Gates Foundation grant to help Wits support SA Health Department
- Wits University
PRICELESS SA will benefit from a generous Gates Foundation grant for the International Decision Support Initiative.
A grant from the Gates Foundation for the International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI) is great news for South Africa and many other countries that are striving for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and dealing with difficult health policy choices.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded iDSI with US$12.8 million (over R205 million). Priority Cost Effective Lessons for Systems Strengthening South Africa (PRICELESS SA) – based at the University of Witwatersrand, School of Public Health – is a core partner of iDSI, a global network of public bodies, think-tanks, and academics in priority-setting.
“For the first time, the collective experience of academics, policy makers and think tanks around the world – who are actively involved in day-to-day priority setting in health – is being harnessed to provide targeted support and partnership to low- and middle income countries in order to generate information and establish stakeholder processes that can enhance decision making,” says Director of PRICELESS SA, Professor Karen Hofman.
She adds that this is particularly important and timely for South Africa, whose policy makers are making bold moves towards addressing health inequalities and improving quality through the implementation of UHC under a National Health Insurance (NHI) plan.
“The iDSI grant will enable us to continue to support the Ministry of Health, Treasury and other health policy makers in South Africa in setting evidence-based priorities as the country moves towards NHI.
“But more than this, through building on successful initiatives in South East Asia we aim to go beyond our borders to work with policy makers in sub-Saharan Africa, where we will share successes and lessons learned as they too move towards universal health coverage,” said Hofman.
“iDSI has the potential to be a major contributor to improved health outcomes and health equity on the African continent.”
Learning from countries such as Thailand and the UK, Hofman says, they will actively work with partners to build on the existing knowledge and skill base in the country and seek to develop capacity in areas such as decision analysis, information systems, and institutional management, including the processes of decision making, which lie at the heart of sustainable UHC.
Partners in the consortium include NICE International (UK), Health Interventions and Technology Assessment Program (Thailand), the Center for Global Development (USA) and York University Centre for Health Economics (UK).
Finding identity in conflict
- Wits University
Exploring the identities of communities through pictures with Svea Josephy
Kosovo, Beirut, Marikana. These are all names of places that bring up violent images of war and suffering.
Yet, many South African communities have chosen names like these for the areas they live in.
Beirut in Alexandra was named when hostel violence erupted in the area in the early 1990s and refers to the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). Kosovo, a settlement in Cape Town developed after an invasion of private land, invokes the war in Kosovo in Central Europe (1998 – 1999) and Marikana near Philippi in Cape Town was established shortly after the tragic events at Marikana in North West Province in August 2012.
These places are all subjects of the Satellite Cities photographic exhibition by Cape Town researcher and photographer Svea Josephy that is currently on exhibition at the Wits Art Museum.
Josephy, a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art (Photography) at the Michaelis school of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town is fascinated by post-apartheid photography, particularly as it connects to the politics of space and the land and its representation in relation to identity.
“I wanted to draw out the similarities between the two places (the new place and the original place name), so I am looking for some kind of formal similarity, like a bunch of flowers that extends between the two places, or a sports field or a roof. Some sort of similarity, which connects the places,” says Josephy.
The words “hostel” and “hotel” connects the two pictures of the infamous Beirut Hostel in Alexandra, Johannesburg, and the Beirut Hotel in Lebanon.
“The hostel (in Alexandra) was related to the ANC, and across an open soccer field, there was a hostel belonging to Inkatha Freedom Party, so there was a lot of violence between the two parties, and the name reflected to the civil war in Lebanon,” says Josephy.
Josephy finds her inspiration in the people of the communities that she photographs.
“It is about finding those moments that signal the community’s feelings to things like inequality and resources, but I am not particularly interested in showing some sort of a bad news story, so that’s where the issues surrounding reconciliation and rebuilding also come in. So, I am also interested in showing something like that, because that is inevitably what happens after a war.”
The exhibition is organised in conjunction with the Wits City Institute through funding provided to the Institute by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is co-hosted by the Wits City Institute and the Wits Arts Museum and is on display until 6 March, 2016.
Academics support #Access
- Wits University
The Academic Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU) approved in a majority poll by 87%, a proposal to donate R100 000 to the #Access campaign.
