A cash prize of $10,000 has been awarded to Wits students for their winning travel idea.
The SITA Air Transport Community Foundation, based in the UK, has awarded a $10,000 prize to Wits University students Jules Ntumba, Tso Mello and Fiona Ndlovu.
The group, one of seven finalists, was shortlisted through a competition to address what information, tools or technology first-time air travellers in Africa need to make their journeys easy, successful and enjoyable. The travel innovation competition, a partnership between Wits University and the Tshimologong Precinct, was launched in March 2018 and the winners were announced at an awards ceremony held at Wits University on 20 July 2018.
Team One Exceptional, and its members, Ntumba, Mello and Ndlovu were awarded the top cash prize for their winning idea, which was targeted at the +50-year-old first time traveller. The trio from Wits University, who recently completed their Bachelor of Science degrees in Aeronautical Engineering in June, were ecstatic with the win and will use the prize money for a start-up company.
“Young people don’t usually have difficulties navigating around an airport, but an older, potentially illiterate traveller will experience challenges. It gets more difficult for them because they are not as tech-savvy as younger people. Our research showed that in Africa one out of three people above the age of 50 can’t read and we wanted to cater to them,” said Mello.
Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at SITA Air Transport Community Foundation, Amber Harrison said SITA’s focus is on information technology and education in Africa.
"We created this innovation award to highlight the challenges and opportunities for a continent that is seeing a changing demographic, coupled with growth in technology and aviation. The quality of submissions were of a high standard and it is encouraging to witness the brimming innovation in South Africa,” said Harrison.
Harrison said that an impressive level of originality, innovation and research was evident in the submissions. She believes that this is of significance as the aviation industry continues to grow and will require more skilled people.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Postgraduate Affairs at Wits University, said that the SITA competition was a good example of the University’s quest for excellence.
“The University of the Witwatersrand prides itself on pushing the frontiers of excellence in its almost 100 years of existence. These initiatives play an important role as we need to ensure we stay at the frontier of knowledge,” said Vilakazi.
In collaboration with SITA, both aim to contribute to the building and supporting of the African aviation and ICT industry, boosting vital ICT skills, especially in the space of the fourth industrial revolution. Supporting home‐grown ICT educational development, creating jobs through entrepreneurship and leading research development across Africa, are all key initiatives and focus areas.
Dr Lerato Masisi, a lecturer at Wits University and one of the judges, said that the teams were judged on originality, target audience, solutions, report and presentations. “Due to the high calibre of ideas submitted for the competition, SITA decided to award two additional prizes for the runner ups,” said Masisi.
These two runner up teams included Team Ava, which was made up of Alice Yang, Sean Morrow, Linda Khumalo and Muhammed Chand and Team Wits Elites, made up of Rachel Mohlomi, Nqobile Mhlanga and Takatso Molekane. Both teams were awarded a cash prize of $1000.
Wits maths fundi equates to global maths advocate
- Wits University
Former Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Loyiso Nongxa has been elected as a Vice-President of the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
The acclaimed maths fundi was elected during the IMU’s Annual General Meeting held in Brazil from 29 to 30 July.
The IMU is an international non-governmental and non-profit scientific organisation aimed at promoting international cooperation in mathematics; supporting and assisting the International Congress of Mathematicians; and encouraging and supporting international mathematical activities, which contribute to the development of mathematical science. IMU has been in existence since 1920 and is a member of the International Science Council (ISC).
Nongxa’s wealth of experience in building an inclusive mathematics society and fostering mathematics education will be pivotal in advancing the objectives of the IMU across the globe.
“Many of the activities that are part of the IMU global agenda are matters I have been dedicated to, especially over the last 20 years. These include building a globally inclusive mathematics community inclusive across borders, investing in the potential of the next generation of mathematicians, and contributing to Mathematics that is responsive to the challenges of the 21st century,” says Nongxa.
