Students were returning from prayer meeting in Limpopo.
It is with great sadness that the University learnt this morning that seven students passed away in a road accident that took place last night. Six other students are injured and in hospital.
This is according to another Wits student who was travelling in a car behind the minibus taxi when the accident occurred. It appears that the students were travelling back from a prayer meeting in Limpopo.
Details are still sketchy and the University has dispatched a team to gather further information on the ground and to support the family and friends of those that have passed away. The Dean of Students and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Adam Habib are also en route to Limpopo.
The University extends its deepest sympathies to the friends and family of those who passed away during this difficult period.
Wits community mourns seven students who died in accident
- Wits University
The University flag has been lowered and is flying at half-mast in honour of the memory of students who passed away.
Several Wits delegations including members of the Wits Students' Representative Council, the Dean of Student Affairs Dr Puleng LenkaBula and the Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Habib travelled to Limpopo yesterday where they met with the families and friends of some of our students who passed away in an accident on Sunday night.
The delegation worked with police to identify the seven students who had passed away so that the police could inform their next of kin. The students hail from several faculties and are in different years of study. They are also from different provinces. Many students belong to the Wits ZCC student society.
The delegation met with the MEC for Health in Limpopo and visited the six survivors at various hospitals in Mokopane. Wits is working with the provincial department of health to arrange for the transfer of some of the students to Gauteng-based hospitals if the necessary treatment is not available in Mokopane.
Investigations are still underway but preliminary reports indicate that the minibus carrying the students crashed into the back of a stationary trailer that was on the road, causing the minibus to burst into flames. The students were travelling back from a prayer meeting in Limpopo,
The University flag has been lowered and is flying at half-mast in honour of the memory of our students who passed away. A memorial service will be arranged after consultation with the families.
We understand that many students and staff may be traumatised by this news and we urge you to contact CCDU if you require any assistance at all. CCDU has counsellors on hand to assist anyone during this difficult period. If you cannot physically go to the CCDU offices, please call (011) 7179140/32 and they will call you back.
Condolences are being received from across the country as well as from staff, students, unions and others in the Wits community.
The untimely loss of our students is an absolute tragedy and our deepest condolences are extended to those who knew them well, especially during this very difficult time.
Further details will follow later today.
Update on students involved in an accident
- Wits University
Wits delegation remains in Mokopane where they are receiving families of the seven deceased students.
MESSAGE FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE
Dear Colleagues/Students
A delegation from Wits University remains in Mokopane where they are receiving families of the seven deceased students, together with representatives from the provincial department of health and the police. They have already met with the families of five of the deceased, and will meet with the remaining two families when they arrive today or tomorrow. Social workers and counselling services were also made available by the province to assist the family members.
Four of the six surviving students were transported to the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg this afternoon while two others are being treated in Mokopane for minor injuries, after which they will be released.
We encourage students and staff that may be traumatised to contact CCDU if you require any assistance. CCDU has counsellors on hand to assist anyone during this difficult period. If you cannot physically go to the CCDU offices, please call (011) 7179140/32 and they will call you back.
Let us continue to support each other during this difficult time.
Wits delegation met with families
- Wits University
Message from the Vice-Chancellor's Office.
Following the tragic accident which claimed the lives of seven of our students on Sunday night, the Wits delegation to Mokopane and others met with all the families of the bereaved. We are still waiting for the results of the DNA and forensic tests.
Four of the six students who survived the accident were transported by ambulance to the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital yesterday where they were received by the MEC for Health in Gauteng, the CEO of the Hospital, the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, doctors and others. They were admitted and are sharing a ward in the hospital. One student has been discharged and is doing well. Another has been moved to a private hospital in Mokopane.
About 600 students held a night vigil for the students outside the Great Hall last night to commemorate those we have lost. We will share details of commemorative events after consultation with the families and as we receive further details.
How and why life evolved from single-cell organisms to multicellular life
- Wits University
Multicellular life evolved from single cells numerous times, but explaining how this happened is one of the major evolutionary puzzles of our time.
