“Unless we invest in everyone, we will have no future to speak of when old stars retire, die or leave the country,” said Associate Professor Elelwani Ramugondo in her opening address at the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health’s recent annual research day.

Identity in research: Assoc Prof Elelwani Ramugondo delivered the opening address at the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health’s recent annual research day.

Ramugondo, the vice-chancellor’s special advisor on transformation, delivered an address titled ‘Identity Politics & Research: Pitfalls or Opportunity?’ She kicked off by referring to an article by Free State University head, Jonathan Jansen. It referred to the dangers of current contestation on university campuses and how this may drive good academics away, leading to the erosion of excellence, as the academic project depends on the prowess of “no more than a dozen or so leading academics”.

Bringing everyone on board in research is important not only to the institution’s survival but also to the scope, breadth and depth of its research – through “different ways of seeing” in research, she added.

“World-class and international” were also concepts that seemed to favour Europe and North America, sometimes leaving Africa out of the picture.

“Transformation means building a different future in this country, one where everyone matters and is supported.”

It would not be an easy task, she said, pointing to British writer, lecturer and broadcaster Kenan Malik, who tackled the topic in his TB Davie Memorial Lecture at UCT last year.

“Malik makes the point that it is both inevitable and important that people offend the sensibilities of others; inevitable because when different beliefs are deeply held, clashes are unavoidable. But they express what it is to live in a diverse society.”

Referring to an address by Harvard president, Drew Gilpin Faust, Ramugondo said that seeking understanding and distilling meaning is essentially about interpretation.

“It is also about understanding the world and ourselves, not only through invention and discovery but also through the rigours of reinventing, re-examining and reconsidering.”

In setting their research agendas, South African universities often emphasize the wrong priorities.

“Universities are thus, at best, instrumentalist − focused on fixing problems rather than understanding them first and confronting those who caused them – and at worst, opportunistic. In other words, they follow the money.”

“Fixing does not address the ‘why’ question. And it often reduces problems to individuals rather than approaching issues in ways that are broader so that different populations can be served in sustainable ways. So there are lessons to be learnt from the RMF [Rhodes Must Fall], FMF [Fees Must Fall] and End Outsourcing campaigns that continue in many of our universities.”

Academic freedom also raised important questions around inclusivity and equity in research. And external influences sometimes pushed researchers to “work against” students and communities on the margins, resulting in what Ramugondo refers to as “epistemological violence”, drawing from Thomas Teo’s work.

“It’s when we don’t ask the right questions sufficiently; when we don’t adequately involve those who are most affected in whatever we research, that we are lead to ‘engazed’ rather than engaged scholarship.”

“So identity may be a proxy for disadvantage, but perhaps it’s also proxy for difference of experience, to give us different perspectives from which to approach the problem and explore the ‘why’ question. It is also a mode through which to challenge oppressive structures and here we can speak of Eurocentrism, neo-liberalism, heteronormativity, ableism and racism, because ultimately assimilation into oppressive structures is bad – bad for you and me.”

“So we continuously have to think about who has the right to voice and to interpret, as we take cognisance of the power we hold as academics and as researchers.”

Story Helen Swingler. Photo Michael Hammond.

Naming and shaming is a common tactic among activists, lobby groups and the media. Corporations are blasted as polluters. Politicians are exposed as expense cheats. Paedophiles and sex offenders are outed on social media.

There are several ways to defend a defamation claim in South Africa. Photgraph via Flickr.

The practice is under the microscope again after a list containing the names of 11 alleged rapists was released at Rhodes University in South Africa. The list was then distributed on websites, Facebook and Twitter. It sparked a hashtag, #RUReferenceList, that trended for days.

The publication of the list drew mixed reactions, with some supporting the publication of the list and others calling it defamatory.

So what do the country’s laws say?

Defining defamation

In South African law the wrong of defamation is committed whenever anyone publishes a defamatory statement about another living person. “Defamatory” refers to any allegation that would tend to lower the plaintiff’s – in this case the 11 men’s – standing in the eyes of “right-thinking people”. “Right-thinking” refers to the values that underpin the country’s famous Bill of Rights.

“Publish” means almost any form of communication. It could be a spoken or written allegation or even a non-verbal statement like an image that’s communicated to at least one person apart from the plaintiff. Something is considered to be published not only by the person who originated it, but also by anyone who subsequently repeats it. Clearly, the liability for defamation is potentially very wide, a scope that reflects the law’s investment in human dignity and reputation in particular.

The allegation that someone is a rapist is undoubtedly defamatory in law. Both the people who originated it and those who shared or retweeted it are potentially liable.

Possible defences

There are of course other important values, constitutional and otherwise, which are implicated in defamation cases. The law gives effect to these through a range of powerful defences. These defences protect freedom of speech and serve the public interest by ensuring that certain kinds of defamatory allegations can be made with impunity.

One of these defences protects statements which are both true and in the public interest. If it can be shown that the allegations of rape against each one of the 11 men are true, the defendants will enjoy complete protection. The standard of proof – “on the balance of probabilities” – is lower than that applied in criminal cases – “beyond reasonable doubt” – and could potentially be satisfied by victims’ testimony.

Another important defence is that of privilege. This protects statements made by someone who is under a moral or legal duty to make them or has an interest in making them to someone else who has an interest in hearing them or a duty to do so. A typical example is reporting a crime to the police.

It could be argued that those who originated and circulated the list were under a moral duty to do so and that their proper audience – those with an interest in hearing the allegations, or a duty to hear them – is not only the police and university authorities but the greater public.

This argument assumes that the criminal justice system cannot provide adequate redress to the victims of rape, and that for this reason direct action against rapists is justified.

However, a ruling that the list’s public circulation was privileged and therefore lawful would effectively legitimise self-help. This is something which the law is generally reluctant to do. So it doesn’t seem that a court could ever validate this view.

Finally, it might also be possible to defeat the defamation claim merely by arguing that those who circulated the list believed themselves to be doing the right thing, regardless of the correctness of their belief. In that case, the argument goes, they lacked the wrongful intention necessary to constitute a violation of the law. But that argument has been treated with suspicion by the courts and is unlikely to succeed here.

Steps the law could take

What happens if defamation is proved?

The originator would be held liable for all foreseeable consequences of the statement, including those flowing from republication by third parties. Those who repeat it would be liable too. Damages payable could potentially include the loss of past or future earnings as well as actual or probable damage to person or property.

In certain circumstances, a court might grant an order requiring that any existing instances of the defamatory statement, such as on a website, be removed. The order would likely also forbid all future republication. Anyone breaching such a court order is then in contempt of court and could be prosecuted.

Helen Scott, Professor of Private Law, University of Cape Town

In 1986, halfway through his medical degree at the University of Natal, Bongani Mayosi took a year off to do pure research (BMedSci), returning later to finish his MBChB. It was one of the crucial factors that fast-tracked his journey to a full professorship only three years after getting his PhD at Oxford in 2003.

All talent on deck: Prof Bongani Mayosi, dean designate of the Faculty of Health Sciences and one of UCT?s newest National Research Foundation A-rated researchers.

Mayosi believes these factors can be replicated in the faculty to boost transformation.

“We can create professors in five to 10 years after completion of professional training, but the conditions have to be right,” says the dean-designate who will lead the faculty from 1 September this year.

The shortage of black, especially black women, professors has been a stubborn obstacle to transformation where the faculty’s current cohort is predominantly white, ageing and male.

But growing a new and diverse cohort of professors takes careful planning and commitment, both in the faculty and the university, says Mayosi.

“In academia, the path is well-trodden. There are formulae and the rules are clear. But we [the university] must provide the system.”

His own journey began in a church mission hall in the Eastern Cape where volunteer parents taught him. He matriculated at 15 and followed his father into medicine. Fortunately, he fell in love with research early and by the time he’d graduated as a new doctor in 1989, he’d published two papers, the first in the South African Journal of Science.

But even with “a bit of a head start”, Mayosi believes he took too long to become a professor.

“It was long only by neglect. These things must be planned. If I’d struck gold early – if I’d found a good supervisor and a good topic that could have lead to good papers and outputs early – I could have got there faster.”

Four success factors

Early exposure to research is the first of four factors he believes are vital to grooming a new cohort of professors. “We have a responsibility to instill a love of knowledge and research early in our undergraduates, but we must also expose them to an early stint of full-time research at a reputable institution. If you want to produce a Nobel prize-winner, they must be exposed to research when they’re young.”

The faculty already has in place an “interrupted” medical degree where medical students can take a one-year research degree at honours level before continuing their studies, as he did as an undergraduate. This programme has now been adopted and funded by the Medical Research Council as the National Medical Student Research Training Programme for South Africa.

The second critical factor is time – high quality training in research is best done full-time. This will give candidates the opportunity to do their PhDs within three to four years. Support is vital at this stage. And the process is easier for those who commit to full-time research under the guidance of a good, committed supervisor, says Mayosi.

He was fortunate to have Hugh Watkins as his supervisor at Oxford, “probably the most influential person in my early scientific career”.

Third, choose a good research question; not something that’s been discovered.

“A lot of research people do is wasteful because it seeks to discover what is already known. Does smoking cause lung cancer in the Venda? Of course it does. It doesn’t matter that a study has never been done in Thohoyandou. Identify problems that need a solution.”

This is not hard to do in Africa, says Mayosi. He chose poverty-related heart diseases, such as rheumatic heart disease – a neglected disease in Africa and other poor regions that is easily prevented with penicillin. Untreated, it can cause heart valve damage and heart rhythm problems. He now leads the Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY study).

The fourth factor to forming a new cohort of professors is good funding. Scholarships are crucial since they allow candidates to put their heads down and not worry about “feeding the wife, two children and the dog”, as in Mayosi’s case.

