Tukkie 2013 autumn

TukkieAutumn 2013 Volume 19 number 1

TUKS wen WEER Varsitybeker!

3TUKKIE

Voorbladfoto/Cover photo

Champions again! UP-Tuks successfully defended the Varsity Cup and beat Maties 44-5 at the Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch, on 8 April.

Weer die kampioene! UP-Tuks het die Varsitybeker behou toe hulle Maties op 8 April in die Danie Craven-stadion, Stellenbosch, met 44-5 verslaan het.

Foto/Photo: Yunus Mohamed, FOTO24

Menings in Tukkie is dié van die betrokke persoon en nie noodwendig die standpunt van die Universiteit van Pretoria nie. Tukkie word uitgegee deur die Universiteit van Pretoria se Departement Universiteitsbetrekkinge.

Enige redaksionele navrae of inligting kan gestuur word aan:Marissa GreeffE-pos: [email protected]: 012 420 5193

AdresveranderingsGee asseblief kennis van adresveranderings of kansellasies deur na:E-pos: [email protected]: 012 420 3533Faks: 012 362 5088Meld die kode wat op u adresetiket verskyn in alle korrespondensie.

Opinions expressed in Tukkie are that of the individual concerned and not necessarily the view of the University of Pretoria. Tukkie is published by the University of Pretoria’s Department of University Relations. Any editorial queries or information can be sent to:Marissa GreeffEmail: [email protected]: 012 420 5193 Change of addressPlease send notification of change of address or cancellations to:Email: [email protected]: 012 420 3533Fax: 012 362 5088Quote the code that appears on the address label in all correspondence.

Redakteur/Editor:Marissa GreeffSkrywers/Writers:Manie BosmanMarissa GreeffMeropa Communications (Pty) Limited Nicolize MulderSanku TsunkeFoto’s/Photos:EYEscape Studios, tensy anders vermeldEYEscape Studios, unless otherwise indicatedTaalredigering/Subediting:Meropa Communications (Pty) Limited UP Taaleenheid/UP Language Unit Uitleg/LayoutFrancois van der Westhuizen, Departement Universiteitsbetrekkinge/Department of University RelationsVerspreiding/Distribution:Prestige Bulk Mailers

INHOUD CONTENTSRektor se Boodskap/Principal’s Message 5

Steeds Varsitybeker-kampioene 6

And the winners are...TuksAthletics Assupol TuksCricket 2012/2013 season best in years

7

Welcoming Day 2013 attracts the full spectrum of SA’s rainbow nation

8

Tuks alumni’s hat trick 9

Nuwe Viserektor voorspel blink globale toekoms vir UP

10

It’s goodbye, but not farewell to Prof Crewe 11

Bioprospecting plants to benefit humankind 12

Nie net produksiediere baat by Onderstepoort se nuwe mobiele kliniek nie

16

Onderstepoort help met dieregesondheid in Mamelodi

19

Prof Apostolides’ cup of tea 20

Pioneering nutritional programme helps heal cheetah leg deformities

24

Navorsing oor pasiënte met suikersiekte se lewenswyse

26

UP honours academic achievers 28

Tukkienuus/Tukkie news

Autumn Graduation Ceremonies make UP proud

34

Honorary doctorates to notable scholars

35

Erkenning aan emeritusprofessore 36

UP awarded research chairs 37

Prestigious AU award for Prof Mike Wingfield

38

Merietebeurs vir slim matrikulant 39

Drieling word dokters 40

CSA plans Centre of Excellence 41

hpc planning for 2016 and beyond... 42

In memoriam: Ben Alberts 43

4Universiteit van Pretoria • University of Pretoria • Yunibesithi ya Pretoria

5TUKKIE

Geagte Tuks-alumni en vriende

In my openingsrede vir die akademiese jaar 2013 het ek die behoefte aan verbeterde kommunikasie tussen al die gemeenskappe van die Universiteit van Pretoria beklemtoon.

Alhoewel Tukkie slegs een van die kommunikasie-kanale is, bied dit ‘n baie belangrike platform vir skakeling met alumni en vriende in ons poging om bewustheid van ons prestasies te verhoog, beter begrip vir die uitdagings wat die Universiteit in die gesig staar te kweek en die nuwe inisiatiewe te beklemtoon in die strewe ter bereiking van ons doelwitte.

Ek vertrou dat die meeste van u bewus is van die Universiteit se ambisieuse Strategiese Plan, UP2025, wat reeds van stapel gestuur is. Ons visie is om ‘n voorste navorsingsintensiewe universiteit in Afrika te wees wat internasionaal erken word vir gehalte, relevansie en impak asook vir die ontwikkeling van mensebydraes, die skep van kennis en vir betekenisvolle plaaslike en internasionale bydraes.

In 2013 spits ons ons daarop toe om ons doelwit te bereik om die voorkeuruniversiteit te wees vir die meerderheid begaafde jong Suid-Afrikaners, en ook vir die meerderheid begaafde plaaslike en buitelandse personeel.

Alhoewel ons nog ‘n lang pad het om te gaan om hierdie doelwitte te bereik, kry die indrukwekkende navorsing wat reeds by die Universiteit gedoen word, gestalte in die bladsye wat volg. Dit weerspieël ook ons vermoë om wêreldklastalent te lok en te behou, waarop Tuks uiters trots is.

Ek vertrou dat u die berigte oor ons gehalte, relevansie en impak sal geniet en dat dit dialoog en verdere skakeling met u as gewaardeerde alumni en vriende van die Universiteit sal aanspoor.

Vriendelike Tukkie-groete

Professor Cheryl de la Rey Visekanselier en Rektor

Dear Tuks alumni and friends

In my opening address of the 2013 academic year, I emphasised the need for improved communication across, and between, University of Pretoria communities.

While Tukkie is just one of the channels we have to engage with one another, it is a very important platform to connect with alumni and friends as we seek to raise awareness and understanding of our achievements, challenges and new initiatives.

As I trust most of you already know, we have embarked on the University’s ambitious Strategic Plan, UP2025, which includes the vision of being a leading research-intensive university in Africa, internationally recognised for our quality, relevance and impact, and for developing people, creating knowledge and making a difference locally and globally.

Our work for 2013 will be intensified to meet our objective of being the university of choice for the most talented young South Africans, and also the preferred choice for the most talented staff in the country and internationally.

While we still have a long way to go to realise these objectives, the University’s already

impressive research achievements are given a human face across the accompanying pages, which also reflect our ability to attract and retain world-class talent, of which Tuks is immensely proud.

I trust that you will enjoy reading these narratives, which attest to our

quality, relevance and impact, and that they will prompt dialogue and further engagement with you as valued alumni and friends of the University.

Warm Tukkie greetings

Professor Cheryl de la Rey Vice-Chancellor and Principal

Rektor se Principal’s Boodskap Message


As jy ’n Tuks-ondersteuner is, sal die gebeure wat hulself op 8 April in die Danie Craven-stadion afgespeel het nog lank in die geheue ingebrand bly as een van die heuglikste dae in die epiese rugbystryd tussen Noord en Suid.

Dis nou reeds geskiedenis wat op dié dag in die Varsitybeker-eindstryd tussen UP-Tuks en Maties gebeur het. UP-Tuks se klinkende sege met 44-5 was die grootste nog in Varsitybeker-geskiedenis en die vyf drieë wat die wenspan gedruk het, ook ‘n nuwe rekord.

Hierdie ontsagwekkende vertoning is nie uit die lug gegryp nie, maar was die eindproduk van ses maande

se harde werk, deeglikheid en deursettingsvermoë wat deelnemers en kampioene van mekaar onderskei.

As verdedigende kampioen kon die 2013-seisoen nie op ‘n slegter noot vir UP-Tuks begin het nie. Die nederlaag in die groepfase teen die NWU-Pukke het seergemaak, so ook dié teen Maties en NMMU. Tog het die hoofafrigter, Nollis Marais, aanhou glo dat UP-Tuks die potensiaal het om hul titel met welslae te verdedig.

Hoe reg was Nollis nie, want UP-Tuks se vertoning in die halfeind en finaal het gewys dat hy nie sy gelyke in die 2013-reeks gehad het nie.

Daar is eindstryde en eindstryde. Sommige vergeet jy gou, ander bly jou ‘n langer tyd by.

Deur Morris Gilbert

STEEDS VARSITYBEKER-KAMPIOENE

Foto: Pretoria News

7TUKKIE

Photo: Jaco Joubert

STEEDS VARSITYBEKER-KAMPIOENE

It was a daunting task to improve on these results, but the coaches and players took to the task and exceeded high expectations. The club now boasts ten trophies that were won by various teams in the 2012/2013 season, setting a new club record. It has been an incredible season that will not be easily forgotten by everyone at TuksCricket. The results for the season were as follows:

• winnersoftheCricketSouthAfrica(CSA)NationalClub Championships for the second year in a row;

• winnersoftheNCUPremierLeagueforthreeyearsin a row;

• winnersoftheNCUKnock-OutCompetitionforfour years in a row;

• winnersoftheNCUT20ClubCompetition;

• winnersof11trophiesinthelastthreeyears;

• unbeatenatUniversitySportsSouthAfrica(USSA) during the last two years; and

• rankednumber1clubteaminSouthAfrica.

Assupol TuksCricket 2012/2013 season best in years

And the winners are... TuksAthletics

The victorious TuksAthletics team that won the Varsity Athletics series decisively.

The Tuks team won all three legs of the Varsity Athletics series which was concluded on their home track at the Absa Tuks Stadium at the end of April. The other two Varsity meetings were held in Stellenbosch at the Coetzenburg Stadium and in Johannesburg at the UJ Stadium. Seven other university teams competed in the series.

The Tuks team also won the University Sports South Africa (USSA) Championships in Durban, collecting 355 points over two days, with NWU Pukke in second place and University of Johannesburg (UJ) in third place.

The TuksAthletics team was the winners of the very exciting new VarsityAthletics series.

The 2012/13 season has been the best season in years for TuksCricket who emerged from the 2011/2012 season as the Northern Cricket Union (NCU) Premier League winners, the National Club champions and the NCU Knock-Out winners, as well as the 2012 TuksSport Club of the Year.

This picture was taken when Tuks 1 won the Premier League this season.


