Great start to 2017

30 January 2017 -

Wits University has started the new year on a positive note.

All supplementary exams for 2016 have been successfully completed and student registrations for 2017, which started on 3 January, have proceeded peacefully. More than 25 000 students have registered thus far and Wits has welcomed about 6 000 new first-year students.

The University is addressing the issue of students who cannot afford the registration fee and has released a statement about agreements made to support students financially this year.

The first cohort of insourced workers reported to work as official Wits employees in January. With higher salaries and education benefits, life will improve for about 1500 workers employed in cleaning, catering, security, transport, waste, grounds and landscaping. Florence Mashaba, for example, proudly explains in this video that she can now give her children a brighter future.

Understanding today’s students

Less than a third of African students come from households that own a car. That’s one of the stats in two research vignettes produced recently by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, a partnership between Wits, UJ and the Gauteng Provincial Government. The GCRO looked at data from its 2015 Quality of Life Survey for insights on student life and the #FeesMustFall protests. 

Several books have been published recently about student and youth protests and related issues. These are two from Wits University Press – remember your 10% alumni discount!

• Fees Must Fall: Student Revolt, Decolonisation and Governance in South Africa, edited by Susan Booysen (Wits University Press)
• Students Must Rise: Youth Struggle in South Africa Before and Beyond Soweto ’76, edited by Anne Heffernan and Noor Nieftagodien (Wits University Press)

Year of Fire, Year of Ash: The Soweto Schoolchildren’s Revolt that Shook Apartheid, by the late Baruch Hirson (a political activist and a physics lecturer at Wits in the 1950s and 1960s), has been republished by Zed Books.

Hope for maths teaching

30 January 2017 -

School maths added to the general mood of public worry in 2016. But there was a plus.

The Department of Basic Education decided to allow school learners in grade 7-9 to progress to the next grade with a maths pass mark of as low as 20%, provided they had passed all their other subjects. The announcement was alarming for many South Africans.

But there is some good news: Wits’ Transition Maths 1 course is making a strong positive impact on maths teaching, according to course co-ordinator and Wits alumnus Dr Craig Pournara (left). The performance of teachers on the course has improved by over 12 percentage points and is boosting the results of their learners too.

Transition Maths, a programme of professional development for school teachers, was initiated in 2012 by the Wits Maths Connect Secondary research and development project, led by alumna Prof Jill Adler.

Life lessons of a business achiever

30 January 2017 -

How do you get from a small South African town to the CEO’s office in a Fortune 500 company? By looking for the good in people.

Stanley Bergman (BCom 1972, CTA 1973) learnt one of his most important life lessons as a boy in Eric’s Stores in South End. This was a diverse community of Port Elizabeth which was destroyed under the Group Areas Act. Accepting an honorary Doctor of Commerce degree from Wits in December for his outstanding achievements in business and philanthropy, he spoke about this life lesson and others – you can listen to his address here.

Though he insists he wasn’t a great student, he certainly got the important stuff right. He is now Chairman and CEO of Henry Schein, the world’s largest provider of health care products and services to dentists, doctors and vets, with sales of over $10-billion. What’s more, it’s highly regarded as an ethical business and good employer.

For more graduation news, click here.

Obituary: Judith Mason

30 January 2017 -

The artist Judith Mason (BA FA 1961) died in December 2016 in White River.

She lectured at Wits in the 1960s and early 1970s and is represented in important collections, including WAM’s. Many visitors to the Constitutional Court will have seen her artwork The Man Who Sang and the Woman Who Kept Silent (also known as The Blue Dress), which is discussed in an essay by William Danaher. Tributes have been published on Art Times and LitNet, and there is a wealth of information on Mason’s website.  A book review by a former student explores what made her such an “astonishing” art teacher. The artist Kim Berman, too, spoke at Mason’s memorial of the way she “identified a spark that inspired [artists] to find their confidence to be great”. Her last exhibition was a collection of drawings, Undiscovered Animals, at the Abalone Gallery last year.

The value of a Wits qualification

30 January 2017 -

What should you be able to accomplish as a result of studying at Wits?

The question of what it means to be a Wits graduate arises formally at least every five years, when the University reviews its academic plans.  But it’s worth thinking about, whether you’re an alumnus, employer, student or academic.   

A recent description of what Wits aims to produce can be found in Wits’ 2015 Integrated Report. It speaks of “professionals and members of civil society with a balanced set of attributes, which include: well-groomed social values; a sense of public good; functioning knowledge; critical thinking skills; reflective competencies; appreciation of diversity; and an understanding of the complexities of life as an opportunity for critical engagement.” In short: “global citizens who are passionate about intellectual and social engagement and environmental factors”.

The notion of graduate attributes and how to instil them is a field of study in itself. They have been defined as “the qualities, skills, knowledge, abilities, attitudes and understanding which a university agrees its students should develop while at the institution”. So: not just subject knowledge or technical competence but a way of thinking and, hopefully, readiness for whatever life presents in future.

These things can’t simply be assumed. They have to be taught explicitly or deliberately built in to the learning programme, says Denise Chalmers, an emeritus professor at the University of Western Australia who was at Wits in November to lead workshops for Wits academics. 

Prof Chalmers says that Wits’ most recent “statement of graduateness” – a list of 17 attributes (see below) – is worded like a contract. It is a commitment to ensuring that graduates demonstrate certain outcomes. This means the University has to be able to verify that it has delivered what it promised.

Some lecturers are equipping themselves for this challenge through Wits’ postgraduate diploma specialising in higher education. 

One such is Dr Yomi Babatunde, a senior lecturer in the School of Construction Economics and Management, who is passionate about creating a strong link between university learning and industry practice.

Originally qualified as an architect in Nigeria, he also has 10 years’ experience of international project management in Singapore. When he came to Wits, he designed a “capstone” course for construction management students, bringing together everything they had been learning in a way that simulated real work experience. Practical and multidisciplinary, it prompted students to prepare for all sorts of things they might encounter on a construction project – including unforeseen changes.

Dr Babatunde has now conducted research into how well this course prepared students for the working world. The students completed the course in 2014 and were surveyed in 2016. On average they had 19 months’ work experience. A list of 30 skills and attributes was compiled and the graduates assigned values to the importance of each of these. They also commented on what they valued about the capstone course, with the benefit of experience.

The next phase of the research will bring in the perspective of employers (including some Wits alumni) and all this will then be fed into fine-tuning the design of the course.  

Universities that do well with capstone courses tend to emphasise group-based work, Babatunde says. Skills like team-building are even more important in construction management than the ability to work autonomously. The skill that graduates in his survey rated most important was time management. Next came active listening and interpersonal skills. Fourth was acceptance of responsibility, and fifth was adaptability to a changing work environment.

Among the advice of graduates to future students in their field: “do as much vacation work as possible”; “look for opportunities to form social network groups”; “understand how to work with human beings”; “have practical work exposure before enrolling”; “look for a mentor”.

So, if you got what you paid for at Wits – a sense of public good – there is important work for you to do as an example and as a creator of opportunity.

Wits graduate attributes

• In-depth knowledge of specialist discipline
• Set of transferable skills in different types of employment
• Innovative and critical thinking skills with commitment to continuous learning
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Strong sense of the ethics of scholarship and intellectual integrity
• Ability to conduct research, analyse and present information coherently
• Ability to relate to a wider range of subjects with a reasonable depth and breadth of knowledge
• Functional knowledge across broad range of disciplines and transferability of such knowledge to various contexts
• Global citizenship with the ability to confront life’s ambiguities and complexities and solve problems
• Continuous development of cognitive and professional skills through lifelong learning
• Transferable skills and functional knowledge of different employment opportunities
• Interpersonal skills and an ability to appreciate and embrace diversity
• Ability to bring about innovation and constructive change in professions and civil society
• Leadership and mentorship
• Understanding of human rights, social justice and environmental sustainability imperatives
• Sense of public good and civic responsibility
• Respect for indigenous knowledge, values and cultures

Which lecturers or experiences at Wits gave you the attributes you value most? Let us know!

Origins Centre new wing

30 January 2017 -

A new space opens for Wits treasures

The Origins Centre is preparing to launch a new wing in 2017, to exhibit priceless treasures that will enrich our understanding of the ancient art of the Khoi and San people. The wing houses a collection of engraved boulders brought from parts of North West province.

About 101 dolerite rocks, weighing 55 tons in total and mostly carrying depictions of wild animals, have been in storage for about 20 years. They were previously displayed outdoors at the Joburg Zoo’s Museum of South African Rock Art, established by the late Paul Friede.

Visitors will be able to take a guided tour of the engraved boulders, hosted by experts.

Why do we value all traces of our human origins, and preserve them carefully in places like the Origins Centre? Perhaps you have to visit and see them to feel their impact.

Last November at the Centre, the public had a chance to see some of “the earliest forms of abstract representation and conventional design tradition hitherto recorded”, according to Wits archaeologist Prof Christopher Henshilwood.

A little block of ochre, etched with a diamond pattern on one side. One hundred thousand years ago, a human being held this, looked at this, made this pattern. Why? What else did those eyes see and those hands do? What thoughts and feelings did he or she have?

In the same glass case: a fragment of ostrich egg shell, also cross-hatched, delicately and precisely – perhaps 35 000 years later.

The ochre and shells, along with bone points, shell beads and sharpened stones found at sites on South Africa’s southern coast, were exhibited together for the first time for just two days. These beads are the first known instance of “jewellery”. The leaf-shaped stone blades are the oldest known examples of the heat-treated pressure flaking technique on bifacial points, and they are a triumph of craftsmanship. They are 50 000 years older than the best examples found in France. The crescent-shaped blades – still with traces of sticky resin on them where they may have been fixed into a shaft – may indicate the earliest use of bows and arrows.

Also in the glass case, representing the incredible technological journey we have made since we left these coastal caves, was a 3D printed replica of the etched ochre block. We humans have been using ochre in various ways for the past 280 000 years. And now this: 3D printing. 

Even while our technology and behaviour as Homo sapiens evolve, we are curious about our early selves. The “Makapansgat pebble of many faces” has been one of the most popular exhibits at the British Museum, where it was on loan from Wits’ Evolutionary Studies Institute. It’s thought that the pebble, found alongside Australopithecus fossils, may have attracted the attention of a hominid two million years ago.

Diabetes at 212 degrees: a call for action

30 January 2017 -

About 415-million people worldwide have diabetes – and almost half don’t know they have it. The consequences can be devastating.

“Diabetes should be as hot a topic as any that exists in health care. But is anyone paying attention? We need to get to boiling point to drive change.” This was the message of Prof Desmond Schatz (MBBCh 1979), President of the American Diabetes Association, when he addressed more than 10 000 people at the 76th ADA Scientific Sessions in New Orleans on “the invisible disease”.

Listen to the webcast of his “fiery” address for more facts and real people’s stories, or watch him talk about his passion in an interview on YouTube.

Schatz is Medical Director of the Diabetes Institute at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

The face of Ancient Greece

30 January 2017 -

Wits links the past and present again, giving an identity to the dead.

Wits researchers were involved in what has been called the most important Greek archaeological discovery in 65 years – the Bronze Age tomb of the so-called Griffin Warrior, filled with a “fabulous hoard of wealth”. Prof Lynne Schepartz and Tobias Houlton (School of Anatomical Sciences) reconstructed the face of the warrior, “one of the powerful men who laid foundations for the Mycenaean civilization, the earliest in Europe”.

Using this expertise closer to home, the School has recently launched a Human Variation and Identification Research Unit. Its director is the School’s Head, Prof Maryna Steyn (PhD 1994), who has also recently been appointed an associate editor of the South African Journal of Science.

The unit’s work includes a component of service to the community, helping to identify dead bodies. The Mail & Guardian recently published a series of in-depth articles on “South Africa’s Forgotten Dead”, supported by Wits’ Taco Kuiper Investigative Journalism Fund.

Pushing back suffering

30 January 2017 -

Medical alumni continue to advance frontiers

Diabetes is just one of the non-communicable diseases creating a growing burden for Africa. Understanding the part played by genetic drivers could help us fight these diseases, but genomic research in Africa has its own challenges, according to Prof Michèle Ramsay (PhD 1987) in an article on The Conversation.

Gene therapy is a promising field in the treatment of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), according to Prof Patrick Arbuthnot (BSc 1982, BSc Hons 1984, MBBCh 1985, PhD 1993). Delivering the James HS Gear Memorial Lecture in November, he said HBV, which damages the liver, is one of the main causes of death worldwide.

Twenty years of antiretroviral treatment came in for review by Prof Ian Sanne (MBBCH 1990) and Prof Francois Venter in the 14th Prestigious Lecture: ART: Do or Die.

“Children and adolescents are often overlooked in our response to HIV/Aids,” says Prof Gayle Sherman (MBBCh 1989, MMed 1997, PhD 2006). But a new web-based system that monitors CD4 count and viral load in South Africa’s HIV positive patients will help. It provides and analyses information by location and age group, enabling health care practitioners to respond more effectively.

Researcher Dr Nicole de Wet (BA 2007, BA Hons 2008, MA 2009, PhD 2013) is also focused on adolescent health and behaviour.

How do we know whether a country’s health is improving? One sign might be the sex ratio at birth – the proportion of boys born – according to Gwinyai Masukume (MSc 2015) in an article on The Conversation.

Fresh look at biofuels

30 January 2017 -

Engineers cut out an unnecessary step

It’s been argued that the process of making biofuels uses more energy than it produces. But Witsies Neil Stacey (BSc Eng 2009, PhD 2016), Aristoklis Hadjitheodorou (BSc Eng 2009) and Prof David Glasser have been in the news (Creamer Media’s Engineering News) for their work on energy-efficient production of bioethanol-enriched petrol. Their paper, published in Energy & Fuels, suggests that existing bioethanol plants can be retrofitted to use the new process.

Help a student

30 January 2017 -

Change futures – your own included

Have you noticed how many of the top matric achievers profiled in the news media say they hope to study at Wits? Many of them have already overcome huge disadvantages to get this chance of a better life and of eventually helping to build South Africa as a Wits graduate. They deserve the support of Witsies.

Apart from giving to the Wits Annual Fund, what can you do to help a student or a fellow alumnus? Consider these options:

• Offer a student a job
• Contact Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach
• Contribute to the Foodbank, which distributes emergency food and provisions to needy students
• Online mentoring

Remember, you can help yourself too: alumni qualify for some great discounts on hotels, books and courses.

Continuing education

30 January 2017 -

A new year, a new skill. Consider taking a course to keep your Wits edge.

Applications for the first semester are closed, but Wits Plus offers a mid-year intake (applications open in May) for most of its part-time programmes. Applications are however OPEN for the online short courses – please apply on the Digital Campus website.

Wits Plus has launched a number of new programmes in 2017 to address an overwhelmingly positive response from mature, working professionals looking to achieve a first degree or to expand their professional and personal skills profiles.

The existing general Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degrees are now complemented by additional options with Law as a second major. First-year Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Engineering students from all the disciplines will also be accommodated on the part-time facility, initially as a pilot and in full from 2018.

The option of “occasional studies” offers further opportunities for graduates to complement their degrees, specifically for Law and the prerequisite courses to apply for the Graduate Entry Medical Programme (GEMP).

The high-level short courses at Wits Plus cover diverse fields including Accounting, Management, Investment, Law and Project Management and from 2017 students have even more choice with eight additional short courses. An ever-changing work environment also demands online study opportunities for busy professionals. We continue to expand the range of fully online short courses, which can be accessed from anywhere, and successful students receive a Wits-certified Certificate of Competence.

The cog, the book and the kudu

30 January 2017 -

A hidden message in the Wits coat of arms? Hmm…

Louis Shakinovsky (BA 1968) reports that he sometimes gets a certain reaction when he wears his Wits cufflinks. “By dint of my job [he’s chairman of Global Dental Services and of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Centres of Excellence and a director of Belron International] I often open clinics and HQs, and attend functions. What I have always done is worn my Wits cufflinks in preference to any others. They must have some similarity to the Masons’ icons, because every so often I get a strange handshake and invitation to a lodge.”

Maybe it’s just his own special powers: Shakinovsky is also a qualified clinical hypnotherapist. Whatever the reason for his ability to make connections, he has overseen hundreds of mergers and acquisitions over his long business career. This started while he was still a student at Wits, when he joined PGSI (Plate Glass group), the forerunner of Belron. Through knowledge and through work, indeed.

We’ll keep alumni posted on the progress of an online Wits Shop where you can buy items like the cufflinks.

The city’s green veins

30 January 2017 -

Two Witsies are doing what they can to preserve and share our natural environment

“My passion is to find new ways to conserve biodiversity in an urban setting where the pressures are highest,” says Tyrone Mckendry (BSc Hons 2015). He is working on his MSc dissertation, “Identifying and Assessing an Ecological Corridor in Johannesburg”, and is on the committee of the Greater Kyalami Conservancy, a rapidly developing area of Gauteng.

Tyrone is surveying and mapping important ecological features and Red Data species in the area. A keen wildlife photographer, birder and hiker, he heads the conservancy’s African Grass-Owl research and conservation project, working with the Endangered Wildlife Trust to monitor and record nesting sites and individual birds.  

“In a city like Johannesburg, open space and natural habitats are becoming more fragmented and degraded every single year,” he says. “Roads, walls and fences cut up the landscape, creating barriers for wildlife, while constant construction projects continue to reduce open space and leave only fragments of the natural habitat that once existed. It is not hard to imagine why urbanisation is considered as the greatest threat to biodiversity globally.”

Tyrone says parks and nature reserves are important but they tend to become isolated as the land around them is developed.  “You are left with green islands that do not allow species to move into new areas in search of mates, food or shelter.” The high value of urban land also creates a barrier to conservation.

“Ecological corridors [he also calls them “green veins”] make efficient use of the available land by utilising areas that are unsuitable for development, such as rivers and ridges, and creating connections between nature reserves and open spaces. Connectivity enhances genetic diversity and counters many of the negative effects associated with isolation.”

Tyrone says “it is unrealistic to expect urbanisation to stop, but that does not mean all is lost. If sustainable development practices are implemented and effective long-term conservation plans, such as the ecological corridors, are established, there is hope for the biodiversity in Johannesburg.”

For those lucky enough to get further than urban ecological corridors, one option might be a guided safari with conservationist and photographer Andrew Beck (BSc Hons 2007, MSc 2009).  He did his Master’s at Wits on electric fence induced deaths of animals, and now leads photographic safaris through his company, Wild Eye.

Take a walk

30 January 2017 -

Stories of South Africa, at a human pace

Digital technology brings you this, an escape from … digital technology. In an interview on Creamer Media’s Polity, Luke Alfred (BA 1986, BA Hons 1987) talks about his book, Early One Sunday Morning I Decided to Step Out and Find South Africa. He started in Hope Street, just off Louis Botha Avenue in Joburg, and walked his way into a collection of stories and reflections about South Africa, its places, history and people. He ends with hope too.

Wits Fitness and Wellness Centre

30 January 2017 -

Great value for alumni: gym on campus for only R250 a month!

The Wits Fitness and Wellness Centre has just opened on West Campus, opposite Hall 29 and close to the Wits Club (Olives and Plates). And alumni can join for only R250 a month. It’s excellent value when you compare facilities with other gyms. You can apply online from the website.

Qualified staff are there at all times to help you take advantage of the cardio, weights and circuit training facilities – plus there’s spinning and a studio for classes like step, Zumba, yoga and Pilates. The equipment is state of the art; and for just R150 you can also get a personalised workout programme which is monitored using the Technogym Wellness Key.

The centre is open seven days a week, Mon-Fri 5am-9pm and Sat/Sun 6am-2pm.

One of the three upgraded change rooms is equipped for disabled access.

The gym manager is Deen Rhoda. For more information, call 081 756 6850  or email wfwc@activatewellness.co.za.

Achievers and appointments

30 January 2017 -

Advocate Thuli Madonsela (LLB 1991), the former public protector, is launching the Thuma Foundation “to develop leadership for democracy, development and peace, focusing on a leadership approach that is ethical, purposeful, impactful and committed to service”, according to Lead SA.

Martin Lindenberg (BSc 1975, BSc Hons 1976, MBBCh 1981, MBA 1983) is to lead the McNair Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the University of St Thomas (Houston). He was previously the founding chairman of the Houston Technology Center, described by Forbes as “One of the Ten Incubators Changing the World”. At Wits he studied computer science, medicine and business.

Dr Mbulaheni Simon Nemutandani (MDent 2007, MSc Med 2009) is now CEO of the Wits Oral Health Centre and Head of the School of Oral Health Sciences.   

Zunaid Bulbulia (BCom 1991) has joined Wits Business School as an adjunct professor. He was previously group chief operations executive of MTN, the multinational telecoms group.

James Ogude (PhD 1996) is the new Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria.

Sello Kekana (MSc 2014) received the 2016 Colin Spence Award for excellence in global mineral exploration from the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia. He and Dr David Broughton were recognised for “work that led to the discovery of the Tier One Flatreef underground deposit at Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef platinum group metals-nickel-copper-gold project”. Kekana is head of Transformation at Ivanplats. Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, said: “It is a particularly remarkable reward of destiny for Sello, who was born and raised in a small village that adjoins today’s Platreef Project in the fabled Bushveld Complex. He used to graze his family’s cattle on one of the farms that overlaid the Flatreef Discovery. Today, thanks in part to Sello, we’re confident that Flatreef eventually will become one of the world’s great platinum mines.”   

Mbalenhle Sekautu (BA 2014) and Keegan Moore (an industrial engineering student at Wits) have left for a six-month internship at Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company, in the US. The programme gives interns exposure to the latest technological and business developments in a variety of disciplines. 

Musician Johnny Clegg (BA 1976, BA Hons 1977, honorary DMus) received the Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. In 2015 he received an OBE for his “unique services to the arts, vulnerable people and children and to democracy in South Africa”.

