iKwezi issue 2

iKwezi The Morning Star

WSU PROFESSOR: AFRICANS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO COVID-19

November 2020 Issue 2

CONTENT PAGE EDITORIAL...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 WSU DOCTOR AMONG TOP BRIGHT YOUNG SOUTH AFRICANS................................................................................................................................. 2 GENETIC STUDY IN AMAXHOSA FINDS NEW INSIGHTS INTO SCHIZOPHRENIA............................................................................................... 4 WSU RESEARCHER COMBATS POLLUTION IN ANTARTICA............................................................................................................................................6 ACADEMIC BRINGS NEW PERSPECTIVE TO HISTORY OF ABATHEMBU................................................................................................................. 8 AFRICA’S GENERATIONAL WEALTH THROUGH INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IP................................................................................................. 10 ACADEMIC’S INVESTIGATION INTO FOOD HANDLING EARNS HER PHD...............................................................................................................12 RESEARCH FOUNDATION CROWNS WSU DVC..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 WSU LECTURER NOMINATED IN M&G TOP YOUNG SOUTH AFRICANS................................................................................................................ 16 WSU REPOSITORY GRADUALLY GAINING MOMENTUM................................................................................................................................................ 18 ITS GLOVES OFF IN UNMASKING THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19.................................................................................................................................... 19 WSU FASHION DESIGN STUDENTS PRODUCE 2000 MASKS IN COVID-19 BATTLE....................................................................................... 20 WSU PROFESSOR: AFRICANS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO COVID-19.................................................................................................................................22 IS EC READY FOR STUDENTS’ RETURN TO CAMPUS....................................................................................................................................................... 24 WSU STUDENTS RETURN TO R52M RESIDENCE DEVELOPMENT........................................................................................................................... 26 OVER 6000 GRADUANDS TO BE “CAPPED” DURING MAY ONLINE GRADUATION.......................................................................................... 28 MULTI-MILLION RAND STAFF DEVELOPMENT PROJECT DRAWS TO A CLOSE................................................................................................ 30 ALUMNUS CLEARS STUDENT DEBT THROUGH WSU BURSARY FUND DONATION.......................................................................................32 TV REPORTER PLOUGHS BACK BY GIVING STUDENTS INDUSTRY INSIGHT.................................................................................................... 34 LECTURERS EXCEL UNDER E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENT........................................................................................................................................... 36 BUFFALO CITY AND MTHATHA CAMPUSES WELCOME NEW RECTORS.............................................................................................................. 38 WSU INVESTS R98 MILLION IN REMOTE LEARNING PROGRAMME......................................................................................................................40 VC’S AWARDS A CROWNING GLORY WOR WSU WORKERS GOLDEN STANDARD.......................................................................................... 42 UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES LONG SERVICE........................................................................................................................................................................... 44

EDITORIAL

T

he 2020 academic year has been quite a challenge! Not a single person with a crystal ball could have foreseen the dramatic scenes that would unfold. I would usually be very excited about this time of the year: getting ready to wrap-up at work and feeling excited about the upcoming festive season.

Given that we are nowhere near wrapping up WSU’s 2020 academic year, my usual excitement has been replaced by apprehension. The threatening resurgence of the coronavirus and delayed projects leave me in a state of anxiety.

Be that as it may, I have to balance my fretfulness with the overly positive things WSU has achieved in 2020. I couldn’t be more proud of WSU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. The speed at which the University responded with plans and counter-plans for managing campus access, distribution of laptops to academic staff and students, the speedy roll-out of PPEs, the awareness campaigns, etc. have impressed me. Not forgetting the agility and execution of the May 2020 graduation that left me enthralled.

What made us succeed was the ability and willingness to work as a team. People who are interwoven and work towards a common goal will always succeed. My wish is to see more togetherness, understanding, collaboration and support among WSU staff and students. For the sake of our future as an institution, we must always pull together. When divided, we will fall and when we fall, nobody will benefit - not staff, not students and certainly not our communities.

In trying to retain some normalcy, WSU will celebrate its staff in two upcoming events; the Long Service Awards on 19th November, which celebrates length of service in five year intervals. This event will see us celebrating 220 colleagues who have reached 10 years up to 40 years of service at WSU. The second event is the Vice-Chancellor’s Recognition Awards & on 23rd November, which celebrates excellence and outstanding achievement in the areas of Research, Learning & Teaching, Community Engagement and Support Services.

I would usually wish you all a happy festive season but because many of us, including students with have a short break, I want to wish you well and encourage you to stay home, stay safe and practice social distancing. Together we can overcome the pandemic.

Phambili WSU Phambili!

Yonela Tukwayo Executive Director: Marketing, Communication & Advancement

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WSU DOCTOR AMONG TOP BRIGHT YOUNG SOUTH AFRICANS

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D

r Olanrewaju Oladimeji of WSU’s faculty of health sciences has earned himself top honours as the university’s first academic to be elected amongst 10 bright young South Africans in academia by the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).

Dr Olanrewaju Oladimeji is an epidemiologist within WSU’s department of public health, whose expertise in TB / HIV research have involved him in the implementation of large surveys in Sub-Saharan Africa countries.

Oladimeji graduated from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and subsequently completed his Ph.D in Public Health Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA. He received a prestigious Fogarty Global Health Award from Fogarty International Centre / National Institute of Health for his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA, in 2019.

His current h-index is 27 and i10-index is 37 (Google Scholar). He serves on the Editorial Board of several journals, including PLoS ONE and Biomedical Central journals. He has adjunct affiliations with several Universities and serves in various academic committees.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH), a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (ASI), a member of the American Association for the Advancement of

Science (AAAS), the America Public Health Association (APHA), and the America Thoracic Society (ATS).

The WSU Faculty of Health Sciences has its headquarters at Mthatha Campus but has an academic health service complex that spreads throughout the Eastern Cape Province including Mthatha, East London Hospital, Port Elizabeth, with approximately 15 district hospitals mainly in the North Eastern Region of the Eastern Cape and seven community health centres.

The teaching platform is further enhanced by the establishment of Health Resource Centres at Mthatha, East London, Port Elizabeth and Queenstown.

The Faculty has three areas of specialisation: – Medicine – Nursing – Allied Health Professions The research niche areas are: Basic Sciences: Human Nutrition, Medicinal Plants & Traditional Medicine Clinical Sciences: Clinical Epidemiology, Chronic Diseases including Tuberculosis, Asthma, Cardiac Diseases, HIV & AIDS from Health Promotion and Prevention including HIV Vaccine Testing to Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV & AIDS Management including ARVs Public Health: The Burden of Disease, Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Health Systems Research, Health Informatics Medical Education: Problem-based Education, Community-based Education, Service-Learning.

by Sinawo Hermans

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GENETIC STUDY IN AMAXHOSA FINDS NEW INSIGHTS INTO SCHIZOPHRENIA A

groundbreaking research study in the Eastern Cape has found a strong link between Schizophrenia and rare genetic mutations which predispose to the disorder.

