staff newsletter august 2010 fo cus - … · of agriculture and environmental sci-ences (caes),...

FOCUS

INSIDEPage 3

Women making a difference in

community engagement

1

Learn without limits –

even in prison

Page 18

Spirit of place and the

dynamics of memory

Page 21

Encyclopaedia versus Google

Page 22

Teaching life skills

through canoeing

STAFF NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2010

Conscious of the magnitudeof the initiative, they invitedDr Roger Mills, Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Distance Education, Univer-sity of London, and ResearchAssociate of the Von HügelInstitute, St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, to be the chair-person. Until now, there has only been a series of virtual conversations, so the arrival of Dr Mills on27 July was warmly welcomed.

With a busy itinerary, Dr Mills attended a Direc-torate: Curriculum and Learning Development(DCLD) seminar on 28 July at the Kopanong Conference Centre, followed by a Tutors and Tutoring Conversation Circle the very next day. He was also the respondent to a presentation ontracking systems by the Executive Director of Information and Strategic Analysis, ProfessorGeorge Subotzky, and conducted one-on-one discussions with ODL co-ordinators.

Dr Mills used the last leg of his visit to Unisa to sharehis vision and ideas with Professors Pityana andMakhanya over a formal lunch on 30 July, at whichthe ODL and e-Learning International ReferenceGroup was launched. While the original group con-sisted of international experts from the United King-dom, Africa, Canada and Hong Kong, Dr Mills willlook into broadening the membership in an effort tobring about a fresh and different dimension.

Promoting international

ODL dialogueIn 2009, Principal and

Vice-Chancellor Professor

Barney Pityana and Pro

Vice-Chancellor Professor

Mandla Makhanya initiated

the ODL International

Reference Group in an

effort to promote dialogue

between Unisa and other

institutions.

Prof. Mandla Makhanya, Dr Roger Mills and Prof. Barney Pityana are pictured at the ODL and e-Learning International Reference Group launch.

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According to Dr Andersson, Africanisa-tion has meant more than simply havingan African intellectual leadership at theuniversity, modules dealing with contem-porary African political and economic is-sues, and the offer of indigenous languagecourses.

There are two major thrusts to theAfrican university that Principal andVice-Chancellor Professor BarneyPityana has nurtured. The first relates tothe work Unisa has been doing withinAfrica to address open distance learning(ODL), while the second concerns a col-lectively imagined philosophy of highereducation, including an African syllabussituated within an indigenous ODLmodel.

Dr Andersson highlights Unisa’s partici-pation in a range of UNESCO initiatives,in line with New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD), SouthernAfrican Development Community

(SADC), Organisation of African Unity(OAU) and African Union (AU) propos-als, to discuss ODL from as early as 2002.One of the earliest initiatives in the pe-riod of transition to an African universitywas the establishment in 2003 of the inter-disciplinary Centre for African Renais-sance Studies (CARS) headed byconstitutional law expert ProfessorShadrack Gutto.

It is important to note that Unisa is veryengaged on the African continent withinitiatives such as the African Council onDistance Education (ACDE), which mon-itors ODL progress.

Dr Andersson also draws attention toUnisa’s lesser known African partner-ships, which include a South African gov-ernment initiative in education and skillsdevelopment in Sudan and involvementin teacher education in Nigeria, Angolaand Mozambique.

various role-players such as the SouthAfrican Police Service and social workers,conducted a survey with 300 households inMdantsane in the Eastern Cape.

Respondents felt that cannabis and alcoholwere the most abused substances, and atleast 53% said a member of their familywas using drugs. Just over a quarter (29%)of respondents said the drug abuse is associ-ated with behaviour change, violence andaggression within their family. A majority ofthe respondents said that governmentshould focus on job creation and improvingpolice services to address the problem.

Digging deep into the institutional archives is Dr Muff Andersson, researcher in theoffice of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, who has been tasked with gathering, collaborating on, and writing the history of Unisa. This is a four-year project thatstarted in 2008 and which should be completed in 2012. Given her encompassing institutional overview from past to present, Dr Andersson is the ideal person to share her thoughts with Focus on articulating the concept of Africanisation at Unisa.

New drugs, new markets

During the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup,Africans united in their diversity for thebetterment of their continent and it is withthe same unity that they should address thethreats of drug abuse and crime. Thesewere the sentiments expressed by Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mandla Makhanya,at the launch of the United Nations Officeon Drugs and Crime (UNODC) WorldDrug Report 2010.

Speaking at the Dr Miriam Makeba Con-cert Hall on 15 July, Professor Makhanyasaid that action must be taken against thethreats of drug abuse and crime by govern-ment and civil society. He also said that the World Cup was proof that the SouthAfrican law enforcement forces are capableof doing a thorough job.

Acting Regional Representative ofUNODC Southern Africa, Dr ElisabethBayer, said the findings of the World DrugReport 2010 indicates that, while there are

There is also the Unisa Regional Learn-ing Centre in Ethiopia, which opened in2006, and there are plans to create othersin Africa.

Dr Andersson finds the recent launch ofthe Academy of African Languages andScience (AALS) at the Sunnyside Cam-pus incredibly exciting. Project leader DrSamba Buri Mboup is also her colleague.AALS is consulting with numerous stake-holders, including government depart-ments and continental language policyplanners, since at stake is the consistentempowerment, development and promo-tion of African languages.

Dr Muff Andersson, author and researcher at Unisa, is the ideal person to talk aboutAfricanisation at the university.

new drugs, the traditional drugs are look-ing for new markets and one region fea-turing prominently is Africa. The reportindicates that there are warning signs ofincreased drug activity in the developingworld.

The Deputy Chairperson of the CentralDrug Authority (CDA), David Bayever,said there was no doubt that drug abusein South Africa was a problem and it wasimportant to hear the opinions of affectedcommunities on how deal with the prob-lem. In June 2010, the CDA, together with

David Bayever, Dr Elisabeth Bayer, and Prof Mandla Makhanya

Unisa women are no different and,

judging from the large numbers of

women assuming leadership roles in

the university’s community engage-

ment projects, it appears that female

staff are making great strides in

addressing various social issues

affecting Africa and South Africa.

And so, in the month in which we

remember and honour the more

than 20 000 women who marched

to the Union Buildings on 9 August

1956 to petition against pass laws,

Focus pays tribute to these strong

Unisa women.

For the last 12 yearsProfessor Lilli Pretoriusfrom the Department ofLinguistics in the Col-lege of Human Sciences(CHS) has been doingfield work in highpoverty urban and ruralsites, assessing readingdevelopment in Englishand the African lan-guages, examining the

nature of reading problems in poorschools and finding ways to address read-ing challenges. She is currently the Direc-tor of the Academic Literacy ResearchUnit (ALRU) and the project leader ofthe Literacy Coaching Project. This proj-ect is aimed at improving literacy levels atMakgatho Primary School, a high povertyschool in Atteridgeville.

Professor Pretorius was also the projectleader of Reading is FUNdamental Proj-ect, a five-year project in two primaryschools in Atteridgeville that ended in2009.

The project adopted a multi-level ap-proach to create a culture of reading inthe schools. Libraries were built and regu-lar workshops with teachers were held.

Professor Pretorius became involved inliteracy projects because of South Africa’spoor performance in literacy and numer-acy. “Low reading levels harm children,they harm a country, they can bring aboutskills shortage and in our 21st centurythey are linked with poverty. The price ofthis kind of failure is too high for a devel-oping country to bear.”

She said that working in township schoolshas allowed her to witness the strengthand resilience of South African women.“They have passion, compassion and aninner energy that drives them to bringabout changes in their immediate envi-ronment.”

Lecturer from the Department of SocialWork in Durban, Ann Petty, has recently joined the Bright Site Projectfamily after she was selected to establishthe Durban Bright Site Project. The Dur-ban Bright Site Project, which is modelledon the Sunnyside Bright Site Project inPretoria, is expected to be functional in2011. The project enables social work students to gain practicalexperience and opportu-nities to serve others.

Students will offer coun-selling, group work andcommunity work serviceswithin the Durban innercity area and the ruralcommunities of Tongaatand Stanger. Petty believes that in order to

honour women who have paved the wayfor others, women should be encouragedto embrace the powers of creating, nur-turing and transforming. She believes it iscritical for institutions of higher educa-tion to reflect on the situation of womenwhen course material is being developed.

“Empowerment and participatory devel-opment are terms that are bandied aboutfar too casually as if they are our modusoperandi. We have to be very critical ofthe extent to which academic courses enlighten our students practically of howthese terms can be operationalised inevery sector of the community.”

Other women spearheading the BrightSite Project are Professor RosemaryMoeketsi, the Executive Dean of CHS,Ida van Dyk, the Head of the Depart-ment of Social Work, Professor RinieSchenk, the Project Manager of the Sun-nyside Bright Site Project (Pretoria),Cuzette du Plessis, the Manager of theService Learning Site (Sunnyside BrightSite Project), Elaine Harrison, the Man-ager of Community Engagement (Sunny-side Bright Site Project) and TasleemDaffurn, Networker and Student Place-ment (Sunnyside Bright Site Project).

Unisa women lead in community engagement

Every day, somewhere in the world, women continue to break the moulds that society has placed themin. In thought, word or deed, these women are conquering the world. And even if they go unrecognised,they still find themselves steering vital causes, regardless of their challenges.

“Low reading levels harm children,they harm a country, they can bring about skills shortage and in our

21st century they are linked with poverty. The price of this kind of failure is too high for a developing country to bear.”

