Abafundi Baseukzn Bathole Ukufunda Enyuvesi Yasemichigan
,Abafundi ababili baseSikoleni seziFundokuhlelwa Komumo Wezakhiwo Nentuthuko, uNksz Amanda Mthembu no Mnz Simon Halvey, sebebuyile ohambeni olube yinyanga yonke lapho bebeyoqeqeshwa ngezindlela zokucwaninga emkhakheni we-survey.
Izimali zalolu hambo zitholakale ngemizamo kaSolwazi Dori Posel, ongusihlalo weSARChi ohlangothini lweZokuthuthukiswa Kwezomnotho.
uMthembu ofundela iziqu zeMasters kwiPopulation Studies, uthe lolu hambo lube yimvulamehlo. ‘Angikaze ngifunde izinto eziningi ngalendlela ngesikhathi esifishane kangaka, ngithole nokuhlangana nababhali bezincwadi engizifundile.’
Umfundi owenza ofundela iziqu zeMasters kweZezifundo Zobuningi babantu uHalvey uyavuma, uthi ubukhulu benyuvesi nezinsizakusebenza zakhona zisezingeni eliphezulu kakhulu. ‘Izinga lokufundisa liyamangaza. Izifundo bezijulile futhi sifunde lukhulu.’
Bekuyibo kuphela abafundi kulezi zifundo kanti abanye abafundi bekungabantu abasebenzayo abavela emazweni ahlukene.
Bathi abakufundile kuzobasiza kakhulu ocwaningweni lwabo nasemisebenzini yangomuso.
Abafundi babonge kakhulu kuPosel ngokubahlelela izimali zohambo njengosihlalo weSARChI ohlangothini lweEconomic Development.’ Siswele amazwi okubonga ngoba lokhu kuyithuba eliyimvela kancane empilweni.’
Bobabili bebethathekile izinsizakusebenza ezahlukene zeNyuvesi, uHalvey ubethathwe kakhulu yinkundla yomdlalo weFootball okungenye yezinkulukazi eMelika, kanti uMthembu uchazwe wukuthi umtapo wolwazi wakhona uvulwa amahora angama24 ngoba kuphephile futhi kunetekisi lamahhala ongaligibela uma usugoduka uma sekuhlwe kakhulu.
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author : .author email : .Decade of Dedicated Service Celebrated
UKZN’s Committees section pictured with the newly appointed Registrar, Mr Convy Baloyi (front row, 3rd from right).The Registrar’s Office at UKZN celebrated 10 years of providing essential services to the merged University by its Committee Services officers.
The Committee Services section provides essential services to the University, particularly to the Executive, Council, Senate and Convocation.
‘As a result, each and every one of our Committee Officers, who are in the employ of the University is extremely important,’ said Registrar, Mr Convy Baloyi. ‘There are currently five dynamic Committee Officers under the Registrar.’
The five are Mr Roshin Maharaj, Mr Krishna Ramparthab, Ms Ponitha Pillay, Ms Petro Butler and Ms Jenny Brady. ‘They are ably led by Mr Njabulo Zuma in the Governance and Administration Directorate, and headed by Ms Julia Mabuya. This team receives administrative support from secretary Ms Nisha Sookraj. Additionally, we have Ms Beverley Coetzee and Ms Priscilla Ramchander taking care of the agendas for the Executive and other essential forums,’ said Baloyi.
‘Mabuya and the Committee Officers are professional and patient. They listen, analyze and distil key strategic aspects from complex discussions in meetings and thereafter create relevant minutes for the University.
‘Today we have accurate records in our archives because of former and current Committee Officers. They are a living memory of the University. They archive very important information in their caring hearts, exercise the highest degree of confidentiality and always serve the University with distinction,’ said Baloyi.
‘I urge chairpersons of all committees to appreciate these colleagues of mine by conveying a word of thanks to each one of them after the approval of minutes. It is important for them to receive your feedback. They are mostly quiet but busy with their minds and fingers when meetings are in session. Never take them for granted. They are too special and important to be neglected. Their wellbeing and high performance are my projects.
‘As we celebrate 10 years of transformation and research excellence, the outstanding work of Committee Officers in the past 10 years is evident, I say to all the Committee Officers: happy 10 years of keeping accurate records for UKZN. I am proud of you. You are irrevocably part of the Registrar’s A-Team.’
- NdabaOnline
author : .author email : .Food Security Course at UKZN
Delegates at the Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis short course held on the Pietermaritzburg campus.UKZN’s Extended Learning Division and the African Centre for Food Security (ACFS) recently presented an intensive two-week course on the Pietermaritzburg campus titled: Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis.