WSU researchers, Zukiswa Zingela and Mo Nagdee are two lecturers from the university who were part of a team of researchers in the Eastern Cape, investigating the differences in genes of people with Schizophrenia among amaXhosa.

In the Eastern Cape, clinics were located in East London, Makhanda, Port Elizabeth and Komani with at least 909 Xhosa recruits with schizophrenia (cases) and 917 without it (controls) from psychiatric centres in the province and the Western Cape Province.

“In defining the cause of mental disorders, we take a biological, psychological, social and spiritual approach. This is because the development of mental illness is impacted by disturbances experienced along these factors that will usually interact with each other within the affected individual,” said Prof Zingela.

“An example is in a person who faces psychosocial stressors and spiritual challenges which then interact in that person, possibly in the background of some genetic predisposition to develop Schizophrenia (e.g. the rare genetic differences identified in this study), leading to the development of symptoms,” she said.

The study does not mean that the Xhosa population is more susceptible to Schizophrenia compared to other populations.

The advantage of this study is that the findings were demonstrable in more moderate numbers of page 4

participants because of the greater genetic variation amongst the Xhosa people. This greater genetic variability is found in populations across Africa.

Most genetic research does not include people of Africa. This disparity means that generations of human genetic history are missing from our current understanding of human genetics. Human biology is universal. Genes that are important for an illness in one population are important for people all over the world. It is important that all persons from every part of the world are represented in genetic research, so that they can benefit from important findings that improve our understanding of the illness and the development of new treatments.

“What is new here is that in order to demonstrate significant findings, genetic studies conducted outside of Africa have had to recruit much higher numbers (in the thousands) due to less individual differences in the genes of humans who migrated from Africa to populate the rest of the world,” said Zingela.

Zingela said the findings support the postulated theories about the chemical pathways and disturbances in brain function that contribute to the development of Schizophrenia worldwide.

The international collaboration is comprised of top researchers from the University of Cape Town, Rhodes University and from the United States, including the Universities of Washington, Columbia University in New York, and the University of Pennsylvania.

by Sinawo Hermans

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WSU RESEARCHER COMBATS POLLUTION IN ANTARTICA

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A

Chemical Technician at the Walter Sisulu University based National Pollution Laboratory, Lonwabo Nettie, has returned from his environmental research quest to change protocol and prevent pollution in Antarctica.

Nettie’s aim was to root out any source of pollutants near the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE IV) base as a results of research activities conducted at the South African Antarctic research base located in Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land. Nettie probed heavy metal and entrapped organic compounds around the SANAE IV base that is part of the South African National Antarctic Program (SANAP) and is operated by the South African National Antarctic Expedition.

“South Africa’s continued participation in Antarctica will allow for continued collection of data by the South African Weather Services (SAWS) and South African National Space Agency (SANSA), whose data goes a long way in predicting the day to day weather in our country and understanding natural phenomenon,” said Nettie.

In-line with global efforts to reduce climate change, Netties research will go a long way in addition to the world’s concerted effort towards a greener approach to science and industrialisation.

“The investigation will assist in determining whether the activities being done on the base have a direct impact on the surroundings over time and to what effect,” he said.

Nettie outlined the grid sampling processes used to obtain the sample around the base which will then be analysed using GC-MS for organic compound identification and quantification and ICP-MS for heavy metal quantification.

“We are basically investigating if there any type of chemical pollutants, often in the form of heavy metals and organic compounds, around the SANAE IV base.

South Africa is a member of the Antarctic treaty which also commits to the use of the continent for research purposes and keeping the environment as pristine as when we arrived,” he said.

He added that visual evaluation had been and is still being done, however, none that can actually tell you what is the pollutant and how much of it is present in the area.

The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) funded the project and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WSU for the university to host the National Pollution Laboratory as part of Operation Phakisa Projects.

by Sinawo Hermans

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ACADEMIC BRINGS NEW PERSPECTI page 8

A

WSU academic’s chronicling of the abaThembu tribe’s history and evolution over an almost 300-year period from the 16th to the 19th century afforded the scholar the opportunity to acutely scrutinize the most defining moments in the tribe’s history.

Through his book, titled: “A History of the AbaThembu People from Earliest Times to 1920”, history lecturer and humanities and creative arts departmental head Dr Jongikhaya Mvenene has sought to narrate the history of abaThembu from the reign of uKumkani Nxeko in c. 1650, to the death of uKumkani Dalindyebo in 1920.

“As a historian, I observed that the history of AbaThembu needs to be unearthed, rewritten, and decolonised. The importance of this cut-off date (1920) lies in the fact that uKumkani Dalindyebo’s reign was characterised by relative stability compared to those of his predecessors,” said Dr Mvenene.

The book, published in October this year, also scrutinizes the tribe’s relations with white settlers, missionaries and other abeNguni communities, and how and why the abaThembu’s conflict with amaXhosa and collaboration with whites gradually weakened their kingdom to such an extent that they gave up power to the settlers.

Dr Mvenene said most the critical theme to this book is its exploration of the divisive role of white settlers among abaThembu people, and the use of missionaries as pawns in the hands of the settlers in their attempts to subvert traditional leadership.

“While examining the collaborative relations of the tribe’s iiKumkani and iiNkosi with the colonial governing authorities and the consequences thereof, which brought about a further split within the abaThembu kingdom, this book also analyses the relations within the abaThembu traditional but unequal leaders,” he said.

Through the abovementioned analysis, Dr Mvenene strives to help the reader comprehend how and why both internal and external factors and influences were, in varying degrees, responsible for the rise and development of a split in the House of uKumkani Ngubengcuka.

Over and above its significant contribution to the country’s literature, the book further adopts a cross-sectional, well-rounded and multi-disciplinary approach to the relations among the traditional leaders, the colonial governing authorities and the missionaries in the abaThembu tribe.

Dr Mvenene, who started writing the book in 2015, proudly stands by the book because of the veracity of its content owing to the multitude of rigorously tested and critiqued documents, journals, newspapers, unpublished manuscripts and oral evidence.

“In the interest of uprooting the sting of Eurocentric in the history of South Africa, we need to re-enact the past by integrating the accounts of the voiceless people whose history has been presented as an appendage in this country’s history into the written historical sources,” he concluded.

A copy can be order from orders@africansunmedia.co.za.

By Thando Cezula

IVE TO HISTORY OF ABATHEMBU page 9

AFRICA’S GENERATIONAL WEALTH THROUGH INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IP

A

frican indigenous knowledge systems along with other rural innovations could yield generational wealth for Black communities through Intellectual Property (IP) applications and commercialization, according to WSU’s Technology Transfer Manager, Dr. Ncebakazi Galada.

While the global community commemorates World Intellectual Property (IP) Day on 26 April, WSU will play its role to educate and encourage its community and general public on the value of IP and innovation.