Having grown up during apartheid inequality and limited opportunities, Nongxa says he is privileged to have been nominated as a candidate to serve on the Executive of the IMU.
About Nongxa
Nongxa is the Chairperson of the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF). He has held a number of senior leadership positions including that of Vice Chancellor and Principal for 10 years and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Dean of Natural Sciences at the University of the Western Cape. He served as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and the University of Illinois, and as a Visiting Researcher at the Universities of Colorado, Hawaii, and Connecticut, and Baylor University in the United States, amongst others.
He was South Africa’s first African Rhodes Scholar to graduate from Oxford University with a doctoral degree in mathematics. He completed undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the University of Fort Hare.
Nongxa has served, inter alia, as Chairperson of the Review Committee of the National System of Innovation appointed by the Minister of Science and Technology, and he was the Chairperson of the Research and Innovation Strategy Group of Universities South Africa (USAf, formerly HESA).
Reviewing Obama's Mandela Lecture
- Gillian Anstey
What were the key themes and the significance of Obama's Nelson Mandela lecture?
Then Professor Tawana Kupe, Acting Vice-Chancellor of Wits, said he had attended the lecture but “was a bit annoyed, I will be frank,’’ he said before elaborating on the decision to have four people – incidentally all his friends – spoke before Obama.
Kupe said he understood the Nelson Mandela 16th annual lecture was “Obama’s coming-out speech, post-presidency, in the continent that is linked to his descent’’ but despite its 'inspirational’ delivery, he didn’t think Obama said anything new, and omitted to speak of terrorism and his role in dealing with it.
The review was divided into three sections: an analysis of Obama’s speech; foreign policy and diplomacy perspectives; and media representation.
Some snippets of the eight presentations:
“As the only institution of its kind on the continent, the centre should invite Barack Obama to open his own ‘pan-African thought and conversation’ with it which, I believe, would be to the inestimable benefit of both Obama and the centre and to the wider benefit of our commemorating the UN International Decade of Peoples of African Descent’’ - Francis Kornegay, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Dialogue at Unisa;
“Legacies are not set in stone. This applies to Obama and to Madiba as well. How do we access how these two 'firsts' promoted and/or diminished democratic values, human rights and civil liberties? These matters are being debated as we speak. Their stories are still being shaped and formed. It is not yet over, not for either of them’’ - Alice Brown, Visiting Research Fellow at ACSUS;
“I enjoyed the speech mainly because I got to meet him beforehand. He is tall and gorgeous and he has a firm handshake and he asked me my name – what’s your name, sister?’’ and I swooned …. My first contention about [an Atlantic article about the speech’s] framing of liberal internationalism as this grand progressive force for the majority of people in the world is just not true. What we know about the foundations of liberal thought is that they are fundamentally racist and sexist’’ – Dr Sithembile Mbete, political science lecturer at the University of Pretoria;
“Although both Mandela and Obama have this great charisma and superstar status around them, they’re at base both very pragmatic leaders and they try to have a world view … based on facts.... As Obama said in his lecture: ‘you have to believe in facts’. And so we saw this on display. In fact Obama used the formulation ’history tells us’ or ’history shows’ at seven different points during the speech’’ - Chris Williams, Visiting Research Fellow in International Relations Department at Wits;
“[Mandela] arrived a little too late on AIDS, the health pandemic that became a security issue… It took his oldest son’s illness and death to spur him into activism in 2004 … on an issue that had such a devastating human impact in South Africa (800 people dying every day at the height of the crisis)’’ - Michelle Small, Wits International Relations lecturer;
“I think most people read the Obama speech not in the grand lesson of history he was intending to promulgate but as a very specific, strong - although entirely complicit since the dreaded name Donald Trump was never used - critique of Donald Trump as president’’ - Brooks Spector, Associate Editor at the Daily Maverick;
“Look at the Kenyan headlines….There was no connection, there was no discussive context, about what he was coming to do here and his visit to Kenya… because he went to see his grandma that became a focus … you miss the story of a major important occasion for the world and you highlight trivia. … the attention that was paid to the dance he had with his grandma’’ - Nixon Kariithi, CEO of Tangaza Africa Media;
“One of my students said of all the things that Obama said what he liked most was the American accent, he called it a twang, and he said if he could acquire that that would be sufficient for him. That’s also soft power because you are being attracted to the US because of language’’ – Dr Bob Wekesa, Wits Journalism and Media Studies Department:
The presentations from both the centre’s July events will be published which, Kupe said, would fulfil one of its aims: ‘’to produce original knowledge of perspectives of us and the United States and, by extension, the world’’.