ASAWU President, Dr David Hornsby, said this donation underscores the “commitment that Wits academics maintain for improving accessibility to those in need and how we collectively recognise the importance of higher education to the development aspirations of South Africa.”
The academics estimate that the donation will make a difference to approximately 1 000 students and ASAWU also further encouraged its members to make personal donations.
Wits academics and analysts will provide in-depth analysis on issues ranging from education to politics, health and the environment.
Two key public debates on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) will take place at Wits University. These will be streamed live on various platforms.
The Conversation Africa and Voice of Wits FM (VOWfm)
Political analyst Professor Susan Booysen from the Wits School of Governance will be part of a panel discussion tonight hosted by The Conversation Africa and Voice of Wits FM (VOWfm). She will be joined by Professor Alex van den Heever (Wits School of Governance), Professor Mzukisi Qobo (Pan African Institute, UJ) and Professor Hartmut Winkler (Professor of Physics, UJ).
Date: Thursday, 11 February 2016 Time: Pre-Sona discussion at 18:30; Full panel engages after SONA Tune in to VOWfm on 88.1fm or live stream Tweet @VOwfm @TC_Africa #SONAConversations
Mbeki, Vavi, Booysen and Mbete at Wits Business School
The Wits Business School in partnership with EWN will host a breakfast debate the morning after SONA. EWN will stream the debate live via www.ewn.co.za from 07:30 to 09:00 on Friday, 12 February 2016.
Panellists:
Mr Moeletsi Mbeki, Political analyst, author and entrepreneur. Mr Mbeki will moderate the session
Mr Zwelinzima Vavi, Former General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
Professor Susan Booysen, Professor at Wits School of Governance and political analyst and media commentator
Ms Sithembile Mbete, Lecturer and PhD candidate in the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria
Mr Andile Khumalo, Chief Investment Officer at MSG Afrika, a media and communications group he co-owns with business partner, Given Mkhari. He is also the Managing Director of the Group’s newest business, Power FM 98.7, a talk radio station based in Johannesburg.
Tweet @Witsbschool and @Radio702
From test tube to YouTube
- Wits University
Megastar scientist, Sir Martyn Poliakoff, to lecture at Wits about becoming a YouTube phenomenon by making videos on chemistry.
World-renowned British chemist, Sir Martyn Poliakoff, will be visiting Wits in March to deliver a lecture on the use of YouTube to spread his passion for chemistry.
Poliakoff, a Professor at the University of Nottingham in the UK is known as one of the pioneers in Green Chemistry and a mega star on YouTube for his videos of the Periodic Table of Elements.
Poliakoff, the Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, will visit South Africa later in February to attend The International Academy Partnership Meeting of Science Academies, in Hermanus, after which he will be visiting Wits to present his lecture.
Poliakoff – who prides himself on “looking a bit like Einstein” – was appointed Commander of the British Empire in 2008 for his services to science. His research revolves around gaining insights into fundamental chemistryand also on developingenvironmentallyacceptable processes and materials.
“The planet’s population is growing. We have to find cleaner, greener ways of making the chemicals that we need,” he says.
“I am particularly interested in how to make reactors where light is used to drive chemical reactions with less waste. One reactor is based on an idea I had while I was in the bath.”
Poliakoff is not only a recipient of the highest honours in the science, social life and from Royalty, but he has cultivated a huge following on YouTube, where on his Periodic Table of Videos has earned him almost 720 000 subscribers.
His lecture tells the story of how his participation in making some videos for the University of Nottingham’s YouTube channel, led him to collaborate with video journalist Brady Haran, to create his own channel.
“This began as a collection of 120 videos (one for each of the 118 elements of the Periodic Table, plus an introduction and a trailer). It quickly gathered momentum and now – eight years later – we have uploaded 584 videos, with 718 274 subscribers and a total of 119 million views over 200 countries,” he says.
Poliakoff’s lecture will be held on Friday, 4 March, at 10 am at the Bernard Price Institute on the Wits Braamfontein East Campus.
Wits attracts postgraduate students
- Refilwe Mabula
Postgraduate students get connected with Wits and its resources at the annual Postgraduate Welcome Day.
Wits’ Vision 2022 Strategic Framework sets out the vision that the University intends to pursue by the year 2022. As part of this vision, the framework is aimed at elevating Wits’ position to one of the internationally leading research-intensive universities, as well as a gateway to knowledge and understanding in Africa.