Indigenous Knowledge means knowledge which has been developed within an indigenous community and has been assimilated into the cultural and social identity, including but not limited to: knowledge of a functional nature; knowledge of natural resources; and indigenous cultural expressions among other things.

“In line with the IP world day 2020 theme “ Innovate for a greener future” we will make a call for innovation challenge to WSU community and general public. Successful participants will stand a chance to win innovation support vouchers towards the development of their ideas into commercial products, processes and services” Galada said.

Galada said the understanding and application of IP allows for novel creations or improvements on inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; symbols, names and images which can be used for commercial purposes.

“The IP can benefit people by giving them a competitive

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edge to their competitors or at least by being acknowledged and being remunerated by the third parties who may wish to use their IP or indigenous knowledge in the case of rural communities,” she added.

Galada added that it is important to first ensure that the IP is protected. This can be done through the Offices of Technology Transfer (OTT) located at public universities across the country, alternatively through the CIPC or private IP law firms.

Through the interventions of WSU’s Office of Technology Transfer, the university’s innovation portfolio has grown significantly. This has led to the filing of a trademark for herbal teas which have been scientifically validated to have efficacy in the management of arthritis and calming the nervous system; these products have been a result of research conducted in partnership with indigenous knowledge holders.

In 2019, two WSU student-led medical innovations supported by the OTT, a Pneumatic-actuated Prosthetic Foot and a Pin-lock Adjustable Pylon, made national headlines as inventions that would redefine physical mobility for amputees in South Africa and internationally.

A number of prototypes have also been developed and these have various applications in agriculture and health based industries.

IP rights can be in a form of Trade Marks, Patents, Designs and Copyrights.

by Sinawo Hermans

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T

he potential threat to patrons’ health at restaurants in an Eastern Cape municipality has prompted a WSU researcher to investigate the levels of hygienic standards in food service systems in the hospitality industry.

In her bid to obtain a doctoral degree in Business Administration from UFH, WSU tourism, hospitality and sports management department senior lecturer Dr Vikelwa Nomnga interrogated safety measures within the food and hospitality industry under the title: ‘Implementation of Food Service Management Policy in selected restaurants in Amathole District Municipality’.

ACADEMIC’S INVESTIGATION INTO FOOD HANDLING EARNS HER PHD

“The study was inspired by the poor handling of food in many restaurants under Amathole District which could trigger dietary deficiencies that compromise the health of citizens,” said Dr Nomnga.

She said the study was most necessary as it established, through scientific and evidence-based investigation, the inefficiency in many restaurants in the region in implementing government’s National Food Policy of 2004.

Dr Nomnga said this sobering reality should in turn galvanize the food industry to improve its food handling systems.

“The research has also enlightened the Department of Health on the need to enforce compliance of food policy in restaurants to ensure that public health is maintained in the process, avoiding the outbreak of diseases,” she said.

She added that the standards of food handling should be especially adhered to during the current Covid 19 pandemic, owing to the massive potential for food contamination and possible viral infection as a result of poor food handling.

Dr Nomnga asserted that her investigation into food safety management has opened her eyes to a wealth of knowledge and subsequent possibilities to uncovering novel ideas and solutions to improving food handling within the hospitality industry.

“From my research, I noted that knowledge production in this grey is still largely untapped. Therefore, I plan to do further research in this area, become a specialist, increase my intellectual capacity, and add merit to my academic development,” she said.

Dr Nomnga’s generation of knowledge in her research has seen her submit numerous papers to various reputable journals, a feat which has emboldened her to pursue her aspirations to become a fully-fledged academic that not only continues to expand on her knowledge production, but supervises young scholars as well.

by Thando Cezula

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W

alter Sisulu University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic Affairs and Research (DVC-AAR), Prof.

Rushiela Songca was recently recognised as one of South Africa’s most established researchers by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

According to the NRF, the level “C” rating bestowed on WSU’s DVC is allocated primarily based on the quality and impact of their research outputs over the past eight years, taking into consideration the evaluation made by local and international peers.

Songca’s academic success should come as no surprise being that she was coddled under the strong backings of her academic parents.

“I always wanted to be an academic. I am fascinated by ideas and engaging with phenomena. Moreover, I am passionate about contributing to the general well-being of society through education. I thus have always known that I was a teacher at heart,” said Songca.

However, her learned parents could not have prepared her enough for the gender biases of the world faced by women in academia.

Obstacles she has had to learn to navigate with wits and diligence.

“Challenges faced by women are multi-faceted. Women have to juggle work and family. Being a woman and surviving as one is mostly determined by others and measured against societies perceptions/expectations, therefore women find themselves having to navigate these predetermined notions and expectations,” said Songca.

“Fortunately,” she added, “over the years we have gotten used to setting our own agenda/rules of engagement, hence we learnt to exert our own authority and agency. Regardless, inequalities are manifold and glaring, hence the struggle for women selfdetermination still rages on,” she added.

The NRF rating system is a key driver in the NRF’s aim to build a globally competitive science system in South Africa. It is a valuable tool for benchmarking the quality of our researchers against the best in the world.

The ratings that are awarded fall within the following categories: A – Leading international researchers B – Internationally acclaimed researchers C – Established researchers P – Prestigious Awards Y – Promising young researchers WSU Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Rob Midgley said WSU was working hard to solidify the base of its academic plan and aspirations.

“As of 2015 to date, WSU has increased its research by a significant 145%. Though substantial, the number still remains very low in the broader scheme of things. With all this improvement must come caution however. Researchers must ensure they publish with reputable publications and avoid unfamiliar publications,” he said.

Midgley said that WSU has also made numerous doctoral appointments when it comes to lecturers as a way of getting the skeleton of WSU’s academic enterprise to shape up.

by Sinawo Hermans page 14

RESEARCH FOUNDATION CROWNS WSU DVC

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WSU LECTURER NOMINATED IN M&G TOP YOUNG SOUTH AFRICANS

W

SU’s Mncedi “Eddie” Magade’s passion for cultural studies has earned him recognition in the form of a nomination among 30,000 professionals in the Mail & Guardian’s Top Young South Africans education category.

The 30-year-old academic born in a small Eastern Cape town, Burgersdorp, said it’s his interest in Audience Studies, Celebrity Studies and the rise of reality television that have been his drive that would subsequently shape and inform the young minds he lectures in WSU’s Department of Corporate Communication and Marketing.

“For me, it’s the fact that I can play a role in the development of young peoples’ lives. Most of these young people come from very poor backgrounds. Being in academia gives me an opportunity to engage with many of these young people and in the process I get to inspire the way they think and instil values and skills that they will need in their respective fields,” said Magade.

What particularly excites Magade about his nomination page 16

is that it affirms that there is a space and platform where the efforts of young people trying to make a change are being recognised.

In the year 2018, Magade started a student-centered project called the Eastern Cape for Africa Foundation (ECFAF) within the Department of Corporate Communication and Marketing, where student learning would not be limited to the classroom.

