Alumni Relations Office agile in an ‘online world

Author: Xolani Mathibela

The year 2020 brought with it many changes, some difficult and some easy, some pleasant and some bitter. Universities across the globe were forced to close down and run their programmes online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The University of Pretoria (UP) was the first university in Africa to launch their alumni events on LinkedIn Live. LeadUP Online Alumni Events are a series of virtual, topical debates and masterclasses initiated by the Alumni Relations Office.

On 27 May UP hosted its first live event on the UP LinkedIn page under the theme Career Chats for Young Alumni: Setting up your LinkedIn Profile. It was spearheaded by LinkedIn’s representative Stewart Samkange.

According to Samantha Castle, Senior Manager of Alumni Relations at UP, the COVID-19 pandemic made her department find more creative ways to connect with alumni. “We had to ask ourselves ‘what could we offer our alumni that they could find meaningful and of value; how could we support them during these challenging times?’. We also had to ask them for their support for the University without making taxing demands. As a result, we swiftly implemented the LeadUP Alumni series.

“We touched base with our international alumni through the LeadUP global chat. We connected with alumni from China, London and New York to talk about their experiences dealing with the pandemic in their respective countries. Another important series was the LeadUP: In Conversation with the VC chat, where Vice-Chancellor Professor Tawana Kupe was joined by illustrious alumni to talk about issues of interest. One interesting chat was about UP producing two sitting Justice Ministers, one in South Africa and one in Namibia. They discussed justice and law issues and the talk was facilitated by Prof Kupe.”

These online virtual chats enabled the Alumni Relations Office to showcase the University’s excellence and increase alumni engagement. The events were also broadcast on Facebook and YouTube. “We chose to host our main events on LinkedIn since it is a professional platform. Most professionals prefer LinkedIn and this is why the chats were a great success. This online platform helped us to reach more than 10 000 views with just one event, versus a physical event where a venue can only accommodate, for example, 500 people,” said Samantha.

“We also made an appeal to our alumni to volunteer their professional services. This was done in partnership with the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. They developed a national support system for small businesses and a number of alumni signed up to assist with their varied skills, from accounting to counselling. We have seen an increase in collaborations with internal departments in terms of hosting different webinars.”

The lessons learned from these events as well as the pandemic is that you can identify gaps by asking the right questions, and it is possible to maintain and achieve goals set out at the beginning of the year by using different tactics and platforms.

TuksSport High School is an independent co-ed school, catering for learner athletes from Grade 8 to 12 and offering a unique opportunity to live out their passion for sport in a distinctive sporting milieu created by the High-Performance Centre (hpc) and the University of Pretoria. This is a specialized school that allows leading and potential highperformance learner-athletes to train and travel internationally while being part of the school year in, year out.

The University of Pretoria (UP), in partnership with the University of Leeds and the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), has been awarded a grant of £2 million (R43 million) to set up a Food Systems Research Network (FSNet-Africa).

The project is funded under a partnership between the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Global Challenges Research Fund. This follows a competitive research proposal bid under the ARUA-UKRI Research Excellence Programme.

Professor Andrew Thompson, UKRI’s International Champion, said: “To sustainably address global challenges, we need a genuinely global response, and that means forging stronger partnerships that are fair, equitable and fully reciprocal between researchers in the northern and southern hemispheres. This exciting research programme with ARUA is supporting research that transcends national boundaries and will produce different ways of thinking about challenges and different solutions to tackling them.”

Professor Frans Swanepoel, UP’s Director of Strategic International Partnerships and also the Principal Investigator of this initiative, said overcoming Africa’s development challenges cannot be separated from the need to transform the continent’s food systems. “One in four people in sub-Saharan Africa face food insecurity, and Africa will need to produce 80% more food by 2050. The challenge is not only to ensure that adequate food is accessible, but to provide safe and nutritious food to combat malnutrition as African countries are confronted by the triple burden of malnutrition overnutrition, undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies.” He explained that undernourishment remains high, with 220 million Africans suffering from chronic hunger, while 58 million children under five are considered stunted.