The University currently has about 8500 registered postgraduate students and a total number of 11500 postgraduate students are expected to register at Wits this year.
These figures were shared by Professor Mary Scholes, Director of Postgraduate Affairs during her welcome address at the Postgraduate Welcome Day yesterday.
With the large numbers of postgraduate students the institution is attracting, Wits is well on its way towards achieving its vision.
Scholes assured students that Wits was the right choice for them to pursue their postgraduate studies.
“You have chosen the right institution. We have wonderful supervisors. We have good intellectual discourse with students and we have good research facilities.”
She further enlightened the students on the role of the Postgraduate Affairs Office, which assists students with funding, and organises workshops and symposiums.
“My office at Wits serves you, and what we would like to do at Wits is to make your life as easy as possible for you. We offer 50 workshops and writing retreats per year,” she said.
These retreats are aimed at helping students to write in an intellectual manner to produce publications. Scholes urged the postgraduate students to take advantage of these workshops and writing retreats, especially as they are free of charge.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, who also addressed the students, said that researchers are important because their work plays a key role in addressing some of the country’s future challenges.
He encouraged the students to use their studies as a stepping stone towards attaining a fruitful career.
“Getting a PhD is your first building block of a rich career. But at least, having sacrificed your first BMW to come here and depend on stipends that Professor Scholes spoke about, means that you have made the right choice of pushing the boundaries of science,” he said.
Business as usual is dead: A new business model is emerging
- Wits University
Philippe Joubert, a senior advisor and special envoy for energy and climate for the WBCSD believes we need to find a new way to do business.
Philippe Joubert, a senior advisor and special envoy for energy and climate for the WBCSD believes we need to find a new way to do business.
Climate change is not only putting huge pressures on governments to adapt to, but it is also impacting on the way big business, globally, will operate in the near future. Big business, and any business for that matter, can no longer ignore the fact that the way they make and evaluate their profits has to change.
“CEOs cannot ignore this anymore. It is no longer acceptable,” says Philippe Joubert, a French-Brazilian business executive, who is focused on building sustainability into the heart of business strategies to enable long-term growth.
Joubert, a senior advisor and special envoy for energy and climate for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Chair of the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group, and who is on the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, presented a lecture at the Wits Professional Development Hub on Tuesday, 16 February. He believes there is an emergence of a new business model after the landmark agreement on climate change, which was reached at Paris COP21, and says companies have no alternative but to change the way they do business.
Looking at the four drivers of business – regulation, risk, opportunities, and finance and insurance – Joubert says there is no way that the status quo can continue.
“We have been benefitting from a free lunch from nature for far too long,” he says.
Regulation
On the regulation front, many countries are placing stricter sustainability regulations in place for companies to comply with. And where companies 10 years ago were able to ignore these regulations, companies like Exxon Mobil, who are being investigated for allegedly lying to the public and investors about how climate change risks might hurt the oil business and Volkswagen, who got caught in the Dieselgate scandal, found out the hard way that this is not allowed anymore.
“VW’s market value has fallen by 30 billion and I am not sure that this is the end of it.” says Joubert.
Risk
Climate change also poses increased risks to companies as extreme weather events impact their operations. Many companies, like Coca-Cola and Nike, have changed their operations to move towards a zero percent impact on water use – not just because they want to conserve water, but because they believe water costs will become too expensive for their business.
“South Africa is a water-stressed country, so you will have to deal with the consequences of this very soon,” says Joubert.
In 2050, 70% of the world’s GDP will be produced in water-stressed areas.
Opportunities
Climate change will, however, also hold great opportunities for business, for example renewable energy has created huge business demand and a number of international corporations, like Coca-Cola Microsoft, Nestle, Nike, and Walmart, who have committed to renewable energy as their shareholders demand it.
“When you put pressure on the research and development teams of a business, they will find a solution,” says Joubert.
Finance
When the guys with the deep pockets become nervous about where they invest their money, business is bound to change.
“This is a good thing, because when big money gets nervous, it has a multiplying effect.”
Banks and insurance companies are already shying away from investing (and insuring) carbon-intensive operations. Rating agencies are also keeping a closer eye on sustainability developments.
“They don’t see mines in a water scarce area as a safe asset anymore.”