WELCOMING DAY 2013 attracts the full spectrum of SA’s rainbow nation

Some 10 000 first-year students, their families and friends flocked to UP’s campuses, with the Amphitheatre of the Hatfield Campus packed to capacity for each of the three welcoming sessions. Even the Musaion auditorium, from where the overflow of visitors could follow proceedings in the Amphitheatre, was packed.

The Director of the Department of Student Affairs, Dr Matete Madiba, addressed the audience in the Amphitheatre, and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, delivered her welcoming address.

The new first-year students used the opportunity to explore campuses and locate buildings ahead of the

orientation programme that started on Monday, 28 January. They also visited faculties and interacted with staff and senior students. Hatfield businesses were represented in stalls on the lawn in front of the Aula.

Mr Tshiamo Maimane, a first-year civil engineering student, participated in UP Alumni’s annual tree-planting ceremony symbolising the new group of students who will themselves become alumni. Three crossberry trees (Grewia occidentalis) were planted by Prof Cheryl de la Rey, Mr Leon de Kock, representing the TuksAlumni Board, and Mr Maimane.

From Boksburg and Bothaville, to Tlhathaganyane and Tzaneen – they came from all over the country to Welcoming Day on Saturday, 26 January.

9TUKKIE

Elsabé de Waal from Ashlea Gardens laughed when asked if she had more talented children to send to the University of Pretoria. Her triplets, Inge, Minette and Corné de Waal, are among the almost 10 000 first-years at Tuks. They are also among the more than 2 000 talented matric academic achievers the University was proud to receive — between the three of them they obtained 13 distinctions in their final matriculation exams.

‘It is really an exciting time for us as a family,’ Elsabé said. ‘Both my husband Schalk and I studied law at Tukkies. In fact, that is where we met. It is quite special that all our children are also studying there.’

The three are, however, attending classes on two different campuses. Minette, who obtained distinctions in Afrikaans and Life Orientation, registered for Foundation-phase Education at the Faculty of Education on the Groenkloof Campus. Minette has always loved children and horses — she excelled in endurance horse riding while her sister, Inge, who also attended Hoërskool Menlopark, was

more interested in drama and writing. Inge’s shelves are also filled with books on psychology — she started a BA degree in psychology. She obtained distinctions in Afrikaans, English, Life Orientation, Tourism, Economics and History.

Brother Cornel concluded his secondary education at the Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool on a high note, getting his As in History, Economics, Afrikaans, Biology and Life Orientation. Apart from making a success of his planned BCom Law degree, he wants to take part in the extramural musical activities the University has to offer, specifically the Sêr Competition. He has also started playing rugby with an u/19 group at Tuks.

The triplets attend University as dailies. ‘They’ll study from home, but later, if they consider postgraduate studies that might change,’ Elsabé said.

‘They are great, easy-going children and we are looking forward to what lies ahead.’

Tuks alumni’s hat trick

Thank goodness there are only three to send to university!

‘‘

In this photograph: Minette, left, and Inge de Waal are standing next to the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey and their mother, Elsabé. In the back row are from left Prof André Boraine, Dean of the Law Faculty with Schalk and Cornel.


Prof Pretorius het as ondervisekanselier (Akademies) en Dekaan van Gemeenskaps- en Gesondheidswetenskappe aan die Universiteit van die Wes-Kaap (UWK) gedien voordat hy in 2005 by Monash aangesluit het. Met ’n agtergrond in Sielkunde, het hy doktorsgrade aan die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland en die Universiteit van die Vrystaat verwerf en ook ’n na-doktorale genootskap aan Yale voltooi.

Prof Pretorius is van mening dat dit voorbarig sou wees om kommentaar te lewer oor geleenthede en uitdagings wat die Universiteit van Pretoria in die gesig staar alvorens hy tyd gehad het om met die bestuur, personeel en studente in gesprek te tree. Hy is egter deeglik bewus van die realiteite en kritieke uitdagings wat alle Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite in die gesig staar namate hulle aanvaar wat dit beteken om ’n hoëronderwysinstelling in ’n transformerende samelewing te wees.

‘In die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is dit van kritieke belang dat hoëronderwysinstellings ’n balans moet vind tussen navorsing en onderrig. Aan die een kant moet ons ons navorsingsonderneming ontwikkel ten einde ’n kompeterende nasie te wees, en aan die nader kant is die rol van onderrig en leer van kernbelang vir die land en die ontwikkeling van sy mense.’

Prof Pretorius glo dat sy ervaring aan die stuur van die Johannesburg-kampus van die Australiese Monash-Universiteit hom by die Universiteit van Pretoria sal help, aangesien dit ook ‘n multikampusomgewing is.

Professor Pretorius is van mening dat ‘een van die lesse wat te leer is by goed funksionerende

multikampusstelsels wêreldwyd is dat jy by jou plaaslike gemeenskap betrokke moet raak. Die multikampus-Universiteit van Pretoria bied ’n unieke geleentheid vir differensiasie ten opsigte van sy gemeenskapsending, met ’n stads- en ’n landelike kampus wat die potensiaal het om betrokke te raak by hul onderskeie gemeenskappe in verskillende dog gelyke betekenisvolle maniere, eerder as om ’n benadering te volg waar alles en almal oor dieselfde kam geskeer word.

Met bykans 25 jaar se ervaring in die hoëronderwysomgewing agter die rug (hoofsaaklik in senior bestuursposte), glo prof Pretorius dat daar ruimte is vir groter samewerking tussen Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite.

‘Daar is binne die Australiese universiteitstelsel sterk klem op normstelling. Alles word normeer teen ander hoëronderwysinstellings, van bedryfsmarges, leningskoste tot studentetevredenheid. Hierdie data word ingevoer in jou jaarlikse beplanning en stel jou in staat om deurlopend te assesseer hoe jy in vergelyking met jou portuurgroepe vaar.’

‘My gevoel is dat daar in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks tans baie meer samewerking tussen universiteite is as wat tien jaar gelede die geval was, maar dit is steeds nie op optimale vlakke nie. Alhoewel ek verstaan dat ons in ’n kompeterende omgewing funksioneer, glo ek dat ons ons individuele oogmerke beter sal kan verwesenlik as daar meer ‘samedinging” is — ’n mengsel van samewerking en mededinging,’ sê prof Pretorius.

Nuwe Viserektor voorspel blink globale toekoms vir UPDie nuwe Viserektor, prof Tyrone Pretorius, het in Mei ‘n nuwe leierspos by UP ná agt jaar as pro-visekanselier van Monash Suid-Afrika aanvaar.

Prof Tyrone Pretorius

11TUKKIE

It’s goodbye, but not farewell to Prof Crewe

After a decade as Vice-Principal at the University of Pretoria, Prof Robin Crewe closes the door of his management office and re-opens the door to his life-long research passion as one of the world’s leading authorities on honeybees.

Prof Crewe retires at the end of June, but will continue in his role as Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology, and will return full-time to the laboratory he established on campus 16 years ago.

After being Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences from 1997 to 2003, Prof Crewe was appointed Vice-Principal in September 2003. In this position he has been responsible for a wide range of management functions, including chairing the Senate Research Committee, the Academic Planning Committee, and the Senate Committee for Research Ethics and Integrity.

In his present post he helped to establish a range of programmes to support research activities at the University, and managed the post-graduate scholarship programme. The development of young scientists is an area that is particularly close to his heart, and it’s a theme he will continue to promote after June when he will be setting up the Centre for the Advancement Scholarship.

A Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London, the Royal Society of South Africa and a founder member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, Prof Crewe believes that increased support and development for the research function in general — and for young scientists in particular — has been a distinctive feature of South African higher education since he started his academic career.

One of the notable changes that I have seen over the years has been the significant increase in investment in research activities by some major flagship programmes, such as the Centres of Excellence and the SA Research Chairs Initiative,’ says Prof Crewe.

‘When I started out as a young researcher it was basically sink or swim. But now there are a number of programmes which assist young scientists to get into their fields. I am very optimistic about the generation of young researchers at the University, and am convinced there is a significant cohort of young scientists who are going to be making really important research contributions in future.’

As evidence of this confidence, Prof Crewe cites the fact that when the Academy of Science of South Africa decided to assist with the establishment of a young Academy some two years ago, they did not know how many nominations there would be for the available 25 places.

‘The nomination process yielded 160 nominations of outstanding young scientists, a clear indication that there’s real depth of academic talent in this country,’ says Prof Crewe.

His own academic contributions to the field of behavioural ecology have been no less immense. The author of more than 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals, Prof Crewe is a former president of the Academy of Science of South Africa and President of the Network of African Science Academies. His reputation as one of the world’s leading minds on the social organisation of honeybees has taken him to every continent — bar Antarctica — and he continues to actively collaborate with research teams in China, across Europe and America.

It is the collaboration and transformation process back home at the University of Pretoria, however, that stands out as one of the most gratifying experiences of his long and distinguished academic career.

‘The University has a very clear idea of where it wants to go in the next ten years and more. Everyone accepts that if you want to be an internationally recognised university, you have to follow the kind of directions that have been outlined in our Vision2025 strategy — and I believe that the University is moving very strongly in the direction of being able to achieve this goal.’

‘As Vice-Principal, it’s been a fascinating and privileged opportunity to play a part in shaping a new direction for the University. But the time has come for me to return more actively to the study of honeybees,’ says Prof Crewe.

Globally acclaimed honeybee specialist to continue pioneering research after retirement

Prof Robin Crewe


I am fascinated by South Africa’s plant diversity and its largely untapped potential to be used for medicinal and cosmeceutical purposes.

‘

‘

13TUKKIE

‘The most exciting part of what we do is knowing that our students are not only getting a degree, but are actually doing something that could benefit humankind.’ So says Prof Namrita Lall, an associate professor of Medicinal Plant Science at the University of Pretoria.

Although Prof Lall is soft-spoken, it quickly becomes clear that she harbours an inner strength and passion that drives her to excel in her work.

Prof Lall has published 80 peer-reviewed articles, registered an international and six national patents based on her research, and written four book

chapters. In 2002, she received the UNESCO L’Oréal Women in Science Award for her research in tuberculosis. In 2011, she won the Distinguished Women in Science Award of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, awarded by the Department of Science and Technology. She is currently on the editorial boards of several academic journals and a reviewer for 15 local and international research journals.

However, Prof Lall prefers to talk about her work: bioprospecting South African plants for the purpose of obtaining medicinal and other valuable compounds.