Recognising the challenges being faced regarding food security in Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) identified UKZN’s ACFS as a Centre of Excellence in Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis making it the ideal ground on which to tackle matters related to food security.
Covering a vast range of areas, the overall objective of Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis was primarily based on providing necessary skills to practitioners who carry out vulnerability assessment activities and also on building much needed analytical capacity.
The course was facilitated by researchers and academics in the University’s School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences including: Dr Joyce Chitja, Professor Ayalneh Bogale, Dr Maxwell Mudhara, Dr Unathi Kolanisi, Mr Denver Naidoo, Dr Alfred Odindo, Dr Mark Dent, Dr Rose Mujila-Mboya, and Professor Michael Chimonyo.
The course was attended by practitioners of food security in the various SADC countries. Those present were from varying backgrounds in food security; such as agricultural economics, crop science, dietetics as well as social sciences.
Consisting of four modules, the course focused on equipping attendants with the skills to:
* understand the complexities of food security, vulnerability and its indicators in the context of SADC countries;
* use food security and vulnerability analysis as a means to promote continuous monitoring rather than the once-off assessments triggered by emergency response;
* understand the assessment of crop and animal production, storage and access to food security and vulnerability.
A highlight of the course was a presentation given by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, UKZN alumnus and founder of the Gift of the Givers Foundation: the largest nongovernmental disaster relief organisation of African origin. Sooliman spoke candidly on a number of issues related to food security, disaster relief and the work his organisation is currently involved in.
In the spirit of the ACFS’s mission to contribute towards eradicating food deprivation and promoting sustainable livelihoods among the people and nations of sub-Saharan Africa, Sooliman spoke on the politics related to food security and encouraged ‘Africans to respond to Africa’ in effort to make the world aware that Africans are dedicated to the cause of their own people.
The Gift of the Givers Foundation has also worked extensively throughout the African continent on alternative skills development in communities as well as food security concerns such as the provision of farmer’s packs in Malawi.
Chitja thanked Sooliman for his talk and overall contributions to food security and relief in Africa, noting that it was always immensely thought-provoking and engaging listening to his perspectives on relevant issues.
‘I am proud to be associated with the University, as my wife, my children and I have all been educationally involved with UKZN at some stage. Please continue the good work and strive to leave an extended mark on those you assist,’ said Sooliman.
- Barrington Marais
author : .author email : .American Jazz Students and Academics Connect with UKZN
Saxophonist-educator Plunky Branch (right) rehearses with students of UKZN and Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States.When United States academic Mr Antonio Garcia saw the words “University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)” on the list of sister schools to his own Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), his heartbeat quickened.
The potential for collaboration with the UKZN jazz programme founded by Darius Brubeck and which had been a trailblazer in breaking colour barriers in South Africa in the 1980s, was too good an opportunity to resist.
And it all came together recently when Professor Neil Gonsalves, a pianist and Director of UKZN’s Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, took six music students to Richmond. The students were Linda Sikhakhane (tenor saxophone); Sakhile Simane (trumpet); Sebastian Goldswain (guitar); Lungelo Ngcobo (piano) Ildo Nandja (bass) and Sphelelo Mazibuko (drums).
Week-long exchanges followed along with four commissioned works - two from Durban and two from Richmond, several new arrangements, rehearsals shared over the Internet and collaborations with South African music legend Madala Kunene and Richmond-based saxophonist-educator Plunky Branch.
Other activities included concert performances, sessions with guest clinicians, visits to jazz advocates in Washington and trips to the KwaMuhle Museum in Durban and to Richmond’s Black History museum and the American Civil War Center.
Garcia and Gonsalves had made the study of racism and segregation in the history of these two cities an integral part of the experience for students and faculty alike. ‘Music comes from people, and people come from a culture and a history,’ said Garcia. ‘Richmond is the former Confederate capital and “The Durban System” had been the basis for what later became the policy of apartheid throughout South Africa. But out of oppression on both continents came music that spoke for freedom. This teaches the next generation of jazz musicians that you don’t find your musical voice merely to express Gm7-C7; you seek it to express what you feel.’
Gonsalves said South African jazz had its own swagger, rooted in the many kinds of urban music which were part and parcel of a migrant culture. ‘Through the gift of this educational exchange, we can proudly say that local South African music forms and styles such as mbaqanga, maskanda and marabi have taken their place alongside the blues, standard tunes and bebop as platforms for musical dialogue between our respective ensembles.
‘This dialogue is rooted at least partially in our common Southern heritage of migration from serfdom to global citizenry and we acknowledge the effectiveness of this jazz bridge that we’ve built towards developing greater understanding.’