Enabling youth to power the digital economy
- Wits University
Hundreds descended upon Wits to hear the legendary Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, address entrepreneurs, students and policy makers.
Wits University was selected as the site of the important event, Netrepreneurs: The Rise of Africa’s Digital Lions, organised by Alibaba and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in support of their mission to grow African economies through entrepreneurship.
The charismatic e-commerce billionaire enthralled the audience with his journey of humble beginnings and lessons learnt along the way.
During his talk he advocated for tax breaks to aid small businesses stating that big business does not need these as much as budding entrepreneurs. The event also served to launch the Jack Ma Foundation Netpreneur Prize for small businesses working to grow the continent’s digital economy. Entrepreneurs will compete for $1 million in prize money every year for the next 10 years.
The digital economy, which is set to revolutionise the economy, is seen as an equaliser and an opportunity for Africa which has the world’s youngest population and thus poised to benefit from the new economy provided that the lions and lionesses of Africa rise to the challenge.
Universities will continue to play a key role in unlocking Africa’s potential in the digital economy.
Wits Acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tawana Kupe opened the event watched by audiences across the world. He later participated in a panel discussion themed Digital Talent: Enabling Africa’s to Power the New Economy, where he shared current and future steps by Wits University to accelerate entrepreneurship and the digital economy.
Wits is tackling head-on the challenge of nurturing innovation and youth entrepreneurship through the Tshimolong Digital Precinct and the Wits Centre for Entrepreneurship.
In another bold move to shift thinking and embed entrepreneurship in the lives of students and the University, Wits has launched the ‘Entrepreneurs ways’ said Kupe.
“This means that all Wits courses will directly or indirectly have an entrepreneural component that includes a digital dimension,” Kupe.
Entrepreneurship has been identifie as one of the solutions to the high unemployent rate in the country.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released in July 2018 by Statistics South Africa, the official unemployment rate has increased to 27.2 percent from 26.7 percent in the previous period.
Government has often been criticed for its failure in supporting small businesses. Ma however said this is common across the world. Banks and governments do not give to the little guys.
"Don't wait for government, by the time government comes it will be too late" he said adding that by the time government delivers the infrastucture, entrepreneurs would have missed out on the opportunities to deliver that which government is struggling to provide.
Wits Enterprise launches new unit to develop entrepreneurs
- Wits University
Wits Commercial Enterprise has launched The Entrepreneurial Wayz unit to drive entrepreneurialism and benefit South Africa.
The Entrepreneurial Wayz (TEWZ) specialises in entrepreneurial development, aligning business ecosystems, developing strategic partnerships, building entrepreneurial cultures, and providing business support to contribute towards building an entrepreneurial economy.
Professor Tawana Kupe, Acting Vice-Principal of Wits launched TEWZ at Wits Commercial Enterprise (Wits Enterprise) on Tuesday, 31 July 2018.
TEWZ is the fourth unit in Wits Commercial Enterprise, which markets and commercialises the University’s intellectual capital, research, and innovations. The other three units in Wits Enterprise are innovation support; research support; and short courses.
“Wits has various initiatives in place toward becoming an Entrepreneurial University where an entrepreneurial culture ensures that research ideas can be converted into solutions and graduates leave with experiences that allow them to contribute to the country’s development,” said Kupe.