‘I am fascinated by South Africa’s plant diversity and its largely untapped potential to be used for medicinal and cosmeceutical purposes. (Cosmeceuticals are a combination of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, such

By Manie Bosman

BIOPROSPECTING PLANTS TO BENEFIT HUMANKIND

These are some of the lead plants that can be developed into cosmeceutical products. Cosmeceuticals are a combination of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, such as creams for skin treatments or toothpaste containing an indigenous herbal extract.


as creams used for treating skin pigmentation.) With about 25 000 known species, this country is third only to Brazil and Indonesia as far as biodiversity is concerned. This constitutes about one tenth of all plant species in the world.

‘Most people are unaware that a significant percentage of the active ingredients used in modern medicine originated from plants. For example, quinine, until fairly recently the most common treatment for malaria, is derived from the bark of cinchona plants, while aspirin was developed from willow bark extract. Our goal is to scientifically explore and test South Africa’s indigenous plants – and find out which of these can provide chemical compounds that could benefit people.’

Prof Lall and her team are currently conducting research on indigenous plant species that show promise in treating tuberculosis and cancer. As part of her doctoral studies, completed under Prof Marion Meyer at UP in 2001, she succeeded in isolating a chemical compound for the treatment of tuberculosis, derived from the roots of a plant traditionally used in Zulu culture for medicinal purposes. Subsequent studies have shown that this particular compound is one of the world’s three most effective compounds from natural sources which have shown very good results against drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

‘As with many other diseases, people suffering from tuberculosis often stop taking their medicine because of the side-effects. We hope to find an effective product which could be used as a complimentary medicine that can also counter the side-effects of conventional tuberculosis medicine,’ she said.

On the cosmeceutical side, Prof Lall and her team have completed clinical studies on two promising plants to aid in the treatment of skin hyper-pigmentation (unusual dark spots on the skin). The study is nearing completion, with the next step

involving commercial product development which they plan to license out to private companies. Other plants showing potential for the treatment of acne problems have also been identified by her team, while two more plant types could be used in sunscreen products. Prof Lall and her team are also working on a project to isolate and test a plant compound which is effective in killing oral bacteria that cause periodontal diseases. Ideally, this would result in toothpaste containing an indigenous herbal extract to help keep teeth healthy.

An added attraction to discovering the potential commercial value for indigenous plants is that local communities – in rural areas where some of these plants grow – could also benefit. ‘I am very interested in community work. For instance, my postgraduate students and I are involved in a project in Mamelodi where we’re helping a traditional healer to cultivate plants that could be used for medicinal purposes.

In fact, where we work the communities are always involved and will no doubt benefit from the results once some of these projects become economically viable.’

Prof Lall’s work could well produce significant socio-economic and medicinal value. However, how can one effectively sift through 25 000 plant species in an attempt to identify those that could be of value? She explains that they don’t randomly pick plants and spend months or years to study and isolate possibly useful compounds.

‘There are basically two ways in which we select the plants that we study. One is through ethno-

botanical selection. The other method is by selecting plants based on their phyto-chemistry.

‘The ethno-botanical approach is where we look at plants used by indigenous communities for traditional purposes – for instance in food and medicine. We then test these to see if we can validate their medicinal value.

‘The phyto-chemistry approach is where we use existing knowledge about the chemical substances

The ethno-botanical approach is where we look at plants used by indigenous communities for traditional purposes – for instance in food and medicine.

‘‘

15TUKKIE

found in specific plants. If we know a plant is rich in a specific chemical compound which could be of medicinal or cosmeceutical use, we isolate that compound and run trials to determine its usability.’

Where and when did Prof Lall’s interest in science and the use of traditional medicine originate? ‘I grew up in Northern India and I’ve always been a dedicated student who worked hard at whatever I did, and I always enjoyed science at school. When I enrolled for a BSc in Biological Science at Ranchi University in India, I wasn’t particularly interested in plants or traditional medicine, although I knew from experience that they worked.

‘After my marriage in India, I moved to the Transkei (now the Eastern Cape) with my husband, where I enrolled for an honours and later a master’s in biotechnology at the University of Transkei (now the Walter Sisulu University). During my studies there, I often heard of Prof Marion Meyer and the great work he was doing here at UP, so I was really excited when my husband was transferred from Umtata to Pretoria in 1997. Upon our arrival, I immediately applied to

do a PhD under Prof Meyer’s supervision, and was accepted.’

Under Prof Meyer’s guidance Prof Lall was first exposed to the possibilities of applying medicinal chemistry to the study of traditional plants and medicine.

‘This started a new and exciting phase in my career. Not only am I very happy here at UP where I get to work with so many great scientists, professionals and students, but I also get to live out my passion for the study of traditional plants.’

One question remains unanswered: Would she, her husband or two daughters use traditional medicine themselves?

‘If any of us get an upset stomach or a headache, I have just the right natural remedies to treat it effectively. However, if it’s tuberculosis, I’ll go to the doctor! Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future South African doctors will prescribe traditional products as complementary medicine – as is common practice in India.’

This photograph was taken at Mothong Village, Mamelodi, where a greenhouse was developed by Prof Lall’s research team for the cultivation of medicinal plants by the community. The greenhouse can be seen in the background. Prof Lall, third from right, is standing next to the traditional healer, Dr Ephraim Mabena, with whom she has been collaborating for the past seven years.


Nie net produksiediere baat by ONDERSTEPOORT se nuwe mobiele kliniek nie

Deur Marissa Greeff

Die Fakulteit Veeartsenykunde het twee hiper-moderne minibusse gekry wat as mobiele kliniek dien. Hierdie bussies het genoeg toerusting aan boord om selfs chirurgie in die veld moontlik te maak. Die toerusting sluit ‘n ingeboude watertenk met ‘n kraan, ‘n yskas en netjiese, praktiese pakplek vir medikasie en instrumente in. Daar is ook ‘n sytent wat skaduwee verskaf.

Die uitreik van die professionele veearts na die gemeenskap het alles te doen met volhoubare

diversiteit, wat die belangrikste aspek van die welstand van mense is. Daar is ‘n hele reeks faktore – ook die gesondheid en welstand van geselskapdiere – wat hierin ‘n rol speel. Die bydrae wat veeartse tot die welstand van die gemeenskap maak, is om op ‘n holistiese manier na die behoeftes van mense en geselskapdiere om te sien. ‘n Nuwe dinamiek is geskep waar die gesondheid van elke groep met dié van die ander verweef is.

Die Departement Produksiedierstudies se mobiele kliniek lewer professionele veterinêre dienste aan eienaars van produksiediere in die groter Moretele-distrik.

17TUKKIE

Onderstepoort se mobiele kliniekdiens bedien al die afgelope 15 jaar die gemeenskappe van Ratjiepan en Makapanstad, noord van die Tshwane-metropool. Dr Dawie Blignaut, ‘n produksiedier-klinikus, vertel dat die kliniek voortgesit is ná die samesmelting van die veeartsenykundefakulteite van Onderstepoort en Medunsa. Die Fakulteit bedryf dit as ‘n mobiele uitbreiding van die Departement Produksiedierstudies met die doel om professionele veeartsenydienste aan eienaars van produksiediere in die groter Moretele-distrik te lewer. Die kliniek word deels deur die Onderstepoort Veeartsenykundige Dierehospitaal (OVAH) befonds.

Dr Blignaut sê daar is na raming sowat 40 000 beeste in die gebied van Moretele, net noord van Tshwane,

tot by Bela-Bela in die noorde en Pilanesberg in die weste. Die doel van die kliniek is hoofsaaklik om boere te help om hul diere in die mark te kry.

Die mobiele kliniek besoek Ratjiepan en Makapanstad elke Woensdag en hoewel dit op produksiediere gemik is, word baie honde ook daarheen gebring. Die aantal honde wat daarheen gebring is, het so toegeneem en hul behandeling het soveel tyd in beslag geneem dat die Universiteit die Suid-Afrikaanse Veeartsenykundevereniging (SAVA) se gemeenskapsklinieke (CVC) aan die einde van 2011 om hulp genader het. Hierdie klinieke besoek Ratjiepan en Makapanstad elke tweede Woensdag en die veearts van Onderstepoort tree as die verantwoordelike klinikus op. Die CVC se diens behels

Dr Dawie Blignaut kyk toe terwyl studente ‘n bloedmonster neem.

Die eienaars van diere wat behandel word, betaal ‘n basiese fooi vir behandeling en medikasie.

Onderstepoort se mobiele kliniekdiens bedien al die afgelope 15 jaar die gemeenskappe van Ratjiepan en Makapanstad


inentings, ontwurming en dip teen bosluise en vlooie. Hulle laai ook pasiënte op vir opvolgprosedures wat deur ‘n privaat veearts in die stad gedoen word.

Onderstepoort se mobiele kliniek stop by twee vaste punte. Die een is by die groot huilboerboom naby die Ratjiepan-gemeenskapskliniek en die ander is by die kantore van die tradisionele owerheid in Makapanstad. Eienaars van produksiediere skakel ook vooraf om te reël dat die kliniek na hul huise kom om siek diere daar te behandel. Omdat die gemeenskap weet dat die mobiele kliniek elke Woensdag in die omgewing is, kom baie eienaars soontoe om hul diere te laat behandel.

Siek produksiediere word in die kraal in die agterplaas gehou totdat die mobiele kliniek opdaag. As die eienaar nie by die huis kan wees nie, is dit dikwels ‘n buurman, familielid of vriend wat die voertuie inwag. Hoewel dr Blignaut die gebied al goed genoeg ken dat hy selfs adresse kan eien, arriveer mense dikwels per motor of te voet by een van die vaste punte om die bussie tot by die huis te begelei. Produksiediere wat deur die mobiele kliniek gehelp word, is meestal beeste en bokke. Ander diere soos donkies, muile en hoenders word ook behandel.

Die mobiele kliniek bestaan uit die veearts en ‘n groep van vier tot ses veeartsenykundestudente in hul finale jaar. Studente wat met hul veeartsenykunde-verpleegdiploma besig is, vorm ook deel van die kliniek. Die eienaars van diere wat behandel word, betaal ‘n vaste bedrag vir behandeling en medikasie.