The participating students resonated with the same feeling. ‘Reading and playing music weren’t the only purpose of the exchange,’ said Sikhakhane. ‘There was a lot of spiritualism through sound and cultural experience. All the influences of our forefathers came to action. And the best part was sharing all our understandings through jazz music of this calibre.’
Plans are afoot to continue the partnership of these two jazz programmes. ‘As marvellous as the musical output has been,’ enthused Garcia, ‘it still cannot compare to the knowledge we have all learned and especially the friendships we have all made.’
http://music.ukzn.ac.za/MusicStaff/academic-staff.aspx
http://music.ukzn.ac.za/Academic-Programmes/Jazz-Studies.aspx
http://ndabaonline.ukzn.ac.za/UkzndabaStory/NdabaOnline-Vol1-Issue12/Leap%20Of%20Faith%20CD%20Launched/
- Melissa Mungroo, Neil Gonsalves and Antonio Garcia
author : .author email : .Four Aspiring Engineers Win Bursaries
Project Manager at Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Mr Rory McBride (third left) with bursary winners (from left) Mr Trishen Naidoo, Mr David Glover, Mr Brightboy Dlamini, and Mr Nkanyiso Makhaula, and Transnet Chief Engineer, Mr Sabelo Mzimela.Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), the world’s leading manufacturer of port handling equipment which supplied seven ship-to-shore cranes worth R700 Million to the Durban port at the beginning of this year, has awarded bursaries to four UKZN Mechanical Engineering students.
The bursaries were awarded against a background of South Africa’s economic growth prospects being hampered by an alarming shortage of engineers and a question mark hanging over the country’s ability to deliver the 43 key infrastructure projects valued at over R3.2 trillion expected to be underway by 2020.
The four students are Mr David Glover, Mr Brightboy Dlamini, Mr Nkanyiso Makula and Mr Trishen Naidoo. The bursaries cover registration and exam fees for the third and fourth years of study, accommodation, travel and meals, and books and stationery.
The bursary programme stems from the initial contract to supply cranes to Durban. In order to cement an ongoing relationship with Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), ZPMC embraced TPT’s Competitive Supplier Development Programme (CSDP) which is geared towards nurturing future South African engineers via the bursary programme.
According to the 2012 Infrastructure Sector Research Survey conducted by executive search firm Landelahni Business Leaders Amrop SA, 74 percent of local companies struggle to fill engineering positions. Of 511 564 enrolments in engineering disciplines from 1998 to 2010, only 70 475 graduated. And of the 183 529 enrolled in university engineering disciplines, only 29 280 graduated.
Mr Rory McBride, Project Manager at ZPMC, said the shortage of engineering graduates was a concern to both South African industry and international suppliers like ZPMC. ‘The development of South Africa and its infrastructure is of critical importance to ZPMC. We are passionate about this market and understand the importance of the heavy-duty industry, especially when to comes to port handling applications.’
The seven tandem-lift ship-to-shore (STS) cranes that began the relationship between ZPMC and TPT are the largest in Africa and have boosted productivity and efficiency at South Africa’s busiest container port. The tandem lift technology with its unique capability of handling two 12m containers or four 6m containers within a hoisting capability of 80 tons enables the port to handle new generation vessels with 24 containers stowed on deck. The cranes move 33 containers per hour, a major improvement on the 18 moved by their predecessors.
ZPMC currently services 80 percent of the world market for large-size port container cranes, large-scale container machinery, bulk cargo handling machines, offshore heavy-duty products, heavy-duty steel structures, energy-conservative environmentally friendly equipment and related accessories. A crane is manufactured every day at the ZPMC Island in Shanghai.
As part of their bursaries, each of the students will also enjoy a field trip to the ZPMC Island. ‘This will be a great opportunity for these students to enhance their understanding of heavy-industry,’ said McBride.
The bursary also includes the possibility of an internship at either the ZPMC South African office, or a local company contracted to ZPMC.
Glover said: ‘The opportunity granted to me by this bursary is one that I cherish and I eagerly await the day that I am able to see the ZPMC Island.’
Dlamini, a top student whose disadvantaged background threatened to disrupt his studies, has committed himself to finishing his degree in record time. ‘The ZPMC bursary gives me hope and motivation. It shows me that dreams can come true. I will grab this opportunity with both hands and do everything I can to impress the people who believed in me. I see myself as a successful engineer because of ZPMC.’
Naidoo says that the ZPMC bursary will allow him to concentrate on his studies without worrying about how to pay his fees. ‘My parents work extremely hard and make many sacrifices to ensure that I can realise my dream of becoming an engineer. This bursary means that my hard work is paying off and motivates me to set and reach higher goals. It inspires me to go the extra mile.’