Ann Petty with peer educators at the 2010 International Candle-light Memorial held at the Stalwart Simelane Campus in Durban

Dr Mary Masafu has been described byher colleagues as a real leader, but some-one who always works behind the scenes.Dr Masafu, from the Department of Agri-culture and Animal Health in the Collegeof Agriculture and Environmental Sci-ences (CAES), plays a pivotal role in theMandlethu School Project, ensuring theempowerment of the school staff inteaching and in the development of thesurrounding community. Dr Masafu is in-volved in this project, which is in its pilotphase, because assistance is needed inpreparing the young generation to meetthe challenges that lie ahead.

“I also want to make my contribution to-wards closing the gap in agricultural andscience skills shortages by providing therequired knowledge and skills to youngSouth Africans, to help them to competemore favourably for tertiary educationand career choices in these subjects. I feelproud to be one of the role models foryoung Africans, so that they may realisethat they can do it, if they try.” She urgedUnisa’s female staff to become involvedin community engagement activities.“Every community in South Africa wherethese women come from, is in need ofsome kind of help. I would advise Unisawomen to embrace the spirit of transfor-mation and nation building with a littlemore effort.”

Other CAES women making a differencein disadvantaged communities are thoseinvolved in capacity building in Diep-sloot. The project, especially targeted atwomen and children, is a MIT projectwhere several divisions of the Depart-ment of Life and Consumer Sciences en-

gage in community development and ca-pacity building. It is structured aroundtwo philosophies, skills and entrepreneur-ial training and consumer education, aswell as health and wellness.

Professor Elsa Toerien is the group leaderfor the skills and entrepreneurial trainingcomponent of the project. After 20 sewingmachines were donated to a group of eld-erly women in the area, Professor Toerienbegan teaching the elderly ladies basicskills in operating the sewing machines.“Last year they made shopping bags fromdenim, and this year they are makingtracksuits for children. The skills theylearn empower them and give a sense ofself worth to those who have very little inlife.”

“Why do I do it? I am mad about sewingand will transmit whatever knowledge Ihave to anyone who wishes to sew. Thepleasure in seeing someone making some-thing they could not do before is rewardenough.”

Other ladies from the Department in-volved in the project include Dr Tertiavan Eeden, the Chair of the Departmentof Life and Consumer Sciences, Dr Eliza-beth Kempen, Elize Symington, ReenaPandarum, Ansie Kruger and Dr Ba-balwa Mlathi.

Dr Sunette Steyn initiated and drives theMillennium Development Goal (MDGs)initiative of the College of Economic andManagement Sciences (CEMS). Inspiredby the work of her colleagues to furtherdefine the concept of community engage-ment, Dr Pienaar proposed the develop-ment of a tool based on the MDGs tomeasure community engagement activi-ties at CEMS and Unisa.

In response to a Young Global Leader(YGL) initiative, she pledged to mobilisethe academic fraternity to commit to theMDGs, the world’s goals that are dedi-cated to advancing the wellbeing of thebillion poorest and most marginalisedpeople on the planet. Dr Steyn has subse-quently conceptualised a project to raiseawareness on the MDGs, localise theMDGs for tertiary education institutionsin the developing world, enabling aca-demics to measure their development impact, encouraging critical multi-discipli-nary research on the MDGs and to ensure research outcomes from tertiaryinstitutions in Southern Africa influenceglobal development policy.

Prof. Elsa Toerien and Dr Tertia van Eedenwith the women of the Diepsloot project, who are displaying some of their work.

“Sometimes when we look at the problems in our country and in

Africa we feel overwhelmed at how many peopleactually need help. Although you might not be able

to change the whole world at once you can make a difference in one person’s life.”

“I feel proud to be one of the role models

for young Africans, so that they may realise

that they can do it, if they try.”

Gerda Viviers and Dr Sunette Steyn

Dr Steyn is dedicated to establishingUnisa as a leader in sound corporate governance and promoting sustainability,and also ensuring the university commitsto its vision of being theAfrican univer-sity in the service of humanity.

Gerda Viviers from the Department ofManagement Accounting at CEMS headsher department’s vibrant community en-gagement committee. The committeecommitted itself to the People UpliftmentProgramme (POPUP) project, a non-profit organisation based in Salvokop,Pretoria. Currently about 20 academicand non-academic staff from the depart-ment are involved in the project and pres-ent classes to students at POPUP onMicrosoft Excel, as well as other businessskills classes.

Viviers encouraged Unisa’s female staffto get involved in community engagementand find out what projects are available inUnisa as there might actually be a projectthat requires their specific talents. “Some-times when we look at the problems inour country and in Africa we feel over-whelmed at how many people actuallyneed help. Although you might not beable to change the whole world at onceyou can make a difference in one person’slife.”

She said the biggest challenge is to say“the problem is too big or it is the govern-ment’s responsibility” and then do noth-ing. Viviers also believes to assist inempowering women and rural communi-ties, tertiary institutions must provide freeskills training workshops and offer theirexpertise and skills to NGOs working inthese communities.

As chairperson of community engage-ment in the College of Science, Engineer-ing and Technology (CSET), Dr SimiDube ensures that the three flagship projects, LEGO® League, GirlPower andMathsEdge, are active and achieve theirset goals. Apart from coordinating therunning of the three flagship projects, she is also a team leader of the GirlPowerproject. Dr Dube believes, as an aca-demic, she has the responsibility to impact on communities and to make achange. She said it was good to see thatwomen are increasingly realising thatthey have the voice and the power tomake a difference.

Her advice to other women at Unisa:“Even the smallest contribution of your time, talent, knowledge, energy, orresource makes a great impact on the community. We might not make a signifi-cant change as individuals but collectivelyour small contri-butions arehuge... Talk tosomeone whois involvedand see howyou couldcontribute.”

“Find something, get involved, stop wait-ing around and just do it. Valuable time is ticking, and opportunities are beingmissed,” is the advice of Patricia Gouwsfrom CSET. Gouws, who is a coach in theLEGO® League community engagementproject, says all people can make a differ-ence in SA and Africa because everyonehas different strengths.

Lego League is a project drawn fromFIRST LEGO® League, which is an international robotics team competitionfor children that aims to inspire learnersto consider science, engineering and technology as future career options.Gouws said she is involved because shewants to make a difference in the lives ofyoung people. And it is the investmentand building of the youth of today thatwill build a stronger nation tomorrow.

“Find something, get involved, stop waitingaround and just do it. Valuable time is ticking,and opportunities arebeing missed.”

“Even the smallest contribution of your time, talent, knowledge, energy,

or resource makes a great impact on the community.”

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Patricia Gouws

Dr Simi Dube

Women would obvi-ously agree with these

assertions and intentions. Soinstead of canvassing femaleopinion, Focus set out to get a

well-rounded overview by askingsome men at Unisa what theythought about Women’s Dayand the role of women inhigher education and inSouth Africa and Africa in

general. Their answers may surprise you.It seems that even the male half of theuniversity can be viewed as feMANistswho will stand up to be counted forwomen’s rights.

Professor Mandla Makhanya, Pro Vice-Chancellor

What do you think is the significance

of Women’s Day?

On 9 August 1956, more than 20 000women of our country marched to theUnion Buildings to protest against socialinjustices. This was a pivotal moment inour history and one we should remembereach year on Women’s Day. But a singleevent, despite its significance, must alsoserve as a catalyst for future generations.So as we look back and remember ourbrave women of the past, Women’s Day isa reminder that the struggle is not over,that women remain vital catalysts forchange and that there is still much to bedone for women in South Africa andglobally.

Women’s Day from the male perspectiveEvery August South Africa celebrates women for an entire month and commemorates their

contribution to the struggle for freedom and the progress that has been made

in their empowerment. The year 2010 also marks the commencement

of the decade of African Women (2010–2020) as declared by the Heads

of States of the African Union. The government recognises that

the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment

are central to all efforts aimed at combating poverty and

stimulating sustainable development.

What more should be done for

women in higher education?

Higher education will always remain akey role-player in the social and eco-nomic upliftment of women. While it is interesting that world trends indicate that more women than men are enteringtertiary education, it is still the case inSouthern Africa that women need to besupported to pursue and complete highereducation.

Traditionally, in developing countries, it isthe son who is afforded further educationwhile the daughter is needed for domestictasks and family responsibilities. TsitsiDangarembga’s novel, Nervous Condi-tions, is a wonderful evocation of this dis-parity. Once they are engaged in highereducation, women still need encourage-ment to excel in each of the domains ofscholarship, be it teaching and learning,research or community engagement, forthese provide opportunities to contributein the transformation our society.

What more can be done for South

African and African women in

general?

While we have undoubtedly madeprogress in ensuring equality for women,much injustice prevails beneath the radaras it were. As we look to ways to addressthe challenges of the 21st century, wemust balance our economic imperatives

“We have always been at the forefront of women’s empowerment

and gender equity in our country.”

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with social justice needs. As Africa’s dedicated open distance learning (ODL)university, we can create an enabling en-vironment for women in which they canthrive and become leaders in their com-munities. In this regard, we must remem-ber that we have always been at theforefront of women’s empowerment andgender equity in our country. We were thefirst institution to have a sexual harass-ment policy in the nineties and we areabout to launch our women empower-ment and gender mainstreaming framework.

Dr At van Schoor, Directoratefor Counselling, Career andAcademic Development

What do you think is the

significance of Women’s Day?

This day gives recognition to the role ofwomen in South African life in general. It is important to single out a day of attention to women otherwise they get“lost” in the system.



It seems to me that women are alreadygiven special consideration in higher education. All universities have an affirmative action policy that giveswomen a special dispensation.

Andile Ngcongo:

Legal Services

What do you think is the significance

of Women’s Day?

I believe it is a significant day, in that itreminds us of that historic ninth day ofAugust 1956 when South African womenfrom all corners of our country marchedto the Union Buildings in Pretoriaprotesting against pass laws. The pass laws had caused problems for Africanwomen, by restricting their rights.