Throughout the history of life on Earth, multicellular life evolved from single cells numerous times, but explaining how this happened is one of the major evolutionary puzzles of our time. However, scientists have now completed a study of the complete DNA of one of the most important model organisms, Gonium pectorale, a simple green algae that comprises only 16 cells.
This microscopic organism is helping to fill the evolutionary gap in our understanding. The two year research project was a global collaboration between Kansas State University, Universities of Arizona and Tokyo, and Wits University. It is documented in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.
Pierre Durand, a researcher in the department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology and the Evolutionary Studies Institute at Wits University is one of the project collaborators.
“The evolution from unicellular to multicellular life was a big deal. It changed the way the planet would be forever. From worms to insects, the dinosaurs, grasses, flowering plants, hadedas and humans, you just have to look around and see the extraordinary forms of multicellular existence,” says Durand.
“It has been difficult to explain how this occurred because it was not an easy thing to have happened. So questions like ‘why did single cells live together in groups at the very beginning of multicellularity when it puts them at a fitness disadvantage?’ challenged us for a long time,” says Durand. We still don’t know most of the answers but this project has certainly filled one of the gaps in our current understanding.
There are many model systems for studying multicellularity but nothing quite like the volvocine green algae, the group to which G. pectorale belongs.
“The evolutionary transition to multicellularity has occurred numerous times in all domains of life, yet the evolutionary history of this transition is not well understood. However, the volvocine green algae include a diverse variety of unicellular, colonial, and multicellular species,” says Durand.
There are many members of the volvocines with varying degrees of complexity, so it is possible to examine different stages on the road to multicellularity. The volvocines also evolved relatively recently (during the Triassic period about the time when the first dinosaurs appeared) and the mysteries of multicellularity are not lost in evolutionary time.
Reporting on the genome sequencing of Gonium pectorale, the scientists uncovered some of the genes that regulate cellular growth and division in this organism. This finding helps explain how single cells live together in groups – one of the earliest steps on the path to a multicellular existence.
No mountain too high for medical students on quest to change lives
- Wits University
The Wits Students' Surgical Society has launched Kilimanjaro Challenge 2016 to raise funds in aid of the Smile Foundation.
Adventurous and aspiring medical students from the Wits Students' Surgical Society launched their quest to give children their smiles back in yet another venture to summit the highest free standing peek in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro.
The campaign, named Kilimanjaro Challenge 2016 aims to give children corrective facial surgery.
In 2014, a group of 17 medical students from the society, raised R600 000 by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and participating in the Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge.
Last year, two children who suffered from facial paralysis due to a condition called Moebius Syndrome, underwent reconstructive surgery as a result of a fundraising initiative by Wits medical students.
At the launch, which was held yesterday, 3 May 2016 in the Marie Curie Lecture Theatre, Parktown Health Sciences Campus, medical students were encouraged to sign up for the expedition and be part of the climbing team.
The Society aims to assemble a team of 20 climbers to summit the 5895 meter peak of Kilimanjaro on 3 to 10 December 2016. Through sponsorship and donations, they aim to raise R750 000 for the Smile Foundation.
Emma Wessels, project coordinator for the Kilimanjaro Challenge 2016, says that one of the main aims of the Wits Students Surgical Society is to give back to the community.
“Most people take a friendly smile for granted, but for these children it is a daily social challenge. By challenging medical students to face something as daunting as summiting Mount Kilimanjaro in support of The Smile Foundation, we hope to show some of these children that we are willing to face a challenge in support of their daily challenges. We hope to make more smiles,” says Wessels.
The expedition will be led by Heinrich Ungerer, guide and adventure professional from the Adventure Dynamics International climbing company.
Speakers at the launch included Sean Disney, Marketing Director of Adventure Dynamics International, who is the first South African to complete the grand slam, which refers to summiting the seven summits as well as skiing to the North and South Poles; Hedley Lewis, Executive Director of the Smile Foundation and Graeme Moore, project leader of the Kilimanjaro Challenge 2014 who shared his team’s experience of the challenge.
About the Wits Students Surgical Society
The Wits Students Surgical Society is a platform for medical students and aspiring medical specialists interested in the art and science of surgery. The Society was started in August 2010 with the support of the Department of Surgery at the University of Witwatersrand. It is a subcommittee of the Medical Students Council (MSC) and is registered as a member of the South African Society of Surgeons in Training (SASSiT).