In this context, the FSNet-Africa project aims to utilise systems-based research methodologies to develop a new understanding of the African food system. This research will enhance understanding of the components of the food system, the interactions between these components, and ultimately the leverage points for food systems transformation. The focus countries are Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. “A cohort of early career researchers, who will work with mentors in the UK and Africa in a two-year structured fellowship, will codesign research that yields climate-smart, nutrition-sensitive, poverty-reducing solutions. This will be done through engaging with policymakers, private-sector role players and grassroots-level organisations in the focus countries,” explained Prof Swanepoel. Climate-smart solutions are needed to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes, while simultaneously adapting and building resilience to climate change and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible.

FSNet-Africa extends collaborative UKRI-funded projects led by the University of Leeds with AFRICAP examining food system resilience in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, and the SWIFT project examining weather forecasting and communications across Kenya and Ghana. Dr Claire Quinn, the FSNet-Africa lead investigator in Leeds, highlights that “the concerted and coordinated actions of the food industry (agriculture, production and processing, retail, food service sector and waste disposal) and consumers are all crucial to promote sustainable consumption and production which focuses on reducing all forms of food losses throughout the entire supply chain.”

Transforming food systems also helps achieve gender equality. Women comprise a large proportion of the agricultural labour force: about 80% of food eaten in Africa passes through the hands of women. “Yet their contribution to food security is not fully realised, and the ways they benefit from food systems activities remain unequal and underresearched,” said Dr Melody Mentz-Coetzee, a senior FSNet-Africa researcher at UP.

The early career research fellowships will run over a two-year period and will focus on three components: science, mentorship, and leadership development. This will ensure that these fellows have the skills they need to achieve the project objectives, and to establish themselves as future research leaders. FSNet-Africa aims to help these fellows build lasting research networks and develop their skills to design and implement gender-sensitive research with non-academic stakeholders.

Professor Frans Swanepoel, UP’s Director of Strategic International Partnerships and the Principal Investigator of the Food Systems Research Network (FSNet-Africa)

How big is the problem of food insecurity? 1 in 4 25% of people in sub-Saharan Africa face food insecurity

80% Amount of extra food Africa needs to produce by 2050 220 m Number of Africans suffering from chronic hunger

58 m Number of children under five whose growth is stunted because of undernutrition

Dr Tshilidzi Madzivhandila, FANRPAN CEO and Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator for FSNet-Africa, emphasised that meaningful engagement of all state and non-state food system stakeholders across the continent will make agriculture and food production in Africa more productive, sustainable and resilient to climate change. Dr Madzivhandila further explained that “FSNet-Africa consortium partners will leverage their national and regional networks to engage a wide range of stakeholders to co-design and conduct research as well as translate evidence into implementable interventions in support of UN Sustainable Development Goals targets for Africa.”

FSNet-Africa is an opportunity to establish long-term collaborations between the three lead partners that function beyond the grant period. The aim is to realise new opportunities for research, training and policy advocacy collaborations.

UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tawana Kupe congratulated the UP team on the grant award. “Food insecurity is a major obstacle to development and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The transformation of Africa’s food systems plays a critical role in not only realising the SDGs of achieving food security and alleviating malnutrition, but also contributing to public health and providing opportunities to eliminate poverty.” Emphasising the need for multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, he said collaborations such as these will help solve some of “Africa’s complex, complicated and intersectional challenges”.

Author: Mmane Boikanyo

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many without a source of income. This has had devastating effects on household food security, which prompted the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Community Oriented Primary Care Research Unit (COPC), to start an initiative to raise funds, source nutritional food sustainably, and educate informal settlement residents on supporting their families through gardening.

COPC, in collaboration with various partners including many UP departments, launched the Imvelo Urban Food Systems at Living Word Pretoria East Congregation.

Imvelo Urban Farms aims to serve as safe havens and a source of food security for vulnerable communities. The lifestyle these farms support is inclusive, provides training, promotes holistic living, and empowers people while creating a sustainable food production and retail model that can be replicated all over South Africa. The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has developed a farming plan to be implemented for food production for revenue, and training on how residents can grow their own food.