An enabling environment must be cre-ated for women to have more access tohigher education, especially rural womenwho continue to be excluded from themainstream economy. The environmentmust further be created for women tocompete with men as equals for opportu-nities that are there, socially, culturally,economically and politically.



general?

Women in the past have not really en-joyed the above freedoms vis-à-vis theirmale counterparts and it is, therefore,high time that after 16 years of our inde-pendence, women should also enjoy thefruits of our independence. However, onealso acknowledges what has been done tobridge the gap between men and womenin our country through various interven-tions from our government and civil society.

We have seen in parliament an increase infemale representation; we have seencourts ruling that women can now be or-dained as chiefs and kings in their tribalareas; we have seen women occupyingsenior and influential positions in societyand organisations. This is a positive signfor our country and Africa in general. Theslogan that states: “You educate awoman, you educate the nation” shouldbe supported and promoted by all pro-gressive men of our country and Africa ingeneral.

Ahmed

Jazbhay,

Political

Sciences

What do you think

is the significance of Women’s Day?

Women’s Day is a celebration of the im-mense contribution to our society thatwomen have made and continue to makeon a daily basis. Be it in the home or incorporate world, women are beginning tooutshine their male counterparts in al-most all facets of daily life. It is also atime for us to realise that more needs tobe done to protect the rights of the fairersex. South Africa has one of the highestrates of rape and abuse against women,thus it is a time for we men to realise thatwe cannot just sit back and do nothing;we need to rise up in defence of our womenfolk.



With regards to women in higher educa-tion, we need to vigorously advocate fortheir greater participation. More trainingprogrammes aimed at women need to be devised to equip them with the neces-sary skills needed to make meaningfulcontributions to the higher educationlandscape.

“What must be done is that an enabling environment must be created for women to have more access to higher

education, especially rural women who continue to be excluded from the mainstream economy.”

“With regards to women in higher education, we need to

vigorously advocate for their greater participation.”

Unisa’s Young Academics Programmeand Scholar Development Programmeare such examples but these need to becontinued or taken to a higher level.Unisa needs to invest more in the devel-opment of female members of staff.



general?

In general, as a society we need to realisethat we can no longer deprive women ofsome of their basic human rights. We needto pass tougher sentences on those whophysically, emotionally or financiallyabuse women. The cycle of violence andsilence needs to stop. Men need to stand

up vigorously in defence ofwomen.

Thuthukani Mkhize,

Marketing and Retail

Management

What do you think is the

significance of Women’s

Day?

I think it basically symbolises the value ofwomen and the important aspect of beinga woman in society at large. It gives themthe opportunity to reflect on what washappening many years ago to women andto chart a way forward for today’swomen. (Remember the Zulu PrincessMkabayi kaJama Zulu and the Ixopowomen who fought for the struggle.)



Basically in higher education womenneed to be supported and given a chancein higher positions to display their talentand skills. They must be encouraged to gobeyond the call of duty as the sky is thelimit for them.



general?

All women in general need to be empow-ered with the necessary knowledge andskills. However, they need to support eachother as well and forget about the pull-down syndrome.

Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo:You strike the woman, you strike therock!

ThembaMaseko, Public,Constitu-tional and International Law

What do you think is the signifi-

cance of Women’s Day?

Women’s Day, if properly celebratedand given the attention it deserves,strengthens the importance ofwomen in our society and, more im-portantly, serves as a reminder of allthe hardships women are goingthrough today and that they havegone through in the past. It thereforeenhances the fight against unfair dis-crimination against women andwomen abuse.



The only way women could be up-lifted socially and economically isthrough exposure to higher educa-tion. This would enable them notonly to realise and be able to fightfor their rights, but also to serve as aninspiration to other women.

What more can be done for

South African and African

women in general?

Women should also be strongly en-couraged to engage in the day-to-dayrunning of their countries in Africa,so as to be able to directly challengetheir governments on women issues.Last, but certainly not least, womenshould be strong enough to with-stand any criticism and be the truereflection of the saying Wathint’abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo: Youstrike the woman, you strike therock!

Mpho Mothoagae, Centre for African Renais-sance Studies

What do you think is the significance of

Women’s Day?

Women’s Day is meant to recognise the rolethat women play in our society, which is equiva-lent to that of their male counterparts. This dayalso propels and instils the motivation to dogood for women and humankind in general.This means that a girl child must use all the op-portunities available to her to ensure she has abright future.

What more should be done for women in

higher education?

We are aware of the history that women weredeprived of education due to the patriarchythat dominated at that time. The new order hasseen it as important that women be empoweredwith education. Statistics have shown that edu-cated women can persevere and follow their ca-reer paths and excel in their professions. Alltheir success is geared towards the bettermentof their lives and humankind in general.

Jean Omba, Information Centre: BrightSite Project

What do you think

is the significance of

Women’s Day?

This day is one way of emancipating womenand to recognise their presence. It is obviousthat women can also participate in the strugglelike men can. However it is not important if wehave this day and still do not respect and treatwomen well.

What more should be done for women in

higher education?

In South Africa there has been a lot of progressfor women in higher education. Women hereare holding very high positions compared toother African countries. South Africa has donevery well in that regard.

Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo: You strike the woman, you strike the rock!

Professor Louise JordaanCriminal and Procedural LawThe legal validity of an advance refusal of medical treatment inSouth African law15 July 2010

Professor Louise Jordaan pointed out inher inaugural lecture that advances inmedical technology over the past severaldecades have made it possible to prolonglife long past the point where many pa-tients would otherwise suffer a naturaldeath. Some people would like to avoidsuch treatment, preferring to die with dignity.

Advance directives enable people toavoid this fate by expressing their treat-ment decisions in advance in a “livingwill” or by designating someone theytrust to make non-treatment decisions forthem. There is no clarity in South Africanlaw whether an advance refusal of med-ical treatment is a legally enforceable in-struction. This position is irreconcilablewith core constitutional values, namelythe rights of patients to dignity, self-deter-mination, quality of life and privacy.

In other jurisdictions, patient autonomyhas been enhanced by the introduction ofcomprehensive legislative regulation ofall issues concerning advance directives.But the experience elsewhere has shownthat patient autonomy cannot beachieved without proper education.

It is suggested that a holistic approachshould be adopted in South Africa whichincludes the introduction of legislation aswell as viable education initiatives.

Louise Jordaan obtained a BProc at theUniversity of Johannesburg (formerly theRand Afrikaans University) and an LLBat Unisa. She was appointed as a lecturerin law at Unisa in 1990 and obtained herLLD degree with a thesis entitled Aspectsof double jeopardy in 1996. She has beenteaching Criminal Law on an undergradu-ate level and both Criminal Law and theLaw of Criminal Procedure on a post-graduate level. A number of postgraduatestudents have successfully completedtheir studies under her supervision,amongst others, two doctoral students.

Professor Jordaan is a proven researcherand has published on a wide variety oftopics in her field. Valuable contributionsinclude suggested reform in the field ofcorporate criminal liability and the sen-tencing of corporations. She is also inter-ested in the criminal-law aspects ofmedical-legal issues.

Professor Hanneretha KrugerPrivate LawThe evolving capacities of childrenand the (new) age of majority inSouth African law

26 July 2010

In her inaugural lecture, Professor Hanneretha Kruger pointed out that protecting the autonomy of children whohave the capacity to make their own decisions, strikes just the right balance between the “nurturance” and “auton-omy” approaches to the protection ofchildren’s rights. It recognises both thedwindling nature of parental authorityand the developing nature of children’sautonomy. South Africa has gone a longway towards achieving the goal of pro-tecting the autonomy of children. Indoing so, South Africa has to a large extent complied with its obligations interms of international law and the Consti-tution.

However, some problems remain andneed to be addressed. An example is thefact that all children of 12 years and olderstill need the consent of their parents orguardians for surgery.

INaUgUraL

LecturesIn Women’s Month, Focus is proud to

feature the inaugural lectures of four

successful female legal academics.

She provided an expository overviewof road traffic regulations and the ex-emptions applicable to privileged ve-hicles, and investigated the possiblecriminal liability of SAPS membersengaged in high speed pursuits andSAPS VIP units. Some of the consti-tutional issues applicable to highspeed pursuits and VIP blue lightbrigades were also elucidated.

Charnelle van der Bijl was born inEstcourt, KwaZulu-Natal and at-tained the degrees BLC, LLB (cumlaude) and LLD at the University ofPretoria. She practised as an attorneybefore joining academia. She was anassociate professor in Mercantile Lawat Stellenbosch University, where shereceived a Rector’s Award for Excel-lence in Teaching in 2006.

She was appointed at Unisa as an as-sociate professor in Criminal Law in2008, was selected as a Young Aca-demic in 2009, and was promoted tofull professor in 2010. She has pub-lished and presented papers locallyand internationally. She is also co-au-thor of The Law of Commerce text-book, published by Oxford UniversityPress.

In terms of the common law, an employee maycancel a contract of employment and claimdamages if the employer has breached a mate-rial term of the contract of employment. Veryfrequently, the employer is in breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. However,if the breach takes a different form, in terms ofthe common law, the reasonableness or other-wise on the part of the employer is irrelevant.All that is relevant is whether the employeracted lawfully or not.

Professor Stella Vettori pointed out in her inau-gural lecture that the result is that, even thoughthe purpose of legislation is to extend protec-tion for employees, there may be instanceswhere an employer would escape liability forconstructive dismissal in terms of legislationbut not in terms of the common law. If the linkbetween constructive dismissal and commonlaw repudiation of contract has been severed,and a new concept of constructive dismissal,unrelated to repudiation of contract has beencreated in the common law; and if the new con-stitutional dispensation cannot be interpretedso as to deprive employees of their commonlaw rights, then employees’ common law rightto base a claim on the basis of repudiation ofcontract must remain as a claim separate anddistinct from constructive dismissal.