Joubert says that companies need to – and will – change the way they evaluate and measure their profits. Hundreds of companies have already started placing a “shadow price” for carbon emissions and water usage, to reflect the possible cost of these factors on their future profits.
“We have to measure what matters,” says Joubert. “We have to put a price on carbon emissions immediately, and make that price high enough to change behaviour. If you make a profit sending CO2 into the atmosphere because it is free of charge, misusing water or killing biodiversity, you are not making a true profit, you are just counterfeiting the money.”
Societal response required to address challenges facing the higher education sector
- Prof. Adam Habib and Dr Sizwe Mabizela
Protests have been hijacked by small groups that are using increasingly violent methods to show anger at what they call the systemic oppresion of black people.
The current student protests on campuses across our country are distinctly different from those that we saw last year. The protesting communities no longer represent the non-racial, multi-class alliance that united the entire student community and mobilized the support of multiple stakeholders in our society. Instead, the protest movements have been hijacked by small groups that are using increasingly violent methods of protest to convey their anger at what they call the systemic oppression of black people.
In recent weeks, we have seen ‘art activations’ using offensive language to communicate forms of anger against systems; T-shirts and graffiti clearly demonstrating hate speech; malicious damage to property; and buses and artwork being burnt. The modus operandi of these groups has clearly changed from the broad and diverse movement that united across race, class, culture and gender lines, to one that is highly politicised, downright violent and even racist.
The demand of the students – that of access to quality, free higher education for those who cannot afford it – remains legitimate. However, the motives and the protest methods that are being used by the current student protestors are unlawful and transgress the Constitutional rights of others. Where once student leaders were inspiring hope and leadership, now they are inspiring fear and polarisation.
The tragedy of the situation is that universities are now forced to redirect scarce and valuable resources away from issues that really matter – scholarships, food and accommodation for needy students, and support for the academic project – to fund private security services in order to protect staff members, students and property. Universities are left with little choice – the costs of losing a life, of people being harmed, of malicious damage to property, and of losing the academic year are too ghastly to contemplate. However, what this means is that the poor are further impoverished through the actions of the very groups who are claiming to be fighting for their goodwill.
Our universities are a microcosm of our society and broadly reflect the tense political climate in the country, the racism that has gripped South Africans in recent months, all exacerbated in the lead up to local government elections this year.
But if we allow this to continue without challenging it, the free and safe space of our universities will be compromised, and our institutions will be irreparably harmed. If our universities are indeed destroyed, it will not impact on the wealthy – they can afford to send their offspring to universities abroad or fork out for private higher education that will no doubt fill the void. It is ultimately the poorest in our society and the middle classes who will miss out on obtaining a high-quality tertiary education. This will be truly tragic for we will simply reinforce the very inequalities that we hope to challenge, address and eradicate.
Given our context and the challenges that we face, the violence and racism that are encapsulated in the protests cannot be addressed through security measures only. Instead, we require a broader societal response to bring these challenges to heel. Three separate elements are required in this regard.
First, we need to hold to account protesting students and others who engage in unlawful behaviour for their actions. It is up to parents to call to account their sons and daughters when they engage in violent and disruptive activities. While it is understandable for a parent to encourage and support their activist son or daughter, it is unhelpful when that parent tacitly approves what is patently unacceptable and unlawful conduct, such as the burning of art, buses and vehicles and torching of an office.
It is also up to all of us as ordinary citizens, university management, academics, professional and administrative staff, and students to stand up to these small splinter movements who act #NotInOurName. We have to call out those amongst us who are resolute on effecting harm, causing division and polarising our communities. We also need to be bold enough to rise against those in our society, including academics and students, who are comfortable with flirting with violence and illicit action as justification to effect change in society. It is time for the private sector to better fund our students, to partner with government and universities so that we can collectively generate the high-level skills and knowledge we need to move our economy forward. It is time for noble leadership – a time for all political parties to put the future of the next generation before their own narrow and selfish agendas and to refrain from inciting violence to deliberately destabilise the higher education sector for short term political and electoral gain. It is time for our active civil society to uphold our democracy and to make their voices heard for the right reasons.
Second, we can only move forward if we have the courage and political will to hold each other accountable for any unlawful activity that has the potential to undermine or imperil our higher education system. There must be a clear understanding that there will be consequences for violence and other illegal activities. Peaceful protest is a Constitutional right, but what is often forgotten is that this right comes with responsibilities.