The incubator project taking place at Cemetery View informal settlement in Woodland is based at Living Word Church where the food system has been implemented on the church grounds next to the village. SA Cares will sponsor a borehole and will implement a programme called Power of the Father, as well as a clustercare worker programme to develop and support the residents of Cemetery View. We are now empowered through education to create a better life for ourselves, and we have also received resources to create our gardens.

Litsoanelo Lephaso, a resident of Cemetery View

Each household at Cemetery View received a home garden starter kit which contained a net pot, compost, fertiliser with seedlings and seeds. Residents from the community also received training on how to plant and take care of their crops.

“The Imvelo Urban Food System at Cemetery View is an exciting interdisciplinary initiative which aims to bring academic, business and community stakeholders together. COVID-19 has taught us that we have to rethink how we organise core functions for health and living. Health, nutrition and education should devolve to community level,” said Dr Ellenore Meyer, Primary Research Investigator and Project Lead, COPC Research Unit.

“The involvement of ARUA Centre of Excellence will help alleviate food insecurity by assisting in the implementation of urban agriculture towards a sustainable food system. The community will be trained on the benefits of consuming a diverse diet and encouraged to participate in establishing community and home food gardens,” said Professor Hettie Schönfeldt, Co-Director at ARUA Centre of Excellence and Co-Research Investigator.

In collaboration with LIFT, a community development non-profit organisation, the Department of Family Medicine opened a clinic four years ago on the Moreleta Church grounds for residents of both Cemetery View and Woodlane Village. Now, a training centre and kitchen will be built on the grounds. These will be linked to the agricultural developments to ensure the food system addresses the last two components of UP’s triad focus on health, supporting education and nutrition in informal settlements.

Left: UP, with various partners, has created a groundbreaking initiative, born out of the food crisis brought on by COVID-19. The interdisciplinary initiative’s Imvelo Urban Food System’s incubator project at Cemetery View educates and encourages residents of informal settlements to grow their own food.

This diverse faculty is renowned for its expertise in forestry and agriculture, food systems, biotechnology as well as life sciences and mathematical and statistical sciences. Our international rankings underline this – among others, the Faculty ranks 51-100 in Agriculture and Forestry on the QS World University Rankings by Subject and is number one in mathematics and computer science in South Africa according to the Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University. Our broad range of disciplines allow us to tackle interdisciplinary societal problems by fi nding cures for poverty-related and infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria.

By Alet C Erasmus

Remote working or “e-working” is not a novel phenomenon. The idea of working away from the office has become the norm for those who can optimise the latest technology to work while traveling, and/or to conduct their business on clients’ premises rather than to be tied to their office desks. Remote working encompasses the trend “to work here, there, or anywhere” – an idea that originated in the 1980s in the US to deal with employees’ frustrations in managing the traffic congestion en route to work. Companies soon realised that remote working could save them considerable amounts on rentals and maintenance of expensive office space.

The idea that more people could work remotely, at least for certain periods, was steadily ignited by cultural changes. Over time, employees increasingly demanded some flexibility in terms of formal office hours for the sake of a better work-life balance. Inevitably, major advances in digital technology largely supported the idea that business need not be conducted during formal office hours from a particular office. However, the swift, rather radical shift of entire companies and institutions to adopt remote working for all operational levels during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, probably caught everybody off-guard!

Positive implications Many lessons were learned concerning remote working in 2020. On the positive side, employees pulled their weight, even devoting extra hours and more effort, producing tangible evidence of increased productivity. The fact that employees could retain their positions during very trying times certainly contributed to lower stress levels as we all witnessed the demise of many companies, and people losing their jobs.

Remote working made it easier for parents to accommodate the needs of family members when schools and tertiary institutions also had to close.

Another positive spin-off was that, having to implement various technological tools in order to collaborate remotely, the workforce became technologically more empowered and confident and this will reshape how things are done when everyone returns to the office.

Unavoidably, remote working resulted in a multidimensional fragmentation of work whereby colleagues with similar challenges and needs spontaneously started cooperating in smaller work units that were easier to manage.