Makhaula, who has refused to allow his disadvantaged background in a single parent family stand in his way, said: ‘I am passionate about mechanical engineering. I was fortunate to do subjects at school that paved the way for me to become an engineer. Maintaining my academic performance at all times and having the interest and desire to meet and learn from other people are what gives me inspiration.’
- Kyro Ward
author : .author email : .USA Academic Back at UKZN
Professor Christine Varga.American academic Professor Christine Varga has rejoined UKZN after completing her Masters Degree in Nursing at the Xavier University in Ohio in the United States.
Born in Cincinnati, Varga first came to South Africa in 1991 as a Masters’ student in Bio Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. Her masters’ project explored maternal-child health practices among Zulu women in Ubombo, northern KwaZulu-Natal.
She returned to South Africa in 1993 as a Fulbright and National Science Foundation scholar to pursue fieldwork towards her PhD. She received her Doctorate in Anthropology (biomedical emphasis) in 1998 from the University of Pennsylvania and received an Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship to work with well-known demographer Mr Jack Caldwell at the National Center for Epidemiology and Public Health at the Australian National University.
While writing up her PhD and lecturing Anthropology at the former University of Natal, Varga became interested in HIV/AIDS-related issues in South Africa. This began a 10-year career working on sexual and reproductive health and HIV-related social science research, programme evaluation, and policy matters. During that time, her work focused on various populations including adolescents and young adults, blood donors, men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers, pregnant women and infants. Varga’s research on social and community dynamics influencing vertical HIV infection risk, helped to shape existing national-level policy and legislation in South Africa on mother-to-child HIV transmission.
In 2005, Varga founded her own non-profit research organisation, Nozizwe Consulting. Nozizwe focused primarily on programme monitoring and evaluation, formative and evaluative research linked to public health interventions, and training on social science research methods and programme evaluation. Nozizwe Consulting also received three years of PEPFAR funding to undertake research on infant HIV testing.
In 2008 Varga made the decision to move from research and policy to clinical medicine/health care, and this led to her pursing a Masters’ degree in Nursing at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her degree and nursing licence in 2012 and worked as a medical surgical cardiac telemetry nurse until she returned to South Africa last year to take up the post of associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences at UKZN.
She says it has been a big change coming back to South Africa after being away for an extended period. ‘I think a lot has changed since I have been away. The country has changed so has UKZN.’ Recalling her last contact with the University as a Lecturer in Anthropology (1995-1998), she noted: ‘Most of the change is good, although with transition comes challenges.’
Varga, who began her duties at UKZN in August, says she has since overcome many challenges associated with settling into the Institution. ‘Things have taken shape and I have a wonderful line manager who can see my potential and how it can be harnessed,’ she added.
Asked about her plans for her Department, she excitedly said: ‘My big plan is to get students involved in our newly revamped Postgraduate Cohort Supervision Seminar Series in the School of Health Sciences.’
Varga has taken on the co-ordinating roll for the seminars in 2014 and encourages postgraduate students at both Masters and PhD level to attend. The aim of her current teaching is focused within the online Master of Health Sciences programme.
- Nombuso Dlamini
author : .author email : .UKZN Academic Launches Book
Dr Elias Cebekhulu.A book which examines the country’s political and socio-economic landscape was launched recently at the Howard College Theatre.
Written by Dr Elias Cebekhulu of the School of Social Sciences, the work is titled: Umhlaba Uyahlaba! The World is Thorny! Socio-economic injustices of the Post-Apartheid South Africa.
Cebekhulu said the idea for the book arose from the fact that many South Africans still lived in abject poverty. ‘The reality is that there are so many aspects of the socio-economic life of South Africans that portray the society as still grappling with factors that impoverished the general population during the apartheid era.’
He said the book aimed to enhance the knowledge of the reader in respect of new and classical thinkers in the fields of sociology, economics, African studies and public and social policy.
‘I have laid everything bare by not covering up some of the challenges faced by the country’s political leadership. The economic status of the average South African is still the same, 19 years after democracy. The book also focuses strongly on the issue of political parties and their leadership styles.’
Cebekhulu said the book was written in a style that made it a combination of personal, mostly eclectic ideas, shaped by his personal life experiences, but enhanced and substantiated with solid, well diversified and wide-ranging empirical research data.
‘Because of its detailed exposition of many aspects of our social reality, it can be used at many levels of studies. Those who look at government’s socio-economic policies with a critical eye will find reading this book very intellectually stimulating.