Dr Blignaut sê hierdie kliniek berei studente voor op die toestande waaronder hulle as veeartse sal moet werk, veral wat produksiediere betref wat meestal in die veld of in krale op plase behandel moet word. So moes die vyf studente en dr Debbie Coetzee, wat een Woensdag vir dr Blignaut ingestaan het, ‘n opgeskote Brahmaankalf grond toe dwing om ‘n abses aan een van die agterbene te dreineer.

Dit is wanneer hierdie spannetjie hul taak met ‘n groot mate van kalmte en beheer oor die situasie afhandel, dat ‘n mens besef dat die mobiele kliniek nie net akademiese kennis inspan nie. Daar is ook praktiese vaardighede verbonde aan die hantering van die groot, swaar produksiediere. Die studente se kennis van die plante wat daar groei en giftig vir herkouers is, word verder ook uitgebrei.

Dr Blignaut vertel dat die Fakulteit Veeartsenykunde ‘n baie goeie verhouding met die gemeenskappe van Ratjiepan en Makapanstad het. Die Fakulteit werk ook saam met die staatsveeartseny-afdeling van Noordwes. Boonop is dr Rebone Moerane wat die Leerstoel vir Primêre Dieregesondheid beklee en ook die President van die Suid-Afrikaanse Veeartsenykundige Raad (SAVC) is, baie betrokke in hierdie gebied. Hy bied kursusse in primêre dieregesondheid vir boere in die gebied aan.

‘n Belangrike skakel in die Fakulteit se interaksie met die gemeenskappe is mnr Eugene Machimana, wat sedert 2010 die Fakulteit se koördineerder van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid is. Een van sy belangrike take is skakeling met skole om die Fakulteit Veeartsenykunde en die veeartsenyberoep onder leerders te bevorder.

Die Fakulteit Veeartsenykunde se mobiele kliniek is ingerig om effektiewe behandeling buite die spreekkamer moontlik te maak.

Produksiediere wat deur die mobiele kliniekdiens gesien word, is meestal beeste en bokke, maar donkies, muile en hoenders word ook behandel.

19TUKKIE

Die Mamelodi-dieregesondheidskliniek is al so goed gevestig dat dr Cherri Liebenberg, wat die kliniek elke dag behartig, kliënte soos ou vriende groet.

Dr Liebenberg sê die kliniek, wat in Februarie 2011 sy deure oopgemaak het, is al so gevestig in die gemeenskap dat baie honde-eienaars net kom om hul honde te kom dip in die bad wat buite gereed staan.

Die kliniek is in die Tegniese Dienste-gebou op die Mamelodikampus geleë. Dit bestaan uit twee spreekkamers, ‘n klein laboratoriumarea, ‘n algemene prosedurekamer en ‘n teater. Dr Liebenberg, ‘n dosent in die Fakulteit Veeartsenykunde, vertel met groot geesdrif dat die kliniek nie net groot getalle honde nie, maar ook katte as pasiënte te siene kry.

Sy behartig die kliniek met die hulp van twee veeartsenykundestudente in hul finale jaar, wat elke twee weke roteer. Die studente sluit by geleentheid buitelandse uitruilstudente in wat hier kennis maak met siektes wat deur patogene soos bosluise oorgedra word wat eie aan die warm streke van

die wêreld is. Hierdie siektes begin nou as gevolg van aardverwarming ook in die koue lande van die noordelike halfrond voorkom en omdat veeartse daar dit nie ken nie, is diagnoses nie maklik nie.

Die eienaars van pasiënte wat by die Mamelodi-dieregesondheidskliniek behandel word, betaal ‘n vaste bedrag vir medikasie en behandeling. Dr Liebenberg bespreek die behandelingsopsies breedvoerig met die eienaars ten einde die beste behandeling te vind wat die eienaar kan bekostig en waarby die diere die beste sal baat. Dr Liebenberg vertel dat dié kliniek wel diere na Onderstepoort Veterinêre Akademiese Hospitaal verwys: ‘Ons het een middag laat met drie mense, vier katte en 11 honde teruggery Onderstepoort toe.’

Dis duidelik dat die Mamelodidieregesondheids-kliniek reeds ‘n belangrike rol in die versorging van troeteldiere in Mamelodi speel – nie net deur behandeling van siek en beseerde diere nie, maar ook deur inligting aan diere-eienaars te verskaf.

ONDERSTEPOORT help met dieregesondheid in MamelodiNog een van die Fakulteit Veeartsenykunde se gemeenskapsprojekte is gesetel op die Mamelodikampus van die Universiteit van Pretoria.

Een van die twee spreekkamers by die Mamelodi-dieregesondheidskliniek waar ‘n finalejaar veeartsenykundestudent ‘n pasiënt vir ‘n prosedure voorberei.

Dr Cherri Liebenberg bespreek behandelingsopsies met die eienaar van ‘n hond in die Mamelodi-dieregesondheidskliniek.


The industry directly employed some

individuals, supporting at least

people.

22 000100 000

Hand-plucking tea in Malawi. The top two leaves and the bud make the best quality tea.

The clonal tea garden situated under Mount Mulanje in Malawi.

21TUKKIE

PROF APOSTOLIDES’ CUP OF TEAMany noble and worthy campaigns are active around the world, such as saving the rhino, preserving the Amazon rainforest, promoting world peace or fighting global warming – to name but a few. Like many of the men and women who champion these causes, Prof Zeno Apostolides is a man with a mission: to save and revive South Africa’s tea industry.

In the early 1990s, South Africa had ten large tea estates, with a combined production of about ten million kilograms of tea per year. A further ten million kilograms was imported, which means that South Africans consumed around 20 million kilograms of tea annually. The industry directly employed about 22 000 individuals, thereby supporting at least 100 000 people.

Although the South African tea industry was a lucrative business at the time, it was still limited to local markets, due to anti-apartheid trade sanctions. When apartheid was finally abolished and trade

restrictions lifted, expectations for further growth ran high – but for the tea industry these dreams were never realised.

‘South Africa is currently producing only about two million kilograms of tea, which means that we have to import 18 million kilograms to meet local consumption needs. In spite of the fact that our tea industry has the potential to provide employment to tens of thousands of people and earn millions in foreign revenue, it is not happening,’ explains Prof Apostolides, associate professor in Biochemistry and Chief of the Tea Research Laboratory at the University of Pretoria (UP).

So what went wrong? In its previous format, the South African tea industry suffered as a result of post-apartheid transformation. On the one hand, several of the tea estates were on land that was re-allocated following successful land claims. In other cases, higher minimum wages rendered some estates unprofitable. As a result, only two of the former ten estates are currently still operational, and both receive financial aid from the government to remain in business.

Despite the gloomy situation, the South African tea industry can be salvaged and turned around.

By Manie Bosman

Prof Zeno Apostolides is the founder and leader of the Tea Research Laboratory at the University of Pretoria that has been doing research since 1984 on various projects in the tea industry.


Prof Apostolides, who has been involved in the tea industry as researcher and consultant since 1994, has a vision and a strategy to kick-start a revival.

‘We are working on a turnaround strategy. What we need to do is make tea-growing more profitable, and it is possible. The idea is to follow a two-pronged approach: produce higher-yielding and better quality tea, and develop value-added products,’ he says.

Prof Apostolides and his team at the Tea Research Laboratory have considerable experience in helping tea growers improve production. In the early years of his involvement with the industry, he used his knowledge of computer simulations (which was the focus of a sixth-month stint at the University of Delaware during his DSc studies) to help tea factories improve their operational systems. Collaboration with the Tea Research Foundation of Central Africa led to the identification of new Malawian-bred tea cultivars, which were subsequently used to replace inferior cultivars in some South African tea estates.

‘New technology has opened up some exciting possibilities in terms of improving cultivars. Until now, it took about 15 years of field trials and systematic screening to produce a better cultivar. However, we are now doing research aimed at identifying genetic markers for agronomically important traits such as drought tolerance, higher yields, disease resistance and off-season growth.’

‘We have already found and patented two genetic markers linked to drought tolerance. These and similar breakthroughs will speed up the process of developing new cultivars, which could then help make

tea-growing much more profitable,’ Prof Apostolides explains.

The process of developing value-added products is also firmly research-based, and shows equally high potential to revive the South African tea industry. Prof Apostolides explains that, up to now, local tea growers mainly focused on the production of what is commonly known as ‘black tea’. All types of tea are made from leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, but black tea is produced by leaving the harvested leaves to turn brown before they are dried.

‘Teas grown in tropical and subtropical regions – such as our own tea-growing regions – have a much higher anti-oxidant content than teas grown in temperate regions, for instance in Japan, China and India. Some of our local tea cultivars are very rich in anti-oxidants and this makes them ideal for producing instant green tea. With the huge and growing market for green tea, this is obviously an opportunity we should pursue.’

Other value-added products that Prof Apostolides and his team are researching, which are believed to offer the potential for making tea production in South Africa more profitable, include the production of tea extracts for ready-to-drink tea such as iced tea and the production of low-caffeine tea. In the last decade, worldwide consumption of ready-to-drink teas multiplied nearly 20 times, and is still growing.

Many people would probably be surprised to learn that tea oil can be produced from tea seeds. ‘While sunflower oil is the most common and cheapest cooking oil in South Africa, tea oil is the most commonly used cooking oil in the southern parts of

Tea breeder, Dr Hastings Nyirenda, inspects tea cultivars in the living gene bank at the Tea Research Foundation in Mulanje, Malawi. The gene bank was established in 2002 at the request of Prof Apostolides with 250 tea cultivars in 16 bush observation plots.

Abandoned tea gardens at the Grenshoek Tea Estate near Tzaneen, visited by Prof Apostolides and MSc student Ms M Wium, showing tea gardens that have turned to tea forests.

23TUKKIE

China. Again, this is a huge opportunity which has gone completely untapped,’ he says. Tea seed oil resembles olive oil in its superb culinary qualities and good health properties.

After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, which means that the market is stable and established – and South Africa has the potential to become a major player in the tea industry. The soil and climate in many parts of the country, as in many other parts of Africa, is ideal for tea production. While being a comparatively new tea-growing region, Africa already produces about 15% of the world’s tea.

So how can it happen for the South African tea industry?

‘In 2012 the Department of Trade and Industry asked us if any of the tea research they sponsored could be commercialised, and that really got me thinking. The result is that I am currently writing a business plan for a new tea research institute (TRI) here at UP with the help of Business Enterprises at UP. The TRI, which we hope to see operational within four years, will conduct research to produce innovative value-added products and help with the introduction of those products into the commercial sphere.’