About the Smile Foundation
The Smile Foundation is a non-profit organisation that gives children facial reconstruction surgery to correct cleft lips and cleft palates as well as preforming facial reanimation surgeries for children with Moebius Syndrome.
TAP shine like stars at Naledi Awards
- Wits University
TAP graduates, alumni and lecturers scooped numerous awards at the Naledi Theatre Awards.
The Division of Theatre and Performance (TAP), in the Wits School of Arts shone bright at the recent Naledi Theatre Awards held on 19 April 2016 at the Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City.
The Naledi Theatre Awards have been in existence for 11 years. These awards recognise and reward excellence in the Performing Arts, to raise the profile of Live Theatre and to create awareness of the abundant talent alive and well on South Africa’s stages.
Graduates, alumni and lecturers in the division scooped numerous awards for their excellent productions in performing arts.
Best Production of a Play – Fishers of Hope written and directed by Lara Foot.
Best New South African Play – A Voice I Cannot Silence co-written by Greg Homann and Ralph Lawson. Lawson was also received the Best Actor Award.
Best Director of a Play - Dom Gumede for Crepuscule which he began creating at Wits during his third year writing class a few years back.
Best Performance in a Children’s Theatre Production – Gamelihle Bovana in James and the Giant Peach.
Best Actress – Fiona Ramsay for both Doubt and Miss Dietrich Regrets.
Best Ensemble Production – Lepatata directed by Makaola Ndebele.
Best Musical Director – Rowan Bakker for Sister Act.
The production, A Voice I Cannot Silence was nominated for eight Naledi Awards and won three awards including Best New South African Play (Greg Homann & Ralph Lawson), Best Actor (Ralph Lawson), and Best Newcomer (Menzi Mkwane).
This work is based on the life and work of Alan Paton and is currently on at the A&G Theatre at Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg until 7 May 7 2016. The play will be showcased at The Playhouse in Durban from 12 to 20 May 2016, and then move to The Fugard in Cape Town from 8 to 25 June 2016.
Head for the Division of Theatre and Performance at the Wits School of Arts Greg Homman said these awards are a wonderful achievement and his division is proud of all those honoured.
“I am delighted that the Theatre and Performance division can celebrate having graduates and lecturing staff that are at the forefront of making the best of South African theatre,” says Homman.
“On behalf of the division I would like to congratulate all these winners. We are very proud to share an association between you and our department,” he adds.
No Place - an Exhibition by Jean Brundrit
- Wits University
The Wits City Institute is jointly hosting the Cape Town artist's exhibition with the Wits Anthropology Museum.
Space does not need to be a confined, fixed place, like a city. It can be an eternally moving space, where nothing is ever fixed, like the motion of the waves of the sea.
Artist and photographer Jean Brundrit is exploring the way that we look at things. As a visiting research fellow at the Wits City Institute and an NRF rated researcher, Brundrit launched her exhibition, No Place, which is hosted by the Wits City Institute, at the Wits Anthropology Museum last week.
In the exhibition, Brundrit looked at waves and seascapes as places that are not confined – a place that remains undefined and temporary – more of a space than a place.
Included in the exhibition is an artwork in book-form, Big Sea. Through the pages of Big Sea, the viewer embarks on a journey of discovery – in both temporal and geographic terms. Brundrit combines her own images with archival photographs.
These photographs were taken in the late 1920s by Captain R.L.V. Shannon, who skippered a research vessel in the Western Antarctic region, and contemporary photographs taken in the Southern Ocean by her father, Geoff Brundrit, an oceanographer. Brundrit’s photographs converse with those from the archives of her father and Shannon, creating visual dialogues across time and space.
“Shannon looked at the sea from a navigational point of view, while I looked at it from an artist’s point of view,” says Brundrit, a visiting research fellow at Wits City Institute, and an NRF rated researcher.
Brundrit, who admits she has a mild obsession with pinhole photography, likes to experiment with different technologies and media. For one of her works, she used a piece of ice as her camera lens to photograph a globe, while in a separate work she used 3D laser technology to photograph a wave in the sea.