Melanie (Cox) Gregory (BA SP&H Therapy 1992) has been appointed CEO of the Ear Foundation in the UK. The organisation provides services which bridge the gap between clinics (where new hearing technologies are fitted) and everyday life for the deaf.

Vice-Chancellor’s contract renewed

26 April 2017 -

The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand, Professor Adam Habib, has been appointed for a second term.

The Council of the University agreed to a five-year renewal of Habib’s contract, from 2018 to 2023, after consulting various constituencies. 

“Professor Habib is a dynamic leader with immense experience in managing higher education institutions within South Africa’s complex political and socio-economic context,” commented Dr Randall Carolissen, Chairperson of the Council. “In the last few years, he has consolidated Wits’ academic programmes, enhanced its research and innovation standing, and restructured its managerial and technological operations, whilst ensuring the University’s financial sustainability.” 

Carolissen pointed out that the University had made great achievements in recent years.

• Wits is ranked either number one or two in Africa in all major global rankings.
• Wits’ research output has risen by 43% over the last three years.
• The quality of teaching and support offered to students has improved, boosting the pass rate at first year undergraduate level in the last three years.
• New blended learning options and online teaching initiatives have been introduced, which will allow more access to Wits through e-learning, online short courses and eventually e-degrees.

“These are just some of the examples that reflect the significant contribution that Professor Habib and his team have made to Wits in recent years,” added Carolissen. “Student funding is a priority and Professor Habib and his team are working to maximise income through creating an endowment for student funding from the possible development and/or sale of land owned by the University.”  

• The development of the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Hub and the establishment of the R700-million IBM research lab are giving new life to the greater Braamfontein area.
• The new Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, built on land donated by Wits, will add to the University’s research and postgraduate training.
• A transformation plan is being carried out to diversify the academy by appointing new scholars, revising language policy, renewing the curriculum, reforming the institutional culture, creating a diverse student experience, renaming places and insourcing workers.

Carolissen said these achievements were those of the entire University, but Professor Habib’s leadership had created the conditions for them to be realised. “On balance, it is my belief that Wits is a far stronger institution in 2017 than it was in 2013.”

One of the most significant challenges to universities emerged over the last 18 months with the student protests for free education. “These were extremely difficult periods for the University but I believe Professor Habib acted at all times with integrity and with the best interests of the University at heart. He implemented Council decisions and managed difficult situations which enabled the completion of the 2016 academic programme,” said Carolissen.

Honorary doctorates reflect Wits’ values

26 April 2017 -

Wits University recently conferred honorary doctorates on a group of outstanding people.

• Professor Beric Skews, for his distinguished contributions to South African science and engineering
• Patrice Motsepe, for his achievements in business and contributions to society
• Professor Eddie Webster, for his scholarly contributions, commitment and advancement of democracy through labour activism and nurturing several generations of leading labour sociologists
• Advocate Thuli Madonsela, in recognition of her steadfastness and integrity in seeking out corruption wherever it is to be found, in upholding the Constitution, and in defending our democracy  
• Adrian Gore, for his entrepreneurialism and contribution to healthcare
• Professor Harvey Dale, a leader in the field of nonprofit law
• Stan Bergman, for his achievements in business, philanthropy and support for the arts and education

Distinguished engineer Dr Rodney Jones was the guest speaker at the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment’s graduation ceremony. He spoke about his passion for lifelong learning and the importance of joining a professional body to support one’s career development.

In this video, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Adam Habib tells the uplifting story of Wits’ graduation achievements. “One of the most gratifying moments of serving as a vice-chancellor is to preside over graduation ceremonies, which signify the success of students, and acknowledge their efforts over cumulative years, with the support of their families, academics, donors and others. In the first graduation season for 2017, more than 5 000 students were capped, all of whom I have no doubt will make an impact on society.”  

120 years of mining engineering

26 April 2017 -

Wits owes its existence to mining.

The Wits School of Mining Engineering celebrated its 120th year on 23 March 2017 with a programme organised by Paskalia Neingo (BSc Eng 2010, MSc Eng 2014) and Kelello Chabedi (BSc Eng 1994, MSc Eng 2013).

After a rousing welcome by the Students Mining Engineering Society choir, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Adam Habib opened the event in the Great Hall, pointing out that neither Wits nor Johannesburg would have come into being had it not been for the mining industry. He noted that in 1922, when Wits was established as a university, both the mining industry and miners’ strikes were emerging, and the traditions of industrial leadership and protest have both been associated with Wits ever since.

Looking to the future, Prof Habib said the mining industry needs to transform in a number of respects: demographics; technology; safety; and social inequality. The next 120 years of mining depend on reimagining the partnership of the stakeholders, “so that we are not only successful, but human; not only human, but African”.

Parallel histories

Prof John Cruise (BSc 1967, MSc 1972, PhD 2006) set out the parallel paths of South Africa’s mining, educational and political history, explaining how all local mining engineers came to be “pale males”. The first non-white mining engineer registered at Wits in 1978 and graduated in 1981, and in 1988 the “colour bar” was lifted for both the mining industry and universities in South Africa.

He spoke about even earlier times, such as the arrangements made for returning servicemen to complete their degrees after World War 2 and the 1947 mining tour of the copper belt, when an elephant overturned the Wits group’s vehicle. A special sense of resourcefulness and camaraderie developed among the Wits mining engineers, he said, recalling fun times and also their fund-raising efforts. He was wearing the tie he got for donating R1000 towards building Barnato Hall back when that was a hefty sum for a recent graduate. Then he laid out more special ties on the podium  – Cottesloe residence, SAIMM centenary and Wits Mining centenary – and said: “We mining engineers keep our ties.”

Gold Fields looks forward

Prof Fred Cawood (MSc 1997, PhD 2000) introduced the keynote speaker, Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland (BCom 1980, BAcc 1983), as a person with a passion for education and a real interest in students. The company has been a strong supporter of Wits and spends over R33-million annually on skills development and education.

Holland said that Gold Fields has existed longer than the School – 130 years – and its South African gold mine, South Deep, the second-largest in the world, has many more years of operation ahead of it.

Gold is becoming scarce and demand is rising, he said, though there are certainly challenges such as production cost inflation, lower ore grades and the 30% fall in the gold price since 2011.

The company decided in 2013 to focus on mechanised mining, which improves safety and productivity simultaneously. The company does, however, realise that employing fewer people means it will have to find other ways to help communities around mines to develop economically.

“The gold mine of the future has to be set up, structured and managed differently from what it is today, if it is to remain relevant and value-adding to all its stakeholders. This will require a focus on four key areas: operating practices and technology, talent and leadership, partnerships with key stakeholders and industry partners as well as governance,” he said.

Very soon, mining engineers will be people who are skilled in Big Data analysis and systems. Mining exploration and many other operations will be managed remotely.

“While today’s mining CEO manages assets, tomorrow’s leaders will be strategists, focusing on coaching and mentoring, integrated stakeholder management, collaborative decision making and managing a portfolio of mines. Decisions about operations will be devolved down to mine site level. Forging partnerships, with an emphasis on joint ownership, risk management and shared benefits, will be an essential element of the mine of the future.”

Faculty of Engineering Dean Ian Jandrell said that the camaraderie and spirit of the School of Mining Engineering have not changed over the years, but in some ways the future of the profession will be dramatically different. The School is ready to meet the challenge of training a new mining workforce and reskilling the industry’s employees.

WUMEA’s helping hand

Hawk Rakale (BSc Eng 1998) spoke about the efforts of the Witwatersrand University Mining Engineers Association (WUMEA, founded in 1954) to support development at Wits and to help students in financial need. It offers, for example, an interest-free loan to third- and final-year students. This support is a long-standing tradition of the association. Rakale himself was a beneficiary and is now, as founder of Sehwai Exploration Drilling, a proud employer.

Urging the audience to subscribe to WUMEA, he said: “R600 a year, to someone who has the edge from Wits … it’s nothing!”

Head of School Professor Cuthbert Musingwini (MSc Eng 1999, PhD 2010) said he hoped the School would be able to look back and be proud in the year 2136. In the last three years, its research output has risen 180%. “It will be brains and not brawn that takes the industry forward,” he said.

The men who represent the labour force that built mining in South Africa had a place at the event too when Holland was presented with a miniature replica of the Herman Wald statue of the “Unknown Miner”, which stands on West Campus. A reminder of the many people whose lives must be honoured by Witsies of the future.

Did you know?

• in 1896 there were 5 students at the South African School of Mines in Kimberley (from which Wits University eventually developed)
• Wits School of Mining Engineering now has 800 students
• of the undergraduates, 35% are female and 15% international
• 78% of the postgraduates are black
• the first non-white mining engineer graduated in 1981 (Yusuf Sikander Joosub)
• the first black male graduated in 1986 (Modisane Rangwetsi)
• the first female mining engineer graduated in 1994 (Dale Pearson)
• the first black female graduated in 2002 (Celiwe Mosoane)

The Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy dedicated two volumes of research papers to the Wits anniversary.

Wits in global top 10 for two subject areas

26 April 2017 -

Wits excelled in two subject areas in a recent global ranking.

The University was ranked second in the world for Area Studies and fifth in the world for Anthropology by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) in April 2017.

Wits and UCT tied for best university in Africa in the subject rankings overall.

In Anthropology, Wits scored 92.34. (The top score in all rankings is 100.) The journals used to assess research for this subject included physical and social anthropology.

Area Studies encompasses regional economics, culture, politics and geography. Wits scored 88.05.

The inaugural CWUR Rankings by Subject ranks the world’s leading universities in 227 subjects, covering all academic disciplines in the sciences and social sciences. The ranking is based on the number of research articles in international top-tier journals.

Data are obtained from Clarivate Analytics (previously the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters).

Time’s most influential

26 April 2017 -

Wits alumna Professor Glenda Gray (MBBCh 1986) has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world, on Time magazine’s annual list.

Prof Gray is President and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council and Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Wits. She is internationally acclaimed for her work in HIV research and has recently been elected chair of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, a collection of the world’s largest public health research funding agencies.

In 1996, she and James McIntyre co-founded the Perinatal HIV Research Unit, based in Soweto. In 2002, they were awarded the Nelson Mandela Health & Human Rights Award for their work. In the mid-2000s she turned her attention to HIV vaccine research. She is now leading a team conducting the first HIV vaccine efficacy trial in seven years. It could result in the first HIV vaccine to be licensed globally.

Prof Gray received South Africa’s Order of Mapungubwe (Silver) in 2013 for her research in mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Speaking at a Wits Health Sciences graduation ceremony last year, she said: “We need new minds and new innovations to address the collision of communicable and non-communicable diseases. We need to find solutions locally that can have global impact. You will deal with people who will die. You will diagnose promising young people with cancer, but you will also breathe life into people and give them treatment so that they can return to their families.”

She speaks about the HIV vaccine trial in this radio interview. In this video she delivers the keynote speech at a World AIDS Day event at Wits, giving a sense of how the response to HIV and AIDS has changed over the years.

• Last year, Wits alumnus and palaeoanthropologist Professor Lee Berger (PhD 1994, DSc 2014) was on Time’s list.

Back to the future of mining

26 April 2017 -

There’s still gold in them thar hills…

When the mine dumps that dot Gauteng’s landscape from east to west are gone – reprocessed to extract more gold – then what? The material will be moved to one huge site, freeing up land for development, and the company that owns that material, DRDGold, will need a new way to wring even more value out of it.

Wits, jobs and South Africa go where the minerals go. It’s been that way for 120 years. So it’s vital to know how to get at the minerals in future, especially as ore grades fall.

The School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering has formed a partnership with DRDGold to develop the technology that will be required to recover gold from the mega-dump 20 years from now.

The company has committed R1,2-million a year for five years to fund one PhD and four MSc students and to buy the equipment necessary to research this area. As the only company in South Africa that processes surface material, and one that has no underground mining operations, DRDGold needs this technology to sustain an existence that dates back to 1895. It has 700-million tons of material containing a resource of about 12-million ounces of gold: enough to keep it going for a while.

Professor Marek Dworzanowski says the new approach to extracting this gold will be a radical departure from the past. It won’t use cyanide and the type of equipment used will be different.

There are no intellectual property restrictions on the research results, partly because there is no real competition between gold mining companies in this field.

Prof Dworzanowski, who worked in the mining industry until recently, will be supervising the postgraduate students along with hydrometallurgist Prof Selo Ndlovu. He hopes that the research funding partnership with DRDGold will be the first of many of its kind, enabling Wits to train more postgraduates and helping the industry to find cost-effective solutions.

* Wits academics are also involved in debates about broader mining issues, as this article by Dr Fola Adeleke (PhD 2014) in The Conversation indicates.

Witsie newsmakers

16 May 2017 -

Wits alumni achievements, appointments and news

Science, engineering and medicine 

• Systems ecologist Professor Bob Scholes (BSc 1978, BSc Hons 1979, PhD 1988) led a strategic environmental impact assessment on fracking, which was completed last year. According to Business Day, he said that “development of commercially viable shale gas in the Karoo would generate far fewer new energy jobs than the 100,000 people currently engaged in farming, or the 5,000-10,000 in tourism in the region.”
• HIV vaccine scientist Professor Maria Papathanasopoulos (BSc 1990, BSc Hons 1991,PhD 1998) has been appointed Assistant Dean: Research and Postgraduate Affairs in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits.
• Outstanding medical educator Dr Alan Richards (MBBCh 1966) received the Valor in Educational Service Award for service to learners at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In an interview about his teaching philosophy, he quoted Wits surgery professors Bert Myburgh – “the person who says he/she knows everything is unteachable” – and Sonny du Plessis – “there are no mysteries in surgery; only mysterious surgeons”.
• Portia (Molefe) Derby (MBA 2002) has been appointed Senior Regional Director for Gauteng at consulting engineering company Aurecon.
• Physics PhD student Irenge Bienvenue Ndagano (BSc 2014, BSc Hons 2015, MSc 2016) is the lead author on a paper on quantum communications which has exciting implications for fast and secure data transfer.
• Themba Mosai (BSc Eng 1999) has been appointed CEO of Group Five.  
• Chemistry PhD student Funeka Nkosi (BSc 2012 BSc Hons 2013) is one of 400 young scientists from 76 countries selected to participate in this year’s 67th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany
• Bioengineer Graham Peyton (BEng 2011, BSc Eng 2012, MSc Eng 2014) won £10,000 in the Venture Catalyst Challenge at Imperial College, London, for his start-up venture. Microsonix is working on shrinking the components of ultrasound machines down to a single chip so as to make a low-cost, portable medical imaging device that can connect to tablets or smartphones.
• Shakira Choonara (BHS 2010) was chosen as Woman of the Year in Healthcare by Woman of Stature, an organisation which raises funds for charity.
• Emeritus Professor Beverley Kramer (BSc 1970, BSc Hons 1971, PhD 1976) has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association of Anatomists.
• Dr Reubina Wadee (MBBCh 2004, MM 2013) was awarded R100 000 from the NHLS Research Trust for her PhD research on endometrial carcinoma.
• Wits’ School of Physiology awarded the third Helen Laburn Research Prize to Professors Andrea Fuller, Director of the Brain Function Research Group (BSc 1995, BSc Hons 1996, PhD 2000) and Angela Woodiwiss, Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Genomics Research Unit (BSc 1985, BSc Physio 1986, MSc 1990, PhD 1996).
• The National Research Foundation has awarded funding to alumnae Dr Ann George (BSc 1987, BSc Hons 1992, PhD 2014; Centre for Health Science Education), Dr Tanya Augustine (BSc 2003, BSc Hons 2004, MSc 2007, PhD 2014; School of Anatomical Sciences), and Thulile Khanyile (MSc Med 2015). The latter, a PhD candidate in the HIV Pathogenesis Research Unit, was also a runner-up in the academic excellence category at the South African Youth Awards.
• Shanil (Shaun) Ramdhany (BPharm 1998) been elected president of the Canadian Association of Radiopharmaceutical Scientists. He is the VP Operations at Isologic in Canada.
• The CSIR’s Professor Fulufhelo Nelwamondo (BSc Eng 2005; PhD 2008) received the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver for his excellent contribution to the field of science, particularly electrical engineering.
• Professors Peter Cooper (PhD 1999) and Pravin Manga (MBBCh 1974, PhD 1993) have been honoured with the status of Emeritus Professor for their outstanding contribution to Wits University.  Prof Cooper’s research focus is on aspects of neonatology and probiotics and Prof Manga’s research interest is valvular and ischaemic heart disease.

Arts, humanities, business and law

• Paul Mrkusic (BArch 2002) is CEO of the South African Antique, Art and Design Association – where he wants members to break the rules and go “beyond fashion”.
• Pianist and singer Yonela Mnana (BMus 2008) is on the Mail & Guardian’s list of “people who have our attention in 2017”.
• On the same list is artist Mbali Dhlamini (MA FA 2016), who has studied the role of colour in the Africanisation of missionary Christianity.
• Historian Professor Keith Breckenridge (BA 1987, BA Hons 1988), Deputy Director of WiSER, has won the Academy of Science of South Africa’s Humanities Book Award for his book Biometric State: The Global Politics of Identification and Surveillance in South Africa, 1850 to the Present.
• Rakesh Mohanlal (MBBCh 1994) is the first person to gain approval from the National Bar Council of South Africa to practise as an advocate as well as a medical doctor.
• Transnet CFO Garry Pita (BCom 2000, BCom Acc 2001) was nominated for the 2017 CFO Awards, which recognise CFOs of listed companies, large corporations, state-owned entities and government institutions, and awards them for outstanding performance and leadership.
• Several Witsies are on the new board of the SABC: Mathatha Tsedu (BA Hons 2008), Khanyisile Kweyama (PDM 1996), John Matisonn (BA 1996) and Febe Potgieter-Gqubule (MM2007)
• Dr Kendall Petersen (BA 2003, BA Hons 2004, MA 2005, PhD 2012) is Wits’ new Diversity, Ethics and Social Justice Manager. “If you are going to commit yourself to bringing about change, then you should start at home,” he said.
• Chartered accountant Refilwe Nkabinde (BAcc 2001) is the CFO of ICT company BCX. She spoke to CFO South Africa about the powerful women who mentored her.
• Wits-trained actuary Dixit Joshi (BSc 1992) has been appointed Group Treasurer for Deutsche Bank. In this article, he talks about the future of fixed income trading.

Alumni networking event with Thuli Madonsela

24 May 2017 -

A leader with integrity

Hundreds of Wits alumni arrived on campus to hear guest speaker Advocate Thuli Madonsela at a networking event on 23 May. The much-admired Wits alumna (LLB 1991, LLD honoris causa 2017), South Africa’s former Public Protector, spoke about “how to heal our troubled world”. Click on these links to listen to the audio, watch the video or see photos.

Why, she wondered, would anybody come to Wits on a chilly Tuesday morning to hear her speak? “That person must be committed to something. You must be people who want to create a particular kind of world – the world that Wits inculcated in us – one where everyone is embraced and nobody’s humanity is diminished. You are here today because you are still committed to that project.”

She said it was up to every individual to do what they could to put South Africa on the right track. “The South Africa of our dreams is in our hands. If you know what’s right, do what’s right. Whatever we do, let’s make sure we do it with integrity and hold others accountable.”

As the daughter of a domestic worker and a general worker, how did she find herself at Wits and later named as one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world? “Because of the generosity of the human spirit,” she said. “My father thought education was not necessary – it was good enough if you could take instructions from a white man.” She was turned out of her home for wanting more.  Thanks to bursaries and scholarships from the World Council of Churches, the United Nations and Wits, and thanks to individuals who offered other kinds of support, she was able to begin her journey towards crafting and defending our justice system.

She was not left behind, like so many young people are. And when people are left behind, there is no peace for anyone.

“What can we do?” she asked. “One of the things that we should do is find a way to bridge the gap when it comes to inequality and poverty…  And I know that all of us alumni at Wits already support our academic institution and I know you already are contributing … but it would seem to me that one of the greatest calls right now is to find a way to make sure that everyone that deserves to be in a university gets into university. Smaller states have done that – we can’t wait for government, though at some stage government should come to the party… but it is in all our interests to … make sure that nobody who qualifies to be at a university is kicked out for financial reasons.

“We also have the power to make sure that once people are at university there’s a system that makes sure that they are not desperate and destitute. I know here at Wits there is a feeding scheme: that’s a great starting point. But we can meet the university half way by doing more than that.”

• What did you think of Advocate Madonsela's talk? Please let us know. 
• Would you like to recommend a speaker for a future alumni networking event?

Bidvest Wits take PSL title

31 May 2017 -

Clever Boys win league for the first time

Bidvest Wits raised the Absa Premiership trophy for the first time at the FNB Stadium on 27 May.

Though beaten that day by Kaizer Chiefs, the Clever Boys had already earned the title – and R10-million – in front of a home crowd of jubilant fans on 17 May. Coached by four times league winner Gavin Hunt, they defeated Polokwane City 2-0 in the Bidvest Stadium to secure their place in the history books.

Bidvest Wits chairman, Wits alumnus Brian Joffe, was quoted as saying: “We are proud of the players. It’s a great moment – a first [title] in over 90 years. From the time Gavin got involved with us the team has been building and it cost us money but there has been progress.”

Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Adam Habib said: “Their impressive performance has made us truly proud.”

Bidvest Wits are also the 2016 MTN8 champions.

See more about the team's history here.

• Supporters of Wits student football, take note: the 2017 Varsity Football season begins on 27 July. See the fixtures here.

Light on our past

31 May 2017 -

Exciting findings from the Rising Star cave system

The international team of scientists led by Wits’ Professor Lee Berger (PhD 1994, DSc 2014) has found that the hominin species Homo naledi was present in South Africa more recently than previously thought. In fact, it is likely that it lived alongside anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens).