Prof Apostolides hopes to establish the TRI on UP’s Experimental Farm in Hatfield.

‘Also, the land claims have now been settled and seeing that the plants are still there – tea plants are nearly indestructible – we are in the process of revitalising the dormant estates. We hope to rebuild the tea-processing plant in Tzaneen within the next three to four years and to have the dormant estates producing tea and value-added tea products within the foreseeable future. We are working closely together with the new land owners and local communities, who will naturally benefit from this venture.’

Prof Apostolides is convinced that this new model for the South African tea industry, which incorporates the best that science can offer with social responsibility and sound business practice, can and will work. ‘Of course, significant recapitalisation is needed for the estates and for the establishment of the TRI, but its impact on the country and economy can be massive. In Kenya, which is now the world’s second largest tea producer after India, about half of the total crop is produced by some 50 000 small farmers each cultivating tea on about one hectare of land. There is no reason why we cannot achieve similar success.’

Prof Apostolides matriculated from Pretoria Boys High School in 1972. Although he originally planned to become a veterinarian, he opted for a BSc (Chemistry and Biochemistry), MSc (Biochemistry) and later a DSc from UP. He is married and has two children.

‘

‘

‘Teas grown in tropical and subtropical regions – such as our own tea-growing regions – have a much higher anti-oxidant content than teas grown in temperate regions, for instance in Japan, China and India.

Mr Rudy Maliepaard doing field work for the MSc in Biochemistry in the Tingamira Tea Factory in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.


Pioneering nutritional programme helps heal cheetah leg deformities

The Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences have developed a magnesium supplementation regime to successfully treat metacarpal paralysis in captive cheetahs.

The future survival of cheetahs, which are listed as a threatened species, looks a little brighter thanks to a pioneering feed supplementation programme developed by the Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria.

In 2008, Prof Edward Webb, the Head of the Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, received a call for help from the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) after a number of juvenile cheetahs in their breeding project started displaying front leg deformities. Closer examination confirmed that the deformities were a form of relaxed carpal joints or metacarpal paralysis. A similar condition occurs in dogs and horses, usually the result of a magnesium deficiency or unbalanced dietary calcium, phosphorus and magnesium content.

‘The HESC was feeding the cheetahs with good quality meat, but the cubs were clearly not responding well to this diet. Leg deformities had also been reported in cheetahs fed meat-only diets at other breeding and rehabilitation centres in South Africa during the

past five years,’ says Prof Webb, whose teaching and research focuses on various aspects of applied animal production physiology and meat science, with an emphasis on the effects of dietary factors on meat quality and animal reproduction.

The world-renowned cheetah breeding programme was launched at the HESC in response to these predators being placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

However, captive breeding of cheetahs is a notoriously difficult process. Typical challenges include low female fertility, slow growth rates, poor semen quality, and dietary complications. ‘Contrary to common belief, captive cheetahs are generally not better off than their wild counterparts, with many of the detrimental health issues experienced by these captive carnivores rooted in nutritional shortcomings. A number of studies have emphasised that captive cheetahs require fundamentally different diets to their free-roaming counterparts,’ says Prof Webb.

Working with four juvenile cheetahs displaying moderate to severe leg deformity, Prof Webb and master’s student Johan Grobler supplemented the animals’ meat diets with carefully formulated and controlled magnesium intake three times per week.

Since no leg-scoring methods for cheetahs could be found in the available literature, the team used methods designed for horses and dogs to develop a

Prof Edward Webb with a cheetah cub

25TUKKIE

unique scoring system for analysing leg deformities amongst the HESC cheetahs.

‘These juvenile cheetahs at the HESC were weaned early and started to develop the leg deformities soon after birth. We therefore believed that this was an acquired deformity which could be rectified by nutrition in the form of dietary magnesium supplementation,’ says Prof Webb.

The results of the carefully administered magnesium supplementation were remarkable. Within 30 days, all four cheetahs in the study no longer displayed any leg deformities, and all their front legs were normal. Magnesium supplementation was halted after 60

days of treatment, and no deformities have been observed in treated animals to date.

‘Captive breeding programmes play an extremely important role in trying to save cheetahs from extinction. Cheetahs in captivity are totally dependent on the feed they receive from the institution where they are housed. The success of the magnesium supplementation programme at the HESC is a significant step for wildlife nutritionists on the journey to developing a deeper insight into the dietary needs of captive cheetahs, and will hopefully contribute to preserving and growing the cheetah population on the African continent,’ says Prof Webb.

The results of the carefully administered magnesium supplementation were remarkable.

The leg deformity in a juvenile cheetah can be clearly seen in this photograph.

After 60 days of treatment the deformity has disappeared.

Ms Lente Rhoode (photo) established the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre which has become one of the leading private research and breeding facilities for endangered species in the country and works closely with the University of Pretoria.


NAVORSING OOR PASIËNTE MET SUIKERSIEKTE SE LEWENSWYSE

Die Universiteit van Pretoria se Departement Interne Geneeskunde by die Kalafong Akademiese Hospitaal het ’n studie aangepak om die impak van veranderinge in lewenswyse op suikersiektepasiënte te ondersoek.

Suikersiektepasiënte luister aandagtig na die aanbiedinge van die multidissiplinêre span by Kalafong.

Deur Sanku Tsunke

27TUKKIE

Die Departement bedryf die suikersiektekliniek en die doel van die studie is om pasiënte aan te moedig om ’n gesonde lewenswyse te handhaaf.

Hoewel suikersiekte ’n chroniese siektetoestand is wat deesdae doeltreffend beheer kan word, kom dit algemeen in Suid-Afrika voor en is dit tiende op die lys oorsake van sterftes in die land.

Sowat 500 pasiënte met Tipe 2-suikersiekte besoek die suikersiektekliniek by die Kalafong Akademiese Hospitaal waar hulle mediese behandeling en versorging volgens die nasionale riglyne ontvang. Ondanks volgehoue pogings om die glukosevlakke in hul bloed te beheer, toon sowat 90% van die pasiënte steeds verhoogde HbA1c-vlakke, wat op hoë glukosevlakke in die bloed dui.

’n Span bestaande uit ’n mediese spesialis, ’n sielkundige, ’n apteker, ’n dieetkundige, ’n maatskaplike werker, ’n opvoedkundige en ’n fisioterapeut het ‘n multidissiplinêre navorsingsprotokol saamgestel om aandag aan die belangrikste kwessies te gee wat pasiënte se lewenswyse raak.

Uit die groep pasiënte met Tipe 2-suikersiekte is 57 genooi om aan die studie deel te neem, terwyl ’n kontrolegroep van 57 die standaardbehandeling ondergaan. Die kontrolegroep sal nadat die studie

afgehandel is, ook dieselfde ses week lange program volg.

Dr Lizette Schoeman van die Universiteit se Departement Interne Geneeskunde en koördineerder van die projek by die Kalafong Akademiese Hospitaal sê die ondersoek is aangepak omdat pasiënte se glukosevlakke hoog bly ondanks gereelde medikasie. Sy skryf dit onder meer toe

aan ’n ongesonde lewenswyse. Sy sê pasiënte vind dit dikwels moeilik om aan te pas en op hul eie gesond te leef. Hul deelname aan die aktiwiteite van die studiegroep behoort hulle te motiveer om hul lewenswyse te verander.

Deur die studie kan groepleiers geïdentifiseer word wat na lede van hul gemeenskappe kan uitreik. Prof Danie van Zyl, in beheer van die suikersiektekliniek, sê die studie stel pasiënte in staat om hul insig in hul toestand te verbreed. ‘Dit poog om pasiënte te leer hoe om hul lewenswyse aan te pas sodat hulle eienaarskap van en verantwoordelikheid vir hul siekte kan aanvaar.’

Die pas aangestelde Hoof Uitvoerende Beampte van die Kalafong Akademiese Hospitaal, mnr Mogale Mothoagae, het die span van die Universiteit van Pretoria geloof vir die inisiatief om so ‘n program in samewerking met die Hospitaal aan te bied waardeur ’n bewustheid van suikersiekte en die behandeling daarvan in die gemeenskap bevorder kan word.

Suikersiekte kom algemeen in Suid-Afrika

voor en dit is tiende op die lys oorsake van

sterftes in die land.

Van links staan mnr Mogale Mothoagae, Hoof Uitvoerende Beampte van Kalafong Akademiese Hospitaal, mnr Thomas Mosupye en me Jennifer Francis, suikersiektepasiënte, en prof Danie van Zyl, mediese spesialis van die Departement Interne Geneeskunde.

Die toegewyde span spesialiste wat die studie lei: Van links is me Marianna Pietersen, dosent in die Departement Sosiologie, me Marlene Gilfillan, dieetkundige by die Kalafong Akademiese Hospitaal, mnr Dominic Vertue, nagraadse meestersgraadstudent in sosiale wetenskappe, gesondheidsorg, Departement Welsynswerk en Kriminologie, dr Lizette Schoeman, Departement Interne Geneeskunde, prof Danie van Zyl, mediese spesialis van die Departement Interne Geneeskunde, mnr Phillemon Mogashoa, vrywilliger, en mnr Yorke Rodda, opvoedkundige in suikersiekte.


UP honours ACADEMIC achievers

Prof Sue Nicolson received the Chancellor’s Award in the category Research. She teaches in the Department of Zoology and Entomology in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Her research focuses on the physiological aspects of pollination biology by examining pollination from the context of the animals involved, rather than the plants.

The Exceptional Academic Achievers are as follows:

Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology

Prof Theo Bothma is Head of the Department of Information Science and chairperson of the School of Information Technology. His research focuses on information organisation and retrieval (including aspects of information literacy and e-dictionaries),

The University of Pretoria recently presented its annual Academic Achiever Award function to honour its academic achievers and researchers – and to recognise their commitment to quality education and research. The awards were presented to 30 researchers across three categories: the Chancellor’s Award in each of the categories Research, Exceptional Academic Achievers and Exceptional Young Researchers.

Prof Sue Nicolson, middle, received the Chancellor’s Award in the research category. Here she is with the Chancellor of the University of Pretoria, Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu, and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey

29TUKKIE

web development, electronic publishing and curriculum development.

Prof Ian Craig is Section Head of Control Systems in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering in the School of Engineering, a position he has held since 1995.