Brundrit teaches photography as part of the Fine Art courses offered at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. She has exhibited in South Africa and contributed to a number of international exhibitions.
Her research interests are primarily concerned with exploring identity, specifically lesbian identity and strategies of visual representation within a South African context.
The exhibition will run until 3 June at the Wits Anthropology Museum.
GP Health Department and Wits sign MOU
- Kemantha Govender
Wits University and the Gauteng Department of Health have committed to greater co-operation to address health care challenges in the province.
Qedani Mahlangu, MEC for Health and Wits Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Habib signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Tuesday, 10 May 2016.
At the signing, Habib praised the manner in which the national government and the Gauteng and Limpopo provincial governments worked with Wits to deal with the recent tragedy in which the seven students from the University lost their lives, and believes this collaboration could mean great things for Gauteng residents.
The VC noted that the injured students involved in the tragedy were transported to the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital within 24 hours and had access to specialist services because government “came together in an incredible way.”
“If we can get our public institutions to start engaging each other in the ways they should be engaging, we could fundamentally change the quality of life for all of our citizens,” said Habib.
The VC said he noticed that there are porous boundaries between institutions and universities while still maintaining autonomy and this is one of the reasons why Wits is excited about this relationship. “Unless we come together we are unable to address the historic challenges that we come from.”
Habib is confident that the number of doctors produced in South Africa could increase with such partnerships. Both Mahlangu and Habib felt that doctors are directed at curative care rather than primary health care and this concern which has been raised previously, needs to change.
Habib said this MOU represents hope, that we can overcome our institutional boundaries and begin to build a partnership that will provide this country with more medical personnel.
“We have to start producing our own knowledge. If we are always going to be reliant on the knowledge of the rest of the world, we are going to be importing medication that is not always appropriate to our circumstances,” said Habib. The high cost of medication is also a concern for Habib.
Professor Martin Veller, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences said the road to the MOU has been a long journey.
“It is one that is based on the fact that we are inextricably linked and what we have to achieve in terms of providing the service and training components is really one and the same. To a large degree it has been an area that we are not where we should be but I look forward to future engagements that will take both our mandates forward,” said Veller.
Mahlangu said government wants doctors to be part of the global research community but at the same time should not compromise in service delivery. She added that although South Africa has more doctors in the private sector, the training grounds remain top public hospitals in the country. She also said it is important to continue investing in technology so that the health care system can provide more efficient services.
Habib said it would also be ideal for other South African universities to open medical schools because the nation needs to produce more health care professionals. He said that Wits would commit to providing support should this happen.
You do have a maths brain
- Wits University
Maths lecturer, Abdul Hamid Carrim, tells 702 how our brains are designed to take in maths.
He joined #NightTalk's Gugs Mhlungu and Sizwe Dhlomo on Wednesday night to speak about how anyone can enjoy maths. "We need to think of maths as a language," he told listeners.
Carrim is an Associate Lecturer of Mathematics in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics.
Known as @Baymath on Twitter, Carrim is making maths fun: "Hello. I am Baymath, your personal Mathematics companion." He shares his insights into maths education, gives tips and advice about learning maths, and motivates his followers that maths is "just a language" anyone can learn.
Wits pays tribute to Wits7
- Wits University
We must all remember that we are one family and lend each other a shoulder to cry on - Professor Adam Habib
A full Congregation of the University of the Witwatersrand commemorated the lives of our seven students during a memorial service held today in the Great Hall.
More than a thousand mourners, including representatives from the families, close friends, fellow students, university management, academics and staff, as well as government officials and members of the public attended the service.
Gone too soon
Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, constituted the Congregation and read out the names of the seven students, asking the family members to rise so that each family could be acknowledge.
The students who passed away are:
Mechanical engineering students, Letlhogonolo Mosime (21) and Nakedi Boloka (21)
Education students, Faranani Masiagwala (18) and Matildah Lekhema (20)
Medical student, Livhuwani Matibe (19)
Law student, Sipho Makhabane (24)
Actuarial Science alumnus, Dakalo Mulima (23)
The seven students passed away and six more were injured in a road accident that took place on Sunday night, 1 May 2016, in Limpopo. The students were travelling back to Johannesburg from a prayer meeting in Limpopo.