Other speakers included Duncan Raftesath, Chief Executive of Wits Enterprise, and Professor Ahmed Bawa, Chief Executive of Universities South Africa, who delivered the keynote address.
Bawa referred to the Entrepreneurial Development in Higher Education (EDHE) project at universities, which is elevating the value and importance of entrepreneurship education and building the capacity of universities to support this.
The entrepreneurial way
TEWZ is a response to South Africa’s socio-economic challenges and the need to prepare young people for the 21st-century global economy. By prioritizing entrepreneurial development, TEWZ contributes to building a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. TEWZ empowers young people and aspiring entrepreneurs to think beyond formal employment and start their own relevant, strong and sustainable businesses.
“Through inculcating an entrepreneurial mindset, we help to facilitate the transformation of our economy from extractive to generative. Not everyone will choose to be an entrepreneur. However, anyone can learn how to be entrepreneurial – to improve, iterate, innovate and adopt a mindset of value-adding and problem solving,” says Chimene Chetty, TEWZ director.
Although new to Wits Enterprise, the TEWZ team has extensive experience in entrepreneurial skills development and support. TEWZ was formerly the Centre of Entrepreneurship, based at Wits Business School. TEWZ builds on this foundation and its ‘pracademic’ strategic focus emphasises entrepreneurial development for broad and positive socio-economic impact.
TEWZ provides insights, skills, tools and mentoring at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey, with customised support delivered through a three-tiered approach:
Generator – for aspiring entrepreneurs, focusing on entrepreneurial orientation
Incubator – for businesses getting established
Accelerator – for businesses that are ready to scale-up.
Absa unlocks opportunities for Wits students
- Wits University
Absa has donated R5.6 million towards student funding at Wits University.
Challenges around student funding often impede the academic excellence of students facing financial insecurity, as they are constantly worrying about how to fund their studies.
Absa continues their support in aiding financially struggling students and handed over a donation of R5.6 million to Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tawana Kupe, on Tuesday, 7 August 2018 towards student funding.
Accepting the cheque on behalf of the University, Professor Kupe thanked Absa for their continued partnership with the University to contribute to skills development and for investing in talented Africans.
“Skills development and training needs partnerships. The University cannot do it alone. We cannot depend on government – we cannot depend on government alone. The partnership with Absa makes a decisive difference and ensures that those people who could have been left out due to lack of funding, are not,” says Kupe.
The donation made was for the Absa Scholarship Fund and the Absa Bursary Fund. Both funds enable academically talented but financially challenged students to study with less financial burdens.
The Absa Scholarship Fund will support around 60 students this year.
Absa has been supporting students at Wits University since 2012 and has continued to forge strong partnerships with the University.
Khensani Mnisi, Head of Gauteng Public Sector at Absa said the donation also aimed to solidify Absa’s long standing partnership with Wits.
“With our rebrand we now speak about ‘Africanicity’, which means we have the tenacity to address any challenge that come our way, by being Brave, Passionate and Ready. We are saying, “we are ready to be your partners; we are ready to make sure that an African child gets a good opportunity for their education.”
Jerome September, Wits Dean of Students, said the donation will make a huge difference to students by lifting the financial burden and enabling them to focus on their studies.
Unpack the source code of your African Identity
- Wits University
Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival announces its 2018 line-up.
The Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival, “Tap Your Afro Source Code”, has released its 2018 programme promising to yet again transform Johannesburg into a celebration of technology, creativity and innovation from across the African continent. The full program of activities running from 18 August to 29 September 2018, Fak’ugesi will take place at Tshimologong Precinct sharing activities in 2018 with Wits Art Museum and the Point of Order.
Dr Tegan Bristow, Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival director, says that the 2018 theme ‘Tap your Afro Source Code’ centres on African visions of technology by tapping into the sources of African tradition and culture alongside technology, creativity and innovation: “This year we are exploring how local culture can move and change the future of technology. How would you understand and unpack the source code of your African identity?”