And the system should work for women, particularly in their child-rearing years. With his wife, Nonhlanhla Khumalo, a full-time researcher and full professor at UCT, Mayosi knows this well.

Trailblazing new paths

Nurturing a new cohort of professors is a national imperative. The ambitious National Health Scholars Programme hopes to produce 1 000 medical doctors by 2022. The minister of health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, kicked off their programme in 2013.

“I don’t know if we’ll get there, but we’re pushing hard,” notes Mayosi. “The way we’re going to do it is by getting funding, ensuring people are trained by the best mentors in the world, working on the right topics and starting early.”

Conferring: Prof Bongani Mayosi with registrars and medical students on a ward round.

When he took over as head of the Department of Medicine at UCT and Groote Schuur Hospital in 2006, he was a trailblazer – the first black person to head the department. The department was also misaligned – it was geared to treat the diseases of some five million South Africans, not all 55 million.

“We had divisions for every part of the body: nephrology, cardiology, neurology … everything except infection. We needed a division for infectious diseases such as TB and malaria and HIV/AIDS – a flagship division for flagship problems [which was established as the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine]. As a department we had to become relevant to 55 million South Africans.”

Given South Africa’s health challenges, especially in rural areas, transformation requires “all talent on deck”, says Mayosi. Besides changing the demographics and size of the professoriate, it’s important that the faculty reorient the content of its work and the curriculum to address local need.

Transformation is also a requisite for the faculty to remain a world leader. In this context, world class no longer makes sense, Mayosi says. “World leader” is the new dean’s first choice for a slogan that will guide the faculty in the future.

A call to step up

Taking on the deanship was never part of Mayosi’s plan, but with the Rhodes Must Fall- and Fees Must Fall-driven events of 2015 and 2016, it was a “critical moment” in the country’s history. With “a little leaning at the right time”, he agreed to rejoin the struggle for a better South Africa.

“For me it was a call to serve. But we’ve got to be constitutional about it and set up processes that will really achieve social justice. All of us must come forward to make a contribution.”

He has no illusions about the complexity of the task ahead. “I told them [the faculty] that they were taking a risk because I had no experience of being a dean – but that I’d do it with them.”

The complexity extends to the faculty’s makeup: 2 000 staff and 4 000 students. The staff are employed by different entities: some by the province, others by the National Health Laboratory Service, while others are research-funded (this group of 600 is the largest) or funded by the university.

“So we have many types of staff and we need to work hard to bring them all into the business of the faculty so that there’s no sense of alienation from the greater university project. We need to work as a team.”

Mayosi calls it “saamtrek”.

Where the students are concerned, there are basic issues linked to serving communities in need that must be addressed.

“It’s a problem if a student can’t take a patient’s history in isiXhosa. We need people who are competent to work with the majority of people. These are things we must work together to identify.

“We need to rupture from the past; we need a new future and direction relevant to the needs of 55 million South Africans and a billion Africans. That’s the key in the transformation project.”

But there is a new dilemma for the designate dean who is a committed researcher (Mayosi will keep the title of professor when he takes the mantle of dean). Just after his appointment as dean, Mayosi was awarded a National Research Foundation A-rating, putting him among the world’s top brass (a mere handful) in cardiology research.

He’s sanguine about the temporary trade-off. It will take a lifetime to solve some of the country’s and continent’s health problems. For this new era of his career, Mayosi is committed to driving the faculty’s mission and ensuring that it becomes a home for all South Africans.

“Talent, fortunately, is evenly distributed. But we must make sure that talent meets opportunity so that it can flourish.”

Story Helen Swingler. Photo Michael Hammond.

Interviewed in the law common room at UCT, Professor Rashida Manjoo exudes calm and a natural authority.

UCT’s Prof Rashida Manjoo is to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow.

No doubt, this demeanour has stood her in good stead in a career that has spanned human rights activism under apartheid to a more recent six-year stint as a special rapporteur on violence against women for the United Nations.

As the UN’s representative, she visited 19 countries, speaking to women in camps, prisons, refugee detention centres and elsewhere to gather information on the causes and consequences of violence against women.

The stamps in her passport include troubled countries like Honduras, Somalia and Afghanistan but also more ‘developed’ states like the United Kingdom and the United States. But more of this later.

Activist academic

Manjoo’s work as an “activist academic” dates back to the 1980s in apartheid South Africa and includes her work with the Street Law Programme and in the law clinic at the then University of Natal.

“My social justice and human rights work is framed by my own context and reality,” she explains. “My parents couldn’t afford education, so after matric my first job was as an accounts clerk in a clothing factory.” Juggling work and children, she obtained three degrees and immersed herself in activist work.

The law clinic work in the 1990s involved reaching out to communities to provide free legal services and also conduct educative activities. For example, using donated shipping containers which were set up at a taxi rank, students working with the law clinic would dispense legal advice closer to people’s homes. In the afternoons they conducted educational workshops in community halls. This bringing together of “town and gown” is something that lies close to Manjoo’s heart.

Her activism was initially part of the broader struggles against apartheid oppression and injustice, but as it became clear that a new era was dawning, she deepened her work on the human rights of women and was deeply involved in processes that embedded this in post-apartheid South Africa.

“Towards the end of the 1980s, it became an imperative to start focusing on women’s human rights,” she recalls. “We had learned from many other liberation struggles that the gender struggle would not necessarily be high on the agenda and thus this needed to be made explicit.”

To this end, she was actively involved in processes around developing a women’s charter, consulting with women on the ground and feeding information into the constitution-making process. She was also involved in different capacities in law reform work during this period.

In 1998 she joined UCT’s Law, Race and Gender Research Unit (no longer in existence) where she was involved in developing materials and also providing social context training for judges and magistrates.

She was appointed as the parliamentary commissioner to the Commission for Gender Equality in 2001. Her task was to ensure that all draft legislation passing through the South African parliament was gender responsive and in line with constitutional imperatives.

When she left for the US in 2005 to work in the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, she had no idea that she would end up staying for two and a half years. On her return to UCT, she worked on a research project on women’s rights and traditional justice mechanisms with Professor Chuma Himonga.

In 2008 she was appointed as the Des Lee Distinguished Visiting Professor at Webster University in Missouri where she taught courses on transitional justice and women’s human rights.

All of this experience was excellent preparatory ground for her appointment by the UN Human Rights Council that kicked off in 2009 and ended only last year.

Treaty on women’s rights

Manjoo’s UN role included providing thematic reports to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and to the General Assembly in New York. To this end, she wrote 11 reports (over and above the 19 country reports) that pushed the conceptual understanding of member states on violence against women, its causes and consequences. A particular focus was identifying the “normative gaps” in international law between human rights standards and violence against women occurring on the ground.

Her last two reports identified that under international law there are no provisions that impose legally binding obligations on member states to eliminate violence against women. She believes that a specific international treaty is required to address the normative gap, but the UN does not appear to have much appetite for this.

In a recent interview with a legal journal, she says: “The concern for me remains that the rhetoric is that violence against women is a human rights violation, yet the reality is that it is not taken as seriously as other human rights violations.”

In her view, violence against women is not something limited to conflict zones. Instead, it is part of a continuum of the low-level warfare that women face on a daily basis in their families and communities, and is exacerbated in times of conflict.

Country missions

Serving in an individual capacity, her country missions as special rapporteur could only be carried out on invitation from a government.

She counts Algeria among her successes. After visiting the country, she met with the Algerian ambassador and her recommendations translated into the government passing a law on domestic violence, which was a unique achievement in the North African / Middle East region.

Her report on a more recent visit to Sudan is due to be released in May. She anticipates “fireworks” from a government that is reluctant to accept responsibility for human rights violations that are widespread, whether perpetrated by state or non-state actors. “The narrative in the capital, Khartoum, is that there is no violence against women except in the refugee camps in Darfur.”

While in Sudan, she was constantly watched by security officials or “well-meaning” government officials who sat in on every interview. After privately speaking to four students from Darfur in her hotel (they had requested a separate meeting), two were picked up by security police when they left. The other two managed to run back to the hotel and, for three hours, Manjoo physically shielded them against arrest. She did so on the grounds that their arrest would constitute reprisals against informants who were sharing information on human rights violations, which would violate the terms of reference governing a country mission. Government representatives from the diplomatic corps managed to resolve the issue, largely to avoid creating a diplomatic incident.

In Somalia she visited refugee camps outside Mogadishu. Wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet while travelling in a Casspir, she noted at the same time that “normal life” was continuing, even in the camps. Here she found that crisis management tended to cloud the very real issue of the daily violence that women experienced and the blame that was constantly cast elsewhere.

In Zambia she noted a high population of women with their children living in appalling prison conditions – many arrested for what she calls “crimes of poverty”.

Manjoo says when an invitation was not forthcoming from a country, she was never shy to request one. Zimbabwe and South Sudan are African countries that have failed to respond to requests for visits, while Israel prevented her scheduled mission to the Occupied Palestinian Territories by not granting her a visa.

Glasgow honour

She is not sure exactly what caught the eye of the University of Glasgow, which is to award her an honorary doctorate in November this year. Her investigation of the UK during her 16-day, fact-finding mission as the UN rapporteur included a public lecture at the university.

While in the UK, she delivered some home truths about the over-sexualisation of children and the damage caused to the service provision sector due to the devolution of functions and budgets to local authorities and the introduction of new commissioning policies. She also made headlines when she was refused entry into the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre where female detainees had complained about their treatment at the hands of male guards.

This serves as proof that governments all over the world remain defensive about human rights issues.

Story Andrea Weiss. Photo Michael Hammond.