“As a young professional lecturer, I have thought of creative ways that can allow me to make learning interesting for my students. Through this project, students are asked to identify various causes and projects of interest. Once that is done, they would then assist those community projects with services such as branding, marketing, content development, reading and writing and other various skills that they have learnt throughout their Journalism and Media Studies Diploma. The idea with this project is to give students community-based and work-integrated learning and experience,” added Magade.

Magade earned himself the WSU Vice Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Community Engagement through Teaching and Learning in 2019 through one of the students’ projects that aimed to promote reading and writing in primary schools around the area of East London.

and learning so that our graduates are not just mere graduates that possess degrees and diplomas, but these qualifications must speak to the needs of respective communities that our students come from,” he said.

What other academics may perceive as a challenge working for a rural university such as WSU, Magade said he thinks rural community based students can use the differences between WSU and Urban universities to their advantage.

In the global plight of unemployment as a result of Covid-19, Magade said he sees value in involving students in community-based projects where they can build professional relationships with companies and NGO’s.

He pressed on how WSU students have first-hand experience of what it means to lack something, be it water, electricity, access to e-learning and many other challenges that we face.

“The qualifications we offer must equip students with problem solving skills to the many challenges that we are facing from a community level right up to national and international levels. We must become deeply rooted in community-based and international methods of teaching

“when they graduate they will have built some kind of professional profile for themselves and good professional relationships. We live in a time where companies would rather outsource certain functions than to hire someone on a permanent basis. This is what I mean when I say that young people need to invest in their skills set,” concluded Magade.

by Sinawo Hermans

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A

single storage location aimed at consolidating and preserving far-ranging content from WSU’s students and academics is proving a much-needed outlet and making the appropriate strides.

Critical information ranging from dissertations, profiles, inaugural lectures, conferences papers and journal articles is housed on the VITAL platform, whilst on the other hand, the Figshare platform is used by the university community to manage research data, collaborate with others on projects and/or to create personal or group collections of research publications.

“The platform is a portal that acts like a library of all digital media and data files related to research of an institution,” said institutional repository manager Adelin Kantore.

To date, a total of 238 items have been uploaded on the VITAL platform, with Kantore calling on more academics to upload their research and other academic output such as conferences papers and articles, Masters and doctoral manuscripts.

He’s also called on the scholars to upload their grey literature, such as important university and any technical reports that talk to or about the history of the university, including: •

Publications on the history of WSU (postmerger processes namely Gazette, the first institutional operating plan;

•

Institutional forum and formation documents.

•

Outputs from WSU linked scientific research groups;

•

Preprints;

•

Working papers from WSU research groups or committees and;

•

White papers;

organized

union

He reiterated that the repository serves as a single point of reference when evidence is needed for postgraduate studies audit and evaluation and it’s thus paramount that the system receives the manuscripts.

Additionally, the repository is a platform to showcase research and other scientific and academic outputs emanating from students and staff members to the university’s stakeholders, both locally and across the globe.

“Certain faculties and departments have shown interest and are engaging on hosting workshops aimed at introducing their members to the repository platforms and offer them training on how to use them,” he added.

However, Kantore is of the opinion that every student, academic and support staff must own this task and be participants in using and building the institutional repository by contributing content to it.

Mr Kantore is available at: Akantore@wsu.ac.za or via cell: 0748298019 or extension:8592.

By Thando Cezula

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WSU REPOSITORY GRADUALLY GAINING MOMENTUM

T

he threat to the country’s socioeconomic profile by the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic jolted at least one WSU lecturer to do his bit in fighting the negative effects of the imminent economic downturn.

Through his non-profit organisation, “Let It Rain”, administration and hospitality department lecturer, Sinoyolo Nokutywa, sourced, collected and distributed food parcels worth R6 000 to at least 12 families in Mthatha earlier this year.

“Because of the government lockdown, many people who work in “non-essential” industries such as hawking, hairdressing, gardening and carpentry have unfortunately lost their means of income. These are breadwinners whose meagre incomes feed their families. With the help of identified ward committees, we’ve identified households that fall within this category which are most in need of this relief,” said Nokutywa.

These humble food parcels consisted of the barest of necessities, including staple items such as salt; flour; cooking oil; yeast; rice; sugar; maize meal; samp and beans and concentrated juice mix.

Nokutywa, who himself grew up in poverty, said it was most significant now more than ever for society and its communities to come together and find ways of mitigating the devastation that is soon to befall the country.

“I believe it really does “take a village to raise a child”, and because of my own experience of that mantra, it’s only natural for me to dedicate the little I have in helping those who’re less fortunate than I am,” he said.

Because he’s an academic, Nokutwya refused to restrict himself only to philanthropic efforts alone, but naturally gravitated towards the creation of awareness by educating the families and communities about the pandemic.

IT’S GLOVES OFF IN UNMASKING THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19

Through his face-to-face engagements and online social media platform, Nokutywa has made a conscious effort to educate and advise people about the dangers of the virus and the importance of abiding by government’s protocols and interventions.

“My life’s work is to benefit my fellow man! Everything I do is to benefit humanity, especially the marginalized and downtrodden. That is why I’ve pledged 15% of my salary to ploughing back to society by helping out students, and in this case, my local community,” he asserted.

By the end of this campaign, Nokutywa, who is currently actively sourcing funding from friends, family, colleagues and other donors, touched the lives of at least 30 families.

By Thando Cezula

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WSU FASHION DESIGN STUDENTS PRODUCE 2000 MASKS IN COVID-19 BATTLE W

SU’s courageous second-year Fashion Design students have braved the Covid-19 pandemic to help produce two thousand Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for university staff.

Siyasanga Cwala, said she could not refuse the opportunity to gain first-hand manufacturing experience under any circumstances.

“We initially had in excess of 20 students to assist with the production of PPEs, but due to fear of infection and panic among the students, we found ourselves working with these 13 brave and passionate designers,” Peter said.

“This is an opportunity for us as students to hone our skills around a sewing machine. We are also learning about the intricacies of mass production and professionalism that come with it,” she said.

WSU remains closed and no staff members are allowed to access campuses without authorisation until such time that the university issues clear communication to return to work. Staff members are expected to continue working remotely.

Unbridled and eager to serve, second-year student,

WSU has also embarked on a deep cleaning process for

The five-day mass production project is manned by thirteen students and their lecturer, Ms Nomonde Peter, who commended the students’ dedication to their craft.

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all its facilities to ensure a safe environment for staff and students. Deep cleaning is in progress.

“Before we even entered the campus site we were thoroughly screened and sanitised. So far I would say it’s been very easy to comply with the social distancing regulations because there’s not a lot of us here and some are working from home,” Siyasanga said.

urges all staff members to continue observing the basic guidelines to avoid infection. What remains encouraging is the national recovery rate of those that had contracted coronavirus. The virus is by no means a death sentence.

We encourage you all to challenge the seemingly growing Covid-19 stigma and remain supportive of any friends, family and colleagues that have contracted the virus,” she added.