His research interests include the economic performance assessment of advanced process control; HIV/Aids modelling, identification and control; and modelling and control of systems in mineral and metal processing.

Prof Madeleine du Toit is a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, where she manages the Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) Centre for Welding Engineering. Her primary field of interest is welding metallurgy, in particular the welding of stainless steels and aluminium alloys. She is a qualified international welding engineer (IWE).

Prof Andries Engelbrecht is Head of the Department of Computer Science. He holds the SARChI Chair in Artificial Intelligence.

His main research focus is on computational intelligence, with a particular interest in computational swarm intelligence, evolutionary computation, artificial neural networks, artificial immune systems, and learning from zero-knowledge using competitive co-evolution.

Prof Josua Meyer is Head of the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, and chair of the School of Engineering.

His area of research is convective heat transfer, which relies on the engineering sciences of heat transfer, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. He and his students and colleagues have made it possible to predict the heat transfer characteristics in the previously unknown transitional flow regime.

Prof Xiaohua Xia is a professor in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering,

UP honours ACADEMIC achievers

The Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, fourth from right, photographed with 16 of the University’s 19 Academic Achievers. In the back row from the left are Proffs McKechnie, Pattinson, Bothma, Kirsten, Myburg, Steyn, Meyer and Xia. In front from the left are Proffs Engelbrecht, Van Marle, Coutinho, Auret, Lubuma, Vice-Chancellor De la Rey, Taylor, Du Toit and Craig.

Prof Xiaohua Xia, a NRF A-rated scientist, receives his award from the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey


Director of the Centre of New Energy Systems and Director of the National Hub for the Postgraduate Programme in Energy Efficiency and Demand-side Management. A certified measurement and verification professional, Prof Xia leads the measurement and verification team of the University of Pretoria. His research interests are control systems and automation, and more recently, the modelling and optimisation of energy systems. Prof Xia is an A-rated NRF scientist.

Faculty of Health Sciences

Prof Robert Pattinson is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He is the director of the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies Research Unit and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Kalafong Hospital. His main research interests include obstetrics, medical audits, health systems and effective methods of outreach. He focuses mainly on determining the most effective means of implementing new healthcare strategies and improving current programmes.

Prof Maryna Steyn is a professor in the Department of Anatomy and Director of the Forensic Anthro-pology Research Centre. Her research focuses on human skeletal remains found in both forensic and archaeological contexts. She regularly consults with the South African Police Services on forensic cases and has also been involved in several repatriations of skeletal remains, such as those of Nontetha Bungu, Queen Thomo and the ‘Ebo Four”.

Faculty of Humanities

Prof Charles van Onselen is a historian and research professor in the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, which is affiliated with the Faculty. He has a long-standing interest in the transnational history of Southern Africa, and has worked in various sub-disciplines within the field, ranging from criminal, labour and rural history on the one hand, through to the economic and social history of industrialising regions on the other. Prof van Onselen is an A-rated NRF social scientist.

Faculty of Law

Prof Karin van Marle is Head of the Department of Jurisprudence. Her general area of research is in the field of jurisprudence, legal philosophy and legal theory. The specific focus of her work is to reflect critically on the features of a post-apartheid jurisprudence, but beyond that also to reconfigure such jurisprudence.

Prof Frans Viljoen is Director of the Centre for Human Rights. His research area is international human rights law, with a focus on the African regional human rights system, established under the auspices of the African Union. Prof Viljoen has been involved in advocacy and training on the African regional human rights system.

The University recognised Prof Karin van Marle from the Faculty of Law as an Exceptional Academic Achiever.

Exceptional Academic Achiever Prof Maryna Steyn is Director of the Forensic Anthropology Research Centre (FARC).

31TUKKIE

Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Prof Danie Auret is a professor in the Department of Physics and his research focuses on semiconductor materials and devices, and their applications. The semiconductors that his group investigates include silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) used for high-speed computers, and compound materials such as AlGaN used in the fabrication of daylight-blind ultraviolet (UV) light detectors. In particular, he investigates the defects introduced into semiconductors in fabrication processes and the influence of these defects on device quality.

Prof Nigel Bennett is a professor in Zoology and Entomology and he occupies the SARChI Chair in the field of mammalian behavioural ecology and physiology; and the Austin Roberts Chair of African Mammalogy at UP. Prof Bennett’s research focus is ecology, animal physiology and behaviour, using the African mole rat as his model animal. Prof Bennet is an A-rated NRF scientist.

Prof Teresa Coutinho is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology and the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI). Her research interests include forest pathology, specifically bacterial tree pathogens. She sequenced the genome of the first plant pathogen in Africa and is an authority on Pantoea taxonomy and pathogenicity.

Prof Johann Kirsten is Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development. His research activities remain focused on critical aspects of agricultural policy in South Africa. Major research focus areas include a new institutional economic analysis of agribusiness, the commercialisation of small-scale farmers, and bringing black farmers into the mainstream economy of South Africa.

Prof Jean Lubuma is Head of the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics and holds the SARChI Chair in Mathematical Models and Methods in Bioengineering and Biosciences. His research interests include the numerical analysis of ordinary and partial differential equations, with an emphasis on differential models that occur in engineering and applied sciences. Recently, this focus has been extended to mathematical biology.

Prof Andrew McKechnie is a professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology and a core team member of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the NRF Centre of

Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, based at the University of Cape Town. He is an ecological and evolutionary physiologist whose research focuses on energy and water balance in birds and mammals. A major focus area for Prof McKechnie’s research group is the development of models predicting the impacts of climate change on birds and bats inhabiting hot, arid environments, such as Southern Africa’s Kalahari Desert.

Prof Bob Millar is director of UP’s Mammal Research Institute and director of the UCT/MRC Research Group for Receptor Biology. Broad training, an extensive publishing history and a large patent portfolio have placed Prof Millar at the forefront of health and medical sciences in areas such as

UP Exceptional Academic Achiever Prof Jean Lubuma holds the SARChI Chair in Mathematical Models and Methods in Bioengineering and Biosciences.

Prof Zander Myburg receives his certificate from Prof De la Rey, Vice-Chancellor and Principal.


biochemistry, neuroendocrinology and cancer research. His work has not only broken new ground in understanding human and animal physiology, but also led to new treatments for cancer and other diseases. Prof Millar is an A-rated NRF scientist.

Prof Zander Myburg is a professor in Genetics. He holds the Chair in Forest Genomics and Biotechnology. His research programme in the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) focuses on the genomics and molecular genetics of wood development in fast-growing forest trees and, in particular, the genetic regulation of cellulose biosynthesis in trees.

His research group isolated and characterised the cellulose synthase (CesA) genes active in Eucalyptus trees. More recently his research team produced the first whole-plant gene expression atlas of a Eucalyptus tree and a high-density genetic map of the Eucalyptus genome.

Prof Louis Nel is a professor in Virology in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology who

has done outstanding work on the subject of rabies in South Africa and the rest of the world. Under his guidance many rabies-related research projects are undertaken to promote the quest to eradicate the disease. The research topics include vaccines, dog ecology, epidemiology and diagnostics. As a result of Prof Nel’s work in championing this cause, KwaZulu-Natal has recently been selected as a demonstration site in an international project with the aim to eliminate rabies.

Prof John Taylor is a professor in the Department of Food Science, and theme leader for Functional Biomolecules and Health-promoting Foods at UP’s Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well-being. In recent years, Prof Taylor’s research has focused on the problem of the poor protein quality of foods made from sorghum, a major staple foodstuff of many of the most food-insecure people in Africa’s semi-arid tropics. His research group has developed innovative solutions to alleviate this problem.

Prof Mike Wingfield is the Director of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI),

The Exceptional Young Researchers

Prof Slippers, Dr Oosthuizen, Dr Maritz-Olivier, Prof Birkholz, Dr Folorunso Oludayo Fasina, Prof Fioramonti, Prof Swanepoel with the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, at the award ceremony.

33TUKKIE

which he established in 1998. His research focuses on insect pests and diseases that threaten forests and forestry globally. Using a broad range of approaches (but especially molecular genetic techniques), pests and pathogens arising in many different countries of the world are identified – often for the first time. Prof Wingfield is an A-rated NRF scientist.

The Exceptional Young Researchers are as follows:

Faculty of Humanities

Prof Lorenzo Fioramonti is an associate professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair in Regional Integration and Governance Studies where he directs the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn). His current research focuses on governance processes and innovations, in particular regional integration, bottom-up citizen-driven change and global ‘crises” – including environmental degradation and climate change.

Prof De Wet Swanepoel is an associate professor in Audiology in the Department of Communication Pathology. Hearing loss is the most prevalent chronic disability and is ranked among the top contributors to the global burden of disease. Prof Swanepoel’s research and clinical interests span the field of early identification and diagnosis of hearing loss, objective measures of auditory functioning, and ear and hearing telehealth. His research aims to improve timely access to hearing health care to underserved populations.

Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Prof Lyn-Marié Birkholtz is an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry. As part of the Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control, Prof Birkholtz heads the Malaria Parasite Molecular Laboratory and is a leader in the discipline of antimalarial target discovery for sustainable malaria control. She holds the SARChI Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control.

Dr Christine Maritz-Olivier is a senior lecturer in the Department of Genetics who does research on ticks and tick-borne diseases. Her research includes the development of anti-tick vaccines, and in collaboration with Pfizer Animal Health (Pty) laboratories, her group is focusing on understanding the genetic diversity of ticks throughout South Africa, their current acaricide resistance status and tick-borne pathogen profiles. The third research focus area involves tick-borne pathogens, Babesia

divergens and Anaplasma marginale and the fourth is the development of vector-control strategies for haematophagous vectors such as mosquitoes and biting midges in collaboration with the NHLS Vector Control Unit.

Dr Marietjie Oosthuizen is a research fellow in the Department of Zoology and Entomology. Her research interests include neuroendocrinology and anatomy of reproduction, circadian biology, memory and learning of African mole rats in particular, although other small mammals are not excluded.

Prof Bernard Slippers is a professor in Genetics. He is one of the research leaders of both the Tree Protection Cooperative Programme and DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI). His research focus is on the molecular ecology and evolution of insects and micro-organisms that affect tree health, with a particular focus on anthropogenic influences on these populations and ways of reducing their impact.