The team has also found a second chamber in the Rising Star cave system, containing more examples of Homo naledi. One of these fossils is a “wonderfully complete” skull. 

Prof Berger explains what the team found here.

Team member Prof John Hawks talks about what it all means in an interview with The Conversation. 

The original fossils are on public display at Maropeng, the visitor centre for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

'We cannot leave people behind'

31 May 2017 -

Top CEO challenges business leaders as he accepts US award for sustained international excellence

Stanley Bergman (BCom 1972, CTA 1973), Chairman and CEO of US-based company Henry Schein, has received Chief Executive magazine’s 2017 CEO of the Year award, which honours leadership skills and achievement. 

Bergman’s “sustained high performance in both business goals and organisational values” were cited as standout features in the magazine’s announcement. 

Chief Executive said:

While Stan joins an elite group of chiefs that includes Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Alan Mulally, Andy Grove, and others, he has put his own, unique stamp on advancing the art and science of management.

It said that when Bergman took over as CEO in 1989, he and his team “needed to transform the company into a profitable venture while simultaneously guarding the culture it prized.”

Henry Schein, a medical, dental and veterinary supplies company, employs 21 000 people and made record sales of $11.6-billion in 2016. Its share price has risen by 1 300% since its listing in 1995.

The company's stated corporate ethos is to “foster an entrepreneurial environment, offer exciting opportunities for personal and professional growth, and treat each individual with respect and dignity.”

Accepting the award on 18 July at the New York Stock Exchange, Bergman appealed to business leaders when he said: 

Nothing of great consequence happens individually. Every great success requires a team... The old African proverb is so true: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

We cannot leave people behind. Too many in business have been too focused on going fast and not focused enough on going together. The result is a minority of huge beneficiaries and an increasingly vocal majority of those left behind. If we focus too much on the speed of change rather than ensuring that all benefit from change, then we risk greater disenfranchisement and civil dissent, which jeopardizes global stability and all democratic societies.

As business leaders, we should be societal leaders during this time when civility is severely challenged, and when trust in business, government, international institutions, the media, and civil society leaders are at historic lows. 

Witsie Steve Collis (BCom 1982, BCom Hons 1983), Chairman, President and CEO of pharmaceuticals giant AmerisourceBergen, was also at the award ceremony. He is on the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, which Bergman chairs with Farooq Kathwari, the CEO of US furniture chain Ethan Allen. The council’s mission is to combat hate crimes against people of faith. Quoting Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela, Bergman spoke about the value of diversity and the need for dialogue among people of all political, religious, economic and cultural backgrounds.

Wits conferred an honorary doctorate on Stanley Bergman in 2016.

His wife Dr Marion Bergman is also a Wits graduate (MBBCh 1974). She practised pulmonary medicine and critical care for 33 years and now works in various ways to promote health, development and human rights.

Guiding girls’ lives

31 May 2017 -

Reflections of a school leader

Dr Anthea Cereseto (MEd 2009, PhD 2015) recently retired as principal of Parktown High School for Girls, one of Wits’ top feeder schools. She had been a teacher for about 45 years in total (10 years in co-ed schools) and a principal for 25 – each one bringing fresh challenges. She has also been a lifelong learner.

She says research shows that girls mostly do better academically at girls-only schools than at co-ed schools and emerge more confident and more likely to become career women and professionals.

Ability is not fixed, she says: effort is what counts in student achievement. It’s important to learn how to listen, take notes and work independently.

The transition to university is still difficult for many, even for those who were high achievers at school. Schools can help prepare learners better by emphasising the work ethic and independent thinking, and by getting them to read longer texts. Better career guidance is also important. And some parents (often for financial reasons) put pressure on their children to choose and persist with courses they are not suited for. 

What makes a school leader

A school leader has to portray confidence and assertiveness, and deserve the trust of learners, staff and parents. As a leader, you should keep learning, read widely, empower yourself and not wait to be given what you need.

You can’t do it all on your own. “I don’t believe much in hierarchy,” Cereseto says. “Someone has to take responsibility, of course, but it’s good to let others lead certain aspects of the school: to share leadership. You only accomplish things through and with other people, so you must keep listening and keep close to people.”

Cereseto was appointed by the Education Minister to chair the South African Council for Educators, a role in which she was exposed to teachers and schools of all kinds, all over the country. She was also President of the National Professional Teachers’ Association, another diverse group. “I was very fortunate in not being limited to my Parktown world view.”

She is passionate about public schooling, saying that the future will come from public school children. But she fears that the prescriptive conditions that many teachers have to work under, limiting their creativity, “are not what suits intelligent people”.

Powering to our future

31 May 2017 -

Mining in space

Jonathan Lun (BSc Eng 2006, PhD 2015) has won a challenge issued by Singularity University to make a positive impact on the lives of Southern Africans through technological innovation.

The engineer has developed an idea for a “vacuum arc thruster” which could power a craft that could return to Earth with metals mined from asteroids. This has won him a scholarship to SingularityU’s nine-week Global Solutions Programme in Silicon Valley.

SingularityU describes itself as “a global community using exponential technologies to tackle the world’s biggest challenges”.

“The idea of using asteroid metal as fuel for an asteroid mining transportation system came to me soon after I completed my initial MSc research into vacuum arc plasma thrusters,” says Jonathan. “I quietly mulled over it for a few years before deciding to actively learn all I could about this specific rocket propulsion technology. So I signed up to do a PhD at Wits and built facilities and several prototypes in an effort to improve the current state of the art. I am extremely grateful to Dr Phil Ferrer and other staff from the School of Physics, Mechanical (Prof Craig Law) and Electrical Engineering (Prof Ivan Hofsajer, Dr Michael Grant) and iThemba Labs for all their generous support during that time.

“Finally, I was able to demonstrate a small hand-sized propulsion system that could use a simple rod of iron as fuel to produce an efficient jet of thrust, comparable to the performance of more established satellite propulsion systems. There are still many more technical hurdles to overcome, but the basic technology was proven and showed great potential. Wits Enterprise is currently filing for an international patent on some of the research.”

Childhood dreams

Jonathan’s dreams of space exploration began during his childhood in Kensington, Johannesburg. After his mechanical engineering degree at Wits, he joined the satellite engineering programme at Stellenbosch and later joined the South African National Space Agency. In 2011, he returned to Wits to continue researching space thruster technology for his PhD. In 2013, he was recognised by the International Astronautical Federation as an Emerging Space Leader. He is now a senior mechanical engineer at Denel Spaceteq, where he helps design Earth science and observation satellites.

“I’ve always had dreams to change the world and use the best of my abilities for the good of mankind,” he says. “The SingularityU competition fitted perfectly with my aspirations. I’m absolutely thrilled and honoured to be offered this life-changing experience. The world suddenly feels full of possibility. The support from friends, family and colleagues has been astounding and I hope to make them, Wits and South Africa proud.

“I encourage Witsies to join the recently formed SingularityU local chapters in Joburg and Cape Town. They have scheduled events throughout the year and it is a great opportunity to meet and engage with inspiring and energetic people who want to be a force for good.”

• This year, for the first time, South Africa is hosting the Singularity University Global Summit. The summit is SU’s flagship event, and is a chance to join a world-class collection of thinkers, leaders and doers to help redefine the future of business, technology, and humanity. 

Keep on learning

31 May 2017 -

Wits Plus mid-year applications are open

The Wits Plus part-time short courses and certificate programmes are ideal for mature working professionals who want to acquire new skills and knowledge, advance their career or even make a career change.

Wits Plus offers a range of short courses in the following fields / disciplines:

• Auditing
• Business & Financial Management
• Marketing & Presentation Skills
• Investment & Insurance
• Law
• Learning & Development
• Management & Project Management
• Corporate Governance & Administration

Apply today

Did you know that Wits Plus also offers online learning? Learn more here.

Charisse Drobis (BA 1985, MM 2011), Head of Careers Management Services at Wits Business School, is a keen advocate of continuous learning – especially in an economic downturn. In this video she talks about how WBS can support career development.

African voices

31 May 2017 -

Reflections, speeches and interviews

Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Adam Habib reflects on a new kind of activism to address inequality in our society.

 The Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o delivered a public lecture at Wits in March in which he emphasised the importance of language in decolonisation. You can listen to the lecture here.

Professor Carole Lewis (BA 1974, LLB 1975, LLM 1985), one of South Africa’s most senior justices in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), was awarded a Gold Medal by Wits for her rich contribution to the life of the University. You can listen to her acceptance speech here, talking about her Wits experience and her career.

Janet Love (BA 1998) accepted the University’s Gold Medal on behalf of the Legal Resources Centre at a graduation ceremony in March 2017.

Professor Daryl Glaser (BA 1982, BA Hons 1983, MA 1989) spoke about tackling unemployment in this radio interview after the 2017 State of the Nation address.

Professor Johnny Mahlangu (BSc 1988, MBBCh 1994, MMed 2008) delivered his inaugural lecture on therapies for inherited bleeding disorders.

Corin Mathews (MA 2003, MEd 2006), School of Education lecturer, spoke to future teachers in a graduation address. What should we say “no” to and what should we say “yes” to?

Writing edge

31 May 2017 -

Recent books by and about Witsies

Nonfiction

• Married to Medicine: Dr Mary Gordon, Pioneer Woman Physician and Humanist by Jack Metz and Gordon Metz, published by the Adler Museum of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, and available from the Adler Museum of Medicine, 7 York Road, Parktown. Tel: +27 11 717-2081; Email: museum@wits.ac.za. Price: R140.
• Darwin’s Hunch: Science, Race and the Search for Human Origins by Christa Kuljian (Jacana)
• Spy: Uncovering Craig Williamson by Jonathan Ancer (Jacana)
• Between Two Fires: Holding the Liberal Centre in South African Politics by John Kane-Berman (Jonathan Ball)
• Tracks and Traces: A Thirty-Year Journey with the San by Paul Weinberg (Jacana)
• Poverty in South Africa Past and Present by Colin Bundy (Jacana)
• Vuyo’s – From A Big Big Dreamer to Living The Dream; Turning a TV Advert Into a Real Business, The Lessons Learned by Miles Kubheka (Tracey McDonald/Jonathan Ball)
• Ladders and Trampolines: Anecdotes & Observations From a Contemporary Young African Marketer by Musa Kalenga
• The Precious Little Black Book, A Resource Guide For Women Across South Africa by Precious Moloi-Motsepe
• Unsettled History: Making South African Public Pasts by Leslie Witz, Gary Minkley and Ciraj Rassool (University of Michigan Press)
• Consistent or Confused: The Politics of Mbeki’s Foreign Policy Years 1995-2007 by Oscar van Heerden
• Biometric State: The Global Politics of Identification and Surveillance in South Africa, 1850 to the Present by Keith Breckenridge (Cambridge University Press) (See Prof Breckenridge's inaugural lecture here)
• The Soweto Uprisings: Counter-Memories of June 1976 by Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu (Pan Macmillan)
• The Precious Years: A Guide to Early Childhood Development by Jacqui Couper (Penguin Random House)
• Almost Human by Lee Berger (Jonathan Ball)
• No Longer Whispering to Power: The Story of Thuli Madonsela by Thandeka Gqubule (Jonathan Ball)
• An Empty Plate by Tracey Ledger (Jacana Media)

 Fiction

• Sweet Medicine by Panashe Chigumadzi (Blackbird Books)
• Dancing the Death Drill (a story of love, war and friendship, inspired by the sinking of the SS Mendi) by Fred Khumalo (Umuzi)
• Free Association by Steven Boykey Sidley (Pan Macmillan)
• Pleasure by Nthikeng Mohlele (Pan Macmillan)

A space for the arts

31 May 2017 -

What are so many Witsies doing at the Centre for the Less Good Idea?

There’s a new place where the arts can mix, try things out and make magic together: The Centre for the Less Good Idea, in Johannesburg’s Maboneng Precinct.

Founded by the artist William Kentridge (BA 1977; Hon DLitt 2004), the incubator space is based on the notion that “in the act of playing with an idea, you can recognise those things you didn’t know in advance but knew somewhere inside of you”. He explains it in this video.

Some other Witsies involved are word curator Lebogang Mashile (BA 2001), theatre curator Khayelihle Dominique Gumede (BADA 2012) and animateur Bronwyn Lace (BAFA 2005).

Kentridge has recently received Spain's Princess of Asturias Award.

Khanya College: calling alumni

31 May 2017 -

30 years of education for liberation

It’s 30 years since the launch of Khanya College as a response to the education crisis under the apartheid government. The college is now setting up an association for alumni, many of whom are also Wits alumni.

Please contact Dikeledi Molatoli or Nokuthaba Vundla at alumni@khanyacollege.org.za for more information, or call 071 113 4978 or 084 377 3011 or 011 336 9190.

Pillow fight 2017

31 May 2017 -

You snooze, you lose out on the traditional fun!

Click here to see a video of the 2017 traditional Wits pillow fight, organised by the social club Silly Buggers in aid of Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach. Photos are here.

Judging by the flowering jacarandas in the 2015 video, exam fever was high…

What’s your favourite Wits tradition? What would you like to see becoming a tradition? Let us know!

Ernestmen’s 50 years of excellence

20 September 2017 -

Ernest Oppenheimer Hall celebrates its golden jubilee this year

EOH men’s residence prides itself on producing top students and future leaders, by sharing knowledge, working hard and pushing boundaries. Of course, its traditions and reputation include excellent socials and sporting prowess too!

The Parktown residence was built to replace Cottesloe Residence, which housed ex-servicemen after World War II. It is now home to about 400 medical and engineering students.

A function on 22 April brought together past chairpersons of the House Committee to share anecdotes of their time at EOH.

See photos of the event here and a highlights video prepared by first-year medical student and EOH resident Kelechi Nwachukwu.

EOH held a Health Awareness and Sports Day on 12 August as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, and a well-attended formal dinner in September. See photos here.

An EOH fund has been established for the upkeep and development of the residence and to support students in need. To donate online, please visit http://www.wits.ac.za/givingtowits/ and click on Give to Wits. This will take you to a Donate page. You can then specify your support for EOH.

Dr Brendon Mathews, a former EOH chairperson, has compiled a book about EOH which is available at a cost of R150 (excluding postage). Please contact Nazime.randera@wits.ac.za for more information.

PDF: EOH book

If you were an EOH resident, please keep your contact details up to date by emailing alumni@wits.ac.za.

Past House Committee chairpersons who attended the April function were:

1969 David Hodgson 1984 Dr G Zinn 1986/87 Dr P Zinn 1991 Nick Kohler 1993 Peter Tshisevhe               1999 Thabiso Langa 2002 Ranti Mothapo 2003 Antonio da Gama Teixeira 2004 Toto Fiduli 2009/10 T Sikhwivhilu 2011 Bongani Machabe 2012 Dr Mpazi Siwale 2014 Dr Brendon Matthews 2015 Nkosinathi Maluleke 2016 Odwa Abraham

The MC for the event was from the 2008 EOH house committee, Litha Hermanus. The following former wardens attended: Professor Adesola Ilemobade, Professor Kennedy Erlwanger and Amos Hadebe.

1988 chairperson Dave Hughson sent his best wishes from Australia, saying:

"EOH was my first home in South Africa, after growing up in Zimbabwe, so I have some very fond memories of my time there. A number of friendships formed at that time have now endured over the last 30 years. On top of that, the wider network has always been invaluable. The opportunity to live in halls of residence should not be undervalued. It makes the university experience richer in so many ways that a day student simply cannot get. My education at Wits has stood me in good stead over a 30 year career across the globe, playing with the best of the best and winning. EOH is where I was when I learnt those skills." 

 

Calling all Raiders

Men’s Res (College House and Dalrymple House) is celebrating its 95^th anniversary this year. 

Alumni events

31 May 2017 -

Details of these events will be communicated closer to the time.

• Networking event with Nhlanhla Dlamini, founder of Maneli Group: 20 June

Contact: Lebo Lethunya, lebo.lethunya@wits.ac.za or 011 717 3556

• Wits Art Museum Exhibition & Tour: 24 June
• Networking Talk with social media law expert Emma Sadleir: 26 July
• Networking Talk with personal finance expert Frank Magwegwe: 7 September

Contact: Najma Desai, najma.desai@wits.ac.za

• Swaziland Alumni Reunion: 1 July
• Founders’ Tea: 30 November

Contact: Purvi Purohit, purvi.purohit@wits.ac.za  

• Health Sciences alumni week: Wednesday 6 September to Saturday 9 September 2017.

Contact: Lisa Rautenbach, lisa.rautenbach@wits.ac.za 

The life of artworks

31 May 2017 -

Wits Art Museum has an exciting line-up for the year

Lifescapes is an exhibition presenting the “biographies” of six objects from WAM’s collection. It’s on until 9 July. 

Lovers of landscapes have a rare opportunity to see the work of Moses Tladi (1903-1959) until 16 July.

Later in the year (27 July to 8 October), 80 of pop artist Andy Warhol’s screen prints will be on display, courtesy of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection.

Read more at WAM’s website, where you can join a mailing list.

Veteran alumni

31 May 2017 -

Harold "Smoky" Simon and Mike Tetley share their life stories

The sky was no limit

In this video, Harold “Smoky” Simon (BCom 1941), aged 97, talks to Dr Les Glassman (BSc 1979; BDS 1984), the Wits alumni representative in Israel. His life has been a journey from a Free State village via Wits and the air force in World War II to Israel … 

Watch 'Flight of The Century Smoky Simon' video below. 

Hands that see

Mike Tetley (BSc Eng 1952), aged 87, still practises as a physiotherapist in the UK. After qualifying at Wits as a civil engineer (as his father did too in the early 1920s), he worked for a few months on the stormwater systems for Mombasa and Kampala. He was then conscripted to serve in the King's African Rifles during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya.

He was shot and blinded, but went on to train as a physiotherapist. Like civil engineering, physiotherapy is concerned with structure, he says.

Asked about the attribute he has found most valuable in his life, he says it is curiosity.

One of his interests is cranial moulding: the practice of reshaping children’s heads, for cultural or medical reasons. He is also interested in palaeontology, and attended Professor Lee Berger’s talk for alumni in London last year.

At Wits, Tetley was in Dalrymple House, played hockey, enjoyed dances and quizzes, and remembers students getting together at the swimming pool amphitheatre. He met Helen Keller when she was at Wits in 1951 to receive an honorary LLD and was impressed by how quickly she could communicate with her sign language interpreter. He also recalls making stilts for RAG one year and walking over a traffic light.

You can watch a documentary about him here.

Wits Sport conference venues

31 May 2017 -

Learn more about our venues and facilities

 Watch a bird’s-eye-view video for an amazing overview of what's available for your next conference or event!

Learn a language

31 May 2017 -

Courses can be tailor-made

Wits Language School offers a wide range of language courses and services, namely:

• African, Asian & European Languages
• English as a Foreign Language
• English Communication for Professional Development
• Language Teacher Education
• Translation & Interpreting Courses and Services. 

Due to the demand from public and private organisations, the Wits Language School also offers in-house corporate language courses which are designed around an organisation’s specific needs.

Wits Language School takes pride in the quality of its highly-qualified personnel, excellent service and the high standard of its language courses, which are based on sound research and academic principles. All language courses are taught by mother-tongue speakers.

Apply today! 

Witsies in business: DocFox and TopDog

31 May 2017 -

Software meets finance, law and education

In business, complying with all the regulations can be a headache. A group of Wits graduates is easing the way.

Ryan Canin (BSc Eng 2013) launched his first business, Gladi8, while he was a student. Working in this financial software field, he saw the opportunity for his next venture: DocFox, a web application which verifies client information for convenient and credible FICA compliance. 

In this he is joined by a clutch of Witsies in the software and business fields:

• Gian Cantarin (BSc Eng Biomedical 2012; BSc Eng 2013)
• Richard Cohen (BCom Hons 1996, MCom 1999)
• Bradley Marques (BSc Eng Biomedical 2010, BSc Eng Electrical 2011, MSc Eng 2013)
• Jacques Visser (BSc Eng Electrical 2015)
• Ricki Jade (Grusd) Asherson (BSc 2008)
• Gregory Meyer (BSc Eng Biomedical 2009, BSc Hons 2010, BSc Eng 2013)

Keeping them in line is executive assistant Jessica McNamara (BA 2008).

Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright is a partner of DocFox. Ryan was one of the entrepreneurs selected by Investec to meet potential investors in Silicon Valley in 2016. 

Also on the US trip was Claudia Swartzberg (BSc 2007, BSc Hons 2008), who started an education technology company called Top Dog with Ryan Swartzberg (BSc 2013, BSc Hons 2014), and Byron Vos (BSc 2013, BSc Hons 2014). The company now has more than 3-million users.

Rulers of the growling stomach

31 May 2017 -

Kota Kings serve up some advice for starters

Former tax consultant Tankiso Makwela (LLB 2013) and his business partner Loyiso Bikitsha, who studied management and marketing for a BCom at Wits, thought they would have corporate careers. But they turned out to be entrepreneurs. Their Braamfontein eatery, Kota Kings – a modern spin on the traditional quarter-loaf heart-stopper sandwich – is doing well and they are thinking big. 

Witsie journalist Nomvelo Chalumbira spoke to them about the challenges of starting an enterprise. Main thing: don’t wait for it to be perfect; just start. And it’s important to have a mentor.

“We have two mentors at the moment,” says Tankiso. “We are being mentored by Wits alumnus Steven Dike (BArch 1995). He is an executive director at Famous Brands. He is a more technical mentor who’s helping us with building the business and the processes for the business. We want to build a solid brand and we believe it will be great to get guidance from someone who’s in our line of business.

“We are also mentored by my uncle. He is more of a general business mentor. One of the things we have learnt from him is the importance of managing all relationships and treating everyone with kindness while also being wise in our business dealings. He’s also taught us not to be discouraged during tough times and the importance of staying humble and saving up for rainy days during the good times. He says that business is cyclical and we need to be constantly aware of that.”