Maria-Stella Vettori has a BA LLB from theUniversity of the Witwatersrand, a LLM fromUnisa and an LLD from the University of Pretoria. She has presented at numerous international conferences, including as keynotespeaker, and she chaired the organisation of asuccessful international conference on corpo-rate social responsibility last year. She has over15 years of experience practising labour law,and has published extensively both locally andabroad on her area of expertise, including au-thoring The employment contract and thechanged world of work (Ashgate 2007). Another book edited by her on the effect ofageing populations on labour markets is due tobe published by Gower this month.

There is an urgent need for child develop-ment research in South Africa to deter-mine the capacities of children fordecision-making in various areas, includ-ing medical decision-making. The resultsof these findings should inform legal pol-icy and law.

Hanneretha Kruger obtained her BIurisand LLB degrees at the University of theFree State in 1987 and 1989 respectively,both with distinction. In 2004 the LLDdegree was awarded to her at Unisa, witha dissertation entitled Judicial interferencewith parental authority: a comparativeanalysis of child protection measures. Shejoined the Department of Private Law atUnisa in 1991 and was promoted to fullprofessor in 2008. In 2009 she was ap-pointed as Chair of the Department ofPrivate Law. She is the author and co-author of various full-length articles,notes and case discussions on the law of persons and child law.

Professor Charnelle van der BijlCriminal and Procedural LawThe ‘fast and the furious’: A focuson high speed cop car chases, bluelight brigades and bad driving3 August 2010

Professor Charnelle van der Bijl focusedon SAPS members engaged in high speedpursuits and VIP blue light brigades inher inaugural lecture, in an attempt toshed light from a criminal law perspectiveon how far the “immunity” enjoyed bythese persons extends, where road usersare bullied for right of way or are injuredor killed.

Professor Stella VettoriMercantile LawConstructive dismissal and repudiationof contract: What must be proved?5 August 2010

The main focus of BBB is to provide

academic books to inmates studying

at Unisa, but they also collect school

books and story books to send to

needy schools such as Luvhivhini

Secondary School in Kutara and

Olievenhoutbosch Primary School.

Books for children in grades 0 to 3

will be sent to Trust Hope Afterschool

Centre and Mweni Community School

in KwaZulu-Natal.

To donate books to BBB,

contact Tertia Hörne or

Daphne Becker, or mail them to:

Books behind bars

School of Computing

PO Box 392

Unisa

Pretoria

South Africa

0003

PAGE 11

Dalize van Heerden, a lecturer from theSchool of Computing, points out that it isstill a common thing for inmates to studywhilst in prison, and since Unisa providesboth undergraduate and postgraduateprogrammes, it is the university of choicefor incarcerated students. “However,studying while in prison is challenging, asit takes place in a difficult environmentwhere learner needs can, in many cases,not be catered for, because of restrictiveprocesses and procedures as well as lackof resources,” she explained.

Books behind bars

The School of Computing has many incar-cerated students studying for a diploma inInformation Technology or a degree inComputer Science or Information Sys-tems, or doing postgraduate studies in oneof these fields. Through working withthese students, the staff within the schoolwere able to identify some of their morepressing concerns. These included limitedaccess to resources such as books, the in-ternet, journals, email, and external com-munications.

They then started an initiative for sourc-ing learning resources for incarceratedlearners registered for a qualification of-fered by the school, calling it Books be-hind bars (BBB). The BBB projectcurrently caters for students in prisons inthe Pretoria area since this is closest tothe Muckleneuk Campus, but hopes toexpand its reach to prisons in the otherregions.

The staff at the School of Computing in-volved in this project collect and donatebooks, software and as many resources asthey possibly can. To date more than 200academic books have already been do-nated to Pretoria Central prison. Thesebooks are not limited to the field of com-puter science, but include different genresof study undertaken by incarcerated stu-dents.

In some cases the lecturers put in extraeffort to get prescribed or recommendedbooks to students, take out library booksin their own names and photocopy jour-nal articles since the incarcerated stu-dents are not allowed internet access. For some this has become more than aproject, it has become a passion.

Since the inception of the project therehave been a number of success stories.One of the students, who first made Pro-fessor Alta van der Merwe, the initiator ofthe project, aware of this ‘other’ world,has completed an honours degree with anaverage of 68%, graduating in 2009. Hetook only two years and passed all his ex-aminations first time, and is now regis-tered for an MSc in Information Systems.Another student completed his master’sdegree within two years, with an averagemark above 70%; his study supervisorsvisited him in prison during his studies.

Learn without limits – even in prison

Unisa is frequently the only option

people have to further their stud-

ies while serving time in prison. In

the past, high-profile political pris-

oners on Robben Island, such as

former president Nelson Mandela

and Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang

Moseneke, received degrees con-

ferred through distance learning by

Unisa, as did hundreds of other

political prisoners on that island.

Books behind bars held a ‘bookfeast’ on 28 July to collect books for prisoninmates. Showing off some of the booksreceived are Niall Levine, Dr Sihem Belabbes, Baldreck Chipangura,Marthie Schoeman, Prof. Elmé Smith,Daphne Becker, and Dr ElmarieKritzinger. The other BBB team members are Prof. Mariki Eloff, whomanages the project, Prof. Laurette Pretorius, Tertia Hörne, Mathias Mujinga, Dalize van Heerden, and Busi Silangwe.

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Staff behind bars

On 9 August academics from the Department of Geographyand the Department of Penologycelebrated Women’s Day withconvicted murderers, rapists andother serious criminals who areincarcerated in the maximum security section of the Losper-fontein Correctional Centre inBrits.

The event was arranged by the Losper-fontein Anti Crime Awareness Project(LACAP) Committee. LACAP is a proj-ect started by the inmates themselveswithin the maximum security section ofLosperfontein. The aim of LACAP is tofight crime by raising awareness amongyouth about why crime does not pay,helping local schools get the materialsthey need to give children proper educa-tion, and helping to build a positive atti-tude and encourage skills developmentwithin the prison in order to prevent re-offending. The LACAP members have alldone terrible things, but have resignedthemselves to their sentences, and havedecided that they can still atone for whatthey have done from within the prisonwalls, while helping to ensure that othersdo not make the same mistakes that theyhave.

With the assistance of the GreaterRustenburg Community Foundation(GRCF), and the full participation of cor-rectional officials, the LACAP groupplanned the 2010 Women’s Day event.The purpose of the day was to increasethe awareness of crime against women aswell as an attempt to make some sort ofamends to women who had been victimsof crime.

What made this event unique that it wasactually arranged by inmates of theprison. The event was attended by justunder 400 maximum security prisonersand about 300 people from differentNGOs, businesses, government represen-tatives, community members, victims, fam-ily members and students. The event washeld in the prison courtyard and the pro-gramme included a number of speeches,including one presented by ProfessorJoan Fairhurst, an Honorary Professor ofthe Department of Geography, on the his-tory of Women’s Day in South Africa, aswell as the reasons why we need to cele-brate Women’s Day in South Africa.

In between the serious speeches, the pris-oners provided lighter entertainment thatvaried from singing, magician acts, danc-ing, and body builders with inspirationalmessages. Probably the most importantpart of the day was the moving testi-monies of some of the prisoners who hadcommitted very serious crimes againstwomen.

Three LACAP committee members (onehad murdered his daughter, another mur-dered his wife and the third one was aconvicted serial rapist), gave moving ac-counts of the reasons they were in prison.All three are profoundly sorry and deeplyregret what they have done, and are nowtrying to make some sort of amendsthrough apologising, confessing, and making others aware and giving back tocommunity. All three prisoners were extremely emotional about the impact oftheir crimes on the women in their lives,in particular, their mothers. It was heart-warming to witness the way the LACAPmembers and fellow prisoners supportedeach other throughout these testimonies.

While the celebration of Women’s Daywithin a prison was emotional and aunique experience for Julia Matetoa,Aaron Labane, Donald Matshaba andTinyiku Ngoveni from the Department ofPenology and Chris Vlok, HelleneSteenkamp, Melanie Nicolau and JoanFairhurst from the Department of Geog-raphy, the reason for attending the eventextended well into their academic activi-ties.

In the case of the Department of Penol-ogy, they were provided with the opportu-nity and necessary contacts to pursue avariety of research opportunities within

Losperfontein. One of the objectives ofLACAP is the creation of a halfwayhouse for prisoners prior to their release.This halfway house will ensure that theyare provided with the necessary skills toreintegrate into society. Once again this isa project driven by the inmates them-selves, and they have already managed tosecure the donation of land where theyplan to build the halfway house withfunds they have generated while inprison. It is hoped that the academicswithin the Department of Penology willtake on this rare opportunity to assistLACAP to achieve their various objec-tives including matters related to the cre-ation of a halfway house.

In the case of the Department of Geogra-phy, the visit to the prison provided theacademics with an insight into the circum-stances and conditions that many of theUnisa students who are also prisoners atvarious institutions in South Africa facein the course of their studies. As part ofan open distance learning (ODL) projectwithin the Department of Geography, ac-ademics are doing research on the accessto resources required for ODL withinprisons, and the impact that the lack ofaccess to these services have on progressin their studies. Losperfontein Correc-tional Centre will be used as a case study.

Most importantly, however, the event pro-vided an opportunity for members fromthe two departments to share knowledgeand experience as academics. Getting toknow colleagues in other departments interms of their teaching research and com-munity engagement activities will serve toencourage MIT collaboration betweenthe two departments.

Members of the Departments of Penology and Geography, with Christine Delport(GRCF) and inmates who serve on the LACAP committee, celebrate Women’s Day inthe Losperfontein Correctional Centre courtyard.