Finally, we have to develop long-term, affordable and sustainable solutions to the challenges that confront our higher education today, including that of transformation, affordable access and funding for universities. In this regard, while we welcome the Presidential Commission’s investigation into the funding of the sector, our universities should work with all sectors of society, including students and academic and professional and administrative staff, to apply our collective expertise and experience to present solutions and alternative models to government for consideration.
Our higher education system is at a tipping point. There have been many concessions since October of last year. Government conceded a zero percent increase in fees for 2016 and underwrote it. Government also made additional billions of rands available for underfunded and unfunded NSFAS students and to clear their historic debt. In addition, universities made further concessions on the structuring of fee payments, upfront payments, insourcing and multiple other issues. These concessions have come at a huge cost to the universities. Yet we are continuously subjected to even more demands and protestors have suggested that they do not care whether universities are bankrupted or burnt. They hold that if there is no free education for all, there will be no education at all. This kind of irresponsible action is what could permanently destroy our universities. Are we collectively willing to allow this to happen?
Our country, our higher education system, our economy and our collective futures are at a precipice which only we can address. It is time for all of us to stand up and be counted among those who are prepared to protect our future and the rights and freedoms for which we fought so hard. Let us defend and safeguard our higher education system.
Professor Adam Habib is the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University, and Dr Sizwe Mabizela is the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Rhodes University. An edited version of this article appeared in the Sunday Times.
Blackness and racial divisions
- Buhle Zuma
The clamour for economic freedom and transformation of higher education reflect a society searching for sustainable social equilibrium.
A former head in government has empathised with the student movements in their call for transformation at South African Universities.
Joel Netshitenzhe, who was the head of communication in former President Nelson Mandela’s office said that the student protests and resurgence of racism are characteristic of a society that has failed to bring about social and economic transformation.
“The impatience is palpable…and is growing louder by the day.”
There is a sixth sense in society that something dramatic needs to happen in the second transition of democracy in South Africa, said Netshitenzhe during a race dialogue titled Blackness and its entanglement with essentialisms, intersections and faultlines in post-apartheid South Africa.
The dialogue was hosted by the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies in conjunction with the Foundation for Human Rights, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.
Netshitenzhe was joined on the panel by Nomasonto Mazibuko, activist for the rights of people with albinism. Mazibuko shared her experiences of not being black enough and the enduring discrimination against albinos.
Josephilda Nhlapo-Hlope from the Office of the Presidency delivered a unifying message reminding delegates that race is social construct and it can be deconstructed. Her address was titled Celebrating Diversity: Government’s Plans.
The next dialogue on race will focus on whiteness and the new Afrikaaner. Enquiries: Prinola.Govenden@wits.ac.za
Devastating economic growth projection
- Dr Kenneth Creamer
If South Africa sticks to Minister Gordhan’s budget it is most likely that the country will avoid being further down-grade.
Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech had a serious, back-to-basics, tone. He reminded us that South Africa is a strong and resilient nation, but that our economy is performing very poorly. The budget shows a determination by government to dish out tough medicine including spending caps, reduced borrowing and increased taxes.
If South Africa sticks to Minister Gordhan’s budget it is most likely that the country will avoid being further down-graded by the credit ratings agencies. This is because the budget clearly signals government’s intention to quicken the pace at which the country will sort out its budget imbalances.
It is important that Minister Gordhan has re-emphasised the need to scale-up private and public investment growth in the economy, as this is the key to job creation and inclusive growth. In addition to this longer-run issue, Minister Gordhan has not lost sight of some of the most pressing issues in South Africa today, such as, drought relief, basic education funding, and the resourcing of higher education, including the clearing of student debt.
It is disappointing that Minister Gordhan projects that South Africa’s economy will only grow by 0.9% this year. This very low economic growth rate, below the population growth rate, is devastating as it will result in falling GDP per capita in South Africa in the year ahead.
Low growth, is partly due to adverse international conditions, but it is imperative that South Africans work together to remove domestic impediments to growth. Own goals, such as, poorly performing state companies, service delivery failures, timidity in investment plans and anti-competitive conduct by companies, need to be eradicated in order to lift economic growth to the level needed to improve the lives of the majority of our people.