A place in the sun

31 May 2017 -

Student friendship matures into business team

Electrical engineering graduate and MBA student Tshibvumo Sikhwivhilu (BSc Eng 2013) has started a company called Lamo Solar, which aims to install solar power systems at 1000 rural and underprivileged schools by 2020. He is also a director of Thusanani Foundation, which supports students financially.

The co-founder of Lamo Solar is Elmond Khoza (BSc Eng 2013) and the business development head is Danisa Nkuna (BSc Eng 2010). Chief technology officer is Didier Iradukunda (BSc Eng 2013).  Another Witsie on board is Tawanda Murimiwa. The business is based at Riversands Incubation Hub, run by Century Property Developments CEO Mark Corbett (BSc Build 1998).

What makes this team work? “A good friendship and understanding nurtured from our days as students, and a level of comfort in taking calculated risks,” says Elmond. “One thing about the Lamo Solar team is the passion to have a greater impact on society, and this is shared by each one of us.”

Lamo Solar recently won Eskom Development Foundation’s annual business investment competition in the construction and engineering category. The competition rewards small businesses that are making a difference in fighting poverty and unemployment.

Lamo Solar will be launching a training programme in partnership with Thusanani Foundation in August. The pilot programme will be tailored to train young women from the Diepsloot township in the design, installation, maintenance and operation of solar PV systems for residential, industrial and commercial clients. It aims to train 50 students by year end.  

Elmond has been quoted as saying: “We had to distinguish ourselves, and we decided instead of designing solutions for electricians to install, we would ensure that at least one engineer is part of each installation team. This at first met criticism that we were wasting valuable skills. But it is proving to be our biggest strength because we are able to evaluate risks on site and deal with problems quicker and complete quality installations on time.”

Starting on campus

The team were entrepreneurial as students. Elmond ran a tuckshop at Ernest Oppenheimer Hall of Residence in 2010, and prior to that Elmond and Tshibvumo ran a clothing, furniture and events company, Harambe. “We sold clothes and ottomans to fellow students and also organised events for clubs, societies and organisations at the university.”

Elmond continues: “We believe that business education should be introduced to supplement the technical education at all universities. Besides our early endeavours with Harambe as students, we still needed to hone some critical skills in order to guide our growth. When we knew the path we wanted to take after our engineering qualifications, we sent Tshibvumo to do an MBA at Wits Business School, while I was involved in Green Entrepreneurial Education offered by the Gordon Institute of Business Science, in a programme sponsored by JPMorgan.”

Tshibvumo has received an international entrepreneurial accolade from the Association of MBAs and Elmond was named the 2017 Bizcre8 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Realistic growth

Is there a danger of being victims of their own success, by growing too fast? “There hasn’t been too much pressure,” Elmond says. “We actually believe that we are not yet operating at our full potential. This is because we have created systems that have allowed the two co-founders to work on the business, rather than working in the business. This has allowed for a realistic view of what we can handle and what would drown us.

“Mentorship is also very important, because we learn from those who have walked the path before us and let their experiences correctly inform our decisions.”

Incubators are important to start-ups too. They support businesses during their early days of operation, ensuring that all the information and services needed by a business are easily accessible. “Riversands Incubation Hub not only offers us state-of-the-art subsidised facilities to operate from, it also offers coaching sessions in sales, marketing, human resources, finance, etc, which we can attend whenever we need to polish a particular skill.”

Lamo Solar is influenced by the Lean Startup business model, which it encountered when participating in the Sophiatown Bizcre8 programme.

Learn from mistakes

“There isn’t much we could have done differently, except that we feel we could have started much earlier,” says Elmond. “We knew earlier what kind of impact we wanted to have by supplying quality electricity to the energy-starved continent of Africa, but we only made our first step two years later.

“We could have started earlier and that’s what every entrepreneur should do: start early and look to fail fast so that you can refine your business model.”

Learning to be an entrepreneur  

31 May 2017 -

Born or made?

“The individual characteristics that define entrepreneurs—being a self-starter, creative, innovative, taking the initiative, being adaptable, being a problem-solver—those are all highly learnable if you go about doing it the right way.”

This is the view of Wits alumnus Dr Martin Lindenberg, director of the McNair Center for Free Enterprise & Entrepreneurship at the University of St Thomas in Houston, Texas. He adds that these entrepreneurial attributes are useful in any career. “Those kinds of capabilities, attitudes, skills and behaviours will make people successful in whatever they do.”

The McNair Center is affiliated with the Cameron School of Business, which has a strong emphasis on business ethics.

Lindenberg is an extraordinary example of adaptability himself: at Wits he studied computer science, medicine and business and earned a clutch of degrees: BSc 1975, BSc Hons 1976, MBBCh 1981, MBA 1983.

Pulled in different directions

Having watched his father build a business in Johannesburg from a small operation to one with hundreds of employees, he had seen that the business world could bring a person independence, money and respect. Being a “business superhero” with integrity was something his family valued.

But he also felt drawn to a career of helping others and doing something positive for the world, so he went on from computer science studies to medicine. “I was efficient at studying, I was motivated and I had energy.”

As a Wits student, he did voluntary service helping to build and equip farm schools, served in township medical clinics with Witsco and raised funds for charity through RAG. These were satisfying forms of service to others, but he was concerned that as a doctor he might end up doing “fairly monotonous work, seeing the same kinds of problems all the time”.

The pull of the business world was still strong. He got permission to do his MBA part-time while simultaneously completing his medical degree.

As if that weren’t enough to occupy him, he got married at this time to another serial student. His clinical psychologist wife, Barbara (Glauber), has three degrees and a diploma from Wits. 

A great combination of degrees

The couple decided to leave South Africa in 1983 and headed for Seattle, where her parents were already living. Thanks to his combination of degrees, within three months Martin had three job offers. He accepted one with a new company, applying aerospace technology to create images of blood flowing in the body. Colour flow Doppler, as the technology is known, is now ubiquitous.

He went on to a successful career as a business entrepreneur and educator. “I didn’t realise until I was in my 50s that by watching my father build his business, I’d picked up an enormous amount of knowledge.” He says an excellent mentor can be worth as much an expensive business degree.

But he’s somewhat sceptical about the idea of the “wunderkind” who seems to be a “born” entrepreneur. Classroom teaching has an important place in forming a business person. Other factors include relevant hands-on experience, learning from case studies, deliberate practice, focus, desire and discipline. It’s also important to have balance – to be disciplined about having leisure time too.

A creative generation

What excites him about his role at the McNair Center is the young people he teaches. “There is a lot of fantastic creativity in today’s generation, facilitated by the technology and connectivity of today’s world. They are passionate and want to change the world, like the hippies of the 60s, but instead of wanting to drop out, they are interested in sustainability and the triple bottom line of profits, people and planet.”

Speaking of the way the digital revolution is changing education, he says: “If you have the discipline and an internet connection, you can learn anything you want to.”

Value of face-to-face education

What makes it worth paying for a face-to-face education, though, is the experiences and interactions you have, the networks and friendships you make, and learning from your classmates.

He says he learned a huge amount from his Wits MBA classmates, many of whom were in the middle of their careers and had a lot of experience to share; Massmart founder Mark Lamberti was one.

Principled entrepreneurship

Lindenberg says some of the most impressive entrepreneurs – Andrew Carnegie, say – have been very mindful of society and of giving back. He explains that “principled entrepreneurship”, which is what the McNair Center aims to teach, is guided by values and the notion that successful people are obliged to help others.

Until recently, Lindenberg was on the board of the Houston Technology Center, described by Forbes as “One of the Ten Incubators Changing the World”.  He was its founding chairman; in 1997, he had just sold a business and thought he would be able to take on the role as a three-month philanthropic activity, but it turned into 18 months of unpaid work.

At the time, Houston had no hub where people could share innovative business and technology ideas. By the time he moved on in 2016, HTC had achieved this connectedness, helped its client companies raise a couple of billion dollars, created several thousand high-tech jobs and set a trend: there are now up to 30 business incubators in the area.

Asked what kind of business he himself would start this year if he had to, he replies: “In the USA it would likely be a unique internet or mobile health care function that no-one else has done or that is way ahead of what everyone else in the market is doing. Easier said than done! If it were a world-wide business, some kind of powerful banking or money transfer app that’s as easy and effective as WhatsApp.”

Budgets in hindsight

31 May 2017 -

The “dismal science” (economics) isn’t so bad when you win money for being good at it.

Students from the Wits School of Economic and Business Sciences have repeatedly excelled in the annual Nedbank Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition.

It was no different in 2017: Wits cleaned up in the undergraduate category of the contest. Winner Raphael Ngarachu enhanced his own budget by R60 000, first runner-up Dylan Barry won R40 000 and Ntokozo Buthelezi earned R20 000 as second runner-up.

But how do the prize-winning essays stand up to the test of time?

Low-skilled labour

In 2014, Yashvir Algu’s suggestions for putting South Africa on a higher economic growth path won him top spot in the postgraduate competition. He’s now working at the World Bank and completing his PhD in Economics (BEconSci Hons 2014, MEconSci 2015). Looking back at what he wrote (before South Africa's credit downgrade), he said he would add some refinements but was sticking with the main idea. He saw South Africa’s abundance of low-skilled labour as a comparative advantage.

Yashvir recommended implementing a minimum wage for low-skilled workers to improve their marginal productivity (government has recently approved this) and a self-financing subsidy to make the minimum wage more affordable for businesses. He still believes the minimum wage can improve productivity, if combined with skills training, but adds that more financing models need to be identified so that firms aren’t forced to shed jobs.

The triple challenge of high unemployment, poverty and inequality persists in South Africa because they are rooted in domestic structural constraints which we have not fully understood, he says. “If we do not adequately address fundamental issues like improving our education system, overcoming the skills mis-match in our labour market and improving policy and political certainty, the triple challenge will still be there in years to come.”

As South Africa’s economic and political landscape shifted in April, he added: “It’s going to be interesting to see how things unfold over the next few months.”

Structural reform

Tlhalefang Moeletsi (BSc 2015, BEconSci Hons 2016) was the undergraduate essay winner in 2014 and the postgraduate runner-up in 2015. He looked at the implications of quantitative easing in the US and Europe for South Africa.

He’s sticking to his guns, saying “South Africa should continue on a path of patient monetary normalisation and fiscal consolidation in order to maintain stability in our macro-economy.”

So far, that seems to be happening (a comment made pre-downgrade). But he hasn’t seen much progress with structural reforms such as varying South Africa’s exports to add value.

“Structural growth constraints are South Africa’s biggest economic challenge now,” he says. “These include a relatively volatile political environment, poor basic education, the higher education funding crisis, the health funding crisis, low commodity prices, energy constraints and inadequate infrastructure and industry investment. All of these factors are acting as a bottleneck to inclusive economic growth. Solving the problems of unemployment and inequality requires us to first tackle these issues.”

Tlhalefang is completing his Master’s degree in Economic Science at Wits, lecturing first-year Economics and working as a consultant at B&M Analysts, to develop a growth strategy for the South African chemicals sector for the Department of Trade and Industry.

Civil engineers keep it clean

31 May 2017 -

What goes around comes around as a business

Faith Diketane and Zwelibanzi Mnguni grew up in Tembisa, on the East Rand. This is “one of the many townships that have a large number of informal settlements,” says Zwelibanzi. “The lack of infrastructure and service delivery are factors which have aggravated the land and air pollution problem. As kids, we couldn’t enjoy playing outdoors as we were exposed to health and safety hazards to a large degree.”

Both graduated from Wits as civil engineers in 2015 and they have started a business called Destination Green Recyling.

At high school, Faith wanted to be an architect, but Wits accepted her for Civil Engineering instead and she began to find it fascinating. “In a way, the career chose me.”

Zwelibanzi always had an urge to work towards improving the quality of life of his community. After matriculating, he spent a year working in the engineering industry to get experience of practice and procedures. This helped him decide on Civil rather than Mechanical Engineering as the best way to make the impact he wanted to.

Finding direction

They both credit lecturers Dr Precious Biyela, Prof  Akpofure Taigbenu, Dr Anne Fitchett and Prof Adesola Ilemobade for shaping their thinking and the way they should look at the environment. “Dr Biyela also helped structure our business.”

Their interest in recycling was sparked by the final year course in Integrated Resource Management, especially a research project which dealt with surface water management in the Diepsloot informal settlement. Students were given the challenge of finding an effective and realistic solution that was easy to implement.

The campus environment itself was another catalyst for Destination Green. “We realised that there were designated areas with recycling bins and asked ourselves why students were not making effective use of these bins. This led to a study of students’ attitude to recycling and environmental sustainability, and the trends of consumption among students on campus.”

Students and lecturers were supportive of their efforts to start a business, and so was the recycling industry, especially Plastics SA. “We started by collecting recyclables in Tembisa, from taxi ranks, supermarkets, schools and community streets, and have always had the aim of raising awareness and educating the public about recycling and environmental sustainability,” says Zwelibanzi.

Support from the industry

“Because of our passion, enthusiasm and drive we have received a tremendous amount of support from large entities and organisations in the recycling industry. The key members of Destination Green Recycling have been appointed as the youth ambassadors of the National Recycling Forum. This has allowed for crucial networking opportunities, access to markets and great exposure in industry.”

The company, in turn, trains young volunteers in waste management and environmental sustainability.

How does one make money from waste? The company started by focusing on collection and sorting of recyclable materials. “The materials are sold to the nearest buy-back centre offering the best prices,” explains Faith. “Recently Destination Green Recycling has upgraded to the buying and transportation stage in the recycling value chain. The company continues to do collections from businesses and households but also buys recyclable materials from community members who are dependent on selling these materials for their household income. Destination Green Recycling is also looking at ways in which recyclables can be reused into something else. This also plays an important role in diverting recyclables from landfills.”  

Negative perceptions

“The biggest barrier to recycling,” says Zwelibanzi, “is the negative attitude that people have towards it. The greater society has classified recycling as a dirty trade which is meant for the poor. The earth and its resources cannot be sustained if people continue with a mind-set such as this. It is the responsibility of every individual to ensure a bright future for present and future generations.”

The association in some people’s minds of waste materials with poverty is one reason we South Africans tend to mismanage waste, Faith argues. “What we have observed is the undermining of people who are dealing with waste materials.” She says Destination Green is struggling to get even the municipality to work with it. 

“South Africans are very good at shifting blame and not taking responsibility,” adds Zwelibanzi.

School science should be fun

19 June 2017 -

Making the engineering connection

Wire cars are great, but Nthato Moagi (BSc Eng 2015) wants South African kids to see beyond them to robotic toys. And further still.  

The co-founder of CRSP dsgn won the top prize – R1,2-million – in the 2016 SAB Foundation Social Innovation Awards for his low-cost robotic toy kit for schools. He was also a finalist in the #HackJozi challenge in 2016.

The Soweto-born aerodynamics engineer based the kit on his Wits Aeronautical Engineering final year design thesis and is now working on how to mass-produce it and get it into classrooms.

His aim is to help more young South Africans learn about science and technology concepts in a hands-on way.

“My business is currently in the start-up phase, and I’m working on establishing partnerships with the key stakeholders in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education space in the country. I exhibited at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in March and hosted a workshop at the Future of Learning Conference in April, which enabled me to showcase my robotics kits to innovative schools and education departments from all over South Africa and Africa,” he says. He still has a day job too, at Denel Dynamics.

“I’d love to inspire and challenge my fellow alumni and academics to take their work beyond the boundaries for the University, into the rest of the world where they can make social impact and create a real difference to our country, continent and the rest of the world.”

The LCERT kit, aimed at grades 4-9, is a set of modules that can be connected to form electronic circuits and programmed on a tablet or PC. It costs less than R1000. 

Neo Hutiri (MEng 2015) is another Witsie who did well in #HackJozi, for his MediCube drug-dispensing innovation.

Boost for student food programme

31 May 2017 -

Wits alumni have donated a quarter of a million rand to the Wits Food Programme

Wits alumni have donated a quarter of a million rand to the Wits Food Programme, which caters for student threatened by food insecurity due to disadvantaged backgrounds.

Wits alumni, through the South African Student Solidarity Foundation for Education (SASSFE), have raised and donated R250 000 for the Masidleni Daily Meal Project at the University. Masidleni means let’s eat in isiZulu.

The Masidleni Daily Meal Project supports hundreds of students with a hot, nutritional lunch from Monday to Friday every week. This project falls under the Division of Student Affairs and is run by Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach.

Read more

Christine Dixie in Venice

5 June 2017 -

Artwork questions ideas about power and representation

The artist Christine Dixie, a Wits alumna (BA FA 1989), is exhibiting a multi-media installation, To Be King, at Palazzo Bembo in Venice until 26 November. She explains the artwork, a postcolonial reinterpretation of Velasquez’s 1565 painting Las Meninas, in this video.

The exhibition is hosted by the European Cultural Centre and hosted by the GAA Foundation.

Dixie used a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship to research and develop the To Be King project. The work "questions established ideas around structures of power and representation".

Image courtesy of Sulger-Buell Lovell Gallery

WITSReview wins international award

20 June 2017 -

Alumni magazine judged to be “gorgeous and substantial”

WITSReview, the magazine for alumni and friends of the University of the Witwatersrand, has won an international award for outstanding work.

The magazine was announced joint winner in the external audience print newsletter category on 16 June 2017 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), based in Washington, DC.

CASE, which serves more than 3 600 of the world’s top universities, colleges and related organisations in more than 80 countries, presented the award for the December 2016 issue of WITSReview jointly with the University of Chicago’s publication, Tableau.

The WITSReview profiles the success of Wits graduates, campus life and academic and research achievements. The editor, Alumni Relations Director Peter Maher, says the magazine is extremely fortunate that Wits has phenomenally successful and interesting alumni to profile. “Regardless of their field of endeavour or country where they are based, Wits graduates can be found in leading positions in business, civil society, law, science, medicine, and in the arts. Wits is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world for alumni business success and achievement,” he says.

The CASE Circle of Excellence awards are based on factors such as overall quality, innovation, use of resources and impact. The judges, who are peer professionals, commented on WITSReview: “We loved that it deftly covered an entire university. The writing was clever and broad so that it could appeal to everyone. We thought the publication was well-paced and peppered with a variety of design elements and content types to hold interest.

“Both of the winning entries created a great balance between pop culture and academia by taking a serious look at current trends and issues … we found both publications were too gorgeous and substantial to cast aside unnoticed or unexplored. They would likely end up proudly displayed on someone’s coffee table or credenza. For print publications, that’s definitely a win!”

The University of Johannesburg was the first South African university to win a CASE award category for an advertising campaign developed by HKLM brand agency in 2010.

• The image on the cover of the December 2016 WITSReview is the painting Papeete, Tahiti 1978, by Walter Battiss, which is in the Jack Ginsberg Collection, courtesy of the Wits Art Museum.

Young Witsies making their mark

6 July 2017 -

More than 25 Witsies are included in this year’s Mail & Guardian list for the most notable young South Africans under the age of 35.

The recognition attests to the quality of leaders Wits University produces and grooms.

Now in its 12^th year, the supplement showcases the young stars who are making sterling contributions in their respective fields and who are shaping the country's future.

It celebrates talent in the fields of Arts and Culture, Business and Entrepreneurship, Civil Society, Education, Environment, Film and Media, Health, Justice and Law, Politics and Government, Science and Technology, and Sport.

The Witsies who made the list in their respective fields are:

Arts and Culture

Claudine Ullman: Comedian and Wits alumna. Ullman read for a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts at Wits.

Ntokozo Kunene: Costume and production designer. Kunene holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in economics, business finance and law from Wits.

Business and Entrepreneurship

Dr Yudhvir Seetharam: Part-time Lecture in the School of Economic and Business Sciences at Wits and Head of Analytics, FNB Business. Seetharam obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree in business finance and economics at Wits and his honours degree in finance.

Itumeleng Merafe: Founding director of the Bokamoso Cross Mentorship Programme. He obtained his masters in the management of finance and investments with distinction at the Wits Business School.

Philani Sangweni: Chief Operating Officer of Fundi (formerly known as Eduloan) and graduate of the Wits Business School’s Executive Programme.

Mawethu Nkosana: Founder of The Black Love Association, Nkosana graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and political science from Wits.

Ntokozo Yingwana: Gender activist and PhD candidate in the African Centre for Migration Studies at Wits.

Nomonde Nyembe: Attorney at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits.

Education

Dr Elias Phaahla: Researcher at the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Phaahla obtained his honours degree (with distinction) in international political economics from Wits.  

Xichavo Alecia Ndlovu: Political Studies lecturer at the University of Cape Town. Ndlovu completed her undergraduate studies at Wits and obtained her Masters of Arts (cum laude) in international relations from Wits, earning her a number of accolades for this achievement.

Film & Media

Onke Dumeko: Strategic Marketing Manager at Ndalo Media. Dumeko obtained a degree in marketing and economic science at Wits and an honours degree in marketing.

Health

Dr Aayesha Soni: Community Service Doctor in the Helen Joseph Hospital. She completed her medical degree at Wits at age 23.

Dr Kalli Spencer: Urologist at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. Spencer completed his undergraduate studies at Wits.

Dr Nokwethemba Mtshali-Hadebe: Chief Executive at Bertha Gxowa Hospital. She completed her MBA at Wits.

Dr Salome Maswime: Obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Wits Lecturer and Director of the Wits Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinical Research Division. Maswime obtained her PhD at Wits.

Dr Nqoba Tsabedze: Cardiology researcher at the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital. Tsabedze is currently completing his PhD on the genetics of idiopathic cardiomyopathy at Wits.

Dr Sivuyile Madikana: Medical Officer in the Gauteng Department of Health and brand ambassador, Brothers for Life. Madikana recently completed his MBA with the Wits Business School.