One smile at a time at BoitumeloA team of Gauteng Region staff members identified an orphan-age in Soshanguve to engage with and assist. The BoitumeloCommunity Home Centre houses 19 children, their housemother and two helpers. Some of the children in the home are in-fected with HIV, while others are indirectly affected by it throughthe loss of their parents. After an initial visit, where the teamfound that the centre had only 2 kg of mealie meal to share andno milk for the infants, they were convinced that a Unisa inter-vention was necessary.

After a successful charity drive, 14 staff members of the GautengRegion visited the centre on 16 July. A party was planned withdifferent meals served throughout the day, including a braai thatwas prepared by regional staff on a makeshift braai. The ladies inthe Unisa team spent time with the house mother, helping hersort through the new and used clothes donated by staff. But itdidn’t stop there.

Over and above the material donations, staff also gave their time to the orphanage, by playing soccer with the children while others cleaned the yard and weeded the vegetable garden inpreparation for new seedlings for the coming season.

The Deputy Director of Student Administration, RichardChauke, said that the visit was a real eye-opener that impacteddeeply on the team. “We often forget what happens in societyaround us. There are many ways to help and they start with onestep at a time.”

Giving 67 minutesto celebrate

MANDELA DAy

Where there is poverty and sickness, where human beings are being oppressed,

there is more work to be done. Our work is for freedom for all.

After 90 years of life, it is time for new hands to lift the burdens.

It is in your hands now.– Nelson Mandela, 2008

Mandela Day has been created to inspire people from every corner ofthe world to embrace the values that have embodied Nelson Mandela’slife – democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect,and freedom. These are the values of Madiba and they are his legacyto the world. Inspired by the global call to action for people to recog-nise their individual power to make an imprint, the Unisa communityfound a variety of ways to celebrate Mandela Day this year.

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Gauteng Regional Offi-cer, Lisbeth Mashiane,echoed these sentimentsas she noted that staff

now had a very clear understanding of thereality of poverty. “We were all emotionaland touched by the living circumstances,such as going to bed on empty stomachs,and it was a definite example of what wecan go back to our own homes and teachour own children,” she pointed out.

As beneficiaries of the Nelson MandelaFoundation and SAQA in previous years,the Boitumelo Community Home Centreis able to function because of organisa-tions that care. Unisa was proud to jointhose ranks and make a difference.

getting down and dirty at Sol Plaatjie Township

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all is one of Nelson Mandela’s many dictums, but with tough economic times and circumstances, many have been leftwithout these basics for survival. With this in mind, staff from the College of Agri-culture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) decided to spend 67 minutes helpingout at the Sol Plaatjie Township in Soweto on 19 July.

As part of a City of Jo’burg Food Garden Project, staff members of CAES piled into two minibuses and started the trip to Soweto in high spirits, ready to do whatwas needed to create a better living environment for the township dwellers.Armed with garden tools and refuse bags, staff got down and dirty for 67 minutes in jobs such as clearing ditches and preparing the soil on the food gardens. The toolswere then donated to the community for future use. The Madiba spirit was verypresent as the township soon started to look better and more liveable.

“We’re proud and excited to be here today in celebrating Mandela’s life and workand honouring a great man and great South African,” said the Executive Dean ofCAES, Dr Maggi Linington. “Put all of your energy into today as a present toMadiba,” she urged. Lutendo Phidza of Sustainable Development and Environ-mental Services echoed these sentiments. “It is very important for us as a universityto come out here and help people that really need it.” He added that initiatives likethese shouldn’t just start and end on one day but should be ongoing.

The CAES team showed the true Madiba spirit by undertaking each and every taskwith a smile. Nothing was too big or difficult as they came out in their numbers tolend a hand and convey a hug to the Sol Plaatjie community. Focus got around therakes, wheelbarrows and spades to catch up with some staff members to find outhow they felt about this initiative and what they hoped to achieve from it.

Giving 67 minutes

to celebrate

MANDELA DAy

Food items usually taken for granted

are a treat for these children.

Lisbeth Mashianeprepares someparty fare for thecentre.

Boitumelo babies snuggle upto Tiisang Nakanaand VincentMasingi.

Annamarie Koekemoer (Pro-gramme for Household, Foodand Security) and Dr MaggiLinington work together to fillup bags with debris.

Despite their circumstances, these children of Sol Plaatjie Township still had hope and smiles for the CAES team.

Happy birthday, Madiba! CAES and community members wish the great man well and pledgetheir efforts for future initiatives.

July Sibanyoni,Department of Life andConsumer Sciences –We want to getthis place better than it is because we’veseen many hazards and it’s just not healthy

to live this way.With more timeand help thiscan be done.

Dana Rob-bertse, Department ofAgriculture, Animal Healthand Human

Ecology –My hope is that the community keeps it upand is encouraged by the work Unisa hasput in today. There is always hope but wejust need to work together to achieve it.

Segopotse Mashoene,School of EnvironmentalSciences –We are doingthis for Madiba andthrough his teachings wewant to also teach thecommunity how to carefor the township beyondwhat we’ve done today.

GodfordineBosch, Univer-sity Estates –We were reallyshocked to see

some of the unhy-gienic living conditions and the lack of somany things that we take for grantedevery day. Therefore it’s been such a greatchance to help people that are less fortu-nate and help ourselves in the process bygaining perspective.

Tersia De Beer, Department of Environmental Sciences and NatureConservation –This is a fantasticcause that will teach

the communityto come to-gether and dothings that they can benefit fromlike planting their own food. Eventaking care of the township can bedone if they work as a team.

The Department of African Languages, incollaboration with the Department of An-thropology and Archaeology, celebratedthe birthday of Nelson Mandela in styleon 16 July at the African Languages Liter-ary Information Museum on the Muck-leneuk Campus.

Dr Sekepe Matjila, from the Departmentof African Languages, opened the cere-mony and spoke about Mandela’s life,while Danisile Ntuli, also from the de-partment, recited a poem entitled Mfo ka-Madiba.

“Mandela stands for peace and reconcili-ation...He is as big as the statue you see atNelson Mandela Square in Sandton. Hestands for responsibility in our country.He did not come out of jail and avengehis enemies but rather did something dif-ferent,” was the message of ProfessorKuzvinetsa Dzvimbo, the Deputy Execu-tive Dean of Education and Research inthe College of Human Sciences.

An unveiling of Mandela’s letter was alsoheld at the celebration. In 1988, while im-

Elize Symington, De-partment of Life andConsumer Sciences –

South Africa has so many hands to helpand with issues like the scarcity of food,it’s important to show that if we work to-gether, something can be done. Just help-ing with this garden today will encouragethe residents to be resourceful and con-tinue to grow their own food.

Mmakobe Sitwe, Depart-ment of Agriculture andLife Sciences –All hu-mans should be able toassist the less fortunateand I’m really happy tobe here with my collegethat cares beyond its ownwalls.

Dr Prudence Kayoka-Kabongo, Depart-ment of Agriculture, Animal Health andHuman Ecology – This is such a great initiative and I fully support more com-munity activities on a regular basis. It’simportant that we continue extendinghelp because it needs to be sustainable tothose that are receiving it.

prisoned at Pollsmoor Prison, NelsonMandela enrolled at Unisa to study,among other courses, IsiXhosa in theAfrican Languages Department. The letter was written to request one of hisisiXhosa professors for an extension forone of his assignments.

Dr Elias Mabuza (Department of African Languages), Dr Sekepe Matjila, Mariette Harcombe (Department of Anthropology andArchaeology), Heidi Celliers (Department ofAfrican Languages), and Danisile Ntuli (Department of African Languages) celebratethe unveiling of the Nelson Mandela letter.

Nelson Mandela letter unveiled

As part of the open distance

learning (ODL) implementation

plan for 2010, a task team was

formed with the explicit focus

of defining student support in

the context of Unisa, developing

a conceptual framework for

student support and exploring

the possibilities of video and

satellite conferencing in order to

support students.

Many authors in ODL research have indi-cated that student support is not only thedefining characteristic of ODL but, moreoften than we like to believe, is theAchilles heel of many ODL institutions.The debate on student support in ODLincludes issues such as whether studentsin an ODL context need more supportthan students in traditional face-to-faceinstitutions, and whether ODL studentsneed different types of support becauseof their separation from the institution.

Do students in an ODL context needmore support than their counterparts inresidential settings? It may be argued thatbecause Unisa has, in general, always hadlower admission requirements than manyresidential universities, that the “quality”of students that Unisa attracts may be ofa different standard than those registeringat residential universities. This may betrue but then again we may argue thatstudents’ school leaving marks are notnecessarily good indicators of their poten-tial! Therefore the true difference in thetype of student support needed by resi-dential and ODL students is not necessar-ily to be found in the “quality” ofstudents, but rather in the nature of ODL.

Students in a face-to-face setting have(often immediate) access to lecturers dur-ing the lecture or afterwards. Residentialstudents have mostly immediate access toresources found in the institutional anddepartmental libraries. These students arealso networked with one another andhave the privilege of being in contact with peers who are doing the same mod-ules as they themselves have registeredfor. Students in an ODL environment areexcluded from immediate access to lectur-ers, library-based resources and peers.

Therefore, though the jury may still beout whether Unisa students need moresupport because of the lower admissionrequirements, we may assume as morecertain, that students in an ODL contextneed different types of support than stu-dents in residential settings.

The approval by Senate on 2 June of aconceptual model for understanding andpredicting student success, retention andthroughput at Unisa provides a clearbasis for understanding the complexitiesof understanding and predicting studentsuccess at Unisa. From the conceptualmodel it is clear that non-academic fac-tors often weigh more than academic fac-tors in impacting on students’ chances forsuccess. In the past Unisa may havethought of student support primarily interms of academic student support withproviding students access to academic tu-toring and group discussion classes.

If we take into account that students’chances of success are hugely impactedby non-academic factors in their personallives, e.g. their health, predispositions, at-tributes, locus of control, and non-acade-mic factors on the side of the institution,e.g. on-time delivery of study materials,and organisational efficiency, then it isclear that the support we offer to studentsshould also encompass the non-academicfactors.