Challenges experienced On the downside, not everyone was fortunate to have a suitable, designated office space at home. Neither did everyone have the same level of access to resources such as suitable computers with relevant software, data, and Internet connectivity at home. This required some urgent, last-minute measures to ensure that all would be able to do their work away from the office.

Admittedly, not all people are equally suited to work remotely, simply because they perform better when among colleagues or team members where one can discuss matters and clear issues on the spot. Reflecting on the sudden switch to remote working, colleagues admit that increased organisational commitment and work intensity made it very difficult for them “to switch off”. Those in managerial positions had to deal with concerned colleagues who struggled to cope: juggling their work and home life with all family members at home amid interruption of electrical power supply and unreliable Internet connections. In addition, shortnotice, after-hours meetings had to be carefully managed to prevent a collapse of boundaries between work and private lives. Many started .working around the clock, seven days a week, which meant that family members perceived them to be absent, even though they were at home.

Lessons learned A person’s location does not matter in terms of the opportunity to collaborate and cooperate. This has opened up a conversation to involve a larger pool of people in certain projects in the future, to improve productivity and the quality of outputs. In time to come, more colleagues may therefore be located all over the world and relocation may no longer be a prerequisite to joining a particular company or institution. One thing that we all agree on, is that meetings need not be held in person, in boardrooms any more, and it seems illogical to waste time in traffic if work can be done successfully remotely.

Managers’ responsibility in remote working should not be underestimated. The following questions are worth attending to: • Do workers on all levels have clear expectations concerning their duties and what can be done to boost the confidence of junior workers and to instill trust? • Are the available resources conducive for all in terms of what they are expected to produce while working remotely? During the unexpected COVID-19 lockdown, GIBS’ IT division assisted personnel with computers and software while employees were also allowed to borrow their office chairs to make their work locations at home, ergonomically suitable. • How can colleagues be protected, to prevent a commodification of their contributions and to ensure that workers’ personal circumstances are not swept under the carpet? • How can video- or teleconferencing meetings be optimised to keep all informed and to retain a sense of belonging? • Have colleagues been sensitised concerning “normal office rules” to respect others’ privacy? In attempts to serve the student community and to support colleagues, office rules might have been bent far more than what is fair. • Do all employees have equal opportunity to share their experiences concerning ongoing projects, their workload, general wellbeing, and performance with their manager from time to time? • Have any measures been put in place to ensure that all workers are comfortable with a work-from-home scenario, or do we assume that all are in favour of doing so? The way forward Are we now so content that we would rather never go back to the office again, and never offer face-to-face classes? The answer is no. Many admit that prolonged remote working may become psychologically unbearable. Colleagues across all levels of seniority generally benefit from networking at the office and appreciate personal interaction and the stimulation that they get from being around one another at the office. Also, remote working has consequences across multiple disciplines, such as a need to recontextualise the basic principles of human resource management, and to review what is perceived as ethical organisational practice to allow for an unperturbed balance of work and family responsibilities. Certainly, the traditional idea of office space might be a thing of the past, probably being replaced with space that is available on an as-needed basis.

Undoubtedly, 2020 has brought radical changes in the workplace and a so-called “spatial revolution” during which the traditional workplace/ office/classroom has lost its spatial fixity. Strategic planning will certainly include the way we would want to work in the future. Evidence from companies that reverted to on-site working indicates that a balance between on-site and remote working needs to be struck to build a stronger culture of engagement within organisations. At an institution such as GIBS, the networking among students, their lecturers and supervisors is invaluable and has produced innumerable positive outcomes. Any decision on remote working for the future, and all the associated consequences are therefore bound to undergo the scrutiny that it deserves, taking into account the first-hand experience of what we have all encountered during 2020.

With over 200 interactive exhibits and the marvellous camera obscura we provide a fun, hands-on experience to engage you while you discover the wonders of science.