Cebekhulu, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences (Industrial Organisation and Labour Studies), holds a PhD degree in Social Policy and has published more than 25 peer-reviewed articles in SAPSE-accredited journals.
http://sss.ukzn.ac.za/staff-profile/iols/elias-cebekhulu.aspx
- Melissa Mungroo
author : .author email : .The UKZN Griot. of Hazard and Safety
.Keyan G Tomaselli*
A law derived by one of my students who started his degree studies at the age of 36, after working as an electrician on the mines, goes something like this: “The likelihood of a disaster occurring increases in proportion to the educational level of management.” In other words, disaster is likely to strike when the professionally certificated and managers refuse to listen to the workers on safety issues.
The Tongaat mall labourers knew this. They knew that building codes were being violated. They anticipated disaster. The disaster happened. The contractor had taken short cuts and removed scaffolding before the concrete had set. The city council had tried to stop the illegal building. It lacked the necessary teeth. Labourers’ lives were at stake and some paid the price. The owners who did not seek building permission are “sorry” for the death and injuries caused. They assured the council that the contractor had guaranteed safety. And, as the press soon revealed, the mall developer had his fingers in many municipal and other tills.
This story that broke in late November last year goes to the heart of how people make sense. When the good sense of workers when it comes to safety issues is ignored – as has always been the norm in South Africa –the price can be high. This is the case in the minibus taxi and trucking industries where some owners force their drivers to endanger millions every day to save costs and time. Just look at the stats for Field’s Hill.
The mall collapse reminded me of Shepperson Law. Arnold Shepperson had warned mine management for many months in the early 1980s that a switching gear on a mine shaft was faulty, that when it failed that people would get killed. He was ignored, belittled and told to mind his own business; he was not a qualified engineer, and didn’t even have a diploma. Eventually, the inevitable happened and eight miners were killed. That the union lost the court case – despite his testimony - further eroded Shepperson’s confidence in the value of education, this time in relation to the judiciary. So Shepperson decided to enter the belly of the beast – the educational institution – to find out what ails it.
Arnold registered for electrical engineering. His worst fears were realised. The curriculum, he said, was idealised, and in his view did not address the kinds of daily problems that workers face both above and underground. So he shifted to English and Philosophy. Perhaps via these disciplines he might be able to make sense of how certified professionals make sense, and of why they can’t see the wood for the trees. But sometimes they can: the engineers’ warning to NASA management of a seal flaw went unheeded and in 1986 the Challenger shuttle was launched against their advice - only to explode 73 second later, killing all astronauts on board.
In Philosophy Shepperson bumped up against logical positivism. In English he learned about how literature shaped the Anglo-Saxon world view of culture, problem solving and how the world is interpreted. Neither explained his lived experiences on the mines. So, he ended up doing cultural studies in his search for a theory to explain the ideas of hazard and safety and how to develop strategies to deal with these. He soon realised that the central mechanism is that of ‘power’. In the case of the mall it was the power of the owners and the contractor to ignore the law, to pull on political networks, and to dismiss hazard (‘we know best, because we have decision-making power, the expertise and the educational certificates to prove it; we know better than the council’s building inspectors, and in any case neither they nor legal injunctions can stop us’).
In the case of the mine incident, Shepperson, who was already reading Immanuel Kant’s Philosophy of Reason at the coalface, was ignored because his reading habits identified him as “learned”, and because he did not have any electrical engineering certificates. All he had was on-site experience, clearly muddled by reading also Heidegger and Wittgenstein. Like with the mall labourers, the (ill-educated) but certified supervisors and managers dismissed him as a crank. In both cases people died and were injured. In these circumstances, knowledge is not power. It is a burden because the workers know that the managers are putting their lives in danger. It is a double bind because the workers need their jobs.
Shepperson’s academic motivation until his premature death was the study of the semiotics of hazard. He raised funds from the Safety In Mining Research Council (SIMRAC) to pursue his PhD. He delved into historical discussions of culture, literature and applied semiotics (the study of meaning-making) to make sense of how the mining industry and the legal system made sense of hazard. How does culture and ideology blind one to the real material world where concrete slabs collapse, lifts crash, runaway trucks cause massacres and space shuttles explode? Why is what is so blindly obvious to uneducated and uncertified victims of hazard so opaque to better educated supervisors, managers and owners? The workers in these instances were not blinded by power, ideology and output imperatives but by the culture of fear – fear for their safety and fear for their jobs, and fear for loss of self-esteem. The owners who are responsible for crashes on Field’s Hill and mining and construction disasters fear little, as they have expensive lawyers who will protect them. In the political realm they have tame doctors in tow who will diagnose them as terminal and let them out of jail, when they will resume their former golfing ways.
I sometimes feel the same away about the academy and its neoliberal instrumentalism, managerialism and commodification. Those at the material class-face (we no longer use chalk) know what’s coming. And it ain’t pretty, no matter our educational qualifications. Anyone for golf? The range is adjacent to the Old Mutual Sports Hall.