What has become clear in the implemen-tation of ODL at Unisa is that studentsupport, whether academic or non-acade-mic, is no longer an issue for individualsor departments functioning on the pe-riphery of the organisation or in somecommittees. Student support is, andshould be, central to everything we do atUnisa. Student support is of concern toeveryone at Unisa – whether in the aca-demic portfolio, or in administrative, pro-fessional or support portfolios.

Though there are a number of successstories at Unisa with regard to the hugeimpact effective student support hasmade in the lives of our students, we stillneed to “crack the code” at Unisa to en-visioning and implementing effective, ap-propriate and integrated student supportto our diverse student population withtheir varied needs, expectations and aspi-rations. I do believe that the work ofODL Task Team 4 will show us the way.

Dr Paul Prinsloo, ODL Coordinator: Office ofthe Vice-Principal: Academic and Research

Student support in ODL: Reflecting on issues,

challenges and opportunities

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Digital media have seeped into almostevery aspect of our daily lives, from ad-vertisements, to television programmes, tothe music, photos and videos we carry onour cellphones and portable music play-ers. DigitalCre8or is a creative and inter-active way to learn about the techniquesand technologies involved in manipulat-ing these kinds of media. It encourageslearners to create real-life digital mediaprojects that build into an innovative digital assessment online portfolio usingdevices such as mobile phones, MP3s, digital cameras and DV camcorders.

Dalize van Heerden said that she was extremely excited to have been fortunateenough to be involved with the Digital-Cre8or project. “With the younger gener-ation becoming more and more reliant ontechnology for communication and enter-tainment, we need to ensure that educa-tion does not fall behind.”

She pointed out that DigitalCre8or is aprogram that shows people the possibili-ties of using technology to develop andshare learning materials in an innovativeway, a way that the younger generationcan relate to. “Through doing the trainerscourse, I hope to not only bring this pro-gram to our students, but also to the staffof Unisa, so all our academics can startreaping the benefits of using technologyin the presentation of their modules.

ENcoURAGiNG diGiTAL MULTIMEDIA CREATIVITyThree academics from the School of Computing, Dalize van Heerden,Ronell van der Merwe and Patricia Gouws, are among the first people inthe country to become trainers of Digital Creator (DigitalCre8or), an ex-citing new award designed to meet the needs of people who want tomake the most of digital media devices and computers.

Ronell van der Merwe was just as enthu-siastic about the course. “The Digital-Cre8or training was a unique opportunity,first of all to get exposed to the excitingworld of Apple Mac, and secondly to getinvolved with the professional team atThink Ahead Education Solutions. Thetrain-the-trainer course that we attendedwill allow us not only to develop coursesfocusing on multimedia for our under-graduate students enrolled in InformationTechnology, but also to develop coursesthat can be offered by trained trainers inmultimedia-related community projects.”

According to Patricia Gouws, the focus ofthe course is to make students aware ofand then better equip them to use andmanipulate the digital knowledge oftoday. “It should be part of the students’preparation to deal with the world inwhich we live. I would like to see theseconcepts incorporated in an IT qualifica-tion,” she concluded.

Chris Dodd (Apple Enterprise), Ronell van derMerwe, Greg Hill (Apple CORE), Dalize van Heerden, and Michelle Lissoos (Managing Director: Think Ahead Education Solutions) at the Digital-Cre8or certificate presentation on 28 July in Sandton.

Strengthening communication is whatUnisa strives to do on a regular basis. Andthis is exactly what the Department ofGeography succeeded in doing when theypiloted their very first videoconference(VC) to Ethiopia between the RegionalLearning Centre in Akaki and the Theovan Wijk VC Room on the MuckleneukCampus on 23 July.

Ten Ethiopian PhD candidates presentedtheir research to date to academics of theGeography Department. Initially, the stu-dents were very hesitant about the tech-nology, and this was aggravated by initialpower supply problems. However, once

Crossing borders through

VIDEOCONFERENCINGthe system was functioning properly, vibrant academic discourse between thePretoria academics and Ethiopian stu-dents and supervisors took place.

Melanie Nicolau, the Chair of the Depart-ment of Geography said that she gainedthe sense that the academics in her de-partment were also enjoying the debate.“I have already seen email correspon-dence between them, the students andtheir supervisors.”

“This is an ideal way to conduct an aca-demic discussion or debate with geo-graphically remote students, particularly

those in other countries,” said lecturerDavid Hedding, pointing out the benefits ofvideoconferencing. Allowing staff and stu-dents to feel the ‘presence’ of each otherand encouraging more impromptu discus-sion on various topics, which would nothave been possible had the discussion beenconducted in a conventional manner, is alsobeneficial.

“I also believe that videoconferencing givesremote students a sense of belonging toUnisa. For instance, even though these students are geographically remote, thistechnology has brought them ‘closer’ to notonly the Unisa staff but also to the univer-sity as an institution,” said Hedding.

While one would expect drawbacks such asstudents unfamiliar with the medium ofVC, the distraction of noise levels, and thelack of facilitators at remote locations, according to lecturer Rudi Pretorius theEthiopia session was actually successfuland easy to manage. Academics also foundthe provision of two screens, one showingthe room in Ethiopia and the other thepresentation, particularly useful.

Giving this pilot VC the thumbs up, ProVice-Chancellor Professor MandlaMakhanya said that he is very excitedabout this initiative as it provides opportu-nities for a bright future for the university.“This is also a reflection of ODL in action.”

Academics in the Department of Geography and Unisa PhD students and

supervisors in Ethiopia cross the continental divide at the first videoconference between South Africa and Ethiopia.

Can international visitors in search of anAfrican past influence local memories andsacred practices? This was the questionpondered by Dr Katharina Schramm of theMartin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg(MLU) in her talk entitled The slaves ofPikworo: local histories, transatlantic perspectives, which she delivered to the Department of Anthropology and Archae-ology on 14 July.

In Ghana’s Upper East Region, the mem-ory of slavery is still very much embeddedin people’s everyday consciousness andpractices. For example, landmarks associ-ated with the defeat of slave raiders or thelocations of former campsites are widelyknown to inhabitants and carry special sig-nificance. Though often unrecognisable tothe outside observer, they neverthelessform structuring elements of the local land-scape and historical imagination.

Not only are they associated with specifichistorical events and the stories surround-ing them, but they are also spirituallyloaded. At these sites, special attention isdevoted to maintaining the relationshipbetween the living and the dead, for ex-ample, through sacrifice. In the course ofthis attention, the severe disruption of thesocial relationships that went along withthe violence of the slave raids is also ad-dressed. Genealogical narratives, divina-tions and ritual performances at timesentail references to processes of enslave-ment as well as the violent disorder andcomplex migration trajectories resultingfrom them.

Dr Schramm’s research has found thatthese narratives and practices are beingincreasingly transformed to fit a moreglobal outlook. “In the framework ofstate-sponsored commemorations that

Spirit of place and the dynamics of memory

Dr Katharina Schramm, who delivered a talk on The slaves of Pikworo:

local histories, transatlantic perspectives atUnisa, is pictured with Dr Natalie Swanepoel

(Department of Anthropology and Archaeology) after the lecture.

Mapping the life journey ofalexander von HumboldtDeemed one of the greatest academ-

ics of all time, albeit one who never

completed a test or wrote an exami-

nation, Alexander von Humboldt was

a polymath genius who made history.

To find out more about his carto-

graphical significance, the Department

of Geography invited Professor Imre

Josef Demhardt from the University of

Texas in the USA to the Sunnyside

Campus on 16 July to present a sem-

inar titled Alexander von Humboldt and

the unveiling of the Americas.

A world authority on the subject of map-ping, Professor Demhardt is the author ofa number of articles on German explo-ration in, and the mapping of, Africa during colonial times. He also holds aPhD in Geography and an MA in Historyfrom the University of Frankfurt. It is nowonder then that he is fascinated by thetravels, findings, work and life of Alexan-der von Humboldt.

The Prussian nobleman’s perception-changing voyage from 1799 to 1804, dur-ing which he criss-crossed Latin America,and his meticulous analysis of the numer-ous observations he made, formed thebasis of his travel journal, which consistedof 30 huge and lavishly illustrated vol-umes. This served as a benchmark for the‘second age of discovery’ he inaugurated.Of his many publications, his magnificent

Atlas géographique et physique du Royaume de la Nouvelle-Espagne (Paris1811) is presumably the best known.

According to Professor Demhardt, Humboldt’s contribution to a new andscientific image of the Americas is, however, not only restricted to what hepublished. Equally important was his influence on innovative cartographerssuch as Heinrich Berghaus who, between1837 and 1851, produced his famousPhysikalischer Atlas in two volumes. Thisatlas, which was almost entirely inspiredby Humboldt's groundbreaking conceptson vegetation and meteorology, containssuch revolutionary maps that it is justifi-ably regarded as the most influential atlas since the very first atlas, AbrahamOrtelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, waspublished in Antwerp in 1570.

Past and present members of the Geography Department gathered with the guest speaker after theHumboldt lecture: Retha Coetzee, Alet Harmse (retired), Laura Steyn, Prof. Elri Liebenberg (previousHoD: Geography and Professor Emeritus: Geography), Hellene Steenkamp, Prof. Imre Demhardt,Gillian Viljoen, Anna de Jager, Melanie Nicolau (CoD: Geography), Jaco Immelman, Chris Vlok, NolsPienaar (retired), and David Hedding.

are mainly addressing an African Ameri-can audience in search of historical con-nectedness, regular pilgrimages are beingorganised which lead from southern slaveports to northern camps and sites of re-sistance and back. Thereby, multi-layeredlocal memories become incorporated intoan interpretative scheme that clearly priv-ileges a transatlantic perspective,” shepointed out.