Bristow says that the Festival will fully explore the algorithms, patterns and fractals of Africa. In digital art, music, games, virtual reality, digital makers or the way you braid your hair: “Fak’ugesi acts as a platform that brings together diverse digital and technology sectors to collaborate and share skills in digital media and technology innovation”.
A highlight in this year’s Fak’ugesi programme is a large collaboration with the Wits Art Museum in an exhibition project titled Digital Imaginaries: Premonition, the second leg of a three-city project, which started with Kër Thiossane and Afropixel Festival in Dakar, Senegal in May and will conclude at ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany in November 2018. The project, an initiative between social scientists and artists, imagines and critiques how globalised digital technology and systems have already, and will continue, to shape and shift African futures. The exhibition, now on at the Wits Art Museum from the 24 July to 23 September was co-curated by Bristow.
Another highlight of the 2018 programme is the expanded Fak’ugesi Digital Africa Residency. Initially focused on bringing young aspiring digital artists together from the SADC region, this year includes further collaboration with Pro Helvetia, Johannesburg to include digital artists from North Africa, South Asia and Switzerland. This extended approach will enable students to do a deep dive into the algorithms, patterns and fractals of their indigenous cultures.
Along with supporting young up-and-coming digital arts, Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival will be hosting two international media artists: Marc Lee, a Swiss artist supported by Pro Helvetia and Brain House, a North American artist supported by the Watershed project. Lee will act as Resident mentor, offering open master classes and will be installing new interactive live work at the Tshimologong Precinct, while Brain House Bristow states will be joining Fak’ugesi to install new work at Tshimologong Precinct and conduct master classes. House explores the interdependent rhythms of the body, technology, and the environment. His background in both computer science and performance informs his research-based practice. Recent interests include artificial Intelligence, extractive industries, and urban rats. A collaboration between Fak’ugesi Festival & Watershed, this art/science programme, is brought to the Festival by the Centre for Water Research and Development, WITS, Brown University and Providence RI.
2018 will see the launch of the Fak’ugesi Arcade concept, announcing the start of a new era in supporting African games and gaming developers. Bristow invites the regional gaming community to discuss how the Festival can better support and help develop the game development community: “We want to better understand the needs and requirements, both as a platform and as a location for skills exchange and networking. The Fak’ugesi Arcade is partnering this year with Redbull Basement and Trace TV and will be rolled out in 2019.”
For a second year running, in partnership with Weheartbeat via Fak’ugesi Beats, a six-day beats lab residency will be running from 24 to 28 September. Curated by Weheartbeat, participants will embrace the 2018 Fak’ugesi theme, combining tradition with futurism. Bristow is excited about the programme and says that the outcome from these sessions will result in an EP release, available both digitally and on limited edition vinyl. The artists featured include: Potatohead People (Canada), S Fidelity (Switzerland), Zikomo (USA), Morena Leraba (Lesotho) and South African artists Bonj Mpanza and Hlasko.
Fak’ugesi Beats will open to the public through a series of workshops and master sessions on 27 September 2018. This will culminate in the Fak’ugesi Beats Bloc Party and closing event on Saturday the 29 September 2018. The Fak’ugesi Beats programme is in partnership with Weheartbeat, Pro Helvetia, Red Bull Music and Ballantine’s Whiskey.
In its fifth year, Bristow says the Fak’ugesi Festival attracts over 6000 participants and is widely recognised for its important role supporting and developing African technology, creativity and culture: “The Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival is the only one of its kind in Africa and the only digital arts focused festival in Sub Saharan Africa. It has a very special location via which many young digital makers have launched their careers and have become prominent digital makers.”
She says the 2018 Festival approach is a step back from the annual programming that will provide an opportunity for the programme directors to focus on the vision and development for the next five years. This will be supported by the Wits School of Art; the Digital Content Hub of Tshimologong Precinct in collaboration with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and the British Council ConnectZA.