The original La Bohème, which is set in a Paris garret, is a tale of four young struggling bohemians. The opera revolves around the tragic love story between Rodolfo, a poet, and Mimì, a young seamstress. The local production, which is being led by award-winning director and UCT alumni Tara Notcutt, will feature six emerging South African singers who portray this 120-year-old story in a South African context.

The romantic leads: Mimì, played by Amanda Osorio (polka dot dress), and Rodolfo, played by Given Nkosi (grey shirt); Marcello, played by Owen Metsileng (red African-print shirt), and Musetta, played by Lynelle Kenned (black jumpsuit).

The 90-minute production is brought to you by Africa Arts as part of their mission to promote South African culture, heritage and language through opera. The company also aims to create context for opera in South Africa, which in turn creates performance opportunities for South African artists.

Amanda Osorio, founder and producer of Africa Arts, says, “We decided to update one of the world’s best-loved and well-known operas, La Bohème, and set it in District Six. We did this as a way of honouring and celebrating the heritage of this important South African space and historical era, through the lens of a classic opera storyline.”

District Six was a vibrant neighbourhood with a diverse population who appreciated the arts and music, which is why it was such a logical idea for Osorio to combine La Bohème’s storyline with the historical legacy of the district.

She says, “La Bohème means ‘The Bohemians’ and District Six was well known for its bohemian atmosphere. It was a place where South African artists of all races and religions could mix freely and share ideas, which resulted in a collective culture in opposition to the Apartheid regime.”

The entire cast – Amanda Osorio, Given Nkosi, Lynelle Kenned, Owen Metsileng and Njabulo Mthimkhulu – are UCT alumni except for Kabelo Lebyana who is currently a student at the UCT Opera School.

The production was reimagined by opera veteran Professor Emeritus Angelo Gobbato, the former director of the UCT Opera School. The live orchestra will be conducted by Alex Fokkens.

La Bohème in District Six will be presented at the Suidoosterfees on Thursday, 28 April 2016 at 20:30 and Friday, 29 April 2016 at 20:00.

The opera will be performed at the Artscape Theatre Centre on Sunday, 1 May 2016 at 15:30.

Tickets range from R100 to R200. | Book at Computicket

Story Chido Mbambe. Photos Nardus Engelbrecht.

After the success of last year’s Barney Simon Season, the UCT Drama Department will once again curate a season of local plays. New Works provides everyone with an opportunity to experience new plays and allows young actors to take on the challenge of interpreting new writing for contemporary audiences. The initiative also aims to respond to an ongoing need for new plays that reflect the current state of South Africa and to use indigenous lenses to interpret and represent our world.

Audiences can look forward to seeing Langalibalele – the scorching sun by Neil McCarthy and Portret by Philip Rademeyer.

Phoebe Alice Ritchie and Zeno Jacobs practising a dance routine during Langalibalele rehearsals.

Langalibalele – the scorching sun

Written in English and Nguni by Neil McCarthy, Langalibalele – the scorching sun is directed by Clare Stopford. The multilingual play tells the story of the AmaHlubi king Langalibalele, who had powers over the weather and was renowned as a rainmaker. He commanded a large group from the AmaHlubi clan, kept sovereignty by avoiding domination by the colonial powers as well as the Zulu nation, and was finally imprisoned on Robben Island for defying British authorities in Natal.

Not many know that the Cape Town township KwaLanga was named after Langalibalele, who was put under house arrest in the Cape and finally died back in his homeland near Estcourt.

Stopford believes that working on the play has been a beneficial exercise for her students as many know very little about their own history. The play has forced students to research and dig deeper.

“The history is very raw, and it’s hard for the students to deal with. The question is, ‘Do we avoid these topics?’ We thought it was in the interest of decolonisation to do something that was absolutely 100% South African history in terms of [the fact that] all our ancestors can be traced back in one way or another,” explains Stopford. “The assumptions about colonisation are almost being demythologised, assumptions about how it worked.”

Langalibalele – the scorching sun runs from 17 to 21 May 2016 at 20:00 in the Old Workshop, Hiddingh Campus.

Bookings can be made via email or by calling Nabeelah Khan on 021 650 7129.

Gretchen Ramsden and Luke Buys from Portret.

Portret

Drama student Wynand Ferreira, who plays the character of AJ in Portret, says: “It’s a collaboration of industry experts, and for us as students it’s a great time to learn from them. It’s exciting to be able to breathe life in to this new play.”

Portret, an Afrikaans play directed by Amy Jephta, is based on Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Grey. Dorian sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty, but the cost of being immortal ripples far beyond himself. Rademeyer’s play studies a group of friends whose lives become increasingly detached and manipulated by an outside force.

Jephta says, “Phillip has sustained his relationship with the department even after he established a name for himself in the theatre world. When I approached him to write this play, he said yes immediately. It’s a great example of how the alumni of the department plough back into the department.”

Portret runs from 18 to 21 May 2016 at 19:30 in the Little Theatre, Hiddingh Campus.

Bookings can be made via email or by calling Nabeelah Khan on 021 650 7129.

Story Chido Mbambe. Photo Je’nine May.

Researchers interviewed caregivers of 252 children who were admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, as well as the caregivers of 30 children who died prior to PICU admission. The research team critically examined every step of the journey, from the first point of contact with the healthcare system to finally being admitted to the PICU. The findings revealed that this process took a mean of 12.3 hours and sometimes included ambulance journeys and multiple referrals.

Paramedics Shukri Petersen (far left) and Brian Allchin (far right) prepare to transfer a ‘baby’ as part of a simulation exercise. Handing over the patient are Nariema Fredericks and UCT’s Prof Andrew Argent. Dummies are used to train medical personnel in the emergency care of infants and young children.

The research found that three of the 30 deaths included in the study could have been avoided with better care, and another 14 were “potentially avoidable”.

“In our expert opinion as the retrospective panel, ‘potentially’ meant that some acute intervention in the health pathway could maybe have prevented the deaths,” said Dr Peter Hodkinson of the Division of Emergency Medicine at UCT.

He added that the severity of illness on arrival at the intensive care unit may also have been avoided in up to 74% of children enrolled in the study, if they had received better care along the referral chain en route.

Researchers used a unique methodology adapted from confidential enquiries in the UK to assess quality of care and to quantify the issues facing the children in the study. This is the first study to review clinical care of a large number of critically injured children with a wide range of diagnoses in a resource-constrained setting and high enrolment rates, using a detailed review process with the perspective of the family from caregiver interviews.

Hodkinson, whose PhD thesis is based on the research, sketched the hurdles many caregivers face even before they’ve left home with a sick child.

“Caregivers, particularly in communities with limited resources, face enormous obstacles in accessing emergency care for sick babies and children, starting with finding transport to the nearest facility, which is often far from home. Once at a facility, they face queues of other sick people and adults, often with unclear directions of where to queue and sometimes ‘grey’ systems for prioritising sick children. Even once they see a doctor, the battle is far from over.”

Hodkinson said doctors at primary healthcare facilities were usually generalists who were far more comfortable with adult patients.

“Little children tend to scare them. Even when they do identify a child as very sick, they seem to be hesitant to act and carry out lifesaving procedures and resuscitation – as it’s outside of their comfort zone. At some stage, they make the decision to transfer the child to a specialist hospital, so they call an ambulance. The child could be at a critical stage by now.”

Hodkinson said even though the ambulance service in Cape Town is excellent and comparable to many high-income settings, there is room for improvement, with identified issues around the timely dispatch of appropriate resources.

“Mothers perceive that their battle is done and their child has arrived in the best hands once they get to the regional paediatric specialist hospital. And they are right … the care is way better and the practitioners are all very familiar and comfortable with children. But they are overburdened with sick children, with a bottleneck of children waiting for PICU beds – just 22 in the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.”

Dr Hodkinson’s PhD thesis, entitled ‘Pathways to Care for Critically Ill or Injured Children: A Cohort Study from First Presentation to Health Care Services through to Admission to Intensive Care or Death,’ was based on a Wellcome Trust-funded collaborative research project between researchers from UCT and the University of Oxford.

The study, recently published in PLOS One, was unique in that it looked at the overall functioning of the entire system. This allowed a system-wide evaluation of the nature and quality of care for a group of the sickest and most injured children in Cape Town.

Dr Hodkinson said the most frequent failing was inadequate access to emergency care or personnel. Children were not properly assessed initially, while resuscitation was sometimes not done or was inadequate. He said there is considerable scope for improvement in these areas.

“Our findings show that a significant proportion of deaths of children may be avoidable and that delays in accessing quality emergency care for children are a major concern. While children received excellent care at many steps, the overall system does not always provide the care that we would aspire to.”

Failure to recognise and manage serious infection was the most frequent avoidable factor in primary care. Dr Hodkinson said more could be done to educate parents and nurses about ‘red flags’ and the value of gut feeling. Researchers also suggest a centralised paediatric emergency line for emergency advice.

The research says that referral delays could be reduced by fast-tracking patients directly to PICU, better prioritisation of emergency medical services, and early warning systems in the hospital setting.

Dr Hodkinson said that the results of the study are potentially applicable to improving health systems in low-, middle- and even high-income settings.

Professor Andrew Argent, the medical director of the PICU at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and professor at the School of Child and Adolescent Health at UCT, said: “The research was carried out with the support and collaboration of the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Department of Health, and this demonstrates their commitment to quality control as well as focusing on how patient care can be improved within the resources available.”

Dr Hodkinson was supervised in his PhD research by Professor Argent and Professor Lee Wallis, the head of Emergency Medicine for the Western Cape.

Story Kim Cloete. Photo Michael Hammond.