As a consequence of this development,the landscape is also changing as pathsare cleared and signboards erected. Tourguides present a story of suffering, victim-hood and resurrection along the slaveroute, thereby ignoring the complex rela-tionship between raiders and captured,and sellers and buyers, which is so centralto the local spiritual universe. The twocolliding narratives thus correspond totwo notions of sacralisation that can betranslated into the idioms of continuityand closure.

To investigate the dynamics of memoryunfolding at this interface, Dr Schrammanalysed the various perceptions of thePikworo Slave Camp in Paga-Nania, atthe Ghana-Burkina Faso border, lookingat its historical and spiritual associationsas well as its constantly shifting contem-porary significance. “An unintentionalmonument, in this case, a shrine, is beingtransformed into an intentional monu-ment and tourist destination. What I aminterested in are the multiple wayswhereby meaning is assigned to a particu-lar place and how such designations arebeing challenged and contested,” she con-cluded.

A guide demonstrates how runaway slaveswould be seated and bound hand and foot onthe punishment rock at Pikworo as an objectlesson for other slaves. Interestingly, while slaveraiding and trading in Ghana’s Upper East Re-gion has a long history that reaches back to theseventeenth century, the most vivid memories re-late to the slave raids of the late nineteenth andearly twentieth century that mainly supplied theinner-African market.

Humanising methodologies in transformation

Academics need to bring back the human condition as the driver of knowledge devel-opment. These were the strong words of Professor Catherine Odora Hoppers, holderof the South African Research Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Development Educationat Unisa, when she introduced the lecture entitled Humanising methodologies in trans-formation at the Dr Miriam Makeba Concert Hall on 19 July.

Keynote speaker, Emeritus Professor Howard Richards, who is a practising lawyer andresearch lecturer from the US, explained that humanising methodologies are neededin order to achieve much needed deep cultural changes. In his opinion, many peopleare in the grip of a rationality deficit. “Rationality should show us how to end unem-ployment, how to end crime; how to save the biosphere.” However, despite the enor-mous outputs of information conceptualised within research paradigms that dovetailwith the constitutive rules of modern western society, problems are not being solved.

He said the way to bridge the gap is to build an epistemology of hope and metaphysicsof sustainability. “We need humanising methodologies to bridge the gap because thetask requires changing norms…because we need to change norms; we need method-ologies that study norms. We will never change norms by studying independent vari-ables, dependent variables or any variables.”

Professor Richards offered two definitions of “humanising methodologies”. Definitionone suggests that academics track and encourage the kind of behaviour that definesthe species, namely culturally determined behaviour that operates through the deliber-ations and choices of agents.

The second definition, he suggests, should take into consideration ArchbishopDesmond Tutu’s account of what being human meant in the ubuntu philosophy: “I am because I belong, I participate, I share”. He explains the second definition of humanising methodologies tracks and taps the generic tendencies toward kinship-stylebonding, toward wanting to belong, to participate, to share – I am because you are.

Closing the event, Professor Nqosa Mahao, the Executive Director of the College ofLaw (CLAW), said that academics have to take the importance of ethics seriously be-cause at the centre of ethics lies humanity. He said central to Unisa’s academic in-tegrity is new knowledge, but academics are controlled by conservative regulationswhen searching for this new knowledge.

He spoke of the Brains Trust Team, a voluntary trust launched at CLAW, where newmethodologies will be learned. Together with SARChI, there will be ongoing exercisesand engagements with various experts to broaden the intellectual scope of academicsthat will allow for the search of new knowledge to address the challenges faced by so-ciety.

Prof. Catherine Odora Hoppers, Prof. Nqosa Mahao, Prof. Rushiela Songca (Deputy ExecutiveDean: CLAW), Prof. Howard Richards, Prof. Michele Havenga (Director: School of Law), andProf. Kris Pillay (Director: School of Criminal Justice) after the lecture by Prof. Richards, whichpointed out the advantages of consulting the elders who hold the traditional knowledge of culturesthat excluded nobody, maintained social cohesion and lived in harmony with their natural envi-ronments.

Psych speakwhen Calgaryand Unisa meet

The Department of Psychology was delighted to host two academics from theUniversity of Calgary, Canada, at jointlectures on 22 July in the Theo van WijkBuilding on the Muckleneuk Campus.Professors Hank Stam and LorraineRadtke brought along their knowledge ofthe field to share with a very interestedUnisa staff and student audience.

In his talk entitled Psychology travelsoften but not well: History and the globali-sation of psychology, Professor Stamdelved into the understanding and practice of psychology in North America.Although often harmful insofar as ittransmits a hegemonic view of human nature, this need not always be a prob-lem, as the transition of psychology acrossthe globe and its adaptation to local circumstances can sometimes have valuable effects. Very pleased with the audience interaction and feedback, Professor Stam said that he was im-pressed by the turnout and interest Unisa had shown and hoped to visit theuniversity again in the near future.

Professor Radtke spoke on The healingjourney: A study of women who have experienced intimate partner abuse in Alberta, Canada. The aim of the HealingJourney project is to explore thesewomen's experiences as they strive todeal with the past and move into the future. The research team includes bothacademic researchers and communitypartners, who have worked as equals indesigning the study and developing datacollection strategies.

Professor Radtke appreciated the insight-ful questions that came out of this lecture.“It is interesting to see how the situationin my country compares to South Africaand the exchange today was very benefi-cial in helping me understand the issues,”she concluded.

Prof. Vasi van Deventer (Department of Psychology), Prof. Lorraine Radtke, and Prof. Hank Stam

No matter which generation onebelongs to, there is no escapingtechnology. It has become a part ofeveryday life, especially in education.In this light, the Institute for Openand Distance Learning (IODL)hosted the 4th ODL Occasional Lec-ture Series for 2010, and invitedProfessor Santosh Panda from theUniversity of the South Pacific, FijiIslands, as guest speaker on 29 July2010 at the Senate Hall.

With his talk entitled Social software, socialnetworks, and online distance learning, Professor Panda’s knowledge and extensivepublishing in the areas of open, distance, andonline learning drew an interested academicaudience.

Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor MandlaMakhanya, welcomed Professor Panda and used his address to touch on the important points of the evolvement of technology. “Gone are the days where werush over to the library or read through theencyclopaedia when we need information,”he commented. Pointing out that many can-not remember beyond a time when therewere no computers, he said that vocabularyhas now changed drastically, with words likeFacebook, Twitter, MXit, and clouds alwayson our lips.

Professor Panda’s presentation criticallyanalysed the significant use of various social software and social networks in teach-ing and learning, and their contribution to-wards the transformation of individual andsocial identities. He believes that they “em-power those who are already confident intechnology, enabling learning, rather than addressing new learning styles”, but main-tains that dialogue has always been the hall-mark of educational discourse – online oroffline.

In 1997, Professor Santosh Panda moved to the National Open University

in India to rise to a full Professor of Distance Education. He has also been a

senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of New Mexico, USA. Prior to his

current responsibility as Director, Centre for Flexible and Distance Learning,

University of the South Pacific, he has been Director of Policy and Research

at the Association of Indian Universities and Director of the Inter-University

Consortium for Technology-Enabled Education at the Indira Gandhi National

Open University.

Encyclopaedia versus Google

Prof. Dele Braimoh (Director: IODL), Prof. Santosh Panda and Prof. Mandla Makhanya at the4th ODL Occasional Lecture Series for 2010

As a drive towards stimulating ODL research interest among staff members, the IODL also con-ducts regular practical workshops. During his visit to Unisa, Prof. Santosh Panda facilitated onesuch workshop, entitled Research distance and online learning.

A bigger and more practical writing workshop will be held for one marathon week in Septemberthis year. The objective would be to have between 10 and 20 well-produced and professionallystandardised and edited articles ready for publication at the end of the workshop.

Teaching life skills

through canoeingSay the word canoeing and one

pictures professional sportspeople

braving rapids and going for gold.

But at the Academy for Canoe

Development, the focus is on

young disadvantaged children

being taught basic life skills. Since

joining the organisation in a com-

munity outreach capacity in

2008, Unisa aims to create sus-

tainable opportunities for children

in the Dinokeng community.

Unisa has three stakeholders lending ahand in this project. The Gauteng Region,University Estates and ICT have all comeon board to do their bit. With 60 kidsfrom disadvantaged backgrounds cur-rently under the wing of the academy, the vision is to develop the communitythrough sport, life skills programmes andcross-cultural activities. By utilising theinherent potential of the canoeing sportand the opportunities created by usingRoodeplaat Dam for the benefit of theDinokeng community, the academy iswell on its way to developing world classathletes. In addition, it uses the skills andresources available in the area for thebenefit of the local community and establishes sustainable community devel-opment programmes. But it doesn’t stophere.

“Our dream is to have a school inKameeldrift as a way of encouraging education and making it a priority in thecommunity,” said Phillip van Tonder ofUniversity Estates and manager of thecanoe project. According to the socialworker of Kamcare Social and TrainingServices, Liezel Landman, there’s neverbeen a single child from the communitywho has gone on to study at any tertiaryinstitution. This is what Unisa and theacademy aim to change.

The Directorate for Counselling, Careerand Academic Development (DCCAD)are currently negotiating involvement inthe academy’s reading and writing pro-gramme. In addition, the Advocacy andResource Centre for Students with Dis-

abilities (ARCSWiD) will identify peoplewith disabilities to involve them in theprogramme as well.

Van Tonder is also keen to get support onmaking use of second-hand material atUnisa to help towards building theschool. “This is a great way to start some-thing worthwhile and at the same timedoing things as ‘greenly’ as possible by reducing our carbon footprint,” he urged.“Unisa has the capacity to render a valuable service to the community but wemust always ensure that it is sustainable.”Sustainable it certainly is, with the kidshopping on a bus every day after schooland on Saturdays to receive canoe les-sons, as well as benefiting from the feed-ing programme that ensures they nevergo hungry.