Experience a science show Learn science through puppet shows Get lost in the mirror maze Participate in technology workshops Discover the scientist in you with our interactive exhibits Be challenged by mathematical puzzles View Pretoria from the camera obscura We give learners the opportunity to explore, invent and create with technology, science and robotics which will not only enrich their engineering and robotics knowledge, but their leadership, analytical and teamwork skills as well. Each school holiday, Sci-Enza offers a week-long science-related programme from 09:00 – 13:00 for learners in grade RR - 9.

Space is limited and tickets are sold at Sci-Enza.

Tel: +27 12 420 3767 | Email: sci-enza@up.ac.za | www.up.ac.za/sci-enza-hands-on-science-wetenskap-in-aksie

SciEnza UP SciEnza Centre scienzaup

University of Pretoria (UP) alumnus Daniel Ndima and business partner Dineo Lioma have developed a groundbreaking COVID-19 test kit that will provide results in just over an hour.

“SARS-CoV-2 is a single-strand RNA virus that was identified as the causative agent of COVID-19 disease infection,” explains Ndima, who graduated from UP with an MSc degree in Biochemistry (Structural Biology) in 2016. “The kit is used for the in vitro detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in specimens from patients who are suspected of having COVID-19. The test kit can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in specimens extracted from throat swabs, nasal swabs, washes and aspirates, and from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (fluid extracted from the lungs).”

Ndima is the founding CEO of CapeBio Technologies, a dynamic applied genomics company that sources, develops and manufactures molecular biology reagents, enzymes and kits sourced from indigenous African microbial hotspots.

Ndima says he and Lioma are aware that Africa relies heavily on imported test kits, such as those used to test for TB, HIV and other diseases. They understood that this would be the case for COVID-19 testing, and decided to create a local solution.

“With the production of our COVID-19 test kits, we hope to help provide more localised access to testing solutions for the continent’s health care systems,” says Chief Operating Officer Dineo Lioma. “Our passion is to develop technologies that radically solve health care challenges in Africa and to build a worldleading biotechnology company.”

“Our current kits are developed in-house,” adds Ndima. “CapeBio Technologies is developing other disruptive innovations with its Research and Development partners. Given the current circumstances, we hope to respond Daniel Ndima Dineo Lioma

to the South African demand for COVID-19 test kits, and later provide Africa and the rest of the world with them.”

The Bloemfontein-born scientist has been the recipient of multiple awards and scholarships for excellence in academia, social responsibility, leadership and entrepreneurial initiatives. He is a Mandela Rhodes Foundation scholar (Class of 2015), a Brightest Young Minds alumnus and was nominated for the Standard Bank Rising Star Award by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Ndima is also a Fellow of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. He attributes some of his success to his former lecturer and supervisor Professor Wolf-Dieter Schubert, who remains Ndima’s scientific mentor to this day.

The CSIR, in collaboration with WaterLab and the University of Pretoria, is testing wastewater, primary sludge and environmental water samples for COVID-19. Wastewaterbased epidemiology can be used to monitor infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and other enteric viruses in communities.

Surveillance of wastewater for pathogens that cause diseases provides a unique opportunity to assess the presence of the virus in the community without needing to test individuals. SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in sewage and found to survive for 14 days in sewage at 4°C and two days at 20°C.

“The aim of the research is to establish testing protocols for the SARS-COV-2 virus in environmental samples and develop an epidemiological approach of tracking COVID-19 in South Africa. Wastewater-based epidemiology is a tool used to track infections and illness in communities, instead of using clinical testing. The SARS-COV-2 has been reported in wastewater in Australia, China, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States of America,” says CSIR senior researcher Bettina Genthe.

The concept of screening municipal sewage as an epidemiological tool for viruses is not

new, and has been successfully implemented for environmental polio virus screening, as well as early warning of Hepatitis A and Norovirus outbreaks. SARS-CoV-2 screening in raw sewage water using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction measures the virus circulation in a defined population, for example, a city or a smaller municipality feeding from the same wastewater treatment works.

Making use of predictive modelling, wastewater can be used to estimate the number of infected individuals in the catchment via Monte Carlo simulations. The model takes the uncertainty and variation in the input parameters into consideration to predict model estimated median ranges of infected persons in a catchment and validate the results with clinical observations.