Faculty of Veterinary Science

Dr Folorunso Oludayo Fasina is a senior lecturer in the Department of Production Animal Studies. His area of research is viral epidemiology of transboundary animal diseases, animal disease economics and ecology, and disease modelling. Specifically, he has worked on highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, African swine fever (ASF), and other animal diseases.

Dr Folorunso Oludayo Fasina is a senior lecrurer in the Department of Production Animal Studies


This group of graduates consisted of 133 doctorates, 1 018 master’s degrees and 3 151 honours degrees.

• TheVanHeerdentriplets,Elana,Carlaand Marli, all became medical doctors on 5 April when they received their MBChB degrees.

• MatthewBrittain,oneofthefourOlympic rowers who won a gold medal in 2012, received an honours degree in economics on 10 April.

• AdriandJennivanderMerwe,amotheranddaughter, received their doctoral and master’s degrees respectively, both in communication management, on 11 April.

• NorbetKoch,whorecentlywontheregional competition of the 26th Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Awards with his master’s thesis in architecture focusing on urban renewal in Pretoria West, received his master’s degree on 17 April.

• Twohonorarydoctorateswerealsoawarded during the Autumn Graduation Ceremonies to Prof Njabulo Ndebele, an acclaimed author, academic and new Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg on 3 April (DLitt, honoris causa) and Prof Sampie Terreblanche, a well-known political economist (DCom, honoris causa) on 10 April.

The Award of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal for the top academic achievers in the nine faculties were awarded to:

• Education–MsAmorEtsebeth

• NaturalandAgriculturalSciences–MrHenryRobert Thackeray

• Engineering,BuiltEnvironmentandInformationTechnology – Mr Björn Erik Andersen

• Theology–MrAdriaanFrancoisDeNeckerVogel

• EconomicandManagementSciences–MsJacqueline van Lelyveld

• Law–MsLinetteMarieduToit

• HealthSciences–MrJacobusBenjaminOpperman

• Humanities–MsMargueriteFlorencedeWaal

• VeterinaryScience–MsRoxanneKateBuck

After Unisa, UP is the South African university that annually confers the most bachelor’s and honours degrees. In 2012, UP held more than 40 graduation ceremonies during which a total of 12 981 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded to successful candidates. In April 2012, 9 087 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded, compared to the 11 348 in April 2013.

The distance education ceremonies took place from 7 to 17 May in Polokwane, Nelspruit, Durban and East London.

Tukkie nuus news

Autumn Graduation Ceremonies make UP proud A total of 11 348 graduates received their degrees and diplomas in the University’s Autumn Graduation Ceremonies that took place from 3 to 25 April in the Rembrandt Hall at the LC de Villiers Sports Grounds.

35TUKKIE

HONORARY DOCTORATES TO NOTABLE SCHOLARS

The University honoured Prof Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele with a Doctor of Literature (honoris causa) on the first day of the Autumn Graduation Ceremonies on 3 April.

The accomplished author and academic is the Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Prof Ndebele has received honorary doctorates from universities in the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Japan and South Africa. The University of Cambridge awarded him an honorary doctorate in law in 2006, while the University of Michigan repeated this honour in 2008. He has also received awards from Lincoln University, the National University of Lesotho, and is an honorary fellow of Churchill College, University of Cambridge.

‘Njabulo Ndebele is one of our country’s foremost writers and academics. As an internationally respected author, he has published short stories and novels, as well as very important works of criticism and social commentary,’ says Prof Norman Duncan, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities.

On 10 April, Prof Sampie Terreblanche received an honorary doctorate (DCom, honoris causa) in absentia from the UP Department of Economics in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Prof Terreblanche has made a lifelong contribution to the discipline of economics in South Africa and played a major role in improving the understanding of the political economy and economic history of the country.

He has taught Economics for 54 years until 2011 and is known for his involvement in party politics which included clandestine meetings with the ANC at the end of the 1980s.

Prof Terreblanche has published 11 books, more than 30 journal articles and contributed several chapters in books. He is a prolific writer of newspaper articles, mainly on political and economic issues during South Africa’s transition period from 1980 onwards. He regards Politieke ekonomie en sosiale welvaart (1986) and A history of inequality in South Africa: 1652—2002 (2002) as his most important books.

In 2012, he published Lost in transformation: South Africa’s search for a new future since 1986, which is an update of the final chapter in A history of inequality in South Africa: 1652—2002.

Prof Terreblanche’s daughter, Christelle Terreblanche, received the hononary doctorate on his behalf.

Prof Njabulo Ndebele receives his doctorate.

Prof Sampie TerreblanchePicture: Werner Roux


nuus news

Erkenning aan emeritusprofessore Die Departement Ou-Testamentiese Wetenskap in die Fakulteit Teologie het op 15 Maart akademiese erkenning gegee aan proff Bart Oberholzer en Andries Breytenbach vir hul bydrae tot die Departement en vir baanbrekerswerk op die gebied van Bybelvertaling.

Proff Oberholzer en Breytenbach is vereer vir die navorsing wat hulle gedoen het, vir die doktorale studente wat onder albei gepromoveer het, hul leiersposisies in die Fakulteit en in die Departement Ou-Testamentiese Wetenskap, asook hul baanbrekerswerk in inheemse Bybelvertaling.

Prof Breytenbach was betrokke by die vertaling van die Bybel in isiNdebele wat eers in 2012 aan die Ndebele-gemeenskap oorhandig is. Prof Oberholzer was op sy beurt betrokke by ‘n Bybel vir dowes wat die beperkte woordeskat van gehoorgestremdes in ag geneem en ‘n Bybelvertaling vir hul eiesoortige behoefte geskep het. Hy was ook betrokke by ‘n Konkordansie van die Afrikaanse Bybelvertaling (1983). Albei professore was nou betrokke by die Afrikaanse Bybelvertalings van 1983 en Die Bybel: ‘n direkte vertaling van die Bybelgenootskap van Suid Afrika.

* Prof Oberholzer is op 4 Mei 2013 in die ouderdom van 85 jaar oorlede.

Prof Andries Breytenbach (links) en prof Bart Oberholzer saam met die Dekaan van die Fakulteit Teologie, prof Johan Buitendag (regs) toe hulle vereer is vir onder meer hul baanbrekerswerk in inheemse Bybelvertaling.

37TUKKIE

UP awarded research chairs

The University received the SARChl Chair in Mathematical Models and Methods in Bioengineering and Biosciences. Prof Jean Lubuma, Head of the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, will lead this prestigious research chair with a budget of R2,5 million per year.

The University was also awarded the SARChl Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control with a budget of R1,5 million per year, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) through the National Research Foundation (NRF).

SARChI was established by the South African government as a strategic intervention to reverse the brain drain in the public academic and research sector. In particular, the programme aims to increase scientific research capacity through the development of human ability and to stimulate the generation of new knowledge.

Although mathematics has long been associated with the biological sciences, a heightened synergy between biology and mathematics has emerged over the past few decades, contributing greatly to the enrichment and expansion of both fields.

The Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics has been working with the School

for Biological Sciences since 2007. Since then milestones in research activity include the 2008 and 2010 workshops on mathematical epidemiology and the launch of the Biomath Forum in 2011 – an interdisciplinary research gathering for the exchange of ideas between mathematicians and biologists at the University.

The research focus of the Chair in Mathematical Models and Methods in Bioengineering and Biosciences lies at the intersection of mathematical modelling of biological processes, and a spectrum of mathematical specialisations broadly located within analysis. ‘The biological processes to be considered by the Chair are highly relevant to the needs of the country,’ says Prof Lubuma. These include mathematical epidemiology – specifically the identification of adequate responses to new diseases and older forms of new diseases, such as HIV/Aids and other communicable diseases that pose a massive threat to development in South Africa and beyond.

Another interesting initiative created within this Chair is the Under-Twenty Mathematicians (UTM) programme, which aims to identify, recruit and groom talented young South Africans to become mathematicians, a category that dominates the national scarce skills list.

Sustainable malaria control

UP is one of the leading institutions in malaria research in South Africa, recognised for its focus on malaria parasite biology, functional genomics, structure-based drug discovery efforts, innovative vector control strategies, and public health and community engagement. These are a few of the reasons why the University was awarded the SARChl Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control with a budget of R1,5 million per year, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) through the National Research Foundation (NRF).

The Chair will be headed by Prof Lyn-Marie Birkholtz, an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and a member of the UP Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control (UPCSMC). She is also a member of the European Virtual Institute of

nuus news

The University of Pretoria was awarded two research chairs from the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChl).

Prof Jean Lubuma

Continue on p 38


Malaria Research. The Chair will be hosted within the UPCSMC. Prof Birkholtz is a leader in the discipline of anti-malarial target discovery for sustainable malaria control. As a chair holder, her expertise will be utilised to investigate sustainable mechanisms to control not only the malaria parasite itself, but also its mosquito vector.

Malaria is responsible for almost a million deaths around the world annually. Ninety per cent of these deaths occur in Africa, while ten per cent of the South African population is at risk of contracting the disease. The vision of the UPCSMC is to make a substantial contribution towards the creation of a malaria-free Africa, and to do so in a sustainable manner by employing trans-disciplinary strategies.

UP Water Institute

The Water Institute of the University of Pretoria (UP) applied for six of the seven available Rand Water research chairs, of which four were ultimately awarded. The successful applications include the two chair positions applied for by Prof Fanie van Vuuren and Prof Stephan Heyns in civil engineering and mechanical engineering, respectively; a chair position addressing public health applied for by Prof Maureen Taylor and the position of a chair in microbiology applied for by Prof Fanus Venter. Each of the chair positions spans five years, along with a grant of about R1 million per year.

Prestigious AU AWARD for Prof

Mike WingfieldProf Mike Wingfield, Director of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, has been awarded the prestigious African Union (AU) Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Award in the category Earth and Life Sciences.

The AU Scientific Award Programme is a symbol of the commitment of AU heads of state and governments to raise community awareness and to engage African citizens in science. It also seeks to improve technology programmes and strengthen the continent’s research capacity.

In 2012, Prof Wingfield was awarded the Johanna Westerdijk Award by the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (Fungal Biodiversity Centre) in the Netherlands. In November the same year, he also received an honorary DSc degree from the University of British Columbia.