Keyan G Tomaselli is still employed at UKZN. This column is dedicated to the memory of Arnold Shepperson as was a special issue of Critical Arts (2008) on the topic of philosophy, logic and mining safety.
- The views expressed in this column are the author’s own.
author : .author email : .High Profile for UKZN Academics at Law Teachers Conference
Front from left: Ms Willene Holness, Ms Devina Perumal and Ms Franaaz Khan and (back) Ms Rani Pillay and Ms Melanie Murcott of the University of Pretoria.Academics from the School of Law were among top legal research experts who attended the 2014 Society of Law Teachers of Southern Africa (SLTSA) Conference hosted by the University of Witwatersrand. This Conference is held every 18 months and is attended by legal academics from all universities in Southern Africa.
The Conference gives South African legal education specialists access to presentations by both emerging and established law academics and also provides an opportunity to exchange ideas and research findings on all aspects of the law. UKZN was again well represented at the Conference.
A paper by colleague Ms Willene Holness titled: “Unfit mothers: the Need for Law reform to Address the Removal of Children from Parents with Intellectual Disabilities in SA” won the First Presenters’ Prize awarded annually to a law teacher presenting at the Conference for the first time. The competition in 2014 was exceptionally strong and the School is particularly proud of her achievement.
Advocate Devina Perumal delivered a presentation titled: “Keeping Women in their Place: The Legal Non-Recognition of Hindu Religious Marriages and the Promise of Gender Equality in South African Law”. The paper was based on a literature review of the phenomenon of child removal from parents with intellectual disabilities following allegations of neglect. After hearing her presentation, the editors of one of the most prestigious legal journals in the country awarded her the opportunity to publish her paper in their forthcoming edition.
Environmental Law specialist, Professor Michael Kidd’s paper was titled: “Authorisations in Environmental Law and Transformation”, while Ms Rani Pillay delivered a presentation on “The Right of Donor-Conceived Children to Information Concerning the Nature of their Conception”.
Law Lecturer Ms Franaaz Khan presented a paper titled: “The Constitutional Court ruling in the case of Head of Department, Department of Education, Free State Province v Welkom High School; Head of Department, Department of Education, Free State Province v Harmony High School 2013 BCLR 989 (CC)”. The paper dealt with the Constitutional Court decision in July 2013 of Welkom and Harmony high schools in the Free State. Khan said attending the Conference had been an informative and enlightening experience.
‘I discussed and analysed the case and the court’s decision to remove the two pregnant learners from these respective schools. The Conference was a success and I learnt a lot from the other research that was presented.’
UKZN’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies Chairperson Professor David McQuoid-Mason and Mr Eben van der Merwe presented a paper on: “The Four Year/ Five Year LLB Debate, Entry to the Legal Profession and Community Service”. Their paper addressed the dilemma currently under discussion in the profession.
- Thandiwe Jumo
author : .author email : .Senior Maths Lecturer Presented with a Distinguished Teachers’ Award
Professor Simon Mukwembi.Professor Simon Mukwembi, a recently promoted Associate Professor in Mathematics, has won a Distinguished Teachers' Award (DTA), presented every year to only four academics at UKZN to acknowledge and reward excellence in teaching.
The award, to be presented during Graduation ceremonies in April, recognises innovative teachers of a high calibre.
‘I am delighted,’ said Mukwembi, ‘it is a huge honour to be recognised in this way. It’s personally very satisfying to know people value my contribution to the University and to society.’
He was particularly pleased with the award as it formed part of a long journey of consolidating, refining and perfecting his teaching techniques.
Mukwembi has more than 14 years of teaching experience in mathematics, during which time he has been a teaching assistant, tutor, demonstrator, Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at various universities, including the University of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Open University, and Masvingo State University. He has been at UKZN since 2006.
‘Although many view Mathematics as a necessary evil, I see it as an interesting field in its own right. I have always wanted to solve problems and I know that the application of mathematics allows us to look at solving-real world problems facing our society by looking at them from a number of angles.’
Asked his development into an accomplished teacher, Mukwembi described teaching as a never-ending journey. ‘I still think that there is room for improvement in my teaching as we live in a dynamic society where the ability of our students varies from one year to the next, necessitating constant changes in delivery techniques.
‘I am humbled and still in shock to hear that I have been pronounced “a great teacher”. I owe this award to my colleagues and to my students.’
Mukwembi says he relies heavily on feedback to gauge results of his work. ‘Feedback comes in different forms; from student evaluation and observation to interacting with students directly. Feedback also comes from colleagues or parents. I believe feedback exposes areas which require remedy and improvement, for both the pupil and the teacher. In my journey, feedback has been the main informant of my teaching. I find optimal solutions to problems are obtained by first identifying their cause; I always want to understand causes of problems in my delivery of lectures.’