The CSIR is using its capabilities in epidemiological data management and integration with existing national reporting platforms to develop a method for comparing the estimated number of infections in communities with reported values. – www.csir.co.za

Authors: Jimmy Masombuka and Kaya Nocanda

In an age where many 21st-century services have moved online – from banking to shopping to entertainment higher education should not be the exception. The University of Pretoria (UP) took the bold step to officially launch two fully online accredited programmes through the UPOnline project, an initiative aim at broadening access to a select number of high-demand programmes at the University.

“UPOnline’s theme, ‘Flexibility Matters’, accurately captures the requirements of the rapidly changing world we’re living in,” said VicePrincipal: Academic, Professor Norman Duncan Prof Duncan.

“Students do not have to take leave from their work or travel to attend class. All they need is a computing device and a stable internet connection,” according to Prof Duncan.

With six start dates per year, students have the flexibility to start their studies whenever they choose to do so.

“Students register, pay for, and complete one module at a time, which means they can focus all their attention on the module they are busy with, without having to deal with competing academic assignments, tests and deadlines.”

Applications for the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences opened on 19 March 2020, and the first module officially kicked off in May 2020. The purpose of the diploma is to help working professionals deepen their knowledge and skills to effectively contribute to strengthening health systems and programmes.

The second programme, the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management in the Faculty of Economic Management Sciences, opened for applications on 29 April 2020. The first module set commenced on 29 June. This online qualification is aimed at equipping public-sector line managers with the knowledge and skills required to fulfil their management role. The curriculum for the programme has been developed in partnership with the National School of Government.

The UPOnline initiative should not be conflated with the emergency steps taken by the University around the COVID-19 pandemic in respect to its contact programmes.

The Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Pretoria (UP) has launched a National SMME Support Portal (NSSP) to support and enhance small business continuity in South Africa during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The portal offers free professional services and resources and more than 320 professionals are already offering their valuable and specialised services on a weekly basis.

Results of the Wave 2 survey conducted by Stats SA on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment and income in South Africa highlighted the need for this kind of support.

According to the survey, which was conducted between 29 April and 6 May, almost nine in ten (89,5%) of those who were employed before the lockdown remained employed during the lockdown, while 8,1% reported that they lost their jobs or had to close their businesses, and 1,4% became unemployed.

Professor Alex Antonites, a member of the Centre for Entrepreneurship’s steering committee, said they felt it was important to contribute towards the efforts to rescue the country’s economy.

“We believe small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), a sector already in distress, will show very high failure rates in the short and medium term due to the impact of COVID-19,” Prof Antonites said. “Our economy can’t afford further failure, as a significant section of our GDP is driven by the SMME sector – not to mention its role in job creation. We saw it fitting for the Centre for Entrepreneurship to dedicate the knowledge and expertise we have to work towards assisting SMMEs to recover from the damage caused by the pandemic.”

Services that SMMEs would benefit from include: a general chatroom to help ease the burden of social distancing; professional counselling services that will be provided by UP alumni and will cover a variety of areas, from psychological distress to HR issues; strategy consultants; digital marketing and communication specialists; technical assistance in establishing an online presence; a distress test to determine strategic and operational risk areas; and professional assistance in turnaround strategies and business model innovation during and after COVID-19. A resource room is also available, filled with links to The National SMME Support Portal can be accessed by any registered SMME in South Africa.

To get acceass to the free services, visit: smmeportal.up.ac.za.

Professor Alex Antonites, a member of the Centre for Entrepreneurship’s steering committee.

relevant free business ebooks and literature, business templates, free software and applications useful to enhance business productivity.

With SMMEs being especially in need of funding support to get through this crisis, Prof Antonites said the portal will also work to provide this. “The portal could serve as a preliminary selection tool for funders, providing comprehensive information and guidance on all the new financial resources formed to help entrepreneurs during these times.”

Webinars and training covering an array of short and relevant topics will also be made available during the pandemic. The SMME portal is proudly hosted and developed by the Department of Library Services’ Digital Systems and Services Unit.