UWC 360 issue 15

THREE-SIXT-E | ALUMNI E-NEWSLETTER | ISSUE 15/DECEMBER 2015

ALUMNI E-NEWSLETTER | ISSUE 15/DECEMBER 2015

Contact the Alumni Relations Offi ce:Tel: +27 21 959 2143 | Fax: 021 959 9791 | Email: [email protected] | www.uwc.ac.za/alumni

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PAGE ONE

Higher education at a turning pointIn what has been described as the biggest uprising in South Africa since the fall of apartheid, the country’s higher education sector was shaken to the core when thousands of students staged protests across the country in the #FeesMustFall campaign.

The campaign was initially in response to plans to increase fees at Wits and the University of Cape Town in 2016, but protesters’ demands soon included free education, the ‘decolonisation’ and transformation of the higher education institutions, insourcing of outsourced work (mostly cleaning and security staff) and the scrapping of student debt.

UWC, led by Rector and Vice-Chancellor Professor Tyrone Pretorius, supported the campaign and heeded the national call to close for two days in solidarity with students. “UWC has been at the forefront of championing equitable and affordable access to higher education and empathises with our students and their peers nationally,” Prof Pretorius wrote in a communiqué to the University community.

During the campaign, thousands of students marched to Parliament in Cape Town and to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. After several incidents of intimidation, violence and destruction of property at UWC’s Bellville campus, the University community, including Chancellor Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Prof Pretorius and the executive management team, academic and support staff, alumni

and students, worked together under trying circumstances to restore calm and continue with the academic year. Following President Jacob Zuma’s announcement that no fees would increase for 2016 at all universities, UWC’s management held mass meetings with staff and students. An agreement was reached to work together to seek solutions to all the problems raised by students.

Subsequently, the University Council agreed that: UWC will issue a concessionary instrument to provide debt relief to UWC’s NSFAS-eligible students for 2013–2015; UWC will develop a means test to identify students who fall outside of the NSFAS threshold but require some fi nancial support; academically eligible students will not be excluded on the basis of outstanding debt; and, all outsourced staff (cleaning, security, gardens and grounds staff) will receive a R2 000 monthly allowance and be eligible for study rebates on the same basis as permanent staff.

“I wish to thank the UWC community for its understanding and support as well as both the SRC and the #FeesMustFall leadership for the spirit in which the meetings took place,” Prof Pretorius said afterwards. “The past two weeks have been taxing on all of us and I have assured the SRC and the #FeesMustFall movement of my commitment to work tirelessly to rebuild relationships and address some of the hurt experienced by all parties. I hope that as a staff community and as a broader campus community we can similarly restore our unity of purpose.”

HolidaysHAPPY


PAGE TWO

Welcome to Issue 15 of Three-Sixt-e, the last newsletter for 2015.

As a country, we continue to face immense social and economic up-heaval, and an educated nation is the only viable long-term solution to a sustainable future. The student pro-tests relating to the #FeesMustFall campaign have signifi cantly altered the face of South Africa’s higher education sector, and UWC has not been exempted from this. In this issue, we report on the #FeesMustFall events on campus.

We celebrated the outstanding achievements of some of our alumni who were honoured at this year’s Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumni Awards and Dinner. We also report on the award of national SARChI research chairs to Professors Patricia Hayes and Helen Schneider. Thirteen of the prestigious NRF-DST SARChI research chairs are now at UWC.

Other alumni featured in this issue are Sidney Martin, one of Namibia’s most successful business people and Dr Fulufhelo Netswera, Dean of Postgraduate Studies at the Univer-sity of Johannesburg. Samantha Castle, the Manager of the Alumni Relations Offi ce and also an alumna, represented UWC at the YaleGALE Leadership Conference at Yale Uni-versity in the United States.

On the sporting front, UWC hosted another successful Golf Day in Cape Town and UWC’s men’s football team were crowned 2015 Varsity Football champions playing in front of a home crowd, with the ladies’ team ending the tournment as losing fi nalists to TUT.

Happy reading!

Patricia Lawrence Pro Vice-ChancellorDepartment of Institutional Advancement

Developing communities The Offi ce of Leadership and Social Responsibility at the Centre for Student Support Services hosted its annual Leadership and Social Responsibility (LSR) Alumni Day on 3 October 2015.