Reinette Popplestone, director of UCT's Disability Service, says that the services UCT offers to ensure fair access for its students and staff with disabilities is "constantly evolving". This constant evolution reflects the Disability Service's attempts to respond to each student or staff member's unique needs.

Students have taken up the fight for fair access for students and staff with disabilities. Here, Kanyisa Ntombini of UCT for Disability Justice hands over a memorandum of demands to Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price at a gathering outside the Bremner Building in January this year.

"People are critical sometimes because we are reactive instead of proactive," says Popplestone. But this is by design, she says. Instead of offering a defined set of services, the Disability Service prefers to be approached by students and staff with disabilities, who are then able to explain their particular needs. The unit then makes the necessary arrangements - whether it's organising a wheelchair, finding a sign-language interpreter or hiring a note-taker to assist with a student's lectures.

"We work towards finding a solution to a problem," says Popplestone.

She sees the Disability Service as an instrument that the university can use to support the various needs of students and staff with disabilities.

Much of the work they do is difficult to quantify, she says. It's described in the unit's 2014/2015 annual report as "heart work" in which all the members of the Disability Service team "with their unique set of skills, accompany students and staff with disabilities on their journey towards a successful outcome, whether it is successfully graduating or accessing buildings and services in order to meet their goals as UCT staff".

And it's not just students and staff with permanent disabilities that are assisted.

Popplestone recounts the story of a student who was unable to write in a standard exam venue after fracturing her coccyx. Forced to shift constantly between standing up and lying down, she needed a chair big enough to support the therapeutic cushion that helped to relieve her pain. Popplestone was glad to report that the student wrote and passed all of her exams.

The Disability Service has increasingly seen the need to improve its capacity to help students with mental-health challenges. This ranges from organising special exam-period support for students with Tourette's syndrome, to providing ongoing support to students with autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit disorder, for example.

To this end, they employ a consultant psychologist for 25 hours a week to address cases in which students feel they need extra time during exams. During 2014 the psychologist met 294 students who applied for a time concession, and extra time was given to more than half of these students.

"Together with her two assistants, we provided accessible accommodation in Forest Hill, [and she] completed her semester with excellent results, obtaining 72, 80 and 91% respectively, the latter for isiXhosa," the unit reports. "As well as the accommodation - we provided her with accessible transport between her residence and lectures, a peer note-taker and a scribe for tests and exams."

In September 2014 an assistive hearing system was installed in the Mafeje Room in the Bremner Building. The system ensures that the voices of speakers anywhere in the room are picked up by anyone in the building who is using a hearing aid. And the Disability Service would like to do even more, but funding is an ongoing challenge, says Popplestone. "We've greatly increased the services we offer without greatly increasing our resources."

Much of the money available goes to retrofitting buildings to be wheelchair-friendly and for the special Jammie Shuttle that transports students and staff with disabilities to and from the university.

Although two sign-language interpreters shared between four deaf students might sound like enough, Popplestone says that time-table clashes mean that it often isn't. Situations like this have led to some tension between the two areas that the Disability Service wants to focus on: service delivery and advocacy.

"If it comes down to a straight choice, I'd choose service delivery," says Popplestone. The idea, of course, is that they should never have to make that choice.

Photo Michael Hammond.

A team of astronomers from UCT and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) has identified a rare star that exploded around 1 500 years ago. At the time, the star would have outshone all the stars of the Orion constellation, reaching a similar brightness to Jupiter in the night sky.

Location of Te 11 in the constellation Orion (background image by Rogelio Bernal Andreo).

Dr Brent Miszalski, SALT astronomer at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), said: "Putting together the pieces of this cosmic puzzle has been a detective story bringing together the very latest astronomical equipment and millennia-old Chinese records of the variable night sky."

The find was reported in a recently published paper by a team of astronomers based in South Africa, England, Chile, Spain and Mexico.

Amateur astronomers found the peculiar-looking nebula, called Te 11, in the Orion constellation in 2010. Astronomers weren’t sure what to make of it, but they have now resolved the conundrum. First observations of this star at the centre of the nebula (a cloud of gas and dust in outer space) showed it to be a double star system in a close orbit of almost three hours.

The team responsible for this discovery, a group of astronomers with expertise in the envelopes of old stars led by Dr Brent Miszalski at the SALT/SAAO, were soon joined by UCT astronomers Professor Patrick Woudt, head of astronomy at UCT, Professor Brian Warner and PhD student Ms Mokhine Motsoaledi, who had also directed their attention to this unusual star.

By noticing variations in the brightness of this star over several years, Professor Woudt and colleagues amassed high-speed observations recording the changes in the binary’s light. The jumps in the light curve imply that the star is a dwarf nova (a star hiccuping material nibbled off the companion).

“Such a combination of a dwarf nova with a nebula is extremely rare,” said Professor Woudt.

Key to working out the nature of the Te 11 nebula was calculating its distance. Here the huge light collecting power of the 11-metre Southern African Large Telescope in Sutherland was used to peer into the heart of the nebula, pinning down the temperature of one of the stars present. This was worked into the modelling of the light curve to yield a distance of around 1 000 light years – putting Te 11 on the edge of the Orion­–Eridanus superbubble. This distance confirmed that the nebula could not be the ejected envelope of an old star like the Sun.

Looking back in time at Chinese historical records, Professor Warner found that there was a bright guest star in Orion during 483 CE near the position of Te 11.

“This remarkable connection suggests that Te 11 is the leftovers of this explosion of more than 1 500 years ago,” said Professor Warner. “Pairings in astronomy as found in Te 11 are exceedingly rare, but it is anticipated that planned studies of the night sky will find a whole lot more.”

Colour image of Te 11 made from images showing light from Hydrogen and Nitrogen gas (red), Oxygen gas (green) and visual light (blue).

South African astronomers are looking forward to using the upcoming MeerLICHT facility in Sutherland that may help find similar objects to Te 11.

MeerLICHT will be a dedicated wide-field optical telescope that will robotically follow the gaze of the MeerKAT radio telescope array, a precursor array that will form part of the Square Kilometre Array, which will start early science this year.

Professor Woudt said: “Planned surveys with MeerKAT and MeerLICHT will scan the southern skies for more of these unusual objects, which can tell us more about the formation and the evolution of these compact binaries in the Milky Way”.

With a binary period of only 2.9 hours, the two stars in Te11 are separated by about twice the Earth–Moon distance.

There is a long history of scientific collaboration between UCT and the SAAO, which operates SALT on behalf of an international group of partners. UCT and SAAO have a number of joint staff positions, and both are partners in the MeerLICHT project.

MeerLICHT is a robotic telescope that will soon be installed in Sutherland and which will be permanently tied to the observing schedule of MeerKAT. As demonstrated in the case of Te 11, the Southern African Large Telescope proved fundamental in understanding the faint traces from transient signal.

“The unique combination of SALT, MeerKAT and MeerLICHT bodes very well for peering deeper into the transient southern skies in the coming years,” says Professor Woudt.

Read more about the research

Story Kim Cloete. Photos supplied.

UCT's International Academic Programmes Office opened its doors 20 years ago, just two years after the country's first democratic elections. It was the start of a renewed push across the university towards international partnerships and outreach into Africa and beyond.

International links: through its collaboration with research institutions in Africa and beyond, UCT has become a sought after research partner globally and is a member of several research alliances. These include the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) and the Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN).

In 1996 UCT's International Academic Programmes Office (IAPO) welcomed the first fellows under the Universities Science, Humanities, Law and Engineering Partnerships in Africa (USHEPIA). That graduate cohort now numbers 65 scientists and engineers, all of whom benefited from the academic expertise of eight leading universities on the African continent.

In 1998 IAPO launched its Semester Study Abroad programme with 152 students. This year IAPO will welcome over 1 000 students from almost 30 countries. UCT is also host to over 3 500 international full-degree students from 106 countries.

"The extensive, positive impact and value of international full-degree and Semester Study Abroad students at UCT enables South African students to engage, both inside and outside of the lecture hall, with individuals of diverse backgrounds, life stories and academic experiences," said IAPO director, Professor Evance Kalula.

"Internationalisation goes back to well before 1996, of course, but was limited by the isolation that resulted from apartheid. With the advent of democracy in 1994, the world opened to South Africa and UCT was able to pursue internationalisation more vigorously. The establishment of IAPO played a crucial role in this and it is fitting that, in the year that we celebrate our 20th anniversary, UCT celebrates being ranked 114th in the Times Higher Education rankings of universities by international outlook."

Research and internationalisation

One of the most significant developments in recent years has been the bringing together of research and internationalisation under the same portfolio, led by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Danie Visser, which itself was partly a response to the central role of internationalisation in UCT's new Research Strategy 2015?2025. This has seen a rethinking of the way UCT approaches internationalisation and the forging of an even closer relationship than before between IAPO and the Research Office.

Formal networks play a crucial role in the delivery of this new strategy, and in another milestone this year, UCT became the first African university to join the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU). This network of 11 research-intensive universities, including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Tokyo and Yale, provides its members with opportunities to share best practice and to work together to address the major challenges of our time. UCT students will also have the opportunity to join IARU's Global Summer Program, which will bring them into contact with students from across the international academy.

UCT's most important partnerships, however, remain those in Africa. "Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo steered UCT's Afropolitan agenda throughout his 10-year tenure as deputy vice-chancellor responsible for internationalisation," says Visser, "and this built a solid foundation for current engagements on the continent."

Today, UCT is vigorously working on the development of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), launched in 2015. The network will form a hub that supports centres of excellence in many other universities across the continent, focusing on building indigenous research excellence to enable the continent to take control of its own future and assert itself as a powerful global force.