Natalia Neophytou:  Biokineticist and Lecturer at the Wits Centre for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine. She obtained her masters degree in exercise science from Wits, and is currently pursuing a PhD in autism spectrum.

Justice and Law

Rorisang Mzozoyana: Senior attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright. Mzozoyana holds a masters of law degree from Wits and she also lectured real estate law at Wits.

Tefo Tlale: Advocate at the National Bar Council of South Africa. Tlale read for a law degree at Wits.

Science and Technology

Dr Nadine Gravett: Sleep researcher and Senior Lecturer in the School of Anatomical Sciences at Wits.

Cikida Gcali: Wits alumni and petroleum engineering masters student.

Funeka Nkosi: Founder of Green Girls Stem Foundation and PhD student at Wits.

Dr Tiisetso Lephoto: Microbiology Researcher at Wits. Lephoto obtained her PhD in molecular and cell biology with an emphasis on microbiology, biotechnology, genomics, nematology and bioinformatics from Wits last year.

Dr Thandiswa Ngcungcu: Ngcungcu obtained her PhD in human genetics at Wits. She is currently a lecturer in the Division of Human Genetics at Wits.

Nthato Moagi: Aerodynamics Engineer at Denel Dynamics. Moagi obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering at Wits.

Sport

Tshepang Tlale: Chess champion and second year psychology and philosophy student at Wits.

The art of grassland management

11 July 2017 -

A controlled veld burn shows us what we need to protect

The artist Hannelie Coetzee presented her second Art/Science #FireGrazer performance at the NIROX Sculpture Park in the Cradle of Humankind in June. This entailed burning an image into the grassland – a process undertaken by the government-funded Working on Fire job-creation programme. This year’s image, Locust & Grasshopper, overlaid the 2015 burnt image, Eland & Benko.

Coetzee has an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts from Wits and worked in the Fine Arts Department in the 1990s. She worked with ecologist Professor Sally Archibald (BSc 1997, PhD 2010) and entomologist James Harrison (BSc 1994) on both #FireGrazer performances, using art as a tool to convey scientific ideas.

The images of insects emphasise the important role of these small creatures in savanna ecosystems. The word “hittete” comes from an Afrikaans idiom, “Dit was so hittete”, meaning “it was touch and go”, and refers to damage to the planet caused by humans.

In 2015-2016, research on the site tested whether small, managed fires created more productive grassland communities. Wits MSc student Felix Skhosana (BSc 2014, BSc Hons 2015) monitored antelope usage of the burnt veld. Now the research will go beyond grazing to look at the value of this habitat to bird, insect and wildflower species. The goal is to build consensus on appropriate land management, Archibald explains.

Human Rights Commissioner receives international award

14 July 2017 -

Ameermia honoured for leadership and integrity

Human Rights Commissioner Mohamed Shafie Ameermia (BA 1984, LLB 1990) received the 2017 Robert G Storey International Award for Leadership from the Center for American and International Law, a non-profit educational institution in Dallas, Texas.

The award was established in honour of its founder, who was dedicated to peace, justice and the rule of law in the international community, and is presented to a past participant in one of its programmes who demonstrates Storey’s qualities of leadership and integrity.

Advocate Ameermia is the first African to receive the award. He participated in the Center’s Academy in 2001. At the Human Rights Commission, his focus is on access to housing and to justice. In earlier years he worked in local and provincial government in Limpopo.

He commented:

“What makes this award even more special for me is that 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of our freedom, as our Constitution, being the supreme law of our land, came into operation on 4 February 1997, and this year we are holding the centenary celebrations in South Africa to honour one of our greatest heroes of our liberation to freedom and democracy, Oliver Reginald Tambo, who was born in 1907.

“I therefore feel proud to be part of our great emerging democracy and am very humbled by this award being conferred upon me for championing the cause of the poor, marginalised and the downtrodden in our country.

“As Mr Justice Jody Kollapen, the former Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, now a judge of distinction in the High Court of the Republic of South Africa, and who was my mentor and principal when he was a practising civil rights activist attorney, always reminded me: human rights is about the right to be a human being and to live in freedom and dignity.”

Robert Gerald Storey (1893-1981) practised law in Dallas, was Executive Trial Counsel for the US at the Nuremberg Trial of war criminals, and in 1947 founded the Southwestern Legal Foundation, serving as President (without compensation) from 1947 to 1972. He served as Dean of SMU School of Law from 1947 to 1959, President of the American Bar Association 1952-1953, President of the Inter-American Bar Association 1954-1956, and on several commissions.

Justice Kollapen also earned BProc and LLB degrees from Wits.

Molecular biology on the move

14 July 2017 -

Young researcher recognised for work on agricultural pests

Dr Tiisetso Lephoto (BSc 2010, BSc Hons 2011, MSc 2013, PhD 2016) is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Molecular and Cell Biology, and was one of Wits’ top students. She has won several awards for her research work – most recently Best Young Researcher from the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Biotech Fundi and Innovation Hub. She is also on the 2017 list of 200 top young South Africans published by the Mail & Guardian.

Dr Lephoto is interested in the molecular genetics and biochemical mechanisms underlying the relationship between insect hosts, bacteria and nematodes. In simple terms, she is looking for natural ways to control pests in agriculture.

But it’s not all about parasitic worms. She loves to take young people with her as she progresses. Dr Lephoto founded a wellness and fitness project called Yes We Are Moving, tutors high school learners, and gives motivational talks through an organisation called Katleho Pele Education.

“It’s very fulfilling to share knowledge, to help someone, and then see them succeed,” she said.

Witsie heads church health ministries

14 July 2017 -

Oversees hundreds of health facilities worldwide

Cardiologist Dr Peter Landless (MBBCh 1974) was elected to the position of Director of the Seventh Day Adventist Church’s Health Ministries department, in Maryland in the USA. Health is an important part of the church’s work; worldwide it is associated with 150 hospitals, 450 clinics, five medical schools, 75 schools of nursing and 100 dental practices, as well as HIV and AIDS initiatives.

As a Wits student, Dr Landless was editor of the Medical School’s journal, The Leech. As a conscientious objector drafted into the South African army, he ran a clinic on what is now the border between Angola and Namibia, and during this time survived a vehicle accident caused by a landmine. He interpreted this as “being saved to serve” and was subsequently ordained as a minister.

After 10 years as a pastor and general practitioner in the Free State and later working with Wits Professors Bothwell, Joffe, Meyer, Manga and Barlow in Johannesburg, he became deputy director of the Cardiology Department at Johannesburg Hospital. He was part of President Nelson Mandela’s cardiology team from 1993 to 1995.

He is a specialist in family medicine, internal medicine and nuclear cardiology, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, Executive Director of the International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Recharged after science gathering

14 July 2017 -

Chemistry postgraduate meets Nobel laureates

Chemistry PhD student Funeka Nkosi (BSc 2012, BSc Hons 2013) was one of five young South African scientists nominated by the Academy of Science of South Africa to participate in the 67th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany in June this year. These annual meetings call together about 30 Nobel laureates to meet the next generation of leading scientists from all over the world, and foster an exchange of knowledge among disciplines.

“It’s a rare, lifetime opportunity for young scientists,” she said on her return. “This meeting has changed my life. I am inspired, motivated and more knowledgeable and educated.”

Nkosi’s research concerns the performance of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in cellphones, laptops, cameras and electric cars.

She is working on improving the cathode materials in such batteries – specifically manganese-oxide-based materials, which have advantages in terms of performance, cost, environmental impact and local ore reserves.

Listed among the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans, she is already a role model, having started the Green Girls Stem Foundation to support young women in science.

Order of Mapungubwe for electrical engineer

14 July 2017 -

National honour for contribution to science

Professor Fulufhelo Nelwamondo (BSc Eng 2005; PhD 2008) was this year awarded the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver for his excellent contribution to the field of science, particularly electrical engineering.

He is the Executive Director of CSIR Modelling and Digital Science and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

He grew up in a rural village and received a bursary from Eskom to study at Wits. He went on to a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Johannesburg.

Honour for Fanaroff

14 July 2017 -

US award for work on SKA Radio Telescope

Astronomer Dr Bernie Fanaroff (BSc 1968, BSc Hons 1970) was awarded the 2017 Jansky Lectureship by Associated Universities, Inc and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the US, for his contributions to radio astronomy and his leadership through public service. He was specifically recognised for his work with the South African Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope Project. The lectureship is named in honour of Karl G Jansky, whose work launched the science of radio astronomy.

Dr Fanaroff has an honorary doctorate from Wits (among others), in recognition of his achievements in science and of the role he played in the trade union movement and the anti-apartheid struggle. He also received the National Order of Mapungubwe.

Seen from above

14 July 2017 -

Perspective can bring calm

Advice from his Wits neurosurgery professor many years ago put Dr Gabriel Koz (MBBCh 1958) onto a winding path – literally – to a state of calm. That advice was to aim for two things: providing patients with excellent care; and being of service to the community.

Dr Koz, until recently Medical Director of Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, VA (USA), organised the funding and the volunteers to build a labyrinth in the grounds of the psychiatric hospital.

Following the paths marked out by low walls is a calming exercise, not a challenge like finding your way out of a maze.

A plaque on the labyrinth reads: “For centuries, the labyrinth has been used to promote healing, connection, community and peace.” 

Another mosquito to manage

26 July 2017 -

Different species found to carry malaria

The mosquito species Anopheles vaneedeni has been identified as a malaria-carrying vector in nature. It was already known to be able to carry malaria under laboratory conditions.

Studying the behaviour of Anopheles vaneedeni will help us find ways of eliminating the disease, which killed over 420 000 people in 2015, according to the World Health Organisation – 92% of them in Africa. That year, there were 212-million new cases of malaria worldwide.

Hunting for clues

26 July 2017 -

A new way to identify ancient residues

A team of archaeologists and organic chemists from Wits, UP and UJ has found a way to detect toxic plant ingredients on archaeological artefacts such as weapons.

Organic compounds degrade over time, so these ancient residues can be difficult to identify. They may also be present in only tiny quantities. But the new method of identification may allow us to understand more about human behaviour such as hunting in the distant past.

It is not known when people started using poisons in hunting, but one example has been found of poison from castor beans adhering to a 24 000-year-old applicator. The artefact was found at Border Cave in South Africa.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Justin Bradfield (BA 2008, BA Hons 2009, MSc 2011), of Wits’ Evolutionary Studies Institute, was on the research team.

(Source: The Conversation)

Advances in cancer treatment

26 July 2017 -

New hope for patients of some common cancers

Thousands of cases of colorectal and breast cancer are diagnosed in South Africa every year, but advances in treatment have brought new hope. Professor Paul Ruff (MBBCh 1979, MMed 1986), head of medical oncology in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and Dr Georgia Demetriou (MBBCh 1995), of the Donald Gordon Medical Centre, gave the Faculty’s 15th Prestigious Research Lecture in June, outlining exciting advances that represent a significant improvement in patient outcomes.

“The treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer over the last 15 to 20 years has improved, making it a highly treatable and sometimes even a curable disease,” said Professor Ruff.

Recent evidence shows that various factors affect clinical outcome, such as the location of the tumour in the colon, and the patient’s genetic makeup. “A lot of research is currently being undertaken to examine the link between a patient’s physiology and their recovery outlook,” he said. 

Breast cancer is among the most common cancers in South Africa. “Between 15% and 20% cases of breast cancer are Her2-positive, an aggressive subtype of breast cancer with a higher risk of recurrence and metastatic spread to sites such as liver, lungs, bone and sometimes brain,” said Dr Demetriou. “The use of targeted ‘blockade’ drug therapy and, more recently, targeted dual drug therapy, has come a long way in identifying and blocking Her2-positive breast cancer.”

Professor Ruff and Dr Demetriou are confident that today’s treatment options improve survival rates and offer patients a much better quality of life.

World-class isotope lab opens at Wits

26 July 2017 -

Facility for high-precision experiments in geosciences, medicine and palaeosciences

The new, ultra-clean, metal-free Wits Isotope Geoscience Laboratory, based in the School of Geosciences at Wits, is a boon for scientists from a wide range of disciplines. It allows them to perform high precision, contamination-free experiments aimed at separating elements and isotopes from a range of natural materials.

“Instead of shipping our samples to Europe at a huge cost, scientists in Southern Africa will have a world-class facility on their doorstep,” says the lab’s Director, Wits graduate Dr Grant Bybee (BSc 2008, BSc Hons 2009, PhD 2013).

High precision analysis of elements and isotopes is extremely important in geosciences, but also used in medicine – for example in the diagnosis of cancer and bone diseases – and in palaeosciences for establishing the origin, movement patterns and diets of now extinct animals, including our human ancestors.   

HIV researcher receives Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship

1 August 2017 -

Award will be used to work on new method to prevent HIV infection in women

Professor Lynn Morris (BSc 1982, BSc Hons 1983) received the Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award in June. This highly prestigious award recognises researchers in Africa who possess an outstanding track record of intellectual and academic inquiry. Prof Morris is renowned for her studies of the antibody response to HIV. Her work is currently providing great promise for the development of an HIV vaccine. 

Prof Morris plans to use the Oppenheimer Fellowship to work on a new method to prevent HIV infection in women. An antibody that has been found to have exceptional antiviral activity against HIV will be engineered into bacteria found naturally in the vagina, in order to develop an anti-HIV probiotic for use intravaginally. If it works, it could provide a cheap, practical and effective way to empower women to protect themselves from infection.

Prof Morris heads the HIV Virology laboratories at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and is a Research Professor at Wits. In 2014 she received the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award and in 2015 the South African Medical Research Council’s Gold Merit Award. She is one of the most highly cited researchers in the world and has an A-rating from the National Research Foundation in South Africa.

Previous Wits recipients of the Oppenheimer Fellowship are Professor Helen Rees (2014), an expert in HIV prevention, reproductive health and vaccines; Professor Duncan Mitchell (2010), for research into the responses of large mammals to climate change; Professor Norman Owen-Smith (2005), also for work on large mammalian herbivores in changing environments; and chemical engineer Professor David Glasser (2001), who was the first recipient.

Hand of applause

1 August 2017 -

International award for Wits surgeons

Two Wits medical professors have received an international award recognising their distinguished careers. The International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH) gave its Pioneer of Hand Surgery award to Professor Sydney Biddulph (MBBCh 1961) and Professor John Fleming (MBBCh 1962) in 2016.

Prof Biddulph qualified as an orthopaedic surgeon in 1966 and was consultant hand surgeon at the Johannesburg Hospital and Wits from 1971 to 2008, as well as being in private practice. He was the first surgeon performing hand surgery exclusively in South Africa. In addition to improving the lives of many patients, he has made an invaluable contribution to research, publications and teaching, and served the medical profession as President of the SASSH.

Prof Fleming has dedicated a lifetime of work to Wits and the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Hand Unit, using his huge experience and knowledge to help patients and to train young surgeons. He conducted the first replant of a hand, and the first transplant of a toe to thumb, in South Africa.  He has also led the SASSH and presented papers at many congresses.

Both surgeons were noted for their innovative spirit and for inspiring others in the field.

Senior bank appointment for Witsie

3 August 2017 -

Actuarial science graduate heads group treasury

Dixit Joshi (BSc 1992) has been appointed Group Treasurer for Deutsche Bank AG. He studied Statistics and Actuarial Science at Wits and, before joining DB, led businesses at Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse.

He has led financial services teams around the world through many market cycles has been an active advocate for ethics in business, for efficient regulation and on the impact of technology on new business models.

Among his philanthropic activities, he has established a scholarship at Wits in his grandfather’s name.

"After nearly seven years at Deutsche Bank leading sales and trading businesses, I am pleased to take on a new challenge as Group Treasurer," says Joshi. "Treasury sits at the heart of a bank’s operations, with complexity and intellectual challenges, especially for a global bank operating in over 70 countries with a diverse product offering from retail banking to corporate finance. We have a great team here at Deutsche Bank and I’m enjoying this new opportunity immensely." 

Strength in the mix

7 August 2017 -

Book marks 40 years of growth for Witsie-founded engineering firm

“Oskar Steffen, Andrew Robertson and Hendrik Kirsten in the mid-1970s were three very different men…” So begins the story of SRK Consulting, one of the top consulting engineering firms in South Africa, in a book to mark its 40th anniversary (SRK: 40 Years in the Deep End, by Ian Mulgrew).

Those men, all Witsies, were specialists in open-pit mining, soils and rock mechanics respectively. Together, they built a firm now highly rated for its standards of practice, employment diversity, skills development and corporate social investment. It employs 1400 professionals in over 45 offices on six continents.

The firm’s character is very much a product of its founders’ personalities, experiences and connections.

Complementary characters

Steffen grew up in Swaziland. His father and grandfather were imprisoned during World War II because they were German; his mother kept the family’s trading store going. When he got to Wits in 1956, he didn’t speak much English, but was fortunate to come under the wing of Prof Jeremiah Jennings, who got to know all his students personally. Jennings emphasised the need for engineers to learn from people – from the labourers on site to the final users of the structure – and not just from data.

Jennings was Head of Wits’ Department of Civil Engineering from 1954 to 1976. He arranged for several black students to graduate as civil engineers at Wits during the apartheid era, and he received an honorary doctorate from the University in 1978.

Kirsten grew up in Johannesburg, the son of a senior civil servant who dealt with compensation for industrial-related lung diseases. He graduated as a civil engineer and then switched to mining engineering and went into teaching and research at Wits, specialising in structural engineering and rock mechanics.

Robertson, who had spent part of his childhood on the Zambian copper belt, came to Wits on a mining bursary and switched the opposite way, to civils.  Kirsten was one of his lecturers, and he encountered Steffen in Zambia and in Kimberley. The book says it was in Robertson’s character to take on a big load enthusiastically. In the late 1960s he was working full-time for Frankipile, started his own business, was doing his PhD and had a family.

Perhaps it was time to share the load.

Into the deep end

When they opened SRK in 1974, Robertson (BSc Eng 1966, PhD 1977) was the entrepreneurial one; the salesman. Kirsten, the mathematician and details man (BSc Eng 1963, MSc Eng 1966, PhD 1986), was well connected; and Steffen (BSc Eng 1961, MSc Eng 1963, PhD 1978) had managerial experience and an excellent reputation. The firm was under pressure to succeed: for one thing, the partners were supporting 11 young children between them.

It got started with a concrete pipeline for Rand Water, a mine tailings dam and a railway line, and grew from there. As the commemorative book puts it: “There was a lot of wow-factor in some of the early projects SRK took on – their scope, their impacts, their remote and difficult locations, their staggering size.” The work ethic was such that someone jokingly called the firm “Siberian Rest Kamp”, though it also functioned as a family, thanks to the commitment of the actual families involved.

The business model was unusual: staff were able to become shareholders and grow their own practices.

It soon became important to look beyond South Africa for growth. Fellow Witsie Doug Piteau (PhD 1971) was working in Canada and suggested that the firm expand there, which it did in 1977. Arizona in the US was the next step, then Colorado. More offices and countries followed – as did economic ups and downs – and new areas of expertise were added to the mix. The corporate structure and systems changed in response to the firm’s local and global growth.

The South African office has weathered the challenges of finding and retaining the right people and responding to the country’s special demands. Wits graduate Sue Posnik (BA 1973, BA Hons 1982, PDE 1973) was the firm’s first female partner and director and in the 1990s led its environmental and social impact assessment work.

Reaching the shore

Robertson left SRK in 1994 to form Robertson GeoConsultants Inc in Canada. In 2015 he was inducted into International Mining magazine’s Hall of Fame.

Kirsten left SRK in 2001. He received the SAICE Geotechnical Gold Medal in 2016. Reflecting on the firm’s success, he said that staying close to academia was important so as to attract the best people and learn about the latest technology.

People were what mattered most, Steffen agreed. He received the London Mining Journal’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2010.

SRK Consulting SA was rated among the top five consulting engineering firms in the mining and infrastructure category of the Top 500 Companies Awards in 2017.

The commemorative book is available on the firm’s website (srk.com).

Photos: SRK Consulting

New career route for taxi operators

7 August 2017 -

Wits School of Governance offers certificate for public transport operators

The majority of South Africans rely on public taxi services to commute on a daily basis. Governance of this vital informal sector, however, has been lacking. The City of Johannesburg has taken the initiative to get taxi associations’ members educated on issues of policy and governance by teaming up with the Wits School of Governance (WSG) to offer a Certificate in Public Transport Governance and Operations Management.

This course was launched on 11 December 2016. Over 100 participants from 11 different taxi associations enrolled for the 25-week course.

This programme was designed to contribute to the critical transformation imperative within the transport sector in the City of Johannesburg, namely the need to build the capacity of mini-bus operators to become part of the sustainable public transport sector.

The classes focused on leadership development of the key taxi industry operators. Participants were taken through the development of strategic concepts, skills and competencies related to leadership, governance, planning, change management and stakeholder management.

Peter Mabe, Chairperson of the Dobsonville, Roodepoort, Leratong Johannesburg Taxi Association, which has 1 500 members and 3 100 taxis in operation, said this course was long overdue. “I found this course very productive. I believe this is an industry that needs to be regulated,” said Mabe.

He stressed that it was important for black South Africans to “move from just being consumers to owners”.

Mabe said more modules that focused on leadership and organisational management were needed.

“We are learning about our rights to complain and the forums in which to do this. We learn about social responsibility, which I find very interesting,” Mabe said.

Mabe was surprised to find out that taxi associations already have activities that constitute social responsibility. “We provide free transport to bereaved families and give bursaries where we can,” he added.

Mabe said another important part of this course was learning about the laws related to his work.

The course also seeks to improve the participants’ entrepreneurial effectiveness.

WSG Head Professor David Everatt said the School was extremely proud to be running the certificate course for taxi associations in Johannesburg. “We recognise the need for skills in computing, critical thinking and knowledge about policy, governance, urban transport and the like.