The event saw many current and former students, who participated in the Emerging Leaders, Advanced Leaders, Enactus (for-merly known as SIFE) and Remember And Give (RAG) LSR programmes, coming to-gether to discuss how alumni could make a positive and lasting change in communities.

“As students these individuals spent countless hours working in communities, living up to the University’s graduate attributes of critical citizenship and social good,” explains Juanitill Pettus, one of the organisers. “The event was an opportunity to once again draw ideas from these brilliant minds on how we can continue to make an impact through the establishment of the LSR alumni association.”

Participants who made presentations on their work included Arlene Bock of the Sozo Foundation, which works in the Vrygrond community near Muizenberg, and student Mauricia Abdol of the Ad-vanced Leaders Programme, who is in-

volved in the Waumbe Youth Develop-ment Centrein Fisantekraal. “They are great examples of a small group of peo-ple that identifi ed a need in the commu-nity and put its shoulder to the wheel to address the need. These organisations are at various stages of their develop-ment and levels of impact but what they have in common are individuals who de-cided to use what was in their hands to be the answer,” Pettus says.

She notes that many UWC alumni are from poor communities that lack positive role models and hope. “We as graduates have a responsibility to go back to these communities and show other young people that there is hope by getting our hands dirty and offering a hand up.”

The LSR alumni association acts as a meeting point for individuals who want to contribute but are not sure where to start. “Our aim is to provide a pool of different initiatives, run by current and past UWC students, where anyone can join according to their availability, interest and resources,” says Pettus. “It can be as small as buying one toiletry item for a Grade Four class or giving a motivational talk at a high school in your community.”

Editorial

Current students and alumni attended the LSR Alumni Day event on 3 October.

The April 2016 Graduation will take place from Monday 11 April to Wednesday 13 April 2016 at the UWC Main Hall.

The Yale/UWC Leadership Conference will be held at UWC on Friday, 8 July 2016.

Times and details to be announced.


PAGE THREE

The recipients of the 2015 Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumni Awards.

It was an elegant affair when The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, Chancel-lor of the University of the Western Cape, hosted honoured alumni and guests at the second annual Chancel-lor’s Dinner and Outstanding Alumni Awards evening in October 2015.

Receiving awards at the event were Ms Nargis Gani, Dr Nomafrench Mbombo and Prof Leila Patel in the Women in Leadership category; Dr Razeena Omar and Mr Ashley Uys in the Science and Technology category; Adv Hishaam Mohamed in the Law category; Dr Tanushree Pillay and Mr Tobias Titus in the Sports Education or Administration category; and Prof Nicolette Roman and Prof Praneet Valodia in the Health Sciences category.

Two stalwarts of UWC, Professors Daan Cloete and Jaap Durand, were honoured with special recognition awards.

UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tyrone Pretorius, com-mended the alumni for their contribu-tions to their respective fi elds and na-tion building, and also for contributing to UWC.

“Tonight we are here to publicly state that we recognise that UWC’s reputa-tion is also directly infl uenced by the quality of the graduates that we pro-duce. Our alumni are the ambassadors who visibly, and sometimes silently, hoist the fl ag of UWC,” he said.

Awardees took the oportunity to recall their experiences at UWC and paid

tribute to their alma mater for laying the foundation of their professional success.

Ms Nargis said, “The honour of recog-nition is humbling. UWC has groomed me on the path to success…Thank you for nurturing in me the skills to make a change in society. This award inspires me to do better and do more.”

Mr Uys, the youngest recipient, said, “The mentorship I got at UWC assisted me in growing to have the skill set to start businesses. It really is a place of quality, a place to grow.”

Reminding the gathering of UWC’s ethos of societal development, Adv Mo-hamed asked: “What is it about UWC that inspires us? It is a camaraderie shared by students, that commands us to make a difference in people’s lives.”

In his address, Prof Pretorius ac-knowledged the current challenges faced in the higher education sector. “The issues that are being raised are important and complex. They call for serious consideration by a broad range of role-players. Higher educa-tion is a national asset and therefore a matter of national concern. These challenges call for true leadership and require us to think together and to work towards long-term solutions that will safeguard the academic integrity of our universities, protect and ensure the dignity of students and, most im-portantly, recognise the important role of higher education and access to higher education in building a sustain-able future for our country.”