UCT is also a member of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) and the Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN). WUN is a consortium of 18 leading international research institutions, partnering in a collaborative effort to create a global research community in response to global needs and challenges. AAUN partners leading universities in Australia and Africa, connecting researchers and academics through institutional partnerships in order to address challenges facing both continents.

"These four networks are emblematic of the role UCT plays in encouraging three-way global partnerships in which we bring institutions from the global north into working collaborations with institutions across the continent," says Visser. "Such trilateral partnerships ensure that we bring together a rich diversity of researchers and thinkers to global debates, that complex global problems are given regional and national context, and that we put African problems on the global research agenda and develop strategies to solve them."

We cannot develop these strategies in isolation, adds Kalula: the creation of increasingly sophisticated information and communication technologies, trends in open access and changes in the very nature of science have meant that the creation of new knowledge has become a global project.

"Common challenges are addressed through inter- and transdisciplinary research teams that work together to combine perspectives and often massive data-sets from both developed and developing economies to find innovative solutions."

Entry to an international community

Globally, this is where the most significant funding opportunities are to be found too, requiring a partnership-based, interdisciplinary and problem-focused approach.

"Such collaborative projects not only ensure the global competitiveness of research itself but also provide the best training ground for postgraduates," says Visser. "Embedded into such partnerships, they gain entry into international communities of scholars on which their ongoing development can depend, and often form the foundations of productive ongoing international research collaborations."

Internationalisation at home

There have been other highlights. Also under IAPO's umbrella, the Confucius Institute is now teaching Mandarin in 10 schools in the Western Cape. The London School of Economics?UCT July School is in its third year, short-term international programmes are taking off and student and staff exchanges are flourishing.

Dr Loveness Kaunda, the previous director of IAPO, initiated a focus on "internationalisation at home" that prioritises all students ? an approach that underscores the fact that internationalisation of the curriculum is not about manipulating or adapting the curriculum to suit international students, but about putting together and delivering a curriculum that equips all students, not just those who are mobile, for their predictable and unpredictable futures. This continues to underpin all of IAPO's activities.

At the same time, UCT receives requests for research partnerships at an unprecedented rate and continues to focus strategically on its rich tapestry of international collaborations.

We look forward to finding out what the next 20 years will bring.

Click on the image below to see a larger version.

The New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) is a government-funded initiative that recruits young scholars into permanent academic positions at South African universities. All nGAP scholars are mentored by a senior academic in their department for the duration of the programme. They are also given a reduced lecture load, which allows them to concentrate on obtaining higher degrees.

The first three years of the six-year nGAP are development years, while the following three serve as an induction for the growing academic. The nGAP scholars are appointed as full-time academic staff from inception and follow a standard three-year probation period.

Curator of the Decolonial Alternatives Project Space, Sadiq Toffa, pictured at the Rustenburg Burial Ground located on UCT’s middle campus.

Sadiq Toffa took up an nGAP lectureship at the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics earlier this year. Toffa, who was born and raised in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, has an immense passion for cultural heritage and transformative knowledge.

“As a black person, my personal background is a lot like many black communities anywhere in the sense of social and economic exclusion of black communities in South Africa. What’s rarely understood about those communities is that they’re sites of struggle, but sites of struggle are great sites of knowledge and ethics – they’re culturally rich spaces rather than deprived spaces.”

Toffa obtained a professional graduate degree in architecture from UCT and a master’s in Human Settlements from the University of Leuven, Belgium. He was recently a visiting researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science as a Commonwealth Scholar. As a visiting researcher in the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, he wrote a PhD proposal and took up advanced interdisciplinary reading and course work. Currently he is a PhD student in UCT’s School of Architecture, focusing on critical heritage studies.

His theses in both his graduate and postgraduate degrees brought together critical theory and cultural theory in the built-environment sciences as a way of addressing socio-economic justice and cultural justice as transformative research within architecture.

“The overarching ambition of the nGAP initiative is transformative knowledge. That’s not surface transformation and those aren’t quotas of black faces, it’s a deep transformation, a historical transformation,” says Toffa.

Decolonial Alternatives Project Space

Toffa is currently working on two projects: the Decolonial Alternatives Project Space at the Rustenburg Burial Ground (he was appointed curator of the Rustenburg Burial Ground after a competition in 2014) and the World Monuments Fund Project.

“[The project] is part of the interdisciplinary work I want to engage with. It’s a deeply collaborative and productive exercise. The curatorial work that has been carried out over the past months will carry on throughout the rest of the year. It’s about engaging heritage communities within and beyond the UCT environment. It is an intellectual and research project, but it’s also a material project that has spatial consequences,” says Toffa.

The Decolonial Alternatives Project Space aims to construct an innovative public sphere. Toffa aims to pull in different groups within the university at various stages of the project.

“I don’t only want professors to be a part of this, I want postgraduate students and new academics like myself involved because we have important things to say,” he says.

The Rustenburg Burial Ground, which can be found on UCT’s middle campus between All Africa House and the School of Economics, commemorates the slaves buried at the Rustenburg farm.

The project was initially a design competition for a statue or plaque at the Rustenburg Burial Ground, but it has since evolved. Toffa says: “What the project is trying to do is construct a new kind of public sphere, as public space in contemporary liberal democracies are subject to all form of closures and exclusions, which are debilitating for democratic life. So I’m trying to explore alternative forms of democratic life, which necessitates the rights of communities to knowledge, the rights of communities to research.”

The project has been a long-haul task as administrative processes have been approved in dribs and drabs, but Toffa aims to ensure the open-air memorial will be accessible to everyone, even those not within the UCT community. “It’s meant to be a public space which will be accessible to anyone, not just staff and students. Anyone can walk in this space and participate,” he says.

The first, interpretive phase of the project is aimed to be completed later this year. The final phase will include the reactivation and landscaping of the burial ground itself.

“Its history is literally and figuratively buried, nobody knows what this lawn means. This is indicative of the sense of black alienation within this campus, and here we have an opportunity to address that with this project. Here we have one of the most important material markers of black belonging to this campus as a historical site that extends from our contemporary moment into the early days of the colonial settlement. This does important transformation work as it helps with important discussions of decolonial knowledges,” explains Toffa.

“The fact is that it isn’t one of the iconic spaces of the university, it isn’t in front of Jameson Hall or on the Jameson axis, and it doesn’t speak with the kind of colonial symbolism that those monuments carry. It’s something that is far more intimate and subdued, so I think for that reason becomes more discursive and critical.”

World Monuments Fund Project

The second prominent project that Toffa is working on is as the nominator of the World Monuments Fund. The fund is a charity organisation based in the United States that is aimed at preserving cultural and heritage sites globally. Toffa recently put in a successful nomination for the community of Bo-Kaap in central Cape Town, which was declared one of the most valuable and threatened cultural heritage sites in the world.

“Bo-Kaap is the only multi-ethnic community within central Cape Town to have survived the centuries of colonialism, but for reasons of cultural misunderstanding and economic expediency it remains very threatened today,” he explains.

The fund promotes support for new critical research and community-focused development to address these challenges. Toffa hopes to build institutional partnerships between global agencies, the university and communities.

“These projects and the way they have been constructed come at a time that is very urgent within our society and within our university. We see a new generation of black intellectuals and critical thinkers who are disenchanted with the conditions of freedom that we’ve inherited within the post-apartheid [era], and can articulate different struggles and those of our parents. We see this with the myriad of student movements,” says Toffa.

Toffa hopes to see the university transform into a place where there will be a supportive and productive institutional platform where interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work can be facilitated.

“What kind of society and what kind of university do I hope to be a part of in six years’ time when the nGAP runs its course? That’s where a black intellectual such as myself, engaged in decolonial work, will be less of an exception,” says Toffa.

Story Chido Mbambe. Photo Michael Hammond.

Vice-chancellors and presidents spoke about the moral purpose of universities and the many pressures facing higher education during a wide-ranging discussion at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. They emphasised the long-term benefits of universities, warned against political short-termism and referred to the effects of globalisation and social media during the frank and open debate.

Vice-chancellors and presidents spoke about the moral purpose of universities and the many pressures facing higher education during a wide-ranging discussion at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

Six vice-chancellors and presidents from Oxford, Beijing, Singapore, Canberra, Cape Town and Copenhagen addressed a 200-strong audience of alumni and staff from all of their universities. Held to mark the 10th anniversary of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), the event on 24 April also witnessed the admission of the University of Cape Town to IARU – a distinguished group of 11 international research-intensive universities.

Professor Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, moderated the discussion at the IARU Presidents’ Panel. She began the debate by highlighting how universities are confronted by a “hostile environment” because of ongoing financial instability caused by the 2008 crash and the “febrile” climate of “populism” in many countries.

Heads of leading international universities share future challenges and opportunities

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, president of the National University of Singapore, emphasised the need for universities to adapt, especially as it is difficult to predict what areas of study will be important in the future. He said: “We have to preserve a rich and diverse brains’ trust. We need to remain fully engaged. We need to produce evidence. Universities must not be seen as self-serving.” Professor Tan later spoke about the need to “zoom in and zoom out” to make connections between different areas of knowledge and to be able to foster the learning of new skills.

Professor Ralf Hemmingsen (IARU chairman and rector of the University of Copenhagen) and Dr Max Price (vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town) shake hands after signing the IARU memorandum of understanding.

Such a wide perspective was also advocated by other leading academics on the panel. Professor Brian Schmidt, vice-chancellor of Australian National University, explained that universities add value by creating knowledge over many years, which leads to a long-term view. Professor Louise Richardson, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, agreed and urged “a robust defence” of the long-term value of universities. Professor Ralf Hemmingsen, rector of the University of Copenhagen, also supported the benefits of a broad education and warned against the tendency of politicians to focus on short-term goals. Professor Lin Jianhua, president of Peking University, mentioned the difficulties encountered by universities when facing multiple pressures, including from government, faculty and students.