A fitting farewell
Habib earlier said the University mourns the loss of the seven individuals who were an integral part of the Wits community, and who also played a fundamental role beyond the classroom. “They were not only our future actuaries, teachers, engineers, lawyers and doctors – they were those who made this world a better place, they were agents of change in our quest to reduce poverty and inequality and they represented our hope for the future.”
He told the memorial service that the University has received hundreds of messages of condolences from government departments, civil society organisations, churches and many other religious organisations as well as Wits alumni and almost all South African universities and from universities in Africa.
“Keep our Wits7 in your prayers. Keep the families of our Wits7 in your prayers. Keep the ZZC Fellowship Church in your prayers. Keep the Wits University community in your prayers. This is a trying moment for each one of us. A moment where we should all remember that we are one family. We should remember this in the days ahead and lend each other a shoulder to cry on,” Habib said.
Dr Randall Carolissen, Chairperson of the Council of Wits University, spoke on behalf the University: “We honour and commemorate our students. Students, who had traversed the Wits University grounds in search of knowledge, noble ideas, advancing their personal development as well as the social development of their society.”
Paying tribute to her fellow students, Wits Student Representative Council (SRC), Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, said these were young lives that wanted to make their parents proud. “Young lives that wanted to conquer the edge that Wits University gives you and walk on this stage having been conferred with a degree from this University. As difficult as it may be as we gather here, let us find the strength in our hearts to celebrate the lives of the seven great minds that we knew,” she said.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande extended the government’s deepest condolences to the families: “The loss of these students is truly a loss for the whole nation. I once again add my voice to decry the high rate of fatal accidents that occur on a regular basis on our roads.”
Grief support
The University will continue to support the families, friends and colleagues during this very difficult time.
The untimely loss of our students is an absolute tragedy and the University has also called on any students and staff who may be traumatised and in need of grief support to contact the Counselling and Careers Development Unit (CCDU) for assistance. Visit the CCDU offices or call (011) 7179140/32 and they will call you back.
A decade of service to deaf babies and their families celebrated
- Refilwe Mabula
HI HOPES celebrates its ten year anniversary in a "HI Tea" breakfast with powerful speakers.
For more than a decade, HI HOPES, a community outreach arm linked to the Centre of Deafness at Wits has given hope to thousands of deaf and hard of hearing infants and their families, by offering vital early interventions to the infants.
HI HOPES has grown throughout the country, serving families in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and a pilot project in the Eastern Cape.
On Thursday morning, 12 May 2016, HI HOPES celebrated its ten years of service and dedication with a “shweshwe” orange themed, "HI Tea" breakfast. The event was hosted on the beautiful gardens of Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Habib and his wife Fatima Habib’s residency in Jubilee Road.
Mrs Habib was delighted to host and shared her personal experiences of deafness. She has two deaf brother-in laws and spoke about the difficulties her one deaf brother-in-law experienced at technikon in Durban when he stayed with her and the VC.
Due to the lack of support for the hearing impaired in the 1980’s, her brother-in-law who was studying for a diploma in Commerce, had to drop out.
“What they would do is that they would write on the chalkboard and talk. He could only lip read. So he was not able to get notes and respond, and the students were very unhelpful.
That was then. This is now. Can you imagine people with no resources, people from rural communities and historically disadvantaged backgrounds? Can you imagine what they go through?”
The ground-breakingHI HOPES project is the brainchild of and led by Professor Claudine Storbeck, a specialist in Deaf Education. Storbeck spoke on the role and future plans of the project.
“Our role as early intervention is to be the brain of the lives of doctors and nurses and paediatrician as we encourage them to start screening for hearing loss and deaf babies. Every baby born in the developed world is screened for free. We are trying to push that in South Africa - that every baby born is offered free screening. We have Netcare on board and we have quite a few of the public hospitals on board and we will continue to push. But our actual job is to work with the babies once identified."