UWC Chancellor honours top alumni

A lifelong entrepreneur As a child UWC alumnus Sidney Martin sold sweets, cooldrinks and chips at soccer fi elds. He built a wire car which he rented out to other children. He then bought a bicycle from the money he earned that he also allowed others to rent.

From this small beginning, Martin has be-come one of Namibia’s most successful businessmen. Among many interests, he is the largest breeder of Simmental cattle in Africa and was reportedly Namibia’s fi rst black commercial dairy producer. His exceptional leadership is refl ected in the fact that he sits on over 20 boards.

In 2010 he was selected as one of the New Leaders of Tomorrow by the Crans Montana Forum, an infl uential Swiss non-governmental organisation. He was inducted as a laureate in the Namibian Business Hall of Fame in 2007 and voted Business Personality of the Year by the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry in 2008. Martin graduated from UWC with a BA Law degree in 1991.

While education contributed to his suc-cess, taking action and being willing to risk the unknown were crucial. “‘I don’t have experience’ is the excuse that most people give for not moving forward,” he says. “Even though experience is impor-tant, the only way to get experience is by doing something.”

Martin believes community involvement is “of paramount importance” for today’s business sector. “Communities are con-tributors to the growth of the company. One will not have a stable economy if there is no positive interaction between enterprise owners and the community.”

Martin still has strong links with his alma mater. He funds the UWC Namibian As-sociation and keeps Namibian students abreast of activities and available opportu-nities in Namibia.

PAGE FOUR


Second Annual Chancellor’s Dinner and Outstanding Alumni Awards

1. 2015 Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumni Awards recipients.

2. (From left) UWC Chancellor, Dr Thabo Makgoba, special awardees Professors Jaap Durand and Gerhard Daniel (Daan) Cloete, and UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tyrone Pretorius.

3. Awardee Nargis Gani (far right) and family were greeted by UWC Chancellor, Dr Thabo Makgoba.

4. (From left) Awardee Tanushree Pillay and UWC Dean of Community and Health Sciences Professor Josè Frantz.

5. UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tyrone Pretorius welcomes guests to the 2015 Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumni Awards evening.

6. Awardee Professor Nicolette Roman alongside husband Allan Roman.

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7. Awardee Praneet Valodia (left) and family were greeted by UWC Chancellor, Dr Thabo Makgoba (right).

8. (From left) UWC Chancellor, Dr Thabo Makgoba and Dr Razeena Omar, who received an award for her outstanding contribution to her fi eld in the category of Science and Technology.

9. Alumni Relations Manager Samantha Castle welcomes guests.

10. Advocate Hishaam Mohamed (right) receives his award in the Law category for his contribution to the legal fraternity from UWC Chancellor, Dr Thabo Makgoba (left).

11. (From left) UWC Dean of Community and Health Sciences Professor Josè Frantz and Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, who received the award in the category for Women in Leadership for her contribution to the Health fi eld.

12. Professor Leila Patel received the Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus Award in the category of Women in Leadership for her outstanding contribution to the fi eld of Social Development.

13. (From left) UWC Chancellor, Dr Thabo Makgoba handing Tobias Titus his award in the Sports Education or Administration category for his contribution to the fi eld of Sports.

14. Awardee Ashley Uys is welcomed by UWC Chancellor, Dr Thabo Makgoba, Samantha Castle, Alumni Relations Manager (middle), and Patricia Lawrence, Pro Vice-Chancellor in the Department of Institutional Advancement.

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PAGE SIX

UWC’s standing as a research institu-tion was boosted recently when two more national research chairs were awarded to the University.

Professor Patricia Hayes is the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Visual History and Theory, and Professor Helen Schneider is the SARChI Chair in Health Systems Governance. No other SARChI chairs conduct work in these distinctive fi elds. The latest awards bring UWC’s current total of SARChI chairs to 13, having started with just one in 2008.

The South African Research Chairs Ini-tiative was established by the Depart-ment of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation (NRF) as a strategic intervention to increase sci-

entifi c research capacity by empowering top researchers to develop in particular fi elds. Professor Hayes will explore the challenges faced in visual studies, inves-tigating key methodological and episte-mological questions, as well as issues of civil engagement and representation through popular arts or social media.