For more information on the 2018 Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival visit www.fakugesi.co.za
About Fak’ugesi
Fak’ugesi - Joburg’s one and only African Digital Innovation Festival will take place in September 2018, with the theme ‘Tap your Africa Source Code’. The 2018 festival will focus on bringing to the table important African visions and futures, by tapping into the sources of African tradition and culture alongside technology, creativity and innovation. Explore how local culture can move and change the future of technology. What would you call a vernacular algorithm? What is algorithm in IsiZulu? In 2018 Fak’ugesi Festival calls on you to explore the algorithms, patterns and fractals of Africa! In digital art, music, games, VR, digital makers or the way you braid your hair.
Fak’ugesi, which means “Switch it on” or “add power” in urban Zulu, is focused on making young adults aware of digital innovation. It is an opportunity for young adults, with or without formal education, to learn or engage with tomorrow’s technology.
According to an Impact Report commissioned by the British Council ConnectZA- Fak’ugesi is believed to be the most important digital creativity festival in Africa.
About Wits University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct
Setswana for “new beginnings”, Tshimologong is one of Johannesburg’s newest high-tech addresses in the vibrant inner-city district of Braamfontein, where the incubation of start-ups, the commercialisation of research and the development of high-level digital skills for students, working professionals and unemployed youths takes place. The Precinct was launched in September 2016 with strategic support from major companies including Microsoft, Cisco, TIA, Teraco, BCX, ACSA and MMI. Gauteng Province through its Department of E-Government and the City of Johannesburg have also provided significant support. The Precinct also houses the prestigious IBM Research’s Lab Africa – one of only 12 such facilities in the world. Website: www.tshimologong.joburg
About Digital Imaginaries
Digital Imaginaries is funded by the TURN fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes). The related workshop series Competences and Visions for the Digitization of Africa in Dakar and Johannesburg with Fak’ugesi Festival is financed by the GIZ commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Kofi Annan: the Ghanaian man who was born to be a leader
- Bob Wekesa
The passing of former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan provides an opportunity to reflect on what makes great men great.
His legacy stands side by side with fellow Nobel laureates of African descent such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Albert Luthuli, Wangari Maathai, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Barack Obama, Ralph Bunche and Desmond Tutu.
In some respects, Annan stands head and shoulder above his Nobel peers, having made history as the first person in sub-Saharan Africa to rise to the helm of the global governing body for two terms between 1997 and 2006. If we include North Africa, he shares this accolade with the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Egyptian diplomat who served as secretary-general between 1992 and 1996.
However, unlike Annan, Boutros-Ghali served for a single term after his bid for a second term was vetoed by the US. Underlining the much-critiqued stranglehold of the UN Security Council, France - one of the five veto powers - initially opposed Annan’s appointment.
Eulogies have captured the fact that Annan had pedigree by virtue of being born in 1938 to an elite Ghanaian family, his father, Henry Annan, having been an elected governor of the Ashanti province. Because of being born in a family of Ghanaian chiefs, it is easy to conclude that Annan was born a leader.
Snippets from his life also show that he grew into leadership.
Some have pointed out that his leadership traits - of decorum, people skills and charm - were nurtured early in his childhood as he observed the leadership styles of his father.
It would appear that most great leaders have a rabble-rousing youth.
At an elite boarding school in central Ghana in the 1950s, Annan exhibited proclivity towards human rights when he led a hunger strike, campaigning for better food. Joining the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi in the late 1950s, it is where he would be elected the vice-president of the Ghana national students' union.
Leaders often have defining moments early in their careers. Annan’s early leadership traits earned him a Ford Foundation “foreign students’ leadership” scholarship. This saw him studying economics at Macalester College, US, graduating in 1961 followed by post-graduate studies in international affairs at the Institut Universities des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland.
Leaders are good at creating networks and vehicles through which they pursue their goals. A beneficiary of the Ford Foundation scholarship, Annan went on to establish his own foundation working on peace, democracy, food security and youth empowerment.