WSU spokesperson, Yonela Tukwayo said all areas will be sprayed with a disinfectant chemical based on quaternary ammonium.

Earlier in the week WSU recorded its first positive case of the coronavirus from one of the essential staff members at the Mthatha Campus.

“Whilst this should not cause panic, it forces all of us to face the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic. WSU

by Sinawo Hermans

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WSU PROFESSOR: AFRICANS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO COVID-19 W

SU Head of Department: Public Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Professor Francis Leonard Mpotte Hyera, has dispelled myths around the racial profiling of the Covid-19 pandemic rumoured to be a Eurocentric disease.

According to Hyera who was recently appointed Eastern Cape’s Covid-19 Public Health Medicine Consultant and Advisor, Africans have every reason to join the panic.

“Many people allude to Covid-19 as a disease of white people just as they had assumed so back in the ninety’s when African people thought HIV/AIDS was a European disease only to find themselves much infected and dying of HIV,” said Hyera.

With 42 years’ experience in the medical fraternity, Hyera advises on the Emergency and Disaster Management Plan which was shared with O.R Tambo district.

Hyera said people panic because there isn’t enough community awareness on the disease causation and prevention. He said there’s a lack of research and clear communication from our local environments except from the president.

“The biggest challenge is that we are less prepared for this outbreak in terms of awareness creation to our communities and they are not aware of a proper referral system once they have signs and symptoms,” he said. page 22

In addition to government interventions, Hyera pleaded with businesses and organisations to play their role to mitigate the reach of the pandemic by doing the following: • • • •

Influence their employees on behaviour change, Awareness creation on the disease and encourage them to disseminate Corona messages to their families and communities, Financial support for trainers of disease prevention, Health Promotion focusing on large gatherings, transport industry business (taxi ranks), funeral industry, cultural and religious events etc.

The professor added that students could also play a role by contributing to the body of research work done on the impact of Covid-19 by generating action-based research on this outbreak in-terms lessons learnt and evidence based transition onwards.

“It can be on socio-economic, medical, behavioural and social cultural factors towards this pandemic,” he said.

Hyera has been in the medical fraternity since February 1978 to-date, serving in different capacities as a clinical practitioner, in emergency preparedness and response (EPR), health strategic planning, medical monitoring and evaluation, project management locally, internationally and at the United Nations level.

by Sinawo Hermans

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“It was not easy especially the first 7 days when I had developed many symptoms. I don’t wish for anyone to go through the horrific experience of not being able to breathe on their own. I’m still traumatised by the experience”, said Zolile Zama.

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IS EC READY FOR STUDENTS’ RETURN TO CAMPUS? A

s student representative bodies and their constituents’ defiant voices call for the return to campus, University leaders shudder at the grim prospects drawn by recent Covid-19 statistics for South Africa.

A nation divided, as minds of national leaders, university heads and parents teeter between the academic future of an unfazed youth and its own mortality.

And just as student debates border on conspiracy theory, a sobering post by a former WSU student leader surfaces on Facebook, quickly putting the arrogance of youth into perspective.

On Wednesday 10 June, Zolile Zama admits himself into hospital.

There’s a sudden heaviness of the chest as one reads the chilling ordeal that led to him gasping for his life through an oxygen mask. A wake up call to the fact that It could be any of us; any day now.

For Zolile it all started like the common flu.

“I started feeling very cold to the point of shivering. I thought it was a normal cold and used Med-lemon and Aspirin to fight it for three days and it seemed to have vanished. After treating the cold, I realised I was losing energy and this was accompanied by a severe headache, something uncommon to me because I hardly get sick,” said Zolile.

In the days to follow, Zolile’s condition had seemed to improve with the use of recommended home remedies.

They seemed to help at first, only to find his health on a slippery slope into a critical state.

“I treated myself with the popular garlic, ginger, lemon, cinnamon, turmeric & cayenne pepper mixture through the days. I had been having the mixture and multivitamins since the lockdown began. And I must say, it helped a lot in treating cold and flu symptoms, hence they easily vanished and all that time giving the impression I was treating a normal cold and flu,” he added.

As Murphy’s Law would have it, a couple of days later, Zolile started having breathing difficulties accompanied

by low energy levels that led to his visit to the doctor.

“Since my testing attempts were not successful during the day, I decided to admit myself into a hospital that same day. That’s what saved my life. I was immediately put on a mechanical ventilation to help me breathe. I was also given antibiotics through a drip. However, it wasn’t until the second day at the hospital that I was attended to by a doctor. Hospitals are full and there’s a shortage of healthcare staff,” he added.

Zolile’s triggering narration of his own battle against the fatal virus puts to bed the debate of youth’s leveraged immunity against Covid-19. Suddenly the probability of one student life lost, is one too many.

The daily infection statistics, once a distant reality, are slowly fading into faces of friends and loved ones.

South Africa has 264,184 confirmed cases of covid-19, the 10th highest number of infections globally.

And if one takes into account the current statistics standing at a conservative 13,000 infections a day and with only 12,842 beds prepared for the surge to come at the predicted August peak: You quickly realise that the Poorest province in the country, the Eastern Cape, does not stand a chance.

This is the grave reality of the pandemic with which we are at war. Zolile has since fully recovered and living a normal life.

“It was not easy especially the first 7 days when I had developed many symptoms. I don’t wish for anyone to go through the horrific experience of not being able to breathe on their own. I’m still traumatised by the experience. Watching people with underlying factors fight the virus was extremely sad. Sick people being turned back home because the hospital is full was a serious calamity. If one could set their foot in a covid-19 ward, you’ll definitely take covid more serious and protect yourself,” he said.

Now add to that thousands of university students flooding an allegedly unprepared and bankrupt Eastern Cape Province health system. I say stay home.

by Sinawo Hermans page 25

WSU STUDENTS RETURN TO R52M RESIDENCE DEVELOPMENT

A

s the country eases lockdown regulations to alert risk level one, this means WSU students will soon occupy the newly refurbished Iphulo Residence that boasts modern finishes, recreational facilities and security upgrades to the value of R52 million.

To create a conducive living environment and the eradication of lacking student accommodation, the Mthatha: Nelson Mandela Drive site will see the completion of renovations on student residences, which commenced on 20 June 2019, between January and March, 2020.

Numerous improvements have been made to the campuses which include the installation of Wi-Fi access, upgrading common spaces, security, teaching and improved access for people with disabilities as well as: • Improved residence access control • Improved residence surveillance cameras • Improved residence renovation of indoor and outdoor spaces • Improving residence occupational health and safety

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•

Res maintenance - MT

Other areas sharing a similarly glorious fate are the Zamukulungisa site, Komani, Buffalo City and Butterworth Campuses.

At the Zamukulungisa site in Mthatha, where the construction of two new 200 and 400 seater auditoria commenced on 3 April 2018 are erect.