“The course was designed at the request of the City in order to equip members of taxi associations to transition into bus operators, supporting Rea Vaya rather than seeing it as a threat,” added Everatt.

“We want to ensure that taxi operators are better able to negotiate, knowing the rules of the game (governance), and have a better understanding of the role of mass transit in a sustainable urban transport network. WSG is proud to be running a course that seems to be working so well that the students are demanding more and more lectures.”

The Executive Director of Education, Dr Manamela Matshabaphala, who also facilitated some modules, said this course was an eye-opener. “Through our interactions with the course participants, we got a glimpse into the world of taxi operators.

“This seems to have had a transformative impact on the participants. It is clear from our conversations in class that there is a mind shift in relation to the organisational culture in the industry. It has been a riveting experience,” said Matshabaphala.

Sharon Manwadu, Head of Labour at the South African Taxi Council (SANTACO), said most of the members wanted to study further.

She added that SANTACO had introduced health, lifestyle and HIV/AIDS awareness drives and was conducting arranged sessions for breast cancer awareness and screening. 

“This course has proven to be critical to its intended target, namely the taxi operators/owners. They have gained a wide range of knowledge,” said Dr Pandelani Thomas Mathoma, academic champion for this course. “With the knowledge gained from the course, the operators have been equipped with the necessary insight to manage their own affairs,” he added.

Taking stock in a refresher course

7 August 2017 -

Experienced practitioner revisits government communications programme

Nomfanelo Kota, a veteran government communicator, has extensive experience in media liaison and communications and is a former spokesperson for the South African Embassy in New York. She worked as a media co-ordinator for the African National Congress and currently works for the Eastern Cape government.

Despite all her experience, Kota enrolled for the Government Communications and Marketing programme run by the Wits School of Governance this year.

Here, she shares her experience at WSG:

Why did you decide to do this course?

I completed the programme in 2007. Last year, I registered to get a sense of what we have achieved as government communicators in the space of a decade. The course has given me an opportunity to pause, take stock and see how far we have traversed and how we have simultaneously regressed in the sector at a policy level.

The programme has assisted me to understand the changing government communications and media landscape better and how different spheres of government have an ongoing challenge of synchronising their approaches to government communications.  

What do you enjoy about this course?

The classroom engagements provide rigour and an opportunity for appreciative enquiry. Most of the course facilitators have valuable experience in communications and have been a great asset to the learning experience.

The richness of class discussions and their interactive nature broadens the minds of government communicators as fresh material is shared in a disciplined manner.

What I enjoy most from the course is the interaction with other students and learning from them, the stimulating class experiments and syndicate work that also takes us to external audiences (market research exercises) and how lecturers provide fresh materials that speak to our constantly changing and evolving media landscape.

What do you enjoy about the roles you played in government communication?

One of the most satisfying parts of my job is when I am able to create and expand nurturing communication networks for the province through interactions with various stakeholders in the sector.

What are some of the most challenging aspects of your job?

The most challenging part is to get political principals to understand that in political communication time is a critical resource and the ability to respond timeously to developments in the environment is the most crucial aspect of a government  communicator.

Apart from sharing information, what other roles do you think government communicators can play in creating access to all levels of governments?

Government communicators are the gateway to the world of political communication. They must consistently strive to keep channels of communication open at all times, be transparent and keep the public, media and other stakeholders informed of what government seeks to achieve.

At all times, government communicators must know that government communications is not a secret. Mostly government communicators must never allow middle-men and women to stand between them and their political communications work.

Executive education

The EDU offers over 90 short courses in the fields of policy; governance and leadership; monitoring and evaluation; project management; economic development and finance; and security. Our short courses are specialized and flexible, with multi-disciplinary content.

For all short courses on offer at the Wits School of Governance, email Zibusiso.Manzini-Moyo@wits.ac.za or call him on 011 717 3505.

Keeping Witsies posted

16 August 2017 -

Dentist, stamp collector and videographer Les Glassman talks about representing Wits in Israel

Volunteering as a Wits alumni convenor opens doors, says Les Glassman (BSc 1979, BDS 1984), our representative in Israel. But that’s not why he does it. “I really feel it is such an honour and privilege to represent Wits. And I’ve met amazing people.”

Les organises events for Wits alumni in Israel with the support of his wife Lucy (BA 1985, PDE 1986), local organisations and networks like Telfed, and the Alumni Relations office in Johannesburg. Together, they keep contact details updated, relationships strong and information flowing both ways. Les doesn’t have to handle any financial administration.

Being a convenor also gives him the opportunity to do something he enjoys:  interviewing interesting people and recording their life stories on video. (You can watch them on YouTube.)

The fact that people work on Sundays in Israel makes it harder to organise events, but Witsies are keen to make the effort to attend, he says.

Most of the expatriates in Israel enjoy being connected with each other and with South Africa and their alma mater. They remain informed and engaged, and Les says most of them have only positive things to say.  

“People feel honoured to have had the opportunity to get the education they got at Wits,” he says. “They had to work hard; qualifying at Wits didn’t involve compromises.” And these graduates have made their mark in Israel, where Wits has a good name.

A highlight for Les as convenor was helping to publicise and record the 60th reunion of the Class of 1955 medical students. About 10 alumni in their mid-80s got together in 2015, to celebrate a lifetime of connection, mutual assistance and achievement at the top of their fields. “They didn’t have easy lives,” says Les. “But they were so full of life and positive, and close. It was magnificent; a privilege to be there. I made a video which meant their families all over the world could be part of the event too.”

Other events Les has organised in Israel include gatherings to honour Nelson Mandela, with participants such as former Rand Daily Mail journalist Benjamin Pogrund, Liliesleaf Trust founder Nicholas Wolpe, former South African Jewish Board of Deputies president Marlene Bethlehem, art gallerist Natalie Knight and the Israeli and South African ambassadors.

Meeting and filming Witsies like accountant-turned-pilot Harold “Smoky” Simon, aged 97, and radiologist Professor Joshua Levy, aged 94, was an honour, says Les. Prof Levy’s mother, Amelia Hersch, was one of the first students at Wits, in 1922, and got the first of her Wits degrees in 1927. She was a translator of Yiddish, Hebrew and German poetry and an editor of Common Sense and Jewish Affairs.

Most people are interested in other cultures, says Les. One avenue for exploring this interest and making friends is stamp collecting, which has been his hobby since he was six years old. He now represents Israel as Commissioner at international stamp exhibitions, and has recently been to Indonesia for a stamp show where the theme was “Peace Through Stamps”.

Les and Lucy have been living in Israel since 1994, where they have family roots, but regularly visit South Africa, where other family and friends remain. “Once a South African, always a South African,” he says.

Getting into Wits dental school (in 1978) and passing every year took very hard work, says Les. But the students got on well together and helped each other. “It was a unique place. The professors were fair and gave us a high standard of education. We had lectures from world authorities.” A highlight was a two-week trip to a remote area of the Transkei in his fourth year, to provide free treatment to people who didn’t have access to dentistry. He remembers a dental chair falling out of the van on the bad roads. The students also served at clinics in Soweto and Riverlea. Fun times included musical events and interesting talks. Les and Lucy got engaged in his final year and his marks actually improved! “I’m so grateful for the time I spent there,” he says.

Witsies in Israel can look forward to a talk later in this year by multiple Wits graduate and extraordinary linguist Nathi Gamedze, originally from Swaziland, now a rabbi.

To contact Les Glassman, phone +972 525522438 or email Lesglassman@gmail.com.

If you’d like to be a Wits alumni convenor in your region, please contact Purvi Purohit on +27 11 717 1093 or purvi.purohit@wits.ac.za.

What really counts

17 August 2017 -

Three outstanding Witsies in financial services talk about their journeys and what success means to them

Elash Mistry qualified in 2017 as the first blind actuary in South Africa. Born in Laudium, Pretoria, he became blind at a very young age as a result of retinal detachment. His parents made the difficult decision to send him to Pietermaritzburg’s Arthur Blaxall School for the Blind at the age of seven as there were no such schools for Indian children in Pretoria in 1983.

He matriculated with an A aggregate and then registered at Wits, where he was assisted by the Wits Disability Unit. Rykie Woite, who worked at the unit preparing materials for blind students, helped with converting mathematical formulae into a symbolic language and accessing diagrams and graphs.

Elash graduated with a Bachelor of Economic Science in 1999. He has now completed the 15 board exams required to become a Fellow of the South African Actuarial Society.

He is married to Michele, with three children, and works in the insurance sector in Cape Town.

“My measure of success is the difference I’ve made in the lives of those I serve and the difference they are able to make in the lives of others,” says Elash.

On qualifying as an actuary – which took several attempts at the board exam – he said: “When the finishing line is crossed we often talk of what the winner has done and forget the silent workers that made huge sacrifices to get him over the line.” He paid tribute to Michele and to Rykie for their support throughout the uncertain times.

“I remember Rykie sitting up late at night to transcribe hand-written actuarial notes from my lecturer so that I could have it the next day and follow the lecturer who was writing on a black board.  She would insert little notes to me to ensure that I got the exact meaning of what she typed.  That’s how I passed those courses.”

He also thanked Jeff Steele, head of the Disability Unit at Wits at the time. “Thanks to him, I could take on a career of my choice rather than a career for which there was existing support.”

Why make money?

In this podcast of The Money Show on 702, Discovery CEO and actuary Adrian Gore (BSc 1985, BSc Hons 1987, DCom honoris causa) talks about his parents’ feelings about education and business, his choice of career, the power of mathematics and his attitude to money.  Making an impact is the most profound use of money, he says.

Leaping over poverty to profit

Political studies and English – a great foundation for big business with a purpose, based on the experience of Andy Kuper (BA 1996, BA Hons 1997). He runs LeapFrog Investments, a multinational company that makes money for investors and makes a difference in the lives of the world’s poor.

Founded in 2007, LeapFrog invests in companies targeting markets which are traditionally underserved, such as insurance for farmers in India, healthcare in Kenya and life insurance for HIV-positive and diabetic people in South Africa. It sees them as “high-growth, purpose-driven businesses” and as new consumers.

In a company video, Andy and LeapFrog co-founder Jim Roth talk about how they started as “five guys in a Volvo, trundling across Europe, trying to get someone to buy this crazy idea of a private equity fund that changes the world.”

“It’s a lot of fun when you walk in with purpose and actuaries,” says Andy, speaking of their business pitch, vision and skills.

The values they hold, and the fact that they like being questioned and challenged, have helped attract more extraordinary people to the team. The companies they invest in have grown more than 46% a year since investment. These partner companies now employ more than 100 000 people and reach more than 91-million emerging consumers, including 74-million who earn less than $10 a day.  

LeapFrog Investments sees the world’s less wealthy as a “vast blue ocean of opportunity”.

In an interview, Andy said “profit attracts the capital that [poor] people need. Those people don’t have time to waste. My generation is ambitious to end poverty in our lifetimes. The alignment of capital and society’s needs should be celebrated.”

Reflecting on his professional experience and academic qualifications, he says: “I’ve always been more of a serial entrepreneur than an academic. My excitement has been in pioneering institutions that break with the old mould; that reach people that haven’t been reached before; that get beyond assumptions about who is the customer.”

In South Africa, LeapFrog is led by actuary and fellow Wits alumnus Gary Herbert (BSc 1990, BCom 1995), who also oversees the company’s global finances and operations.

King Kong: the Wits connection

12 September 2017 -

An idea achieved by pooling resources

King Kong, the first all-black South African musical show, opened in the Wits Great Hall on 2 February 1959. It was a huge hit with audiences and helped launch the careers of some of South Africa’s best-known musicians and singers.

The Great Hall was chosen as a venue because it was one of the few where multiracial audiences were permitted during that period of apartheid, and because of its size. Seating was supposed to be racially segregated but this didn’t work in practice, according to Bruce Murray’s book Wits: The ‘Open’ Years.

The venue was not the show’s only connection to Wits University. The production was led by Wits alumnus Harry Bloom (BA 1934, LLB 1937) and supported by businessman Clive Menell (honorary LLD 1996). Stanley “Spike” Glasser (BCom 1950) was the musical director. (He studied Economics at Wits but went on to study music in England.)

Co-sponsors were the Union of Southern African Artists and the African Medical Scholarship Trust Fund, chaired by Laurie Geffen (BSc 1958, BSc Hons 1959, MBBCh 1962). Murray writes that this sponsorship was “a final gesture of defiance before the ban on the further admission of black students to the Wits Medical School was enacted”.

The saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi recalled how Glasser met him and other musicians at Dorkay House and they worked on the score. “Glasser, a jolly guy, not pompous, was the musical director and Leon Gluckman was the director of the whole show.” (From Sophiatown Renaissance: A Reader, compiled by Professor Ntongela Masilela.)

The writer Lewis Nkosi suggested that “the resounding welcome … at Wits University Great Hall … was not so much for the jazz musical as a finished artistic product as it was applause for an idea which had been achieved by pooling together resources from both black and white artists in the face of impossible odds.” (BBC)

King Kong’s music and lyrics were by Todd Matshikiza and Pat Williams respectively. The jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela (honorary DLitt 2017) performed in the show at the age of 19. Nelson Mandela (honorary LLD 1991) was in the audience on opening night, along with many other influential people of Johannesburg.

Professor Njabulo Ndebele (honorary DLitt 2011) was there, too, aged 11. “We had driven all the way from Nigel in our fawn 1948 Chev, and returned there afterwards. The remarkable performance of that night is still vivid in my mind, testimony to the enduring power of art in the making of which nothing was spared to achieve the highest effect. It was testimony too, to the enduring impact of exposing young people to powerful formative experiences, which then live with them throughout their lives.”

According to South African History Online, “by early April, 37 performances had been made to a total of 40 000 audience members”. Eventually, around 200 000 people are said to have attended in South Africa. The musical, with a cast of 70, went on to Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth before returning to Johannesburg and then moving to London.

King Kong told the story of a real-life person, Ezekiel Dlamini, who came to Johannesburg from what was then Zululand to make a living. Known as King Kong, he became a gangster and boxer in Sophiatown, murdered his girlfriend, Joyce, and drowned in a dam soon after starting his sentence of hard labour.

Former Drum magazine editor Sylvester Stein described the musical as “nothing less than Drum set up on stage. Music, dance, sport, politics, crime, shebeens, sex, township life … the complete Drum cocktail.”

Nathan Mdledle starred as Dlamini and Miriam Makeba played Joyce. Makeba went into exile when the show went overseas and began her international career.

Writing in the Mail & Guardian (26 July 2017), Hilary Toffoli gives an idea of why the show was so popular: “In a country where the majority of the population was being kept down and restricted by draconian laws, King Kong’s effervescent celebration of life, love and muscle was like nothing we’d seen before. It was a gritty musical depiction of a place and era whose annihilation by the apartheid government four years previously would remain a haunting element of our troubled history.”

According to Peter Feldman in the South African Jewish Report, July 2017, Computicket founder Percy Tucker wrote: “It is impossible to overstate either the impact or the significance of King Kong in apartheid South Africa of the period. It gave dignity to the black population of the country and brought recognition of black talent. For white theatre-goers it was an eye-opener, and for the theatre itself, a triumphant vindication of the efforts to promote its development and widen its horizons.”

King Kong is back, now playing at the Joburg Theatre.

From invisible to invincible

12 September 2017 -

Guest speaker Frank Magwegwe talked about life's obstacles when he addressed an alumni networking event on 7 September.

It’s often the little things that connect people: Hall 29 in June, for example. The cold, and the knowledge that you have just failed an exam. When Frank Magwegwe spoke of this memory in his talk to Wits alumni and students in September, there was a wry collective smile.

That exam was Accounting 101 in 1994. It was the year Magwegwe left his life on the streets of Johannesburg and started his student journey towards two Wits degrees, Harvard and a career in financial services where he was responsible for R180-billion of other people’s money. He now has his own financial advisory business and is working towards a doctorate.

One of the best financial decisions he ever made: saving R50 of what he earned in 1993 as a street vendor’s helper, and using it to buy his own stock of fruit and vegetables to sell.  

Yet in response to a question from the audience about the tough times when starting a business, he said: don’t even think about money. Think about your impact and purpose in life. Ask yourself why you are here.

That focus is what has taken Magwegwe “from invisible to invincible”. That, and the belief that people always have choices.

He chose not to take a dead-end farm job in the Eastern Cape. After being fired from his job as barman at a hotel, he chose to use his last few rands to buy a train ticket as far as it would take him towards Johannesburg. Once in Joburg, he spent months living in the train station and on the streets.

“Many people make assumptions and judge you when you are homeless,” he said. “You become invisible to the world. You can easily fall into despair.” But he chose not to accept this fate.

One day, in the Johannesburg public library's news room, someone (a Mrs Zimmerman) took the trouble to ask him about himself. On hearing that he had obtained a B for matric maths, she encouraged him to apply to study at Wits. The Dean of Science, Professor Robin Crewe, steered him in the direction of a BSc in maths.

Even then it wasn’t an easy path. For the first few months, he was still running his fruit and vegetable business and didn't have a place in res.

“But every person faces obstacles,” he said. “Obstacles teach us about ourselves. Ask yourself: can I think about it differently?” 

Read more about his story here.

Health Sciences reunion 2017

14 September 2017 -

The annual Health Sciences Reunion was held in September and the Class of 1967 celebrated its 50th year since graduating.

The reunion programme included symposia on teaching, learning and research; a lecture by Professor Glenda Gray (MBBCh 1986) on “The intersection of health systems development and social justice”; a trip to the Cradle of Humankind; campus tours; class catch-ups; and a gala dinner.

At the dinner at the Wits Club on West Campus, Health Sciences Dean Professor Martin Veller and Health Graduates Association President Paul Davis spoke of the renewal under way at the university and the current research success being experienced by the medical school. They appealed to alumni to support their alma mater.

Professor Stephen Joffe (MBBCh 1967) and Sandra Joffe sponsored the Class of 1967 dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westcliff. Prof Joffe is CEO of the Joffe Foundation, Co-Chairman of Joffe Medicenter (a healthcare services company) and Esteemed Quondam Professor of Surgery and Medicine at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He founded the laser eye surgery company LCA-Vision and has had a distinguished academic career.  

“We bonded and we enjoyed as though 1967 were yesterday,” said Professor Gladwyn Leiman (MBBCh 1967). “We marvelled at the fact that six years of virtual but communal serfdom 50 years ago could create an esprit de corps that ignited the moment we laid eyes on our newly old selves. We picked up the threads as though we had not dropped them.  We spoke, discussed, chatted, laughed, and often guffawed shamelessly at remembered events and re-told stories. We toasted the teachers and mentors who had sent us on our varied pathways.”

More photos of the reunion are available on the Wits Alumni Flickr site.

MBBCh Class of 1967:

Bottom row: Alan Kisner, John Gear, Pete Colsen

Seated: Errol Judelman, Bill Gibson, Jackie Gardner, Bennie Skudowitz, Heike Rolle-Daya, Colin Nates, Ben Mervis

Middle: Allan Katz, Helen Feiner, Kees van der Meyden, John Fassler

Back: Herman Massyn, Barry Schoub, Geoff Wilson, Alan Matisonn, Bill Roediger, Andre van der Walt, Anton Schepers, Lewis Levien, Andrew Alison

Wits alumni excel at NRF awards

15 September 2017 -

Congratulations to our Wits alumni and researchers on their National Research Foundation awards

The awards were presented on 14 September 2017.

Professor Lyn Wadley (PhD 1987): A-rating (second time)

Shakira Choonara (BHSc 2012): Next Generation Researchers Excellence

Professor Shabir Madhi (MBBCh 1990, MMed 1999, PhD 2004): A-rating (second time)

Dr Musa Manzi (BSc 2008, BSc Hons 2009, PhD 2013): Early Career/Emerging Researcher

Dr Tiisetso Lephoto (BSc 2010, BSc Hons 2011, MSc 2013): Excellence in Science Engagement

Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan (BSc 1984, BSc Hons 1985, PhD 1991): A-rating (first time)

Professor Diane Hildebrandt (BSc Eng 1981, MSc Eng 1984, PhD 1990): Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation at South African Higher Education Institutions

The following Wits researchers also received NRF awards:

Professor Nicky Falkof: Emerging Researcher

Professor Yevhen Zelenyuk: A-rating (first time)

Professor Chris Mathew: A-rating (first time)

Professor Derk Brouwer: A-rating (first time)

An NRF A-rating indicates a leading international researcher. Ratings are awarded on the basis of the quality and impact of the researcher's work.

Dr Carina Schlebusch (PhD 2010) has received a European Research Council Starting Grant. The NRF is the local contact point for the ERC. Dr Schlebusch is attached to Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Central Block renamed in honour of Robert Sobukwe

19 September 2017 -

PAC leader was a Wits alumnus and teacher

Central Block on Wits' East Campus was officially renamed Robert Sobukwe Block on 18 September 2017, in honour of the Pan Africanist Congress founder, who was also a Wits graduate and language teacher.

Wits Chancellor and retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, who was also a PAC prisoner on Robben Island, spoke at the unveiling of the plaque. He noted that this was the very building in which Sobukwe had edited “The Africanist” and had written the founding notes of the PAC. 

Sobukwe’s son Dini Sobukwe was also present at the renaming ceremony, and conveyed the thanks of his mother, Veronica Sobukwe, aged 90. Justice Moseneke described her as a “silent heroine”. He also urged those present, especially members of the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania, to hold leaders accountable.

Sobukwe was a lecturer in African Studies at Wits from 1954 and graduated with a BA Honours degree in 1959.

Dini Sobukwe said the family had received a number of letters from his father’s former students, saying he had helped them to see South Africa in a different way.

Bruce Murray wrote in his book Wits: The Open Years: “Known for his sharp intellect and delightful personality, Sobukwe was highly popular among his students.  … As an academic, Sobukwe’s guiding principle was to keep his teaching entirely separate from his political activity, and the University reciprocated by not interfering with the latter.”