Two deaf and successful career women, Candice Morgan and Jabulile Ngwenya navigated guests on their journeys of being deaf women in South Africa.
Morgan is a Deaf-TV presenter, former Miss Deaf SA and Miss Deaf World. She said that before participating in pageants, she had wished to be a doctor and was disappointed that she could not enter University. However, despite this she never despaired.
“I lost my dream because I was deaf. I really couldn’t matriculate very well. So I decided, if couldn’t become a doctor, maybe I could become a TV presenter.
Yes I am a presenter and I enjoy that. But it was not challenging enough for me. I was Miss World, Miss SA for the deaf and I enjoyed it. But I really wanted intellectual stimulation. I wanted to study politics and the lectures couldn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand them.”
Her desire for intellectual stimulation saw her registering with UNISA for a degree in politics. Today Morgan prevailed through the struggles that came with her studies and has obtained her politics degree. She hopes to further her studies in the future to fight for the rights of deaf people.
“I am not doing these degrees for myself. I am doing these degrees because I want to fight for deaf children. I want to do politics for the deaf. I want to fight for equal rights for children. I want to encourage people to know that, even if they are deaf, they have access to the world and not just South Africa,” said Morgan.
Ngwenya is a journalist who, as a deaf woman, defied the challenges of a telephone and audio dominated world, when she pursued journalism as a career. She attributes her confidence and success to her parents who only found out she was deaf when she was eight months old.
“What Claudine does for HI HOPES reminded me of what my mother did for me. My mother refused to let an obstacle stand her way. The doctors told her I will never speak. They told her I will nerve know language. My mother empowered herself. She took me to speech therapy. She taught me sign language and she taught herself how to sign as well,” said Ngwenya.
Ngwenya says she was raised like any other ordinary child and because she was empowered by her parents, she only discovered she was deaf at the age of ten when her pre-teen friends spoke about a language she did not understand - music.
Vouchers and gifts from generous sponsors were auctioned off at the breakfast to raise funds for the project. HI HOPES will continue celebrating its anniversary through a number of events this year.
Africa’s first Chair in Digital Business established at Wits
- Wits University
Telkom and Wits Business School partner to advance research in the field of digital business.
Africa’s first Chair in Digital Business is to be established at the Wits Business School through an initial five-year funding commitment from Telkom. This is in line with leading academic institutions around the world where the digital aspect of business is becoming an essential part of business studies.
Research in digital business
“This Chair is a first for South Africa and the continent and will ensure that as a business school located in the economic heart of Africa, we are at the forefront of delivering important research and relevant programmes that are essential for doing business in today’s digitised world,” says Professor Steve Bluen, Head of the Wits Business School.
“The impact of this Chair is significant. Not only will it contribute to the economy by developing essential skills that will boost employment and encourage start-ups, but it responds directly to the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy adopted by the African Union in 2014 that aims to reposition the continent as a collection of technology-driven economies, ensuring the sustainable growth of the countries within.”
The rapid development of information and communication technologies around the world and across the continent means that these days the internet is a key part of most businesses. Nearly every company or institution has online operations and many businesses now operate solely online.
Wits Business School also plans to conduct research in the field of digital business in Africa, and advance awareness of digital business and readiness by engaging with business, government and communities.
“A digital business removes the barriers of time and distance, creating local jobs that can compete in a global market,” says Professor Chris van der Hoven, Academic Director at the Wits Business School.
“As we stand on the brink of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, business persons must understand the challenges, opportunities and risks of digital business, and be able to develop and implement digital business strategies, including digital management, web and data analytics and digital marketing in order to remain competitive locally and globally.”
Potential future developments include the Wits Business School offering a Master of Management in Digital Business, and the establishment of a Centre for Digital Business.
New frontiers
Sipho Maseko, Group Chief Executive at Telkom, said the availability of studies in digital business was an essential development for Africa and South Africa.
“Most businesses are, to an ever-increasing extent, online business. The next generation of business people will be even more exposed to new technologies, along with the threats and opportunities of digital disruption. Unless digital business is part of the business model, companies won’t survive.
“The old analogue approach is history. Digitalisation is helping companies achieve their business goals in a new real-time and information-rich marketplace. This is the world our young people are entering.”