Dr Kenneth Creamer is an economist at the School of Economic and Business Sciences, Wits University. He is available at kenneth.creamer@wits.ac.za
Budding economist does it again
- Buhle Zuma
Wits Economics student faced tough candidates in the honours category of the Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech competition
Wits Economics student, Tlhalefang Moeletsi, has again made Wits University proud when he was placed first runner-up in the national budget speech competition.
Moelesti, who aspires to be a public sector economist, faced tough candidates in the honours category of the Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech competition whose winners were announced last night at a banquet hosted by the two financial businesses. The Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan had the honour of presenting the prizes to the students. Moeletsi walked away with R100 000 for his essay titled The Asynchronous Monetary Stances of Advanced Economies and South Africa’s Policy Options.
The annual competition is open to economics students in institutions of higher learning in South Africa and aims to stimulate and reward the country’s brightest economic young minds. Entrants are required to submit a sound academic essay responding to a set topic relating to economic issues.
The future economist from Bapong village in the North West Province, is no stranger to the competition having won R60 000 in the 2014 undergraduate category.
Wits had a total of five students shortlisted in the competition and travelled to Cape Town for a three day leadership and social programme.
Tarryn Reddy represented Wits in undergraduate category while Robert Botha, Michael Levin, Ashleigh Waterson put a strong showing in the postgraduate category.
Wits lecture, Janine Dingley, from the School of Economic and Business Sciences, says making it to the finals is a significant achievement and a wonderful experience for the students.
“During the three days they were able to engage and network with influential individuals from government and industry, and had the opportunity to ask Minister Gordhan some difficult questions.”
One of the highlights is attending the much awaited national budget speech in Parliament.
The winners and runner-ups further participate in media interviews which help to build their professional profiles and defending their ideas in public platforms.
First demonstration of quantum interference in high dimensions
- Wits University
Researchers in South Africa and Scotland have demonstrated a new approach to quantum state engineering that requires only a beamsplitter.
Professor Andrew Forbes, Wits University, collaborated with scientists from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), University of KwaZulu-Natal and Heriot-Watt University in Scotland to publish a paper, Engineering two-photon high-dimensional states through quantum interference in the online journal of (SCIENCE), SCIENCE ADVANCES.
Forbes is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Physics and heads the Structured Light Laboratory, with programmes to study both classical and quantum communication.
The team wondered what would happen when entangled particles of light (photons) are brought together onto a partially reflecting mirror (beamsplitter) that is designed to send half the light one way and half the other way.
Entanglement is that “spooky action at a distance” that Albert Einstein so disliked, giving rise to counterintuitive behavior. It was known that when two single photons are brought into the beamsplitter something strange happens: they either both go one way or noth the other way, they never go through in opposite directions as normal light does.
Independent paths
What the team found was that the photons could be made to take independent paths if they were in a particular quantum state. The consequence of this new finding is that this simple beamsplitter – nothing more than a cube of glass – can be used to engineer high-dimensional quantum states. The team used this device to engineer a quantum state in six dimensions using twisted light carrying orbital angular momentum.
The South African team members have a joint project funded by the Photonics Initiative of South Africa (PISA) to demonstrate real-world quantum communication; with the present work a step towards this goal.
“Our project aims to bring quantum technologies out of the laboratory and into the real-world, to demonstrate a secure link using quantum encryption,” said Forbes.
According to the researchers, the story of the Enigma machine knows that encryption based on human ingenuity is flawed – it is always possible that your adversary is smarter than you. But quantum encryption is based on the very laws of Nature, and so fundamentally secure.
Challenge
“The challenge is to make this work in high dimensions and in the real world. In this recent advance, the team have used so-called ‘twisted’ light, light that carries orbital angular momentum, to reach dimensions beyond the usual two. High-dimensional quantum entanglement is a tricky business, the researchers noted.
“Light can be entangled in many dimensions, but most people stick with two because it is so much easier to do the experiments. It is significant that we work in high dimensions, bringing abstract mathematics to life in the laboratory.”
A single quantum measurement with a high-dimensional quantum state can take the entire weekend to perform, running 24 hours a day. But the advantages of high-dimensions is that more information can be packed into the light, increasing the rate of data transfer.
Way forward
Professor Stef Roux, team leader at the CSIR laboratories, said they want to use this technology to demonstrate secure quantum communication over a long distance.
“We are working on several approaches to achieve this, some theoretical and some experimental.”