He was elected first president of the PAC in 1959. He resigned from Wits in 1960 when the movement launched its campaign against South Africa’s pass laws. This was met by the Sharpeville massacre, when police killed 69 protest marchers.

Sobukwe was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison, which were continually extended so that he spent a further six years in detention on Robben Island. He was then placed under house arrest in Kimberley. He studied law and opened his own practice in 1975, but soon fell ill with lung cancer.  He died on 27 February 1978.

Wits conferred a posthumous honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe in 2003.

Distinguished historian passes away

27 September 2017 -

Professor Philip Bonner was associated with Wits University for over four decades

Emeritus Professor Phil Bonner joined the Wits History Department in 1971 and played a leading role in the development of African History at the University and nationally. He was part of a cohort of young revisionist and Africanist scholars who challenged liberal orthodoxies in the academy and produced new histories that emphasised the experiences of the black majority. His book on the Swazi kingdom, Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires, exemplified this scholarship.

Professor Bonner was also heavily involved in the development of independent black trade unions from the 1970s and in the early 1980s served as FOSATU’s Education Officer. In the late 1980s he offered workers’ education to a number of COSATU's affiliates. At the same time, he wrote various histories of labour struggles and was a member of the editorial board of the South African Labour Bulletin for nearly thirty years. His involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle led to his detention and threat of deportation.

Professor Bonner was a founding member in 1977 of the History Workshop and was its head from the late 1980s until his retirement in 2012. The History Workshop pioneered Social History – history from below - in South Africa and under his supervision numerous postgraduate students undertook original research on the lives and struggles of black workers, women, youth and migrants in locations, mines, factories and villages. His own research focused on squatter movements, the complexities of urbanisation and histories of black resistance. Oral history was central to the endeavour of uncovering these hidden histories and Professor Bonner was a leading exponent of recording the life histories of ordinary and extraordinary people. He was widely acknowledged as one of the country’s leading historians and his expertise was called on in the production of liberation histories and the development of museums (including the Apartheid Museum). 

Under his leadership, the History Workshop became more actively involved in public history and heritage. From the late 1990s he collaborated in projects that produced histories of Soweto, Ekurhuleni and Alexandra. Professor Bonner was the head of the History Department from 1998 to 2003 and served on numerous committees in the University. In 2007 he was awarded a South African Research Chair in Local Histories, Present Realities. In the last few years he was involved in a major project on underground struggles and was completing two books on this subject.

Professor Bonner was an outstanding teacher, supervisor, scholar and mentor whose legacy lives on not only in a significant body of research and writing, but in the many students he inspired in more than four decades of service to the University.

Born in 1945, he died on 24 September 2017.

Our deepest sympathies are extended to the family, colleagues, friends and students of Professor Bonner, and those who knew him well. He is survived by his wife, Sally Gaule.

Read more tributes here.

Read a tribute by Glenn Moss.

Read an Obituary by Bruce Murray.

Madonsela biography raises thousands for students

9 October 2017 -

Alumni show their support at networking event

Alumni and friends of Wits raised more than R10 000 for students in one hour on 5 October, thanks to the generosity of journalist and activist Thandeka Gqubule.

Gqubule donated the proceeds of sales of her book, “No Longer Whispering to Power”, a biography of former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, at a networking event held at the Wits Club on 5 October 2017.

At the invitation of the South Africa Student Solidarity Foundation for Education (SASSFE) and Wits’ Alumni Relations Office, Gqubule spoke about her time as a Wits student and about the state of South Africa now.

She read an extract from TE Lawrence’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” to give an idea of the “texture” of Wits in the mid-1980s:

“We were wrought up with ideas inexpressible and vaporous, but to be fought for. We lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves: yet when we achieved and the new world dawned, the old men came out again and took our victory to remake in the likeness of the former world they knew. Youth could win, but had not learned to keep, and was pitiably weak against age. We stammered that we had worked for a new heaven and a new earth, and they thanked us kindly and made their peace.”

Gqubule’s question about what has happened in South Africa in recent years was: where did we go wrong as a generation?  “We failed to safeguard institutions because we disengaged. We failed to safeguard the values that we fell in love with at Wits. How we dropped the ball is still a marvel to me. We lost sight of South Africans’ ability to proceed through multi-stakeholder dialogue.”  What she learnt from Advocate Madonsela’s story, she said, was that “sometimes you survive the high seas only to drown in shallow waters”.

Civil society needs to get organised and engage, she said. “Dip your bucket where you are. Speak your truth. Defend the press. Use the judiciary. Here at Wits, Thuli and I learnt that the law can be used for social change.”

Gqubule read a passage from the book describing the great migration of game across the Mara River in East Africa. First there is a period of disquiet, then the animals, young and old, en masse, “take the treacherous river by storm”. This is a metaphor for what the people of South Africa must do, she urged.

SASSFE co-founder and Wits alumnus Terry Tselane, who is deputy chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, thanked Gqubule for supporting SASSFE and for leading the evening’s discussion. He said her book would encourage people to stand up and be counted, just as the “SABC Eight” had. These were the eight SABC journalists, including Gqubule, who were fired for speaking out against attempts to censor the news. Wits graduates were on the side of social justice and integrity, he said.

Gqubule said what she had learnt from the SABC Eight experience was to “identify your struggle”, focus on it, get organised, publicise it and “litigate the hell out of the problem”.

After a discussion about education and the persistence of inequality in South Africa, she called on the audience to “change zipcode apartheid”.

SASSFE management committee member and former Wits SRC president Kenneth Creamer said that proceeds of the book would be helping to feed some of the students in need at Wits University.

See photos of the event here.

To hear Thandeka Gqubule talk about Thuli Madonsela in an interview on 702, click here.

To read another interview, click here.

'Time is precious'

16 October 2017 -

Advice from a long-time Witsie, Professor Desmond Cole

Note: Professor Cole passed away on 25 May 2018

If anyone has the right to offer advice on life and on studying, it must be Professor Desmond Cole. Aged 95 – the same as Wits University – he has a wealth of experience and academic achievement to share. His story is one of curiosity and an independent mind, as well as methodical application of knowledge.  

After serving for six years in World War 2, he graduated from Wits in 1949. In the course of his career he gave the University his linguistic gifts, his hard work as a teacher and administrator, and the heritage preserved by the Wits University Press under his direction.

Professor Cole and his wife Naureen are also generous donors to Wits. They feel that working hard for something like a university education helps you appreciate its value – and they have certainly put in the hard work they are talking about. They’d like to say to students:

“Work towards your goal, but if you find you want to change courses, do so, even though you always thought your first choice was to be the one and only. Work hard and don’t waste your precious time messing around until you suddenly find it’s exam time. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy your time at Wits. Make the most of it, whether your parents are paying, you’ve received a loan, or you yourself have worked and saved. It’s a very precious time in your life.”

Born in 1922, Prof Cole grew up in what was then the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana), where his father was a cattle trader and store keeper. He matriculated at Christian Brothers College in Kimberley in 1938 and his parents could not pay for further education.

He started work in the NRC mine recruitment offices in Johannesburg, but when the war broke out in 1939 he lied about his age (which was 17) to get into the Union Defence Force. Fluent in Setswana, he was placed with the Native Military Corps, transporting supplies and repairing railway lines and bridges. At the same time, he completed a course in Setswana through UNISA.

After the war, Prime Minister Jan Smuts offered white ex-servicemen a grant (repayable) to study at University. Desmond Cole enrolled for a BA at Wits, initially intending to major in Native Law and Administration. He soon switched to Bantu Languages, under Professor Clement Doke. He was appointed as an acting lecturer in his third year of studying (when a lecturer was fired for moonlighting!), then a full-time lecturer in isiZulu and SeSotho in 1949, the year he graduated with a BA. He never taught Setswana at Wits, though it was his first language. He did, however, examine government officers in the Bechuanaland Protectorate in that language, and was an external examiner for the University of Cape Town.

He graduated with his BA Hons in 1950 and MA in 1952. His MA thesis was published as An Introduction to Tswana Grammar. In 1954 he was appointed Professor and Head of Department, at the age of only 32. Prof Cole also published a Setswana dictionary (with Naureen’s assistance) and other research findings over his career.

Among the black teachers on the African languages staff were Ray Mfeka, Ike Moephuli, Jonathan Sikakana and Francis Mncube. Another was the PAC leader Robert Sobukwe, after whom Central Block has recently been renamed. Students who went on to join the staff were Derek Gowlett and Estelle Rassmann (Ballot).

From 1971 to 1973 Prof Cole served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and over the years he acted as head of several departments and served on Senate and Council.

He was director of the Wits University Press and published the Journal of Bantu Studies (later African Studies) and the Bantu Treasury Series (fiction and nonfiction books in African languages).

He also undertook fieldwork trips and spent over a year teaching in the USA. On one of these American trips he took with him his co-author “Mac” Dingaan Mpho Mokaila and a Ugandan linguist, Michael Bazzebulala Nsimbi.

A life partnership

When he left for the USA, Desmond traded in his VW Beetle and on his return needed a car. Taking delivery of the vehicle he’d ordered turned out to be time-consuming and by the end of that day, with the banks closed, he found himself without any South African cash. He decided to borrow R20 from his friend Jack Levin at the Walker Pole pharmacy in Jorissen Street. Unknown to him, Levin had died earlier that year (1966), but the helpful pharmacist who worked there lent him the money herself. She was Naureen Lambert. Later he invited her to dinner, repaid the loan … and eventually married her.

All his life, Prof Cole was interested in succulent plants and, without any formal botanical training, specialised in the genus Lithops. With Naureen, he covered hundreds of thousands of kilometres in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, researching the plants, and together they produced two books on the subject.

A birding trip to the Okavango Delta resulted in another book, Setswana – Animals and Plants.

Prof Cole retired in 1982. He had seen the University grow from just over 3100 students and 123 staff in 1945 to about 9000 students by that point.

In appreciation of his contribution, Wits conferred an honorary DLitt degree on him in 1988.

He and Naureen live in a retirement village in Lonehill, north of Johannesburg. He is a regular participant in exercise classes and takes a keen interest in Wits.

Digital business: where to play

2 November 2017 -

At an alumni networking event, guest speaker Professor Brian Armstrong shared his insight into the opportunities at our doorstep

The tipping point for digitalisation in South Africa may be only two to four years away. That’s how close we are in South Africa to the conditions that created the technology giants of the business world.  At that point, digital technology becomes an essential part of everyday life and central to business strategy and operations. 

How can we seize this opportunity instead of being crushed by it? Where do we look for the best way in?

Dr Brian Armstrong, Professor in the Chair of Digital Business at Wits Business School, gave some pointers at an alumni networking event at the Wits Club on 19 October. He also spoke about some of the dangers that could lie in a more digital world.

Dr Armstrong (BSc Eng 1982, MSc Eng 1985) has over 30 years of top level management experience in telecommunications, IT, technology R&D and systems engineering, in South Africa and abroad.

Whose opportunity is it, anyway? Dr Armstrong pointed out that the leaders of the world’s top tech companies are mostly middle-aged and older – like some of the Wits alumni at the event. And this isn’t a bad thing, because tomorrow’s businesses need not just engineering skills but also experience, leadership and management of people.

Disruptive force

Dr Armstrong said not all industries are equally at risk of being disrupted by digitalisation. The highest risk is in “knowledge industries” such as education, media, legal services, health care and consulting. But because the South African economy is skewed towards services, two-thirds of the economy is at high risk of digital disruption.

Why is this digital phenomenon so powerful? Armstrong believes that creativity and innovation happen when previously separate things intersect. An example from music: when blues and gospel met, the world got rock n roll.

Digitalisation is powerful, he said, because it is at the intersection of three things: new technology; a changing society or market; and changing business models and practices.

When deciding “where to play” in this business environment, it’s important to consider different industries, the trend towards convergence, and African opportunity.

Get specific but also prepare to cross boundaries

Different industries and certain parts of industries generate different levels of economic profit. Pharmaceuticals, for example, are at the high-profit end of the scale. Electricity utilities are at the other end. Also, business growth comes mostly from top-line and segment growth, rather than from increasing market share. And it comes from specific parts of an industry – sparkling wine, for example, might be the best performer in the broader beverages industry.

Over the decades, the world’s big technology companies have succeeded in different categories, such as fixed-line telephony or computer hardware or television. Now, these established businesses are moving towards each other and crossing category lines. The “digital migrants” or hybrids that are doing best in terms of share price growth – showing compound annual growth rates of around 40% in 10 years – are those that almost defy categorisation. Think of companies like Amazon, Google, Uber, Alibaba, Apple, Tencent and Netflix.

The evidence thus suggests that the next wave of transformation and opportunity is in the intersection of industries.

How ready are we? “There is an incredibly high correlation between digital readiness and financial performance of digital businesses in maturing digital markets,” said Armstrong. Where a market has high levels of adult literacy, smartphone penetration, mobile broadband and e-commerce, recent history shows that companies grow revenue, earnings and market value. South Africa is just a few years away from its “commercial digital tipping point”.

An eye on the challenges

Armstrong’s advice to start-up businesses is to know where your competition is coming from and to find something that global giants can’t replicate. Two things that are hard to replicate are a good relationship with a supply chain; and giving your customers an excellent experience.

So much for what can go right. What can go wrong is that the internet does not necessarily level the playing field. It actually concentrates wealth. Four global tech companies together outweigh the GDP of Africa. This inequality is not sustainable.

We also have to remember that “people are analogue creatures”, said Armstrong. Compared with machines, they are slow, costly and prone to making mistakes. So it is tempting for businesses to replace people with technology – adding to the problem of unemployment and inequality. And sometimes people deliberately destroy, cheat and steal. Technology gives them even great power to do this. So security and regulation are a challenge and we need to talk about how to deal with them. 

It’s still important, said Armstrong, for a digitalised world of business to have “old-fashioned” values, skills and leadership, and to teach people to communicate and collaborate.

Alumni networking event with Musa Kalenga

1 November 2017 -

Inspiration for young people in business

Marketer, entrepreneur, author and Wits alumnus Musa Kalenga (BCom 2009) was the guest speaker at an alumni networking event on 31 October at the Wits Club.

He spoke about his book Ladders & Trampolines: Anecdotes and Observations From a Contemporary Young African Marketer, in discussion with broadcaster and entrepreneur Andile Masuku.

As the book's publishers explain, "The concept of a Ladder Mentality versus a Trampoline Mentality is a simple one. The step-by-step Ladder approach leads to incremental growth, which may be somewhat slow. However, the Trampoline approach, while using the same energy as climbing a ladder, produces exponential results."

Kalenga started his first business while studying at Wits and went on to become Group Head of Digital Marketing at Nedbank and Facebook Client Partner for Africa. 

Recent alumni networking events

6 December 2017 -

Remember to keep your contact details updated so we can send you invitations!

• Several hundred Wits Founders visited campus on 30 November for the annual Founders’ Tea hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adam Habib. The guest speaker was Save SA leader and businessman Sipho Pityana; environmental scientist Simon Gear acted as Master of Ceremonies. See photos here.
• Social media law expert Emma Sadleir (BA 2006, LLB 2008) gave alumni and students some vital tips about protecting their privacy and reputation in the digital world. Her new book is an “online survival guide” for teenagers.
• Youth development worker and sociologist Sharlene Swartz (BSc 1990) posed some challenging questions about social restitution – what each one of us can do to put South Africa right. Watch the video.
• Financial planner Frank Magwegwe (BSc 1997, BSc Hons 1998) spoke about overcoming obstacles. His own life journey has taken him from selling vegetables on the street to corporate success, entrepreneurship and active citizenship.
• Journalist and activist Thandeka Gqubule donated the proceeds of sales of her book, “No Longer Whispering to Power”, a biography of former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, at a networking event at the Wits Club.
• Dr Brian Armstrong, Professor of Digital Business at Wits Business School, shared his insight into the opportunities that technology offers.
• Musa Kalenga spoke about his book Ladders & Trampolines: Anecdotes and Observations From a Contemporary Young African Marketer.
• Ernest Oppenheimer Hall celebrated its golden jubilee with a sports and health day and a formal dinner. See the photos here.
• Men’s Hall of Residence held a reunion to celebrate its 95th anniversary.
• Health Sciences graduates: the 2017 Alumni Week and HGA Reunion was held from 6-9 September. See the photos here.
• If you’d like to help keep Witsies connected anywhere in the world, you’ll be inspired by Israel chapter convenor Les Glassman.

Good news and inspiration at Founders’ Tea

6 December 2017 -

It was a remarkably forward-looking crowd of Witsies at the 2017 Founders’ Tea, held on 30 November on the Gavin Relly Green, West Campus. Mostly aged 70 and above, they were still keen to hear the Vice-Chancellor’s outline of new developments at Wits and guest speaker Sipho Pityana’s vision of the leadership South Africa needs for the future.

Civil engineer Robert Schaffner (BSc Eng 1951), aged 97, was the oldest Witsie present, though some of the guests had graduated in earlier years. Founders are Witsies who graduated 40 or more years ago.

Photos of the event are available here.

Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Adam Habib welcomed the guests, especially the new Founders in the Class of 1977. He said it had been a good year for Wits, with no disruptive protests. The challenges of financing higher education and accommodating students remain, but these have to be resolved systemically by government, he said.

Highlights and plans

Meanwhile, there is plenty of good news. Wits has increased research output, pass rates are expected to rise this year, and the University is using innovative technology to put education within reach of more people. Wits is also working with industry to produce the skills needed in a rapidly changing society. Professor Habib said the University and the City are making Braamfontein a place where future generations of students will be safe and where business and cultural life will flourish.

Master of ceremonies Simon Gear (BA 1998, BA Hons 1999, MSc 2014) mentioned the impact of investment in basic education, a point that the Founders clearly appreciated. He also described a Wits degree as a “harpoon” in the context of “teaching a person to fish”.

Development and Fundraising Director Peter Bezuidenhoudt spoke of the surge of corporate financial support that has come for Wits recently. He also highlighted a year of sporting achievements – including beating Tukkies at rugby in the USSA tournament for the first time in 50 years – and special residence reunions. Alumni should also be pleased to see Wits in the Times Higher Education Global University Employability Index – the only South African university in that ranking.

Reflections on leadership

Sipho Pityana, a leader in business and adviser on matters of labour and higher education, is also convenor of Save South Africa. This is a civil society campaign in support of democracy, accountability, integrity and the values of our Constitution.

Wits is an appropriate place to reflect on the leadership South Africa needs, he said. It is a place that should produce people capable of producing and defending new ideas.

Looking back, 1977 was a time of repression: a time of conscription, detention without trial, political killings, spies and censorship. Though some were privileged, no citizen of South Africa was free. But it was a generation that dared to imagine, fight for and realise a free South Africa.

Freedom is threatened

This freedom, Pityana said, does not go far enough and is now threatened. Many people are still marginalised and may have begun to question the efficacy and credibility of the Constitution. Inequalities are widening. The failure of the basic education system since democracy is one of the biggest betrayals of people’s hope and trust. The health system, Pityana said, is “an assault on human dignity”. In rural areas, hardly anything has improved for some people. “How can we expect the poor to embrace and respect the Constitution when the promise is betrayed?”

We need leadership with integrity, whose word will be honoured, whom we can trust with the state coffers. “Not one who invokes narrow ethic proclivities” or who exploits divisions in society, but an inclusive, nonracist leader who embraces the values in the Constitution. One who will hold others accountable for corrupt deeds and is capable of removing rogue elements in important institutions. One capable of appointing a credible cabinet and who appreciates the independence of the judiciary and the Chapter Nine institutions. One who can forge a new social compact. “We can do without a populist leader who will make false promises.”

The consequences of misgovernance will be with us for years to come, Pityana said. There will be more job losses. South Africa cannot afford free higher education for all. “The social contract is not sustainable if it’s about asking the poor to give more,” he said. We must get back the money that has gone from the state coffers.

“We have a beautiful country,” Pityana concluded. “It is ours to mess up. We must all be vigilant and defend our democracy.”

Career resources

6 December 2017 -

Mid-career assessments

Did you know that the Counselling and Careers Development Unit at Wits offers psychometric career assessments for adults who are considering mid-career changes?

Part-time study

Hear what part-time students have to say about Wits Plus in this video.

Free career reading

Recent graduates and lifelong learners have a great resource in Bookboon.com. Here, you can download free ebooks and textbooks about career management, CVs and interviews, personal development, mentoring, study skills and many more subjects. Bookboon is a global company and finances the free textbooks by means of advertisements from companies that recruit new graduates.

LinkedIn Alumni Group

Connect with Witsies on the professional and business networking site, LinkedIn. Click here to join the Wits alumni group.

Wits Language School

20 years old and always responding to market demand!  http://www.witslanguageschool.com/

Study online

• Five reasons to study online 
• Do a short course online with Wits and Digital Campus 
• The University offers several Massive Open Online Courses and will continue to launch new ones.

Wits Plus

The University has also extended its part-time offerings through the WitsPlus platform.

Drama for Life

Did you know that Drama for Life offers short courses?

Update your details

6 December 2017 -

Click here to update your contact details with the Alumni Relations Office.

Do you know of any older Witsies who don’t have email addresses? Please help them to tell us about changes of contact details and to share their news with us.

When you have a reunion with fellow Witsies, please consider writing to us about the occasion and your Wits memories.   

Alumni Relations Office.

Tel: +27 11 717 1091/3/7

Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa

Email: alumni@wits.ac.za

Sport

6 December 2017 -

Sports bursaries are a powerful tool to change individual lives, sports codes and ultimately society: read more about Wits’ new Sport Transformation Fund.