Professor Schneider will build the fi eld of health policy and systems research, with particular focus on health systems governance. This Chair will provide the opportunity to consolidate a world-class hub in the global south in the emerging fi eld of health policy and systems research, complementing the existing Chair in Health Systems Complexity and Social Change at UWC’s School of Public Health – where Prof Schneider serves as director.

The award of the two research chairs – among 42 chairs awarded following the latest round of SARChI applications – fol-lows a number of other achievements by the University’s researchers in recent months. Prof Marla Tiffi n won a presti-gious DST Women in Science Award, SANBI Director Prof Alan Christoffels re-ceived the Hamilton Naki award for a dis-tinguished research and outreach career, and Prof Andrew Russ Taylor and Prof Romeel Dave earned NRF A-ratings.

“These awards are testimony to an effec-tive support structure, to UWC’s growing reputation and standing as a research institution of note, and to the unique and pioneering nature of the work being done by our scholars,” comments Prof Frans Swanepoel, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research & Innovation at UWC.

More SARChI chairs awarded to UWC

Alumni from Yale University in the United States will be visiting UWC in 2016 following UWC’s participa-tion in the 2015 Yale Global Alumni Leadership Exchange Forum (Yale-Gale) from 17 to 21 November.

UWC Alumni Relations Manager, Samantha Castle, joined alumni pro-fessionals from various universities around the world for the fi ve-day event in New Haven, Connecticut. Among the topics discussed were volunteer engagement, cultivating alumni con-nections, reunion attendance, strategic planning in alumni relations, maintain-ing relationships and a lifetime of giving. There was a separate session to discuss the YaleGale visit to South African universities. Yale University has had alumni structures for two

hundred years (the Yale Alumni Fund was launched in 1890!). It has alumni relations partnerships with different universities and intends working with UWC. A conference is scheduled to take place at UWC next year as part of the YaleGale programme.

The idea of the Leadership Exchange Forum was to share ideas and bench-marks around the role of alumni in as-sisting the University to promote the cul-ture of giving and engagement. “If there are proven models in place already, it’s an opportunity for Yale to share some of those with us and for us to share with them what we are doing,” says Castle. “This was a great learning opportunity for me to explore what my peers are doing internationally and how we can use dif-ferent ideas to improve our alumni activi-ties, programmes and structures.”

Castle believes that the UWC alumni can assist not only with their time, en-gagement, volunteering and mentor-ing, but also with building the endow-ment fund for bursaries and the sustainability of the University.

2015 Yale Global Alumni Leadership Exchange

Professor Helen Schneider New SARChI Chair, Professor Patricia Hayes (middle)


PAGE SEVEN

For Dr Fulufhelo Godfrey Netswera, the Dean of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Johannesburg, UWC was a life-changing experience in many ways.

It is where he began laying the foundation for his career but also where his social life took some interesting turns. “I chose UWC because I wanted to continue my karate activities in Kyokushinkai after having par-ticipated in a tournament on campus the previous year. I made very good friends from my UWC class and they taught me to eat out at restaurants and took me to nightclubs,” Netswera remembers.

After graduating with a BA Hons in Economics from UWC in 1995, Dr Netswera went on to obtain both his masters in social science and doctorate in sociology of development at Stellenbosch University. He has held various infl uential positions in different organisations over the years, including serving on the board of the Human Sciences Research Council. He is an adjunct professor at the Uganda Technology and Management University; is the editor, since 2011, of Commonwealth Youth and Development, a biannual peer reviewed journal published by Unisa; and holds a six-year NRF Rating Track Thuthuka Research grant.

Dr Netswera believes that the UWC Alum-ni Association is an important structure that connects previous friends, colleagues and members of the University. “But more importantly, the Alumni Association could strengthen the institution by, among oth-ers, fundraising. I am delighted to be a UWC Alumni Association member and I am proud to be associated with UWC.”

Meet the member

UWC’s Cape Town Golf Day contin-ues to grow in leaps and bounds. Now fi rmly fi xed on the University’s calendar, the 39th Golf Day, held at the Bellville Golf Club in November, attracted more sponsors and, as al-ways, had a full fi eld of players.