The Komani Campus’ Grey Street site boasts brand new R13 million lecture theatres and practical completion (100%) was achieved in July 2019.

The Komani campus rector, Professor McGlory Speckman, said the need for more lecture halls was felt even before the designation of the site as a faculty. This is a consequence of the large numbers registered in commerce-related programmes over the years.

by Sinawo Hermans

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OVER 6000 GRADUANDS “CAPPED” DURING MAY ONLINE GRADUATION O

wing to government’s national lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic, WSU, for the first time in its history, conducted a virtual graduation ceremony which was transmitted on the institution’s official Facebook page in May earlier this year.

Presided over by WSU Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Rob Midgley, the short ceremony witnessed the overall acknowledgement of the approximately 6 147 deserving certificate, diploma and degree recipients.

“Given the restrictions imposed on gatherings, the university held an online graduation ceremony to recognize the achievements of the graduating class of 2020. Even when the lockdown at that stage was lifted, it would have been unwise for thousands of graduands and their families to gather in our halls given the resurgence trends seen in other countries when lockdown was lifted,” said Prof Midgley.

Due to the massive number that graduated, the university elected to acknowledge, via a ticker-tape running across the bottom of the screen, only those that obtained the postgraduate qualifications of Doctoral, Masters and Honours Degrees.

For those whose names weren’t beamed, graduation programmes of all four campuses consisting of lists of all the graduates’ names were uploaded and available for viewing on Facebook together with the virtual graduation screening.

Addressing concerns about the impact of the government lockdown on teaching and learning, Prof Midgely said, in response to the crisis, the institution had established the Teaching and Learning Team, which was charged with coordinating academic business continuity, looking especially into the speedy rollout of teaching and learning services in a limited contact environment.

“We’ve identified three pathways to inform and execute our teaching and learning. First, we have made provision for technology-infused teaching and learning using Blackboard to facilitate learning. Secondly, we have adopted teaching and learning akin to distance learning, whereby provision is made for students who’re unable to access Blackboard and/ or have connectivity problems. Lastly, a comprised face-to-face contact teaching will ensure regardless of the pathway adopted by students” explained Prof Midgley.

Of the 6147 graduands that were acknowledged, four from the Mthatha Campus were conferred with doctoral degrees, 17 with Masters, and 108 with Honours. A total of 116 students obtained their qualification with a Cum Laude pass.

By Thando Cezula

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MULTI-MILLION RAND STAFF DEVELOPMENT PROJECT DRAWS TO A CLOSE

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A

much-needed intervention by one of government’s Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) has seen WSU bolster its academic profile by increasing research output, developing the curriculum and improving staff qualifications in the institution’s science, engineering and technology faculty.

Approximately 27 academics from the university’s civil, electrical and mechanical engineering programmes offered at BCC and Butterworth Campus benefitted from a lucrative partnership that saw merSETA injecting funds to the tune of R24 million over the past three years.

“Central to this initiative was to capacitate and upgrade the academic status of the engineering courses so they can fulfil the requisite standards of DHET. WSU faced a big problem in this regard as many of the lecturers didn’t have the necessary qualifications – many had BTech qualifications whilst very few had masters and PhDs,” said chair of research development for the merSETA project.

At the conclusion of the project this year, following three years of persistence and perseverance, 13 of the 27 participants of the programme had progressed far enough to eventually produce research papers that were subject of peer and public scrutiny in a colloquium held at the Potsdam Site recently.

Showcasing their academic gains to fellow academics and a local technical high school at the colloquium, the academics traversed a plethora of disciplines and themes under various titles, namely, amongst others: • Stress intensity failure rate – Propagators of flexible pavement • Machinability of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel • Syngas: A renewable energy source • Heat transfer during hot rolling of stainless steel • Effects of problem-based learning in higher education electronics course • Characterization of mechanically formed AA5754 components Through his doctoral research, titled “Stress intensity failure rate – Propagators of flexible pavement”, Butterworth Campus mechanical engineering lecturer and PhD student at Central University of Technology, Samuel Abedije, has invented a device for road pavement analysis.

“The proposed system and method models a roadway section by moisture, temperature and traffic load data to simulate the impact of traffic load and environmental conditions on a particular section of a road pavement.”

Traffic data is ingested from a plurality of different external sources to incorporate various approaches estimating traffic characteristics, such as base axle load which is incorporated into a road condition model to analyse pavement conditions on the roadway in order to analyse road condition behaviour and/or predict road performance,” said Abedije.

Visibly impressed with the various presentations, Port Rex Technical High School pupils weighed in on the day’s academic festivities.

“The session was very informative as we got a glimpse of what is expected from us at university level. It however further validated my decision to study megatronics engineering because I want to be a megatronics engineer,” said Lena Matota, a grade 12 learner at the school.

Dr Fourie said plans are afoot to solicit more funds from merSETA to continue with the partnership in order to expand the empowerment of the staff in the engineering courses.

By Thando Cezula page 31

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ALUMNUS CLEARS STUDENT DEBT THROUGH WSU BURSARY FUND DONATION I

ndebted students should soon graduate as WSU alumnus and former University Sports South Africa boxing chairperson, Lonwabo Mafunda has paid it forward by donating funds to clear student debt.

The funds donated by Mafunda to the WSU Bursary Fund will contribute towards current students who should be graduating in the coming May graduation season.

Mafunda’s act of charity was inspired by reflections on his modest days as a Management of Training student at the University.

“Reflecting on your own days as a student and the experiences you’ve had at the university will make you question whether you’d like to see current students going through the same struggles you did,” said Mafunda.

He elaborates further on the importance of paying it forward when the opportunity arises.

“Life gives us different opportunities and if you are in a position to give then you should do so. Give back to help the needy,” said Mafunda.

As nostalgia cracked a cheery smile on his face, Mafunda shared memorable highlights of his stint at WSU. “I really enjoyed the support I received from my lecturers and department at WSU. They always supported and encouraged new ideas from us students. I can proudly say that this is what contributed to me registering a business as a student,” said Mafunda.

He said he also enjoyed the variety of extra mural activities that WSU had to offer to students, an experience that earned him a lot of friends and leadership skills.

“Sport gave me a lot of opportunities. I was the first student to ever complete two terms as chairperson of USSA boxing. I also gained a broader perspective on social and life skills through the many friends I made playing sport,” a gleeful Mafunda added.

LEM Consultants cc owned by Mafunda provides consultation and supply services to a wide ranged spectrum of clients. It is an effective company formed in 2011, with sound management skills he learned at WSU. WSU Advancement director, Silvanus Welcome said we thank Mr Mafunda for his generosity towards WSU and its students. We want to encourage all alumni to support their alma mater by any means possible. The WSU Bursary Fund aims to support academic excellence and your contribution will help us to achieve that.

by Sinawo Hermans

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TV REPORTER PLOUGHS BACK BY GIVING STUDENTS INDUSTRY INSIGHT O

ne of the country’s top senior news reporters, Aviwe Mtila, who’s enjoyed a rapid rise as a broadcast journalist recently spent time engaging with students from WSU’s media studies department.