Globalisation was another theme explored by the panellists. Dr Max Price, vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town, described how globalisation is affecting higher education and called for less of a colonial, Eurocentric and Anglo-American model for universities. He said: “The challenge is to broaden and diversify our knowledge systems.” Professor Hemmingsen echoed these sentiments by calling for less of an Anglo-Saxon approach. Professor Lin spoke of the need to understand China and the West, and for plans to include more regional studies at his university.

Dr Marilet Sienaert (executive director: Research, UCT), Dr Russell Ally (executive director: Development & Alumni Department, UCT) and Dr Max Price (vice-chancellor, UCT) meet UCT alumni at the reception that followed the IARU Presidents’ Panel.

Extolling the advantages associated with international students, Professor Richardson described exponential increases in students studying abroad and said universities need to persuade governments about these benefits. As well as the international dimension, Professor Richardson also reiterated the role of universities at national and local level. She added: “We need to be cognisant of the local community and ensure that is a benefit to the local community.”

The challenges of public debate in an era of instant communications were also raised. Dr Price added: “Social media has an enormously chilling effect. It produces a massive response that closes down debate.” Professor Tan added: “We live in an extremely polarising environment. People tend to read what they believe in. Polarisation can be very damaging.”

The audience asked questions about a range of ethical, moral and technological topics, including the recognition of donors and controversial historic figures, academic freedom and the future of teaching.

The complexity of divestment, as well as taking positions on social and global issues, was raised. Professor Schmidt said: “Universities do need to be consistent with their moral values.” Dr Price agreed. He said: “In some ways universities have become the moral compass of society.” There was less certainty regarding the impact of technology and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) upon future teaching. Dr Price said the verdict is still out on MOOCs because of their high dropout rates. Professor Schmidt said that classes will change in the next ten years with more interactivity and online learning.

Professor Richardson emphasised the importance of academic freedom and hearing different views on campus as universities are the best places to counter objectionable speech.

A reception with the IARU Alumni followed the IARU Presidents’ Panel.

Story IARU. Photos IARU.

Students and staff expressed their thoughts about what freedom means in South Africa during the “Intersections of Freedom” event held on the health sciences campus.

In partnership with UCT Survivors and Decolonise Health Sciences, the HIV/AIDS Inclusivity and Change Unit (HAICU) and the Faculty of Health Sciences Students’ Council hosted an event on Thursday, 28 April 2016 on the health sciences campus to discuss freedom.

The event was held to celebrate the areas in which students perceive that freedom has been achieved. For example, some students spoke about having developed their own identity while drawing attention to what still needs to be done. Some students said that they don’t feel free because land issues have not been adequately addressed. Some students said that they did not yet feel free because of discrimination on the basis of sex or gender, and some brought attention to the impact of rape culture. The students expressed these concerns powerfully both verbally and on a thought wall.

Keabetswe Molelekeng, a member of the of the Health Sciences Students’ Council, was the director of ceremonies. Speakers called on health sciences students to play a role in stopping discrimination on the grounds of gender or sex.

Dela Gwala, from UCT Survivors and the chair of the UCT Young Womxn’s Network, drew attention to the survivors of sexual violence who have spoken about the way they have been treated by health sciences personnel. She said that survivors are often blamed for sexual violence because they wore the ‘wrong’ clothes or were in the ‘wrong’ area. Students were reminded that rape is not the survivor’s fault, nor is it because of what the survivor wore or did. Dela Gwala encouraged health sciences students to be better informed about the experiences of students on campus and to be educated in order to address survivors appropriately and give them the utmost care and respect.

Gender activist and a proponent of future kwaai music, Umlilo, sang several songs about what he expressed as being queer in a world that wants to classify people in terms of sex, gender and race. Umlilo also spoke to the issue of violence. The music not only expressed the difficulties that people face, but encouraged the audience to move towards a place of agency around addressing discrimination as well as violence.

The event complements the workshops focusing on HIV, patriarchy, sexual diversity and related issues for vulnerable students that have been held with first-year health sciences students and tutors. The workshops were facilitated by HAICU, the Agents of Change (ACEs) students and Health Sciences Student Council member Jamian Heesom-Baron, together with Professor Geney Gunston and Dr Lorna Olckers. This is in line with HAICU’s coordinated response that builds student and staff capacity through curriculum, co-curriculum and social responsiveness initiatives.

The workshops have also focused on the possibility of updating case studies in the first-year health sciences course. This is part of a larger effort around curricula reform that is taking place throughout the faculty and the university.

The event also complemented other events highlighting inclusivity on campus and workshops that have been held by members of the Trans Collective, HAICU and others.

Story Cal Volks. Photo Jamian Heesom-Baron.

Fifteen-year-old squash star Rowan Elaraby won this year’s Keith Grainger Memorial Squash Tournament at UCT on 29 April, beating her senior rival Milnay Louw 3–1 in a pulsating final.

The 11th annual Keith Grainger Memorial Squash Tournament at UCT attracted a record number of players, with 129 men and 49 women representing 19 nations taking to the court. While senior pros and high-ranked players contested the main draw, the tournament catered for players of all ages and levels, from Boys U11 to a Masters section.

This year the tournament partnered with WP Masters and saw the event including the WP Masters Open, resulting in 53 masters players competing in the event, with the oldest player being an amazing 75-year-old.

In the Women’s Professional Squash Association (PSA) Main Draw final, Egypt’s top-ranked U17 player, Rowan Elaraby, bested South African number five, Milnay Louw. At only 15 years old, Elaraby displayed big-match temperament to win the final 3–1. After winning the first two games 11–4 and 11–7, Elaraby dropped the third 6–11, but bounced back to clinch the trophy with a tight 11–9 victory in the decider.

The victory was made all the more special for Elaraby as it was the first time in eight matches that Louw had lost a match on South African soil. Louw, in fact, had not lost a single game during the Keith Grainger tournament before meeting Elaraby in the final.

In the Men’s PSA Main Draw final, Austrian number one, Aqeel Rehman, beat wild card Hesham Mohamed 3–1 in a topsy-turvy 60-minute match. After winning the first game 11–4, Rehman found himself 3–8 down in the second as the unseeded Egyptian raced to an early lead. But Rehman didn’t give up, fighting his way to 9–9 as the two traded points in a game that Rehman eventually won 15–13. Mohamed started the third game quickly too, easing into a lead and hanging on to secure the game win. But a composed Rehman showed his class to close off the match 3–1 and win his eighth PSA final.

UCT coach Wesley Daniels ran a coaching clinic on 25 April for 40 school-age squash players, enlisting the help of professional players Oliver Plett (England), Matthew Serediak (Canada) and Ahmad Al-Mudhaf (Kuwait), who ran a question-and-answer session on what it takes to play on the professional circuit.

The tournament is named after Keith Grainger in homage to his contribution to squash at UCT between 1999 and 2001. Despite being diagnosed with cancer and having his leg amputated, Grainger attended UCT where he focused on playing and growing the sport at the university. He would take to the court with an artificial leg and hit balls to beginners and hone their technique. Grainger was also centrally involved with organising the first UCT Squash Tour to the USA in December 2000 and went on the tour as manager – also playing a couple of matches en route. Grainger died in September 2001 during his third year of study at UCT.

Story Yusuf Omar. Photo Oakpics.

Tefelo Mathibane, a student in the 100-Up and 100-Up Plus programmes, is maintaining a competitive edge in his third year MBChB studies in UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences.

When Tefelo Mathibane received the news that he had been awarded the Santilal Parbhoo Prize for best study project in molecular medicine, he felt like he was dreaming. As surreal as it may be, this is an accustomed reaction for someone who may easily be considered to be living his dream.

It was always Mathibane’s ambition to pursue a career in medicine and today he is in his third year of study at UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences.

His success is attributed to a sense of passion for wanting to help people and he is driven by a need to make a difference in combatting diseases, such as tuberculosis, in Africa. This was the focus of his laboratory-based project – monitoring the distribution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) on the human lung system. His curiosity for asking questions and approaching problems from many different perspectives kept him up for many a late night on his experiments and write-up, which ultimately earned him top honours.

Mathibane is one of the students who was part of the first cohort of 100-Up learners to begin their studies at UCT in 2014. The 100-Up programme is a high school intervention hosted by UCT’s Schools Improvement Initiative (SII). Each year 100 talented learners in Grade 10 are selected from schools in Khayelitsha and then coached over three years to prepare them for university.

This journey continues with students qualifying for admission to UCT through 100-UP Plus, which is hosted by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED). It supports students with the critical transition to university life and with discerning their individual career paths. Mathibane attributes much of his academic achievement to the 100-Up revision programmes, which gave him a more competitive edge on his mathematics and science results in Grade 12 – an edge that he now maintains at the top of his class.

Donor funding is largely responsible for the upward trajectory of 100-Up, which is now expanding to include schools in Mitchells Plain. The programme has received considerable support from individual donors, both locally and internationally, particularly in the UK through the UCT Trust in London. The largest corporate donors were HSBC Africa, Nedbank Eyethu Community Trust and AfriSam. Another local corporate, The Foschini Group, has given support to the 100-Up Plus programme with a multi-year pledge.

Mathibane is also a bursary recipient of the Moshal Scholarship Programme, which funds talented students to help them realise their higher education dreams and grow them towards successful careers.

Besides Mathibane himself, no one is more excited about his achievements than his father, who he visits in the Eastern Cape during the university vacations.