The networks he was involved in included the Africa Progress Panel; the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and focused on small-scale farmers; and The Elders, an organisation established by Nelson Mandela.
A statement from the Thabo Mbeki Foundation on his death indicates he was the organisation’s chairperson.
The shock on his passing in South Africa is partly because he was one of the dignitaries at the 100th Nelson Mandela centennial celebrations in July.
Part of Annan’s legacy lies in the consistency of his career at the UN. Joining the World Health Organisation in 1962, Annan would stay with the UN - save for a one-year hiatus in the mid-1970s - serving on the Economic Commission for Africa, UN Emergency Force, and UN High Commission for Refugees, UN headquarters, and UN peacekeeping missions. It was a natural progression culminating in his clinching the UN secretary-general as the first holder of the position to have risen through the ranks rather than being appointed from outside.
Iraq specifically, the Gulf region in general and the war on terror figure prominently in any assessment of Annan. A major low point was the oil-for-food programme in which UN staff and contractors were fingered for conflict of interest in transactions aimed at easing the effects of sanctions on Iraq in the early 1990s. Damaging to his personal reputation, allegations included the involvement of his son, Kojo Annan.
One researcher has pointed out that this was due to Annan’s leadership style underpinned by delegation of duty and a Laissez-faire approach with regard to disciplining errant UN staff.
In elevating him to the helm of the UN, member states must have favourably considered the fact that Annan had made a mark as “a man of peace”, for instance having negotiated the release of UN staff held hostage in Iraq in 1991 as part of the Iraq-Kuwait war. Eulogising Annan, the current UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, captured this consistency streak by saying, “in many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations”.
Leaders are masters at what they do but they are not infallible.
A major blot on Annan’s career is that as under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations (1993-1995), he failed to intervene in the 1994 Rwandan genocide during which nearly 800000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred.
In a similar case, the UN under Annan’s watch was blamed for ethnic cleansing in Srebrenica, Bosnia, in 1995.
However, leaders recognise, admit and learn from their mistakes.
Annan repeatedly cited his failure in Rwanda as he advocated strong peacekeeping interventions in the world’s trouble spots such as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.
Of the failures in Bosnia, Annan wrote, in 1999: “Through error, misjudgment and an inability to recognise the scope of the evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to help save the people of Srebrenica from the (Bosnian) Serb campaign of mass murder.”
A number of episodes in his career hold up his diplomatic skills.
Hardly two years into Annan's UN leadership, he was faced with a deadly confrontation between some of the members of the UN Security Council and the former Iraqi strongman, the late Saddam Hussein.
On Hussein’s refusal to allow UN nuclear inspectors to access sites suspected of harbouring deadly weapons, the US and Britain promptly deployed warships in the Persian Gulf ready to strike.
France and Russia favoured a diplomatic approach with China swinging ambivalently between the two positions. In the end, Annan convinced the Security Council to take the negotiation route, travelling to Baghdad to personally negotiate with Hussein. With two options on the table - co-operate or face military strikes, Hussein demurred and a war was averted.
It is a diplomatic skill that Annan would leverage to similar situations including after his retirement when he helped nip in the bud an ethnically inspired post-election conflagration in Kenya pitting then president Mwai Kibaki against opposition leader Raila Odinga in early 2008.
Within the UN system, Annan will be remembered most as a transformational leader. He downsized a bloated UN human resource and rationalised entities within months of assuming office. Analysts agree that this led to a more efficient UN system.
Perhaps more significantly, he drove the global developmental agenda for the 21st century by convening the UN Millennium Summit of September 2000 which ultimately led to the launch of the Millennium Development Goals. It was the first time the UN set time-bound targets for poverty reduction and it has since been succeeded by the Sustainable Development Goals or the Agenda 2030.