The Cape Town and Johannesburg UWC Golf Days together raised just under R500 000 for the Jakes Gerwel Education, Endowment and Develop-ment Fund, which is used to assist deserving disadvantaged students and to contribute towards the Univer-sity’s overall future sustainability.

Fred Robertson, Chairperson of the UWC Foundation, told participants at the prize-giving ceremony that UWC was one of the universities with the lowest fees in South Africa but stu-dents expected a lot more from it. This was clear during the #FeesMust-Fall campaign where, although it started at other universities, student protests were more vehement at UWC. “But we must not detract from

the fact that the students need to be supported and that their call is a just call,” he said. “We even have a ‘no hungry student’ programme at the University because there are hungry students on campus.”

Robertson commended participants for their support of the event. “Your drive that you took into the bush, the time that you took off work and the support that your companies have given are very highly appreciated.”

He encouraged the golfers, among whom were alumni of UWC, to donate to the University and to do business with one another. The Foundation will establish a business forum early next year to strengthen ties among UWC alumni. Patricia Lawrence, UWC’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, echoed Robertson’s sentiments and said the University was happy to partner with them in golf and was grateful for their contributions to the Fund.

“It is our hope that we will increase the number of donors and the number of players every year and we will ensure that we broaden the scope,” she said. After a spirited competition among the teams, Aneeq de Vega and Gordon Govender took top honours, followed by Morné Arendse and Neels Scheepers, while Ashraf Ismail and Imraan Moos fi nished third.

Giving through Golf

UWC Foundation Chairperson Fred Robertson and Patricia Lawrence, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, congratulate the winners of the Cape Town UWC Golf Day.

The Cape Town and Johannesburg UWC Golf Days together raised just under R500 000 for the Jakes Gerwel Education, Endowment and Development Fund.

PAGE EIGHT

Champions of Varsity Football at last

UWC is the only university in Africa that off ers a course in Applied Petroleum Geology, providing students with important and marketable skills.

UWC Men’s Football Club were crowned Varsity Football champions for the fi rst time when they downed tournament favourites Tshwane University of Tech-nology (TUT) 2-1 on Heritage Day.

The victory was a sweet and immediate revenge for Udubs football after the women’s team could not wrest the Var-sity Ladies’ Football title from TUT, going down by the same scoreline to the reign-ing champions in an earlier encounter at UWC Sports Stadium.

During the men’s game, the home supporters were silenced early in the fi rst half when the visitors scored through a free kick from outside the box. Despite the home side’s few attempts at goal, the score remained 1-0 going into the break.

Whatever UWC coach Salie Adams told his charges in the dressing room seemed

to work as his side came back fi ring on all cylinders in the second half. It was not too long before Man of the Match Tapelo Sixishe’s brilliantly taken corner kick found left-back Keenan Davis who headed home the deserving equaliser. Adams, the former Maritzburg United assistant coach, brought on Josh Silent and, with 15 minutes remaining, Player of the Tournament Thulani Mkosi’s defence-splitting pass found the big forward whose thunderous strike from a tight angle hit the back of the net sending the packed stadium into a frenzy.

In the women’s fi nal, Player of the Match Thembi Kgatlana showed why she is regularly called up to the Banyana Banyana national team (she and alumna and current UWC Ladies teammate, Leandra Smeda, were in the squad that secured South Africa a place in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games). With her team trailing 1-0 in the second half, Kgatlane intercepted the ball outside the box and her skilful run left defenders stranded as she slotted the ball between the legs of the TUT goalkeeper to level matters.

But the visitors scored another goal and, despite putting up a brave fi ght, UWC could not fi nd the equaliser.

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DID YOU KNOW ?

Whatever UWC coach Salie Adams told his charges in the dressing room seemed to work as his side came back fi ring on all cylinders in the second half. South Africa’s Public Protector, Advo-

cate Thuli Madonsela, delivered the fi fth annual Desmond Tutu Interna-tional Peace Lecture at the University of the Western Cape on 7 October – on Archbishop Tutu’s 84th birthday.

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UWC 360 issue 15

Documents

Transcript of UWC 360 issue 15