Mukwembi has published several research articles in his field of study and holds an Y1 NRF rating. He is also Managing Editor of a leading international, Department of Education-accredited journal, Utilitas Mathematica.
- Christine Cuénod
author : .author email : .New Academic Leader in Discipline of Occupational Therapy
Academic Leader in the Discipline of Occupational Therapy, Professor Kitty Uys.Professor Kitty Uys has joined UKZN’s School of Health Sciences as Academic Leader in the Discipline of Occupational Therapy.
Uys has been in the profession for over 20 years gaining extensive experience in different aspects and approaches to disabilities.
She spent 12 years as a Lecturer at the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pretoria before moving to the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC).
Initially, Kitty was working mainly in a multi-professional model with young children with disabilities but realised that the gaps in the model did not contribute to sustainable intervention for families in South Africa and changed to trans-disciplinary postgraduate training at the CAAC.
‘Families are pivotal in sustainable intervention and in a country where the top-down medical approach is still prevalent. Empowerment of families to participate equally in the healthcare process became one of my research areas.
‘I have decided to come back to my roots as an OT and plough back some experiences, knowledge and skills,’ said Uys.
‘I love the staff, they are dynamic, diligent and very passionate about their work.’
The bubbly Professor plans to develop her discipline’s post graduate programme, assist the staff in completing their PhDs, and to produce the best OTs who can deal effectively with rehabilitation issues, within the South African context.
‘I want to make sure we are training the best OTs for the African continent. I would like to mobilise the Department into Africa to assist OT training centres in Africa,’ added Uys, who replaces the former Academic Leader Robin Joubert who has retired.
Nombuso Dlamini
author : .author email : .British Sikh Sub-Culture Explored in Book Co-Authored by UKZN Academic
.A relationship based on an interest in consumer research has resulted in two academics co-operating to publish a book titled: Computer Culture and the Evolution of Sikh Courtship Rituals.
The two academics are UKZN Information Technology and Governance academic, Dr Pepukayi Chitakunye and University of Bedfordshire’s Marketing Lecturer, Dr Amandeep Takhar.
The book, published in December, explores British Sikh sub-culture and how online dating and matrimonial websites have encouraged the evolution of marital rituals within a Western context.
Takhar and Chitakunye say that the book is a must read book for PhD candidates, especially those who would like to familiarise themselves with using multiple methods, and handling multiple data sets.
‘We pride ourselves on our extensive and in-depth research skills and experience from both the academic and commercial sector. We are of the view that some of our methodological experiences, discussed in this book, are ideal for both masters and PhD students in terms of learning about methodology but also how to put together a great thesis,’ said Chitakunye.
Over the years, the pair have collaborated on numerous research programmes especially those that aim to enhance the understanding of how sub-cultures and communities behave within specific environments. Their research highlights the value of co-publishing as evidenced by their publications in academic journals of very high standing in their disciplines - an achievement Takhar says has inspired them to focus on publishing books which attract readers across different countries.
‘It is this strength that is embedded in the practice of co-publishing, where we cross-pollinate ideas, that has inspired us to write this book. In this way, we find it easier to bounce interesting ideas off one another. In essence this book was a great learning curve for both of us,’ she said.
The pair is currently working on an edited book on female entrepreneurship within emerging economies such as South Africa and another book focusing on children’s consumption practices is in its final stages.
For more information on the work visit: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Culture-Evolution-Courtship-Rituals/dp/3639701410
- Thandiwe Jumo
author : .author email : .Life Sciences Researcher Receives Thuthuka Grant
Dr Shakira Shaik.Dr Shakira Shaik of the Propagation for Food (PFF) Research Group in the School of Life Sciences has been awarded a prestigious Thuthuka Grant (post PhD-track) from the National Research Foundation’s (NRF) Research Infrastructure Support Programmes (RISP).
The Thuthuka programme was initiated in 2001 as part of the NRF’s human capital development strategy in order to improve the research capacities of designated researchers with a view to ultimately redressing historical imbalances.
Shaik described the award as a ‘great way to start the New Year’.
Her research is based on the concept of dietary diversification - the consumption of nutrient-specific foods - to address some of the challenges faced in South Africa where an inadequate diet is a major contributing factor of vitamin A, iron and calcium deficiency, especially in children and pregnant women.
With the support of the grant, Shaik’s work will focus on screening germinated seedlings of leafy vegetables for the selection of genotypes with superior micronutrient-producing ability. African leafy vegetables are herbaceous plants with edible foliage which are richer sources of micronutrients, compared to exotic or commercially grown vegetables.