Prof Wingfield has published widely on the topic of tree health in more than 600 research papers and five books. As an invited speaker, he has made numerous presentations globally. He has served in many distinguished positions and has received multiple awards and honours for his contribution to education, research and industry in South Africa and abroad. Based on these contributions, he has been elected as a fellow by several scientific societies, including the Royal Society of South Africa, the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology and the American Phytopathological Society. He is one of the few honorary members of the Mycological Society of America.

The award was presented to Prof Wingfield on 25 May 2013, at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Prof Mike Wingfield

Continue from p 37

UP awarded research chairs

Prof Lyn-Marie Birkholtz

39TUKKIE

nuus new

s

MERIETEBEURS VIR SLIM MATRIKULANT‘n Matrikulant wat op haar eie vir die matriekeksamen gestudeer en vyf onderskeidings behaal het, studeer nou ingenieurswese by die Universiteit.

Me Grace Mbele het met haar uitstekende matriekuitslae ook gekwalifiseer vir ‘n merietebeurs van die Universiteit van Pretoria wat R18 000 beloop. Me Mbele het aanvanklik gedink sy sal nie kan gaan studeer nie omdat sy aan die begin van die jaar

nog nie ‘n beurs gehad het nie. Sy het verlede jaar gedurende die dag gestudeer en saans as kelnerin gewerk. Haar niggie het haar twee kinders opgepas terwyl sy gaan werk het.

Toe daar in Beeld berig is oor me Mbele se prestasie en die feit dat sy nie by die Universiteit kon inskryf omdat sy nie die registrasiefooi kon betaal nie, is die koerant oorval met aanbiedinge vir me Mbele. Sy het afgesien van die Universiteit se merietebeurs ‘n volle beurs van Delta Built Environment Consultants gekry. Sy was in Januarie een van sowat 10 000 eerstejaarstudente wat die akademiese jaar by die Universiteit begin het.

Me Grace Mbele by die Universiteit se Kliëntedienssentrum

Photo by: Lisa Hnatowicz/Foto24

nuus new

s


DRIELING WORD DOKTERSDie drielingsusters Carla, Elana en Marli van Heerden het tydens die Universiteit se herfsgradeplegtigheid saam as mediese praktisyns gegradueer.

Die susters is in Pretoria gebore en het in 2006 aan die Helpmekaar Kollege in Johannesburg gematrikuleer, elk met sewe onderskeidings. In 2007 het hulle vir die program Baccalaureus in Genees- en Snykunde (MBChB) aan die Universiteit van Pretoria geregistreer. Hulle was ses jaar lank in Huis Carlitzia, die Universiteit se enigste dameskoshuis wat vir alle studente in die gesondheidswetenskappe voorsiening maak. Die susters skryf hul sukses toe aan harde werk, toewyding, die uitruil van idees en onderlinge ondersteuning.

Elana het met haar internskap by die Groote Schuur-hospitaal in Kaapstad begin. Carla doen haar internskap by die Charlotte Maxeke-hospitaal in Johannesburg en Marli is by die Kalafong-hospitaal in Tshwane. Al drie susters stem saam dat dit nog te vroeg is om ’n voorkeurspesialiteit te kies.

Die gegradueerdes se ouers, wat albei Tuks-alumni uit die 1970’s is, woon in Randburg. Mev Sanette van Heerden het ’n Baccalaureus in Opvoedkunde

en mnr Piet van Heerden ’n Baccalaureus in Inligtingtegnologie. Mev Van Heerden sê sy is baie ingenome met haar kinders se prestasie en beskou hulle as goeie studente wat hulle toegewy het aan hul skoolwerk en selfgemotiveerd is.

Die Dekaan van die Fakulteit Gesondheidsweten-skappe by die Universiteit van Pretoria, prof Eric Buch, het die groep van meer as 200 mediese dokters wat hierdie jaar gegradueer het, gelukgewens. Hy het kommentaar gelewer op die drie mediese studente se buitengewone omstandighede, hoe elkeen op eie meriete deur die Universiteit se mediese skool aanvaar is en hoe hulle saam gestudeer en gegradueer het.

‘Die Universiteit se mediese skool handhaaf hoë kwaliteitstandaarde. Die drieling het goed gevaar en aan hierdie standaarde voldoen,’ het prof Buch gesê.

Hy het bygevoeg dat die Universiteit van Pretoria se Fakulteit Gesondheidswetenskappe gehoor gegee het aan die oproep deur die nasionale Minister van Gesondheid, dr Aaron Motsoaledi, om ’n verdere 160 mediese dokters op te lewer. Prof Buch het ook sy waardering uitgespreek teenoor die akademiese personeel, wat die privaat sektor kon betree en groter salarisse kon verdien het, maar verkies het om tot die gemeenskap by te dra deur gesondheidspraktisyns van gehalte op te lei.

41TUKKIE

CSA plans Centre of Excellence

CSA unveiled these exciting plans on 15 April. The project is a joint undertaking between CSA and the University that has made the land available free of charge on a long-term basis. The facility will be used by the University’s cricket club, while, in terms of the agreement, the Centre of Excellence will have the use of the University’s main cricket oval.

‘The CSA Centre of Excellence will compare favourably with similar centres around the world, such as at Loughborough, England, Brisbane, Australia and at the International Cricket Council (ICC) headquarters in Dubai,’ commented CSA Acting CEO, Mr Naasei Appiah. ‘It will contribute to the long-term success of cricket in South Africa. The support of the University of Pretoria and the hpc as well as the passion of CSA for excellence will ensure that the CSA Centre of Excellence will be the best in the world.’

The University welcomed the expanded relationship with the CSA for another nine years. The Vice- Chancellor, Professor Cheryl de la Rey, said the Centre of Excellence will contribute to the University’s

commitment to excellence in its core business of teaching, learning and research as well as in all its endeavours, including sport. UP’s contribution to the nation’s sporting success internationally, as reflected in the 2012 Olympics, will be extended with the addition of the CSA facility.

Mr Appiah said this new facility will be used for all national cricket teams, including national squads for the disabled and differently-abled cricket. It will not just cater for the high performance needs of CSA, but will serve as a base for various transformation initiatives of CSA to address the imbalances in the own country.

CSA General Manager: Cricket, Corrie van Zyl, said the new facility will include a video analysis laboratory. This will create an opportunity to set up an ICC-accredited testing facility for illegal bowling actions. ‘This will not only mean that CSA can test its own professional players at a fraction of the cost, but we will be able to test professional cricketers from all over the world.’

A brand new R30 million Cricket South Africa (CSA) Centre of Excellence is to be built at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre (hpc).

An impression of the north-facing façade of the CSA Centre of Excellence to be constructed at the hpc on the University’s sports grounds.

nuus news


hpc planning for 2016 and beyond...

On 6 February, Mr Toby Sutcliffe, Chief Executive Officer of the University’s high performance centre (hpc), announced their planning schedule leading up to 2016.

He reminded all present at the announcement that the hpc delivered half of South Africa’s 2012 Olympic medals. ‘We will put all our resources and efforts behind these 57 athletes to ensure that they will be given every opportunity to perform at the highest level – and to do the University, the hpc and the country proud.

‘A number of these athletes were also on the Road to London and Beyond programme – and we believe that their time in the sun is just around the corner.

We are proud to have these athletes base themselves at the University of Pretoria’s hpc and actively make use of our Sports Science and Medical Unit support, provided daily to them and their coaches.’

The hpc’s Sports Science and Medical Unit, in partnership with the University’s Institute for Sports Research and the Sports Medicine Department, will ensure that UP’s athletes receive all the support and assistance they need to perform at the highest level in preparation for the next Olympic Games.

The hpc supports multiple sporting codes, namely athletics (including race walking), swimming, rowing, canoeing, golf, judo, mountain biking and triathlon.

The hpc and TuksSport have identified 57 athletes as potential 2016 Olympic medallists.

Part of the group of 57 athletes identified as potential 2016 Olympic medallists

nuus news

43TUKKIE

It is with sadness that the University has learned of the passing of Mr Ben Alberts, alumnus, member of the Convocation and former Chairman of the University Council.

In a statement the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, expressed the University’s sincere condolences to Mr Alberts’ family.

Barend Christiaan (Ben) Alberts was born in Pretoria in September 1939. He completed the BSc (Agric Eng) at the University of Pretoria in 1963 and the BSc (Min Eng) in 1965. Mr Alberts made a tremendous impact in the mining industry in this country. He ultimately played a pivotal role in the establishment of new mines, international dealings in the mining sector and the separate listing of Iscor Steel and Kumba Resources to form the current entities of ArcelorMittal, Kumba Iron Ore and Exxaro Resources. In 2011 he received the SAIMM Brigadier Stokes Memorial Award for the very highest achievement in the South African mining and metallurgical industry.

At the University of Pretoria Mr Alberts founded MOVUP, the Society for Former Mining Students of UP in 1979, which was instrumental in fostering cooperation between the mining sector and the UP Department of Mining. In 1979 he was appointed as Chairperson of the committee for the rebuilding of Kya Rosa in Hatfield, a project for which he was awarded the Tuks Alumni Chairperson’s Award in 1986. He served on the Alumni Society, of which he was President from 1988 to 1992. In 1990 he received the Tuks Alumni Laureate Award.

In September 1988 he was elected by the Convocation to serve as a member of the University Council. He served as the Chairman of the Audit

Committee and was elected Council Chairman in 1999, a position he held until August 2003. During the 2008 UP centenary celebrations Mr Alberts received the Chancellor’s Medal for his service as Chair of the Council. He also initiated and served on the UP Advisory Board of the Department of Mining Engineering. We honour Mr Alberts for the tremendous contribution he made to the University on a wide range of fronts.

Ben Alberts excelled in the field of sport and among other achievements played prop for the Blue Bulls in 23 games between 1960 and 1967. He was a great lover of nature and the environment, with a particular interest in trees. He was a great motivator of people and had a passion for young people and for helping the less fortunate. He therefore established the Ben Alberts Bursary Fund for the benefit of needy students.

In 1964 Ben Alberts married Ansie van der Wath of Ermelo. They have three sons, three daughters, two adopted children and many grandchildren. After his retirement he and his wife spent much of their time with their children and grandchildren, and at their game and eco farm in Piet Retief. Following a stroke, he passed away in a Pretoria hospital on Monday, 8 April 2013 at the age of 74.

BEN ALBERTS(16 September 1939 — 8 April 2013)

In memoriam

Tukkie 2013 autumn

Education

Transcript of Tukkie 2013 autumn