being phased out.

In coming years, nurses will also have to meet continuous professional development (CPD) requirements in order to practice – as doctors have to do at the moment.