“He always tells me how proud he is, and the fact that I am the first child of his to make it to varsity excites him even more. Whenever I speak with him about my studies, he reminds me that I should continue to work hard and he prays to the Lord that he doesn’t die before I graduate. He wants to see me succeeding.”

Mathibane likewise looks forward to completing his degree over the next three years and then nurturing his interest to specialise in cardiothoracic surgery.

“I want to make a difference in people’s lives and to give back to the community because I also received immense support.”

Story Merlin Ince. Photo Lu Nteya.

Artist’s impression of MeerKAT in the African Karoo region.

How did the universe evolve? What is the nature of reality? What is the role of our presence in the universe? Are we alone? These are some of the questions the world’s top astronomers are hoping to answer with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world’s biggest telescope that is being built in the Northern Cape.

"Radio astronomers will use the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to understand how stars and galaxies are formed, how they evolve over time and whether there is life elsewhere in the universe. It will answer questions we have not even asked yet," Professor Russ Taylor, UCT/University of the Western Cape SKA Chair, told an enthralled audience at UCT’s first Café Scientifique talk for 2016.

Hitting a technological wall

The SKA can do this in a way that no technology has been able to do so before: "To explain to story of SKA," says Taylor, "I will have to start at the very beginning."

"Radio astronomy is still a young science. It first took off in the 1940s and we enjoyed a golden era of radio astronomy for the next few decades. There was an interplay of advances in technologies and new discoveries in science and many Nobel prizes were awarded. It was a very exciting time of discovering new things about the universe."

This wonderful era, however, came to an end around 1980, when astronomers ran into a technology wall. "This was around the time when I got my PhD. We couldn’t build bigger telescopes and we couldn’t build more sensitive electronics, because we simply didn’t know how at the time," Taylor recalls.

"We realised that, despite all the discoveries and advances in astronomy, we actually still knew very little about the universe. The light that we could see with our optical telescopes was in fact a very small fraction of what the universe is made of. The real mysteries of the nature of the universe were not in the places we would see light, but in the dark regions between the stars and the galaxies, the stuff we call 'dark matter'. It's like seeing the foam on top of the ocean or the tip of the iceberg. Most of the universe is not in the stars and galaxies. It’s in what we can’t see." 

Professor Russ Taylor, UCT/University of the Western Cape SKA Chair, gave a talk about the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) at UCT’s first Café Scientifique talk for 2016. 

Taylor explained that astronomers at the time realised they would need a telescope that was at least a 100 times bigger than anything that existed at the time; to do that with the technology available at the time would have cost US$100 billion dollars. 

"So we had to figure out how to build new telescopes over very large areas, very cheaply, but still with high performance. We also had to harness the new advances in computing and digital technologies to allow us to make use of that big area to collect images all the way back to the beginning of time."

Mega science project

What was the dream of a small group of astronomers in the early 1990s grew over the next decade into a global project with 22 countries working at 122 institutions in the world, all trying to find solutions to the huge technological challenges for such an ambitious radio astronomy project. 

Potential sites to build the SKA were explored and finally South Africa and Australia were identified as the sites to build the world’s largest telescope with a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre (or one million square metres).

In much the same way that you tune your radio to listen to your favourite station, radio astronomers can tune their telescopes to pick up the radio waves that come from distant galaxies.

Says Taylor: "With the SKA, we will have enough sensitivity to detect the kind of radiation we produce on planet Earth elsewhere in the galaxy. Within a year, SKA would be able to look over a large part of the galaxy for evidence of other civilisations as our own."

Taylor was on board from the start. He was the founding international SKA project scientist and co-authored the first SKA science case. He also served as the founding executive secretary of the International SKA Steering Committee, the vice-chair of the International SKA Science and Engineering Committee and, before coming to South Africa, was a member of the international SKA project Board of Directors.

Creating a data monster

However, Taylor is also helping to find solutions to a huge challenge that still remains: how to use the data received.

"We are creating a monster. SKA will be the biggest data producer in the world when it goes on. It will produce so much data that we will be completely overwhelmed if we don’t figure out a way to process all that information. The answer to our biggest science questions will be in this data: life, the universe and everything."

Taylor explains that a huge amount of money is currently being invested in the development of new technologies in computing and systems and in the training of people who will be able to understand and process this big data.

"UCT has begun to work in partnership with the universities of the Western Cape and North-West to build a university collaboration around solving those problems and building the capacity in South Africa."

This Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) partnership, launched in September last year with Taylor as its director, will develop crucial capacity for big data management and analysis.

So, when will all this be done? And when will we know if there is other life out there?

According to Taylor, this could be in as little as 10 to 12 years. "MeerKAT, which is only 1% of the SKA, will be completed next year. The next 9% of SKA will be finished around 2023 or 2024. With 10% of the project completed, there is a good possibility to discover some form of life out there. If that doesn’t do it, we will complete the final 90% of SKA by 2030 at the latest. Once we have the full SKA up and running, we will definitely have an answer."

Story Birgit Ottermann. Images of MeerKAT and Professor Russ Taylor courtesy of SKA Africa and RCIPS respectively.

MasterCard Foundation Scholars Fadzai Muramba (left) and Christina Nyandoro (right) believe the opportunity afforded them will open many doors for their future in terms of career and personal development. Both scholars should graduate in December.

UCT MasterCard Foundation Scholars Fadzai Muramba and Christina Nyandoro recently spent a few days in the USA where they attended the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) 2016 meeting at the University of California, Berkley. They spent time learning about ploughing back into their communities and the various commitments of other scholars from around the world.

The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program is an education initiative that to date has committed over $700 million to develop next generation leaders who are committed to leading positive social and economic change in Africa. UCT has partnered with The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program to provide scholarships to academically talented yet economically disadvantaged students in sub-Saharan Africa to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate (honours and master’s) studies at UCT.

Muramba, who is completing her master’s in development studies, was drawn to apply for the MasterCard Foundation scholarship because of the additional support the programme gives its scholars.

“I really wanted an opportunity to do postgrad studies and MasterCard offered me more than that. It offered to support my research, to provide leadership training and classes so I can become more than just a good graduate student,” says Muramba. “UCT is the best university in Africa and I wanted an opportunity to study here and be among the best.”

Nyandoro, who is doing her master’s in commercial law, came to UCT after being awarded the scholarship.

“I’m a first-generation student, so I’ll be the first in my family to graduate,” says Nyandoro. “I was drawn to the scholarship because its main emphasis wasn’t only academics. The leadership experience was also one of the requirements, so my previous leadership experience drew me to apply.”

The conference has inspired both Muramba and Nyandoro to launch effective and inclusive social movements within their own communities back in Zimbabwe, and to appreciate diversity.

“The MasterCard scholars are from different countries in Africa, so we come from different backgrounds, and the advantage is that we get to appreciate one another irrespective of the culture or background we’re from,” says Nyandoro.

Muramba says, “It’s given me the opportunity to meet scholars from other African countries and engage with them on a personal level, and you rarely get that opportunity back home. Being in meetings with them and conversing with them, you get to understand what it’s like to live in Malawi or Kenya, for instance – a perspective you’d never get if you didn’t have that close relationship.”

The conference kicked off with a networking reception where the two UCT students met and shared ideas with fellow CGI U students. President Bill Clinton, the founding chairman of the Clinton Global Initiative, opened the conference and had a panel discussion with successful innovators who had managed to start out and scale up their ideas despite having limited resources.

While attending the CGI U 2016 meeting, the pair took part in the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Workshop, which is organised in conjunction with the CGI U. The workshop was aimed at giving scholars the opportunity to interact with experts and mentors to develop their leadership skills and to network among themselves. There were several breakout sessions: Muramba attended ‘From Mobiles to Drones: The Next Leapfrog Technologies’ and Nyandoro attended ‘Beyond Diversity: Inclusion and Empowerment Starts on Campus’.

“The ‘From Mobile to Drones: The Next Leapfrog Technologies’ session covered how the world is moving at such a fast pace in terms of technology. How we jumped from landlines to cellphones and now people are starting to use drones in amazing ways, like delivering medication to rural places and to deliver internet access to remote places … with the use of drones you can change the world without having to put infrastructure in place. We can do what we need to get done fast,” explains Muramba.

The session attended by Nyandoro, ‘Beyond Diversity: Inclusion and Empowerment Starts on Campus’, addressed racial inequality and injustice in American society.

“Its main focus was on diversity in order to fight injustice and inequality on campus. … in order for transformation to happen, an inclusive classroom environment that reflects diversity need[s] to be built,” says Nyandoro.

The pair spent their last day painting murals and cleaning facilities as part of the Day of Action community service at Havenscourt Campus in Oakland, California. The campus houses five separate schools ranging from pre-school to high school and serves more than 1 500 students each day.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – a unique opportunity to meet other scholars from different universities worldwide and share our ideas on the commitment action plans that each student had. I learnt a lot on how you can give back to the community,” says Nyandoro. “At the end of the day, as a leader you have to plough back into the community. Don’t expect someone to tell you to do things; fundraise on your own to achieve what you need to for the community.”

Muramba plans to get a taste of the corporate world after completing her studies.

“If I ever came back for a PhD, I plan to use what I learnt in industry as a launching pad for my research,” says Muramba. “After attending the CGI U conference, I really felt drawn to the theme of making a commitment action and following a particular challenge in your community and aiming to make some form of change. So I plan to use the commitment I proposed to CGIU as my first step to giving back.”

Nyandoro has no plans to study further yet, but would like to explore opportunities in industry.

“Although I’m a commercial law student, I also have an interest in women’s rights and children’s rights, so I plan to do work in improving women and children’s rights back in Zimbabwe. That’s how I intend to plough back into my community – by focusing on those areas,” says Nyandoro.