An almost daily fixture across the country’s small screens, Ginsberg’s Aviwe Mtila went back to where it all began as he visited the institution’s journalism department to conduct his online address with the students. “Though tough, the road to achieving, realising and living your goals can be a difficult one and thus your passion and hunger for what you want must always lead you on your journey,” said Mtila.

Though he initially stumbled as a student during his first semester, Mtila quickly regained his balance thanks to encouragement from his friends, and thereafter regained his focus and purpose for having enrolled into the journalism programme. The subsequent years in the programme would see Mtila elevating himself to greater heights by actively participating in activities outside and beyond the academic programme.

“As a student I had already started building my portfolio through the work I was doing with local newspapers and radio station. I actively sought opportunities that availed themselves and never doubted my ability,” he said.

Mtila attributes his enthusiasm, hunger and curiosity for knowledge to a group of friends he made while studying – a collective that always pushed each other to realise one’s full potential.

It was this drive and unwillingness to settle for mediocrity that saw the collective, during their final year, unifying and coordinating an effort to sought out the best in-service training opportunities each could find.

“Eventually I’d land an internship opportunity at both Forbes Africa and MSNCBC where I did both print and broadcast journalism. It was at that time that I would prove my worth and show my mettle,” said Mtila.

In his address to the students, perhaps his most important lesson came in his account of how many times he’d been rejected by eNCA before landing his dream job.

It would take six attempts for Mtila to finally secure employment from eNCA after applying and falling short on five different occasions. “It was on the sixth attempt that I applied for a business reporter position at the news agency. I had no clue about business reporting as I had not done economics, but I knew all I needed was an opportunity to access those doors,” he said.

Within the first hour of his new job at eNCA, Mtila was thrown in the deep end after being tasked to cover a story about the petrol price hike. After surpassing all expectations, he said he got rave reviews from fellow staff members.

By Thando Cezula

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Onke Gqokonqana

Dr Olutoyin Olaitan page 36

LECTURERS EXCEL UNDER E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENT A

lecturer’s approach to remote learning amidst Covid-19 restrictions was met with rave reviews by fellow academics after he shared his experience in interacting with students using digital and social media.

Accounting lecturer Onke Gqokonqana’s recent presentation at the Buffalo City Campus leg of the Grassroots competition, titled “Effective class outside the classroom”, had the audience transfixed as he narrated his use of Microsoft Teams as a tool to impart knowledge and information to his class.

“On Microsoft Teams I preload the content of our syllabus and ask my students to go through it before having a live teaching and learning session. By doing this I’m directing my students to familiarize themselves with what content they have to know before class,” said Gqokonqana.

When the class commences, he uses his touchscreen laptop to display the content he’s engaging on to his students, whilst also being able to, in instances of an accounting problem, solve problems step-by-step in real time using a stylus pen.

Because of a plethora of challenges students face in accessing the live sessions, Gqokonqana records his lessons and then compresses them to a smaller size using an open-source video transcoding application called ‘HandBrake’. From then on he sends the compressed video to a Whatsapp group he’s created for the sharing of these lessons.

His dynamism and industry earned him first prize at the Grassroots competition. “Mr Gqokonqana won because he ticked all the boxes the criteria – accessibility to content; interaction with students; interaction amongst students; assessment of the effectiveness of the platforms and facilitation of synchronous lessons,” said WSU e-Access and Digital Library Manager Lungile Mdanyana.

The Centre for Teaching and Learning Development (CLTD), to which Mdanyana belongs, continues to champion a number of interventions aimed at advancing

remote learning at the university.

Numerous workshops, one-on-one consultations with lecturers and student training – all virtual, have been held and conducted with these stakeholders about the WiSeUp platform, which is the institution’s primary e-Learning tool.

“We’ve also trained lecturers on other emerging technologies such as padlet, flipgrid, EdPuzzle, Handbrake and Powerpoint Voiceovers. These are the tools that lecturers integrated within WiSeUp to make learning interactive and student-centred,” said Mdanyana.

Hot on the heels of Gqokonqana as runner-up was applied informatics and mathematical sciences department lecturer Dr Olutoyin Olaitan, who used three social and digital media platforms as her preferred method of virtual teaching.

Olaitan used WiSeUp’s ‘Blackboard’ platform to upload learning materials, student notes, lecture notes, videos from YouTube for providing further clarity course content, as well as for assessments and practice tests.

“I also used Whatsapp because many of my students didn’t receive data on time. Others had data but lived in remote areas with very poor connectivity and we thus formed class groups on WhatsApp. Course content, selfassessments and explanation of concepts were done through this platform. The chat element gave reserved students the anonymity and confidence to participate fully in the classes. The WhatsApp platform also played a huge role in our communications as a huge percentage of the class had access to this platform,” she said.

The third pillar upon which Dr Olaitan’s remote learning strategy rested was Microsoft Teams, through which she set up live classes and was able to virtually interact directly with her students in real time.

By Thando Cezula

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BUFFALO CITY AND MTHATHA CAMPUSES WELCOME NEW RECTORS W

SU’s relentless efforts to formulate a new growth trajectory in research, teaching and learning as well as community engagement saw the institution appointing two new campus rectors recently.

As of July this year, Komani-born Professor, Nosisi Feza, officially took her seat at the helm as Buffalo City Campus (BCC) rector following a three-year tenure as the Faculty of Humanities dean at the Central University of Technology.

Chief to Prof Feza’s mandate and aspirations during her five-year tenure which runs until 2024 will be a concept very dear to her heart – human development through intensive and innovative research.

“Human development is at the precipice of what we all do. BCC is situated properly within communities with low socio-economics status. We therefore need to be part of the municipality in solving energy fluency challenges, then transfer that knowledge to the whole province, and ultimately disseminating it globally.”

“We need to be part of the business community finding solutions on how to fuel the economy of our city as well the province. We are surrounded by rural communities so we need to identify the hidden treasures of those communities and influence them into making them economic projects that will sustain the lives of our people,” said Prof Feza.

She said her affinity and love for the Eastern Cape and its people, and the opportunity that exists to make a fundamental and tangible change in the province is the main reason she accepted the position.

Prof Feza obtained her doctor of philosophy degree in Mathematics Education from the State University of New York (2009). Her dissertation was titled: Being a sheep in

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a “cattle’s kraal” does not make you a cow: Black students’ thought processes in measurement activity.

Just over 230kms away on the other side of the Kei Bridge the Mthatha Campus officially welcomed professor Mashudu Dhavana-Maselesele as its rector as of May 2020.

For Prof Maselesele, who possesses an extensive background in the area of nursing, this will be her second stint as rector following her three-year tenure as the University of North West’s Mahikeng Campus rector from 2014 to 2017.