The next step in the project is to demonstrate UKZN Professor’s Thomas Konrad idea, that it is possible to teleport quantum states in high dimensions.
“This is still rather far from what we see on Star Trek, but we’re getting there,” said Forbes.
Universities are custodians of invaluable national resources and should be protected.
This sentiment was expressed by the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade Nzimande, and his counterpart, Minister of Police Nkosinathi Nhleko, during their visit to Wits University this morning.
The ministers visited one of Wits’ and South Africa’s treasure, the William Cullen Library. The Library is home to the Historical Papers section, which contains one of the largest and most comprehensive independent archives in southern Africa. It houses over 3300 collections of historical, political and cultural importance, encompassing the mid- 17th Century to the present.
The visit comes after a few incidents of buildings, art and busses being burnt during the on-going student protests around the country.
Some of the valuable material on display today included the: Freedom Charter (1955); the Treason Trial (1956); Notebook by De La Caille (1746) calculating the latitude in the Cape; Robert Sobukwe, photograph of the PAC marching to Orlando Police station, 21 March 1960; the Slave Register with original photographs (1872); and photographs from the Barnett collection of photographs, 1896-early 1900s, covering the history of gold mining in Johannesburg.
The ministers also had the opportunity to listen to the original recording of Sol Plaatje, singing the national anthem “Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" recorded in 1923 during his visit to London.
A media briefing was held on the steps of the Willam Cullen Library immediately after the tour where they spoke on the current destruction of national assets on campuses and the government’s response. Read the joint statement by Nzimande and Nhleko on campus disturbances.
Scholarships for TTP graduates
- Refilwe Mabula
BP SA Education Foundation Trust awards scholarships to TTP graduates to study at Wits.
Since its inception in 2006, the Targeting Talent Programme (TTP), has cultivated the talent of over 1000 learners through its programme, in preparation for university.
The TTP is a three-year pre-university enrichment programme that helps learners from disadvantaged backgrounds bridge the gap between high school and university. The programme is made possible by a partnership between Wits and British Petroleum (BP) SA.
Last year the programme, through the BP South Africa Education Foundation Trust, introduced a scholarship to fund learners who had successfully completed the enrichment programme to pursue studies in the fields of Engineering, Science and Commerce at Wits.
A total number of 19 scholarships were awarded last year and 15 students successfully proceeded to their second year of studies this year.
The total number of scholarship recipients for 2016 is 39, including the first and second cohort of students.
During the orientation session for the scholarship recipients held on 10 February 2016, senior students shared their University survival tactics with the new first year students, advising them to be responsible, network, consult with other students and use the resources available to them effectively as well as to manage their time properly to manage the new academic environment and pressures.
Meanwhile, at the welcome event held on the evening of the orientation session, Professor Andrew Crouch, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic encouraged students to conquer the fear of failure which often grips first year students and limits their enjoyment of University.
“It is not where you come from, it is how you make use of the opportunities presented to you, and where you are eventually going to end up. This road to success will be littered with challenges and turmoil but persevere.”
He also encouraged the students to establish social networks around their academic environment.
“Along the way, make friends, go to your lectures. Grow, and experience what the University has to offer. Not only inside the classroom but outside the classroom too, because I sometimes refer to this experience outside the classroom as a third curriculum,” he said.
Yethu Dlamini, the only honours student in the first cohort of the scholarship recipients says that TTP significantly contributed to her life as she was able to dream beyond the boundaries she had set herself.
“I was not that girl who was into a big career. I was going to finish high school, get a job at a supermarket and get married-that was going to be my life. But when you get here you see people who are ambitious and that rubs off on you. For me that is what made TTP what it is today. They helped me to have ambition and to think bigger than where I was from - a small town.”
Thato Rachamose, a second year Actuarial Science student says that the programme helped him understand his personality traits much better, through numerous interactions with diverse groups of people.
The welcome event was attended by scholarship recipients, members of the Student Equity and Talent Management Unit, members of the faculties of Science, Commerce and Engineering and representatives from the BP South Africa Education Foundation Trust.
 and Beirut, Lebanon (Hotel).jpg "Beirut hostel and Beirut Hotel")
The words “hostel” and “hotel” connects the two pictures of the infamous Beirut Hostel in Alexandra, Johannesburg, and the Beirut Hotel in Lebanon.