Story Chido Mbambe and Yusuf Omar. Photo Michael Hammond.

Tolu Oni speaks about stereotypes around African science and how science can be used as a tool to advance African societies.

Tolullah (Tolu) Oni’s passion for public health stem from a desire to study medicine from an early age.

Nigerian by birth, Oni spent her final schooling years in the UK before training in medicine at University College London. This sparked her interest in globally significant diseases and the factors that influence health policy and outcomes. She realised that many health conditions are rooted in social determinants, which inspired her to switch from a clinical career to an academic career in public health and epidemiology. Her significant contribution to raising the profile of public health was recently recognised in a profile in the prestigious Lancet journal.

After graduating, she worked as a medical doctor in the UK and Australia, starting with HIV work in London. “I wanted to research and understand what the drivers of the disease are … and their impact on health,” explains Oni.

Oni came to UCT in 2007 where she spent seven years in a research post at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine.

“This provided me with an opportunity to study TB diagnostics and work with HIV patients,” she says. She completed her PhD in 2012 at the Imperial College London and later completed her public health medical speciality training as a fellow of the College of Public Health Medicine in 2015.

Her research explores the link between chronic infectious and chronic non-infectious diseases, and the impact of the socio-economic and physical environment on the health profile of people living in urban, often informal, settlements.

“Seeing patients come and go, I realised they’re not just TB and HIV patients; they also have obesity, diabetes or hypertension issues and often we just ignored those issues and treated them for what they were there for,” says Oni. “Our health system is set up in a way that you’re only allowed to have one condition.”

Her work in South Africa was the first time she got a chance to understand populations and their health, which helped her discover that other factors also influence health. This made her want to understand what these influences mean at a local, national and global level.

“I got to learn how non-health forces play a role in health,” says Oni. “What are we doing just treating people when we can actually take a step back and prevent them from getting sick?”

Oni took up her current position at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine in 2014 and is responsible for part of the medical school’s undergraduate teaching curriculum. She has successfully lobbied for UCT to create its own intercalated BSc(Hons) on global public health, which will be the first of its kind on the African continent.

“Interacting with students, I’ve realised there’s so much more I’d like to engage with them on, but we have a set curriculum and there’s no time. It’s [the course] for those who want a deeper understanding of public health,” says Oni.

However, Oni has faced various challenges with her interdisciplinary research. “I haven’t chosen the easiest road, but it is a much more interesting one. If we can’t embrace complexity, we can’t pretend to impact at a wide enough scale,” she says.

Oni attributes her success to her family who have never made a career in the sciences gender specific. “I think it’s important because I still meet young students who are told by teachers or parents ‘Are you sure you want to do this because you might be the only girl in the classes?’ ” says Oni.

She advises students to find role models in their field and to not shy away from contacting them to discuss their research. She feels academics often want to give back – some will give back freely and others may wait for someone to reach out to them. “Cold call! Don’t wait to be introduced to people. The enthusiasm for what you do will open doors,” says Oni.

She connects with students by making herself accessible and by putting herself in their shoes. “I try to get across why I’m excited about what I do. I don’t just teach, so I think that in itself plants seeds.” says Oni.

Next Einstein Forum

Oni, along with another fourteen of Africa’s best young scientists and technologists, was recently selected for the Next Einstein Forum (NEF), which was held in Dakar, Senegal. The forum all started with Neil Turok’s TED prize wish for the next Einstein to come from Africa. The initiative was launched by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in partnership with Robert Bosch Stiftung, a prominent German philanthropic company, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

The NEF is investing in a pool of untapped intellectuals to showcase and increase the pipeline of scientific talent from Africa to address the development of the continent. The ultimate goal is to shut down stereotypes surrounding science capacity in Africa.

“Often, Africa is portrayed in certain stereotypical terms, and this includes how the world views African science,” says Oni.

She appreciates that the NEF uses an asset based model and focus on working on what talent already exists in Africa and showcasing that (in addition to promoting the production of the next generation of scientists).

“We are not only addressing issues on an African scientific stage, but a global scientific stage as well and showing that collectively as a continent we are dedicated to using science as a tool to advance our society,” says Oni.

NEF Fellows showcased their work in spotlight sessions to over 1 000 delegates.

South African Young Academy of Science

As co-chair and member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS), Oni encourages public engagement between academic, public, private and non-governmental sectors in the translation of research findings into policy and practice.

“SAYAS looks beyond the science-specific discipline and looks at representing the voices of young emerging and recently established scientists. We look at ways of pulling society into science,” says Oni.

To pull society into science, science must be representative of society. To this end, SAYAS is 52% female and this is achieved by ensuring that a wide variety of people apply. “Gender equity among applicants results in gender equity among members.”

Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity

Oni is also working on establishing the Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity (RICHE), an interdisciplinary research programme for urban health research in Africa. It will focus on urban health inequity to identify creative strategies to address complex population health challenges. These challenges will be approached through a partnership between academia, civil society and government.

“RICHE is a collaboration of researchers from UCT across different disciplines that speak to this idea of cities’ health, urban health and equity. As a collective, we’re about to publish in the Journal of Urban Health a paper on urban health research priorities in Africa,” she says.

Free time

An avid endurance mountain runner and coach, Oni spends most of her free time on the mountain.

“When you’re on the mountain, you get perspective of where you are relative to the big picture, so it’s meditation for me,” she says.

In the winter she spends time coaching a few members of her running club.

“Coaching has made me realise that when I’m passionate about something, I give my all. I get additional energy from convincing other people to be enthusiastic about it too; I see that with my running club. People think they’re not runners and just to see how they change and get to love the mountain without me pushing them anymore, and they finally get it. It’s the same with my work,” says Oni.

Story Chido Mbambe. Photo Michael Hammond.

Update on interdict process, Wednesday, 11 May 2016

The application for an interim interdict after the violence and vandalism on campus on 16 February 2016 has been made a final order of the court.

Read the application
Released 11 May 2016

Update on interdict process, Friday, 4 March 2016

Following the events of 16 February 2016, UCT, on an urgent basis, sought and was granted relief through an interim interdict of the High Court. This order interdicted, amongst others, 16 named respondents. UCT sought this relief given the circumstances that prevailed at the time, which were judged to be extremely serious, and had done so on the basis of the prima facie evidence it had available to it at the time.

Since then the University has been considering further information and assessing evidence available to it about the events of 16 February, including the period immediately preceding 16 February 2016. In the case of three of the respondents named in the interim interdict, the University has decided that it will have the interdict discharged against them on the return date and will suspend the operation of the interim interdict insofar as it prevented them from accessing UCT premises. The attorneys acting for these Respondents have been informed.

While the University has taken this decision, it reserves its right to act against any person who aligns him or herself with unlawful conduct. Similarly UCT reserves its right to proceed against the individuals concerned through its internal University Student Disciplinary Tribunal if applicable. This applies also to those students, not named individually as Respondents to date, but who have subsequently been identified as having participated in unlawful activity on 16 February 2016 (and beyond) and whose actions have threatened good order at the University. A number of these students have already been identified.

UCT has also identified an individual, who is not a registered student, whose actions on campus on 15 February 2016 threatened good order, and were criminal in nature. He assaulted a student and this has been reported to the SAPS. UCT will seek to add thus individual as a Respondent to the current proceedings. He was previously involved in the 16 November 2015 incident when a final exam at the UCT Sports Centre was disrupted. He was arrested and charged for this incident and is currently out on bail. He has had no official reason to be present on any of UCT’s premises and the reason for his presence on 15 February 2016 is not known.

Any further developments that UCT initiates regarding further legal processes, externally through the High Court as well as internally at UCT, will be approached with due consideration, fairness and in alignment with the values of UCT.

Update on interdict process, Monday, 29 February 2016

Further to the media statement released by the University on Friday 26 February 2016 in respect of the judgment of Judge Blignaut, the University has taken a decision to seek leave to appeal the judgment. This appeal application was lodged on 29 February 2016.

On Thursday 25 February 2016 UCT advised those respondents (including Mr Hugo) who were arrested by the South African Police Services that the operation of the urgent interdict obtained on 17 February 2016 will be suspended insofar as their academic exclusion on campus was concerned. This applies to the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth respondents. This status, notwithstanding the application seeking leave to appeal Judge Blignaut's order, will remain insofar as these respondents are concerned, unless they contravene the further provisions of the interim interdict.

Update on interdict process, Friday, 26 February 2016

UCT to seek reasons for setting aside interim interdict against De Waal Hugo

The University of Cape Town obtained an urgent interim interdict on Wednesday 17 February 2016 from Judge Williams in respect of sixteen named individuals and a group.

One of the respondents, De Waal Hugo,who had been arrested on charges of public violence by the SAPS and who was released on bail by the Wynberg Magistrate launched an urgent application to set aside the interim urgent order. On Friday 26 February 2016 Judge Blignaut set aside the orders only as they related to Mr Hugo.

In setting aside the order, the judge did not give reasons. UCT will be requesting these, as the basis for its interdict application was based on Mr Hugo having been arrested for public violence. In the context of the events that happened on 16 February and on campuses nationwide subsequently UCT felt it had a responsibility to act to protect the the safety of students, staff and its campus.

The case against the other respondents continues and is scheduled to be heard on 15 March 2016 in the Western Cape High Court.

Interim interdict to protect UCT community, Thursday, 17 February 2016

After Tuesday evening's violence and vandalism on campus, 16 people and a 17th respondent, "anyone who associates themselves with unlawful conduct at any of the university's premises", have been interdicted by the Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa and their activities on campus restrained.

Read the application Released: 16h05, 17 February 2016
Read the interim interdict Granted: 20h15, 17 February 2016