She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in International Research Ethics in Southern Africa (IRENSA) from UCT (2008); UCLA (Los Angeles) a Post Doctoral Fellowship in Trauma Research UCLA (Los Angeles) (2006-2007); and a Doctor Philosophiae in Psycho Educational Programme Development (DPhiL) from UJ (2003) under the Thesis titled: A Psycho-educational programme of support to Couples experiencing Domestic Violence in Rural Communities of Limpopo Province.

WSU Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Rob Midgley outlined the invaluable role played by campus rectors in advancing the mandate of the university.

“WSU warmly welcomes these skilled and experienced managers to its executive. I trust that they will be able to facilitate an improvement in the University’s academic stature and reputation, and administrative processes.

Above all, they have to promote a favourable, safe work place for staff and a conducive living and learning environment for students,” said Prof Midgley.

By Thando Cezula

Professor Nosisi Feza

Professor Mashudu Dhavana-Maselesele page 39

WSU INVESTS R98 MILLION IN REMOTE LEARNING PROGRAMME W

alter Sisulu University is officially the first institution to successfully distribute laptops worth R98 Million to assist 22,500 students with remote learning under the Covid-19 national lockdown regulations.

coronavirus. We had to halt operations for a week in order to source a new group of workers as a stopgap measure to complete the task,” said Mpambane.

The devices were distributed over a two-and-a-halfmonth period. However, the journey was not without its challenges as a result of a national backlog in the electronic devise sector.

To ensure the safety of both staff and students, WSU used multiple security companies to mitigate all and any form of criminal activity. Where possible the university also used police stations as distribution points.

The university travelled from town to town to make the laptop deliveries in the Eastern Cape Province where our students are based.

The transport and accommodation costs for staff alone amounted to the total sum of R1 million.

“We had to approach every warehouse and contacted companies that could deliver and we had to breathe down their necks to get first dibs before everyone else got there.

That was the biggest challenge,” said WSU’s Executive Director: Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and Operations, Sinethemba Mpambane.

Fortunately, there were no known fatalities reported.

Walter Sisulu University is a proudly Eastern Cape university with 30,000 students on four campuses spread throughout the eastern part of the Eastern Cape, from East London in the south, to Butterworth and Mthatha in the north and Queenstown to the west.

Courier services were used to deliver devices in other provinces outside the Eastern Cape.

These four campuses have multiple sites. In East London, the University is spread over six sites – Potsdam, College Street, Cambridge Street, Chiselhurst, Buffalo City Stadium and the Heritage Building.

To add salt to injury, operations to distribute laptops were disrupted after 18 WSU staff members contracted the deadly virus.

The biggest of campuses is Mthatha which has three sites – Faculty of Health Sciences, Nelson Mandela Drive and Zamukulungisa.

“Approximately 18 contracted staff were infected with the

by Sinawo Hermans

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VC’S AWARDS A CROWNING GLORY FOR WSU WORKERS’ GOLDEN STANDARD

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T

he sobering reality of the coronavirus’ paralysis of the higher education system proved serendipitous for some of WSU’s workers who, in spite of their health and wellbeing, served the university with valour and utmost distinction.

Very few instances, if any, unambiguously depict this immeasurable courage more than the university’s laptop distribution team which traversed the most beaten of the country’s paths to deliver over 20 000 laptops to undergraduate students in the most deep and remote villages to the most cosmopolitan of cities.

“I headed the WSU Laptops Joint Operations Cluster which was directly responsible for the actual distribution of the laptops to the hands of the intended beneficiaries. Execution, planning, security services, coordination, administration, stock management and transport were the different facets that led to the success of the project” said WSU Laptops Joint Operations Cluster head and coordinator Dr Lulamile Ntonzima.

Despite three robbery attempts in Cofimvaba, Matatiele and Mzimkulu, Dr Ntonzima’s troops stood steadfast, and much like the resilience and efficiency the African wild dog exudes during its unrelenting hunt, so too did the team in its exhibition of endurance, patience and dogged determination to deliver the devices.

Dr Ntonzima was a picture of humility as he gleefully relayed his satisfaction and delight at being recognized, along with his team, at this year’s Vice Chancellor’s Recognition Awards which took place at the Mthatha Campus recently. “I was happy that we received the award and that all our sacrifices were acknowledged in trying to save the academic year. The acknowledgement affirmed to me that WSU has very committed employees,” he said.

WSU e-Access and Digital Library Manager Lungile Mdanyana, who won in the category ‘Innovations in Multimodal Teaching’, also lauded the VC’s efforts in providing a platform for excellence in the discharging of duties to be recognised.

Mdanyana has made an unavoidable impression on his peers through his cross campus strategic and functional oversight of e-accessibility of library resources; library presence on the Learning Management System (WiseUp) and social media platforms; his training and development of academic staff, librarians and researchers on the use of new technologies and library applications.

“As an Instructional Designer, I support lecturers in designing and developing online courses. I normally conduct departmental trainings and one-on-one consultations to achieve that goal,” he said.

The university’s solitary graphic designer, Linda Mynhardt, whose annual report produced in 2019 earned her a VC’s Excellence Award for ‘Exemplary Achievement and Performance’ said she was amazed by the wonderful work being done by her colleagues from all corners of the institution.

She expressed great pride in being a part of a university that boasts superb talent and holds great promise for the future.

Approximately 210 staff members were honoured during this year’s second edition of the awards.

By Thando Cezula

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UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES LONG SERVICE

O

ver 200 staff who’ve dedicated a decade and beyond to servicing the university were personally honoured by the Vice-Chancellor during a glitzy awards event held at the institution’s Mthatha campus recently.

Chief to WSU’s success in fighting against the fatal scourge of the virus, Midgley outlined, were two critical factors – planning and effective implementation, a response which eventually saw the institution’s removal from the high risk list.

The awards, started in 2017 and championed by the Vice Chancellor Prof Rob Midgley, have served as one of the VC’s most critical strategies in creating an atmosphere of cohesion, unity and positive camaraderie – traits critical to the ultimate objective to increase productivity.

“Our planning and actions removed us from the high risk list and I’m proud of how the Coronavirus Emergency Response Task Team have actioned their plans to ensure business continuity whilst maintaining a safe environment for staff and students,” said Prof Midgley.

“I want to extend a heartfelt appreciation to the people receiving awards today. You have faithfully served this University and in some instances your former institutions that now make up WSU. I personally thank each and every one of you for your dedication and loyalty to this university,” said Prof Midgley.

He also, to gasps of elation from the audience, highlighted the continued improvement made by the university in improving its balance sheet and its processes, and the subsequent improvement of its audit outcomes.

The VC was raving in his reviews regarding the institution’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak, noting, unequivocally, the role played by specific staff members, teams and departments in ensuring that the business of the university continues with minimum hindrances.

He said the institution had for years been eluded by satisfactory audit outcomes because of its weak financial controls and processes.

“The CFO and finance team have done their best to ensure that we produce an audit report that we can be proud of,” said Prof Midgley.

By Thando Cezula

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