Hearing about the great work un-

derway, a delegation of FIFA refer-

ees and officials visited the Academy

for Canoe Development at Roode-

plaat Dam on 9 July during their

World Cup stay. They were visibly

delighted and impressed, especially

because the academy lives the

values of the international 1Goal

movement, such as keeping partici-

pants off the streets, teaching skills

development, and offering after-

school classes. The children were

delighted as FIFA referees and offi-

cials handed out souvenirs, signed

a soccer ball and gave inspiring talks

on sport and education.

The under 14 K4 team in their Gauteng colours on their way to winning a gold medal at the SA K4championships

The children receiving dry land swimming lessons from a volunteer coach

Little Vusi proudlyshows off a ball signedby FIFA officials andreferees, with Phillipvan Tonder, Mexicanreferee Marco Ro-driquez Moreno, andLiezel Landman.

Coinciding with the 2010 FIFA SoccerWorld Cup, the Better World Villagekicked off an activity-filled month on 11 June at Burgers Park in Pretoria. A unique initiative in Tshwane, the BetterWorld Village facilitated conversations oncritical global issues, ranging from home-lessness to human trafficking, HIV/AIDS,xenophobia, sustainable local develop-ment and greening cities, all in the con-text of celebration and play.

Since the Unisa Campaign for Learningstresses that learning be innovative, stim-ulating and relevant, the Better WorldVillage was, according to project managerDr Genevieve James, a strategic opportu-nity for a calculated learning interven-tion. “The Campaign for Learning usedopen-space learning methodology to pro-mote a culture of learning. The campaignalso communicated its message that allpeople have learning and change agency,regardless of education and socioeco-nomic background,” she explained.

Dr James noted that an important featureat Burgers Park was the participation ofUnisa students as Campaign for Learningambassadors. “In addition to communi-cating the advantages of life-long learn-ing, students were equipped with aquestionnaire to determine the informallearning needs of the public. Students re-discovered the value of their educationand noted the significant public response,

as people expressed their hunger for userfriendly, applicable learning.”

Highlights of the Better World Village in-cluded the Youth Day Better World Vil-lage leadership brunch with ProfessorCatherine Odora Hoppers as the inspir-ing guest speaker, and an urban justiceevent called the Fair Play InternationalConsultation, with guests from as farafield as India, USA and the Philippinesdiscussing pertinent social justice issues

and best practice from several contextsaround the world.

The grand finale was a march involvingthousands of participants who claimedthe streets of Pretoria for the celebrationof a better, more just world. Dr James andthe Campaign for Learning ambassadorstook to the street to proclaim the joys oflearning with posters that read Mindsneed feeding too, Learn and live, andGreat minds think.

Campaigning for learning at Better World Village

The Campaign for Learning celebrated its Unisa launch on 27 August. The next major initiative is theChance 2 Advance programme at the end of January 2011.

CIMa accreditationboosts managementaccountingUnisa recently received the highest levelof accreditation from the Chartered Insti-tute of Management Accountants(CIMA) in London. This means that stu-dents can now become members of thissought after institute with some 80 000members worldwide by completing theirstudies through Unisa. By paying in randand not sterling, it is also a more afford-able way of obtaining CIMA member-ship.

In the representation to CIMA in May,Professor Barry van Heerden, the chair ofthe Department of Management Ac-counting, said that given the infrastruc-ture, vision and mission of Unisa, as wellas its values of integrity, social justice, fair-ness and excellence, it was imperative for

it to seek accreditation of its courses withsuch an esteemed, first-class managementaccounting body.

CIMA offers training for a qualificationin management accounting and relatedsubjects focused on accounting for busi-ness. Membership of CIMA can be ac-cessed on two levels, associate (ACMA)and fellow (FCMA).

The Department of Management Ac-

counting already has close ties to CIMA.Professor Appie Pienaar was recentlyelected as board member of the SouthernRegional Council of CIMA, while Profes-sor Willie Coetzee was a former Presidentof CIMA South Africa. Young academicsin the department who have already qual-ified as chartered accountants indicatedtheir intentions to qualify as CIMA asso-ciates and some have already written thepaper for the strategic level in May.

Staff members from the Department of ManagementAccounting are all smiles inLondon on receiving CIMAaccreditation: Prof. Barry vanHeerden, Dr Noel Tagoe(Principal Higher EducationPartnership Manager:CIMA), Anton Jordaan, Prof. Maxi Steyn, Prof. AppiePienaar, Prof. Willie Coetzee,Prof. Bienkie Shuttleworth,Graham Eaton (Head of Examinations and Assess-ment: CIMA), Robert Jelly(Director of Education:CIMA), and Susanna-MarieBüchner.

Editor: Sharon Farrell

Design: Loretta Steyn Graphic Design Studio

The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup

has come and gone. South Africa ex-

perienced the staggering exhilaration

of world attention – just for 30 days!

The world was at our fingertips – we

were the toast of every newspaper,

every radio and television broadcast

across the world. Billions of people

were watching and listening to the

games, and to expert news analyses.

Many may have lost and won in the

betting shops – some with the aid of

Paul, the octopus! Some football

players and coaches became house-

hold names – Kaka, Ronaldo, Forlan,

and Maradona, among others.

As the games were won and lost, therewere tears and joy, and profound disap-pointment mingled with hope. Even newwords have come into the sporting lexi-con of the world: vuvuzela and Paul, theoctopus have now become household ex-pressions the world over. By commonconsensus, South Africa acquitted itselfvery well – as successful a world cup asany held anywhere else in the world,thanks to the hard work of Dr Danny Jor-dan and his colleagues in the LOC, thesupport of government in achieving thestated objectives to which South Africawas committed, and the FIFA executiveteam always in support.

Given that the South African nationalteam, Bafana Bafana, were consideredno-hopers as the tournament approached,the extent of support our team receivedright through the tournament and beyondwas remarkable. South Africans weredrenched in patriotic fervour in the run-up to and beyond the games: the nationalflag could be seen fluttering on almostevery vehicle on the roads, sometimeswith the Bafana Bafana SAFA flags;many a home had flags flying; and Foot-ball Friday became a national culticevent, with South Africans of all coloursdraped in yellow. But ultimately the na-tional team disappointed and departed inthe first round. Undeterred, SouthAfricans heaped praise on the team that

had failed and fans continued to swell thestadia, as enthusiastic as ever. Supportswitched to the remaining African teams,and then to Ghana in the quarter finals.When Ghana was out, we glided with easeinto supporting the Netherlands. We havebecome a very resilient bunch.

But now that the games are gone, there istime to rest and reflect, maybe to pat our-selves on the back for a job well done,but, hopefully, also to learn some lessons.Perhaps the World Cup gave us as a na-tion a glimpse of the possibility of socialcohesion. It is evident that sport could bea vehicle for lifting this nation out of itscharacteristic whingeing self into reachingout to the other in a common search forour common humanity. Secondly, we havebenefitted from the state’s enormous in-vestment in infrastructure developments– roads and transport, airports, communi-cations, stadia, hotels. But there were alsosome intangibles – project managementand coordination at a huge scale, more so-phisticated policing, effective and speedyadministration of justice – in other wordsthe skilling of our nation to manage a so-phisticated society.

One hopes in addition, that we have be-come more conscious of our AfricanDNA – that we will be known across thecontinent as a society that loves sport,that loves Africa, that is friendly and hos-pitable. The images of refugees and asy-lum-seekers from across Africa, includingour immediate neighbours, fleeing in fearof xenophobia-inspired violence defeatsthat purpose. Even sceptics – I count my-self as having been one of them – can nowsee the possibility of the World Cup be-coming a means by which our countrycould address its development challenges,including poverty, unemployment, hous-ing, healthcare, education, and safety anddevelopment for women and youth.

In a conversation with Imtiaaz Patel ofSuper Sport, I proffered the tantalisingpossibility that each of these wonderfulstadia could serve as incubators for sportdevelopment. The private sector, govern-ment and the various sports bodies couldwork together to establish academies at

each of the eight venues for the WorldCup, particularly around the newly builtstadia: Green Point in Cape Town, MosesMabhida in eThekwini, Mbombela in Nelspruit and at the FNB Stadium. Asports development fund could be estab-lished from the funds that FIFA will donate to legacy projects in South Africa(if only less of it would be utilised asbonuses for work which they were other-wise paid for).

Every school district could have a team ofcoaches for the various sports codes, andthe stadia would be abuzz with activityfor the benefit of communities and theyouth of our generation. Hopefully, therewould then be less concern about youthunemployment, or young people notbeing occupied in healthy pursuits. Evenmore crucially, this country could becomelike Australia and have a deep reservoirof talented sportsmen and women whowill be able to compete with credit at theOlympic Games and at other interna-tional sports competitions, and more successfully than we have in the past. Thestadia could be shared as multi-purposesports arenas and there would be no fearof them becoming white elephants, un-used and eventually abused and van-dalised. All this requires a political willfrom government, a coordinating centrefrom the Sports Ministry and a spirit ofingenuity and will to excel from the populace, including the private sector.

At Unisa, I dare say that we played ourpart. Our partnership with VU Amster-dam meant that a seminar on sports,youth and knowledge was held as a pre-lude to the event – pity our friends didnot take the World Cup back to Amster-dam! There were sports clinics for manyyoung people across the country, andthere was the work that colleagues in Psychology mounted as exhibitions of artworks by less-known township artistson the theme of the World Cup! I wish tothank all the colleagues who participatedand made our university visible duringthis momentous event in the annals of our young democracy. Well done.

From the Vice-Chancellor’s desk

staff newsletter august 2010 fo cus - … · of agriculture and environmental sci-ences (caes),...

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