Following clonal propagation of the nutritionally superior genotypes, high-yielding clones will be distributed to communities - identified in the eThekwini Municipality’s Establishment of Homestead Food Security Gardens Programme - for cultivation and consumption.
‘Despite the potential role of leafy vegetables in health improvement, food security, poverty alleviation, rural development and income generation, little interest has been afforded to their production and utilisation. The grant opens up the opportunity for much-needed research in this area.’
Shaik obtained her PhD in 2011 and was subsequently placed in the top 15 percent of academic achievers at UKZN, winning lifetime membership to the Golden Key International Honour Society and promotion to lecturer in the School of Life Sciences.
Commenting on Shaik’s success, one of her mentors and academic leader, Professor Paula Watt, said: ‘It’s been remarkable to watch her progress. She started out as a tutor and, through the support of UKZN, received her PhD and went on to become a Lecturer, all the while raising a family.’
Shaik has published several well-cited journal articles and is actively involved as a reviewer for international scientific journals. She attributes her success to several people: her family, who have never wavered in their support; her doctoral supervisors Dr Nisha Singh and Professor Ashley Nicholas; and her academic mentor, Professor Watt.
- Christine Cuénod
author : .author email : .Plans To Extend Research Partnership on Biodiversity and Climate Change
UKZN and eThekwini Municipality staff at work at the New Germany Nature Reserve.Plans are in hand to extend the KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld Research Programme – a venture in which UKZN has partnered with the eThekwini Municipality.
The Programme, a research partnership between UKZN’s School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences (SAEES), the School of Life Sciences (SLS) and the eThekwini Municipality's Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department (EPCPD), is currently nearing the end of its initial three-year phase. Discussions are taking place around continuing the current research for a further three-year period
The partnership, initiated by Professor Rob Slotow (UKZN) and Dr Debra Roberts (EPCPD), is currently managed by Professor Mathieu Rouget’s Land Use Planning and Management Research Chair and Dr Sean O’Donoghue of the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department.
Ms Jessica Cockburn, a research Fellow in land use planning at SAEES who provides support for the co-ordination of the programme and assists with research activities, says the programme has covered a lot of ground since the eThekwini Municipality first approached the University in 2010 to request collaboration on developing the specialised biodiversity and climate change skills required by the EPCPD. The motivation behind this was the need to address the skills shortage being encountered in the market place while simultaneously undertaking research related to the key questions being addressed by the Department in its biodiversity and climate change adaptation work.
‘This collaborative research partnership currently involves an endangered ecosystem within the eThekwini municipal area, the KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld grassland. The research activities focus on biodiversity and climate change adaptation through local land use planning and management in an effort to lessen the impacts of climate change and urbanisation on the area’s ecosystems and its endemic biodiversity.
‘The research therefore has real-world application and relevance in answering some of the questions raised by the municipality about managing its environmental projects,’ said Cockburn.
The programme currently comprises about 30 people from UKZN and the municipality, including research staff, municipality staff and students completing honours and masters degrees in various disciplines across SAEES and SLS, from Botany, to Ecology to Geography to Agricultural Economics and more.
Through the programme, eThekwini municipality has supported research through funding for bursaries and research expenses, student supervision and research guidance.
The programme participants have been able to learn more about working on a collaborative project across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, thereby improving their networking connections for their future careers and their experience in their field. Additionally, the programme has given the students the satisfaction of contributing to the solution of everyday problems by conducting much needed research.
The programme has begun to generate research outputs, however some of the key advantages resulting from the initiative so far have been the relationships that have been built and the mutual understanding of institutional cultures developed through this collaboration.
Cockburn says the programme hopes to continue the current research for another three years. ‘In the second phase, there will be a continued focus on capacity-building, along with refining the research focus to more directly address municipal questions; more actively providing space for the co-generation of knowledge with municipal staff, and deepening the original research focal area.’
She believes there is certainly scope for more collaborations like this, both in terms of support from even more disciplines and similar agreements with other municipalities and decision-makers.
‘Focused partnerships like this are innovative and they bridge the gap between scientists and policy-makers, making research relevant to environmental and social realities and acknowledging the role of practitioners as co-generators of knowledge.
‘The partnership would like to expand the scope of the research by bringing in researchers from the social sciences to address the challenge of environmental governance and land use decision-making, increase understanding of community reliance on natural resources and ecosystem services support the development of green economy initiatives,’ said Cockburn.
This kind of partnership highlights the positive work that the eThekwini Municipality is undertaking by committing resources to biodiversity, planning and combatting environmental change, as well as capacity building to increase knowledge in these areas. It also emphasises the importance of the University’s role in contributing significantly to the advancement of biodiversity, climate and social governance.
- Christine Cuénod
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