The first recipient of a bursary from the fund is Sisipho Magwaza, from Hoërskool Transvalia in Vanderbijlpark. She was the head girl and captain of the hockey and athletics teams at her school, as well as Junior National Hockey goalkeeper.

For more information, please contact Adrian Carter, Director of Wits Sport:  adrian.carter@wits.ac.za or +27 11 717 9419.

• Bidvest Wits have had a great run lately! The 96-year-old club has won the Nedbank Cup, MTN8, Absa Premiership and Telkom Knockout competitions in the past seven years.
• Wits Ladies FC were crowned the SAFA Johannesburg Regional League champions in November.
• The creation of a high performance culture featured prominently as Wits Sport, in conjunction with the Wits Counselling and Careers Development Unit, held the inaugural Wits Sport Peak Performance Summit in November.
• Wits Hockey coach Tsoanelo Pholo is first black female hockey coach in Africa to qualify as a level 3 hockey coach in the exams administered by the International Hockey Federation and the African Hockey Federation.
• Wits Basketball has had a good year. Read more about Lady Bucks stars Fortunate Bosega and Modiegi Mokoka.

News about Witsies

6 December 2017 -

Dip in for news, radio interviews, video clips and inspiration!

• The Mail & Guardian’s list of 200 exceptional young South Africans includes artists, entrepreneurs, educators, doctors, lawyers, scientists, engineers and … a chess-playing philosopher. Connect with their inspiring stories here.
• Learn more about the Witsies who feature in the book Legends of South African Science, available online.
• Johnny Clegg plans to put on a concert at Wits in 2018.
• Meet three outstanding Witsies in financial services: Elash Mistry, Adrian Gore and Andy Kuper.
• Alumna Professor Daynia Ballot is the new Head of the School of Clinical Medicine.
• Mining company Gold Fields continues to support Wits as a producer of the skills needed by industry in the future. Wits alumnus Nick Holland recently handed over a R6-million sponsorship to the University.
• Gold mining company Sibanye is investing R15-million in the School of Mining Engineering to enable strategic research into the mine of the future. “We need to create the platform for greater innovation through expanded research and education by leading institutions such as Wits,” said Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman (BSc Eng 1981).
• Dean of Science and Wits alumnus Professor Ebrahim Momoniat has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.
• Seven Wits scholars were inaugurated into the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2017.
• Alumni Professors Lynn Morris and Lee Berger are among the world’s most highly cited researchers. Read more about work on HIV vaccines by Prof Morris, alumna Prof Penelope Moore and others.
• The National Research Foundation announced that Professor Lyn Wadley (PhD 1987), a joint Honorary Professor of Archaeology at Wits, has been awarded an A1-rating. This means she is recognised as a leading scholar in her field internationally for the high quality and wide impact of her recent research outputs. Her speciality is the African Stone Age.
• The NRF’s 2017 Women in Science awards recognised two young Witsies: Dr Tiisetso Lephoto (Distinguished Young Woman Researcher: Research and Innovation) and Palesa Mgaga (DST Fellowship: Master’s Degree). Dr Lephoto has a PhD in molecular and cell biology and has also recently received the National Research Foundation’s award for Excellence in Science Engagement.  Mgaga’s research is on forestry education.
• Sports injury researcher  Dr Benita Olivier (MSc 2008, PhD 2013) has been elected to the SA Young Academy of Science.
• A new laboratory at Wits honours the late Professor Peter King (BSc Eng 1958, MSc Eng 1962), admired for his rapport with students and for pioneering work in metallurgical engineering.
• Dr Ethel Andrews (MSc Nursing 2004, PhD 2015) is the first non-surgeon to be elected President of the South African Burn Society. Did you know that you can donate your skin to help burn patients?
• Dr Mehnaaz Ally (MBBCh 2005) is doing great work in paediatric palliative care at Lambano Sanctuary. Read more…
• Funeka Montjane (BCom 1999, BCom Acc 2000), CE of Personal and Business Banking at Standard Bank, is the recipient of two prestigious business awards. She was named 2016 Business Woman of the Year in the Corporate Category by the Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa, and 2016 Private Sector CEO of the Year by the African Woman Chartered Accountants.  Read more about her personality and her personal journey from poverty to professional success. In this Destiny article she talks about teaching your daughter financial independence.
• Author Fiona Melrose (BA 1996, BA Hons 1997, MA 2000) speaks on BBC’s Radio 4 about her new novel, Johannesburg.
• Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe (MBBCh 1987) talks about her purpose in life, her inner circle, philanthropy and how women are making headway.
• Rainn Vlietman (BA P&VA 2016) won a Mercedes Benz Bokeh Fashion Film Festival challenge and was featured on the TV show Top Billing. 
• Engineers Oskar Steffen, Andy Robertson and Hendrik Kirsten founded a firm which has endured and grown for 40 years: SRK Consulting.
• Cardiologist Dr Peter Landless (MBBCh 1974) was elected Director of the Seventh Day Adventist Church’s Health Ministries department. 
• Architect Clive Chipkin (BArch 1955) donated the archives of his work to the School of Architecture and Planning in the name of his late wife, Valerie Chipkin.
• Itumeleng Molefi (BSc 2012, BSc Hons 2014) teaches physical science at the high school in the small Karoo town of Carnarvon. The town is as close as a town can get to the Square Kilometre Array, which provided him with a bursary.
• Kenny Fihla (MBA 2005) became chief executive of Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking in May. 
• Nozipho Sithole (BCom 1987, LLB 1989) has been appointed Transnet Port Terminals CEO.
• Advocate Mohamed Shafie Ameermia received the 2017 Robert G Storey International Award for Leadership from the Center for American and International Law.
• Dr Gloria Gearing (BSc 1945, BSc Hons 1946, MBBCH 1949), Jungian analyst and obstetrician at St Mary’s Hospital in Marianhill, passed away in July, in her 92nd year.
• Did you know? Swaziland’s Chief Justice is a Witsie: Bheki Maphalala (BProc 1989, LLB 1991). South Africa’s Chief Justice from 2001 to 2005, the late Arthur Chaskalson (BCom 1952, LLB 1954, honorary LLD 1990), was also a Witsie. Anthony Gubbay (BA 1953, honorary LLD 2005) was Zimbabwe’s Chief Justice from 1990 to 2001.
• Gary Buchman (BCom 1975, LLB 1977) is again on the list of Best Lawyers in America, a peer review publication highlighting the top 5% of practising attorneys in the United States.
• Technology boffin Arthur Goldstuck (BA 1984) talks about his background, his career and his attitude to money.
• BCom graduate Morati Kemokotlile talks about her job as procurement officer on a solar power construction project in the Northern Cape.
• Linguist and Lithops expert Professor Desmond Cole (BA 1949, BA Hons 1950, MA 1952, hon LLD 1988) is the same age as Wits – 94 – and still takes a keen interest in the University.
• Daniel Janks (BADA 2000) plays George Bizos (BA 1951, LLB 1954, hon LLD 1999) in the movie An Act of Defiance, about Bram Fischer. Advocate Bizos turned 90 in 2017.
• Valerie Thomas (BSc OT 1974) and her team won the MTN Award for Best Agricultural App for their tree identification app.
• Keitumetse-Kabelo Murray (BA 2016, BA Hons 2017) and his team won the 2017 Geneva Challenge for their Umvuzo job-seekers app.  
• Dr Lynne Opperman (BSc 1979, BSc Hons 1980, PhD 1985) is the new department head of biomedical sciences at Texas A&M College of Dentistry.

Help a student

6 December 2017 -

There are a few ways you can help a student succeed:

The University administered over R1-billion in financial aid, scholarships and bursaries in 2016.

By contributing to the University’s Annual Fund, you can give the gift of knowledge.

There are other options for giving to Wits here: http://www.wits.ac.za/givingtowits/

Food and toiletries – contact Karuna.Singh@wits.ac.za at Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach, or the Wits Development and Foundation Office: http://www.witsfoundation.co.za/donate.asp.  The Masidleni Project, in particular, needs support to fund the costs of hot meals for students. On Mandela Day, Wits staff and students filled bins with items for needy students.

Accommodation – In 2017, Wits received 25 000 applications for about 6 200 beds available. The University has requested Campus Housing and Residence Life to begin accrediting appropriate external service providers. Contact accommodation@residence.wits.ac.za

Mentoring – Alumni online mentoring programme. Contact Purvi Purohit: purvi.purohit@wits.ac.za. In this article, a Kenyan academic offers insights on how good mentoring can unlock students’ potential.

Many students and scholars would benefit from having a mentor who understands the complexities of being LGBTIAQ+ in the workplace. If you can help, please contact tish.lumos@wits.ac.za.

Ideas on the edge

6 December 2017 -

Research, news, opinions, interesting people and inspiring initiatives

• The latest issue of Wits’ research magazine, Curios.ty, explores the subject of capital.
• Wits scientists have reported that a South African child who received antiretroviral treatment as an infant has suppressed the HI virus for nine years. Professor Caroline Tiemessen (BSc 1984, BSc Hons 1985, PhD 1993) led the key laboratory investigations.
• Read more about the work of Professor Shabir Madhi  (MBBCh 1990, MMed 1999, PhD 2004), into a vaccine to protect women against stillbirth and infant death.
• Missing miners: watch a video about Wits-developed technology for tracking miners trapped underground.
• After 20 years of excavation and preparation by Professor Ron Clarke (Phd 1978) and his assistants, the Australopithecus fossil Little Foot is revealed in her entirety. Read more and watch the video.
• Science education shouldn’t be geared only for people who want a career in science. It should prepare everyone to function effectively in a science-driven future, say Wits lecturers Prof John Bradley and Peter Moodie in this article in The Conversation.
• Professor Himla Soodyall (MSc 1987, PhD 1993) introduces Because Science is Fun: Stories of Emerging Female Scientists in South Africa.
• Read about the life and work of palaeoscientist Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan (BSc 1984, BSc Hons 1985, PhD 1991).
• What’s your experience of studying in your second or third language? Please share it with us.
• Molecular biologist, HIV researcher and PhD student Thulile Khanyile (MSc Med 2015) talks on Metro FM about education and the marriage of science and business. Her organisation Nka'Thuto Edupropeller prepares learners for science expos and educates them about business concepts. She is also involved in Black Science, Technology and Engineering Professionals (BSTEP), an advocacy organisation. In this video series, she shares some of the lessons she has learnt on her journey. What happens when you fail at university? How do you prepare for opportunities? How do you maintain self-belief until others see your value? Read more about her here.
• Do you have “new collar” skills? IBM is investing millions to provide free skills development programmes for young Africans. IBM Digital-Nation Africa is a cloud-based learning platform which has material for everyone, from digital beginners to start-up businesses. Find out more here or watch the Creamer Media video.
• Wits is offering two new Master’s degrees that deal with Big Data, namely an MSc in e-Science and an MA in e-Science.
• Professor Imraan Valodia, Dean of Commerce, Law and Management, discusses the idea of a wealth tax.
• Meet Mbali (BA 2017) and Enhle (BA 2015, BA Hons 2017) Khumalo, sisters, social entrepreneurs and co-founders of MbalEnhleSis. They’ll also show you how to tie a head wrap stylishly.
• Sci-fi novelist Jason Werbeloff (BA 2006, BA Hons 2008, PhD 2014) and Cecilia Kok (BA 2010, LLB 2012), head of research and advocacy projects at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, wrote a piece questioning the reasons often given for being “proudly South African”.
• Mary Metcalfe (MEd 1990) talks to Tim Modise about building better relationships between schools and communities.
• Listen to psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist Prof Mark Solms (BA 1984, BA Hons 1985, MA 1987, PhD 1992) talking about “The Neural Mechanisms of Dreams” at a Brain Matters seminar. Note that the video’s sound comes in a little late.
• Professor John Burland (BSc Eng 1958; MSc Eng 1962; honorary DSc Eng 2007) designed the solutions that stabilised the Tower of Pisa and Big Ben. He told CNN about it here.
• Drought has been hard on the aardvark, according to Prof Andrea Fuller (BSc 1995, BSc Hons 1996, PhD 2000) and her research team. These conditions could become the “new normal”.
• The sungazer lizard is also threatened by habitat destruction. PhD student Shivan Parusnath (MSc 2014) explains his research into the population’s genetic structure in a video.
• Should artisanal mining be legalised?
• Listen to Wits Radio Academy’s podcasts on science, business, law, health and society.
• Melusi Ncala (BEd 2012, BEd Hons 2013, MA 2015), who works as a researcher for Corruption Watch, writes about the idea of “home”.
• Trudi Makhaya (BCom 2000, BCom Hons 2001, MCom 2003) calls on her generation – the “silent cohort” – to build South Africa.
• Podcast: Learn about the assistive technology that helps blind students.
• The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra has been relaunched at the Linder Auditorium on Wits’ Education Campus. Appropriately, the launch concert opened with the Triumphal March from Verdi's opera Aida.
• Do you know about the work of Right To Care? Founded by Professor Ian Sanne (MBBCh 1990), the non-profit organisation provides prevention, care and treatment services for HIV and associated diseases.
• Surgeons for Little Lives is a non-profit organisation that helps children who need life-changing surgery. It is chaired by Professor Jerome Loveland (MBBCh 1996).
• The Tshemba Foundation recruits healthcare volunteers to provide medical care to rural people in the Hoedspruit area and training to local healthcare providers. Read more about the Witsie connection, including Neil Tabatznik (BA 1972) and Godfrey Phillips (BA 1973).
• Kasi Career Expo connects students in disadvantaged areas to recruiters, funders and mentors. The project director is Mahlako Mahapa (BA Hons 2013, MA 2014).

Facts about Wits

6 December 2017 -

Student enrolments (2016): 37 374

- female: 54.67%

- black South African 54.47%

- postgraduate: 33.86%

- international: 9.78%

Full-time permanent academic staff: 1125

Number of courses offered: 3610

Increase in research output since 2012: 41%

Top 3 feeder schools in 2016: Parktown Girls’ High, King David Linksfield, Northcliff High

The 2017 Academic Ranking of World Universities, released in August, places Wits in the 201-300 band again. Wits is the highest-ranked university in South Africa in this table. Criteria include highly cited researchers and publication in top journals. ARWU’s most recent subject ranking places Wits in the 101-150 band for the broad field of social sciences, in the 51-75 band for public health and in the 101-150 band for clinical medicine.

Centre for World University Rankings 2017: best university in Africa (176th place) (alumni employment 35th; Anthropology 5th; Area Studies 2nd globally)

Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index 2017 (degrees awarded to Fortune Global 500 CEOs): the only African university in the top 100 (54th place)

Global University Employability Ranking 2017: 150th

Wits has moved up 22 places overall in the latest National Taiwan University Ranking,  also known as the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities. 

Honorary degrees December 2017

7 December 2017 -

Wits conferred several honorary degrees in December. You can read the citations online.

Franklin Thomas (LLD)

Franklin A Thomas, President of the Ford Foundation from 1979 to 1996, is widely recognised as having uniquely contributed to transformation in America, South Africa and throughout the world. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation contributed millions of dollars in philanthropic support to social justice, cultural, educational and economic development efforts. It supported the establishment and operation of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University and the establishment of the Legal Resources Centre, as well as scholarship and internship programmes aimed at increasing the number of black South African university graduates.

Marjorie Manganye (DLitt)

Marjorie Manganye has spent her life in service to others, including children, TB patients and the elderly. She works at the ltlhokomoleng centre in Alexandra, caring for the poor, aged and disabled.

John Gear (DSc Med)

John Gear (MBBCh 1967) was the first chair of the Department of Community Health at Wits, and Academic Director of the Wits Rural Facility from 1989 to 1997. He introduced the concept of primary health care at Wits in 1979 and has made a huge contribution to rural health care and training future health leaders. He is the son of alumnus James Gear, who also received an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from Wits in 1974.

John Pettifor (DSc Med)

John Pettifor (MBBCh 1968, PhD 1980) was Director of the Metabolic Unit in the Department of Paediatrics at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and a leading international scholar in the areas of infant and childhood nutrition, bone development and rickets. Since his retirement he has been the Director of the Carnegie Clinical Fellows programme within the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Peter Cleaton-Jones (DSc Med)

Peter Cleaton-Jones (BDS 1963, MBBCh 1967, PhD 1975, DSc 1991) was director of the Wits Dental Research Institute, as well as an anaesthesiologist and emergency medicine medical officer, and continues to serve the University as Chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee.

• Mosa Mabuza (BSc 1995, BSc Hons 1996), Wits alumnus and Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Geosciences, was the speaker at the graduation ceremony on 6 December.

Wits Business School highlights

7 December 2017 -

WBS has had an amazing year and looks forward to its jubilee in 2018!

Dr Sibusiso Sibisi has been appointed to head WBS from January 2018. Dr Sibisi has extensive experience in managing research institutions. He led the turnaround of the CSIR and has served on the boards of a number of businesses, including Harmony Gold, African Rainbow Minerals, Murray & Roberts, Liberty and Telkom. Dr Sibisi obtained his PhD in mathematics from Cambridge University and has a keen interest in mathematics and finance.

Former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene acted as Interim Director in 2017 and has now been appointed an Honorary Adjunct Professor. He is greatly respected by the investment community in South Africa and abroad and his continuing presence at WBS will greatly enhance the profile of the School.

Dr Brian Armstrong (BSc Eng 1982, MSc Eng 1985) was appointed as Professor: Chair in Digital Business during 2017.

Prof Mthuli Ncube came on board as the HSBC Chair/Professor of Banking and Financial Markets.

Research at WBS has been reinvigorated – PhD throughput has increased 144% in two years – and the School launched a new African Energy Leadership Centre.

The WBS Consulting Club of MBA students has been busy networking and gaining experience.    

The line-up of events at WBS addressed some of South Africa’s most important issues. Among them: energy; water security; disruptive digital technologies; the black middle class; the Fourth Industrial Revolution; ratings downgrades; women in male-dominated industries; and innovative approaches to tertiary education.

The WBS Alumni Association has new energy with the arrival of full-time alumni officer Lebo Lethunya (+27 11 717 3556 or lebo.lethunya@wits.ac.za).  

50 years of WBS

In 2018, WBS celebrates its jubilee anniversary. For 50 years, WBS has been graduating leaders who have gone on to make a significant impact on the world around them. To celebrate, the School has put together a year-long programme of high-profile speaking engagements, fundraising endeavours, events, virtual memory projects and a slick coffee table book. 

Join us as we journey to celebrate 50 years of empowerment, education, innovation and entrepreneurship!

Witsie family: Meet the Faits

18 December 2017 -

Dr Abram (Abe) Fait and his wife Ruth have a long association with Wits. Both graduated in 1965 and Dr Fait has given 50 years’ unbroken service to the University as a lecturer at the Dental School. He was acknowledged at a long-service ceremony in December 2017.

Not only has his contribution been sustained, it is also one of excellence. When he first qualified, Dr Fait was awarded the Henry St John Randell Medal. This recognised not only his academic performance but his character, personality, leadership and sportsmanship. He also received the Rousseau Viljoen Memorial Prize in Oral Medicine and, in 1966, associate membership of the American Academy of Oral Medicine.

After graduating, he was called up for military service. Having completed basic training, he was made an officer and put in charge of the Potchefstroom military dental hospital – a valuable learning experience.

In 1967 he was appointed to the staff of Wits’ Oral and Dental Hospital. He now teaches in the Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery and has seen many changes over the years. Today’s dentists, he feels, are more innovative than ever, and have to be more aware of the business side of their practice as well as continuing professional development.

After graduating with a BA in 1965, Ruth (born Seeff) completed a teaching diploma at JCE and taught for four years in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg. She spent the next 10 years raising her and Abe’s four children: Loren, Nicky, Gavin and Sharon.

Ruth’s father, Morris Seeff, had received a technical education at the ORT school in Kovno, Lithuania. After coming to South Africa, he started an engineering company, Symo Corporation. He believed all his children should be educated. Ruth’s sister Denise Shapiro qualified as a pharmacist, and her sister Joyce Levin graduated from Wits with a BSc in Town Planning in 1970 and later from Unisa as a nursery school teacher.

Their brother, Bernard Seeff, graduated with a BSc in mechanical engineering at Wits in 1976 and went on to UCLA for his MBA. He later graduated from Wits again with an MSc Eng in 1988 and a Higher Diploma in Computer Science in 2009, and lent his combination of IT and engineering skills to the family business.

Their mother, Dora Seeff, still lives independently in Johannesburg, and attended the long service award ceremony.

Ruth eventually joined her father’s business too, and later started her own palisade fencing company, Metawall Fencing, which worked on large contracts in South Africa and other African countries. She was part of the small business delegation that accompanied President Nelson Mandela to the UK in 1996.

When the Faits’ daughter Sharon graduated, the whole family posed for a photograph in their academic gowns: pictured from left to right are Nicky Dave (BA 1992, LLB 1994), Gavin Fait (BCom Unisa), Ruth Fait (BA 1965), Dr Abe Fait (BDS 1965), Sharon Beare (BPrimEd 1999) and Loren Datt (BCom 1990, BAcc). Dr Fait capped his daughters at their graduation ceremonies.

• Professor Bill Evans (BDS 1962) was also acknowledged at the December 2017 ceremony for his 45 years’ service to Wits dental education.

Varsity Kudus tough out the heat wave

9 January 2018 -

Varsity Kudus, the Wits Alumni running club, kicked off the 2018 Central Gauteng Athletics calendar with its annual 15km event on 7 January. This year runners faced the hilly route around Westcliff and Parktown in a heat wave – unlike 2017’s downpour.

About 2500 runners set off from Wits campus and managed to get through 30 000 sachets of water and 100 crates of Coke.  

The race has been run since 1980 and is organised entirely by volunteers.

The men’s open race was won by Mbongeni Ngxazozo, from Boxer Athletics Club, in a time of 48:36. The women’s open winner was Rone Reynecke, from RWFC Athletics Club, in a time of 1:04:40.