Maseko said the collaboration with the Wits Business School would also help to identify and develop black South African and African talent in the field of digital business.
Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University, says: “The Telkom Chair is a welcome addition to Wits’ suite of data science and big data courses and research, as well as to our new innovation hub, the Tshimologong Precinct, in Braamfontein. The development of a successful technology ecosystem is crucial to economic growth and international competitiveness, and I have no doubt that these cutting edge offerings will be central to this.”
In addition to its initial R32.7 million funding over five years, Telkom would create a black internship programme for Wits Business School students. Telkom would also offer free digital business training to its own staff, and particularly executives studying for a master’s degree in digital business.
Details around when courses will start, academic appointments, research and curriculum information will be announced in the future.
Thank you, Deputy Chief Justice
- Wits University
Statement: Justice Dikgang Moseneke’s service to the nation has been second to none, says Professor Adam Habib.
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, extends its sincerest congratulations and appreciation to Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke who retires from the Constitutional Court this week.
Moseneke is one of the country’s leading jurists and has served South Africa and the continent with distinction for decades.
“We want to congratulate and thank Justice Moseneke. His service to the nation has been second to none. He is one of our country’s most eminent judges and his legal authority, intellectual integrity and personal calibre has had a deep impact on the judiciary and other entities beyond the walls of our courts,” says Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University.
“Always honourable, principled and righteous, Justice Moseneke is one of the best legal minds this country has seen. He has had a profound influence on transforming the South African judiciary and played a key role in supporting efforts to transform the higher education sector. We sincerely hope that in his well-deserved retirement, our Chancellor will continue to contribute to Wits’ efforts to realise a truly transformed education sector in the near future.”
Moseneke is the Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, a position he has held since 2006.
His global influence and legacy is highlighted in the work he has undertaken as part of the team who drafted the interim South African Constitution of 1993; having served as the deputy chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission in 1994; and as the longest-serving Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court.
In the education sector we are especially inspired by his resilience and dedication to obtain an education amidst unthinkable obstacles. Despite being arrested by the apartheid government at the age of 15 and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island, Moseneke studied and matriculated in prison and obtained a BA degree in English and Political Science, as well as a B Luris degree. He later completed an LLB.
He started practising law in 1976 and by 1994 he served as an acting Judge in the Supreme Court. He is also a founding member of the Black Lawyers' Association and of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers of South Africa.
Moseneke served the corporate world as chairperson and director of various boards; is a recipient of numerous awards of honour, performance and excellence; and holds several honorary doctorates.
Wits University will in the coming months, honour Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke for his contribution to the South African judiciary and his legacy on and off the bench. Further information in this regard will be announced in the near future.
Let’s take action
- Wits University
Calls for concrete action to address gender-based violence and rape culture on South African campuses.
The recent #IAmOneInThree and #RUReferenceList activation on campuses have highlighted the need to better engage and respond to gender-based violence and rape culture on campuses.
The traumatic impact of rape can be exacerbated by the culture of silence around rape and the stigma attached to it.
While the traumatic impact of rape can be alleviated through support, counselling and redress, how supportive systems and spaces function are extremely important in dealing with gender-based violence.
Let’s talk about it
Campuses in South Africa and abroad have been the focus for action, and the Wits School of Public Health, together with student activists, journalists, and researchers at the forefront of rape and gender-based violence advocacy and research, will take this forward this call with a dynamic discussion:
Resource Room, School of Public Health Building, Parktown Education Campus
Time:
17:00 - 19:00
Let’s take concrete action
Lisa Vetten, researcher in the Wits Institute of Economic and Social Research (WiSER), together with a host of other speakers will take part in this discussion.
Vetten spoke to CapeTalk's John Maytham this week, saying it is high time to think about “what kind of practical, concrete action people can take in order to change the situation” on campuses, in South Africa and globally.
Space does not need to be a confined, fixed place, like a city. It can be an eternally moving space, where nothing is ever fixed, like the motion of the waves of the sea.
Wits Business School also plans to conduct research in the field of digital business in Africa, and advance awareness of digital business and readiness by engaging with business, government and communities.