Dr Bob Wekesa is a Senior Lecturer in the journalism and media department at Wits and an associate of the African Centre for the Study of the United States. This article was originally published on the Independent Online website. Click here for the original article.
Charlize Theron speaks to Wits students
- Wits University
South African born and Academy Award winning actress, Charlize Theron says it is "time to be brave".
Theron was speaking during her visit at Drama for Life last month as part of the the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project(CTAOP), which has made an international commitment towards sexual reproductive health and wellness, and more specifically HIV/AIDS prevention and education.
The visit also aimed to continue fostering key partnerships for the implementation and practice of HIV prevention programmes targeted at children and adolescent youth.
The CTAOP was founded in 2007 as a means of having direct contact with the youth by working with community-based organisations that are informed, accessible, ethical and embody health and wellness knowledge for purposes of social transformation.
CTAOP recognises that there are over 7.1 million individuals in South Africa living with HIV/AIDS and 1/3 of these individuals is youth from the ages of fifteen to twenty-four years (CTAOP;2017). For this cause, it was fitting that CTAOP partner with Drama for Life, Wits to expand The Knowledge Unzipped Project dedicated to providing best health practices and and wellness education for youth groups across South Africa.
Drama for Life, Wits is known to challenge conventional ways of engaging with gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS and the CTAOP team came well-prepared, as the Wits Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tawana Kupe and DFL Director Warren Nebe, welcomed Theron, social media sensation Lilly Singh (better known as IISuperwomanII), Kweku Mandela and a host of leading funders to a day filled with theatre-in-education.
Honest, hilarious and hard-hitting scenes were performed; thereafter, among the facilitators and guests, one of them stated “I recognise this!”, as the collection of narratives that were shown resonated with real life events that had previously impacted guests from all across the globe. The work showcased the Drama for Life Theatre Company, a professional creative research unit at DFL that does work in schools, universities and communities to bring about changes in unhealthy social behavioural patterns.
It is “time to be brave!” said the South African-born founder of CTAOP, Charlize Theron, as she recognised, from the performances, that marginalised groups in South Africa still lacked representation. Theron spoke about the importance of individuals telling their own story and becoming the forefront respondents in ensuring that their human rights are upheld and respected.
“We are incredibly privileged to have the support of a progressive partnership with CTAOP. Theron, the CTAOP Team and partners play a critical role in the key to our success. Through CTAOP, Drama for Life has been able to establish the first creative research unit of its kind in South Africa, specifically dedicated to SRH education. We are proud of Hamish Neill and the team of 10 creative researchers who make up the Drama for Life Theatre Company”, sid Nebe.
Core values in personal storytelling, peer-to-peer relationships and the reduction of stigmas in communities for the safeguarding of youth, is what aligns responsive organisations such as CTAOP to institutions like Drama for Life, Wits.
Engineering solutions for tomorrow
- Wits University
Final year engineering showcased their design-and-build projects which provided solutions to everyday life challenges.
Engineers are known to be the masterminds behind innovative designs, systems and structures that solve real life problems. The skills of engineers cut across various sectors.
The open day showcased the design-and-build projects of final year students in the School, which applied scientific methodology and theory for practical solutions to their identified problems.
Khwezi, a mobile app developed by students Refilwe Semenya and Ngoako Monyebodi, addresses the challenge of reporting incidents of sexual harassment on Wits’ campuses more efficiently.
Issues around gender-based violence persist at the culmination of Women’s Month in August, when scores of women made public outcries against the scourge and urged intervention from government and the public.
“This app is a way to combat sexual assault. We noticed that people are usually shy or scared to report sexual harassment incidents and the reporting procedure can be long and traumatising to the victims,” said Monyebodi.
The app includes a feature where the victim can give a full description of the offender, which compares this with previous offenders reported on the app.
Users of the app will also have access to a map, which indicates hotspots to avoid.
Aspiring biomedical engineers, Boitumelo Manji and Fiona Oolo who want to make their mark in the male dominated industry, applied their skills and knowledge to improve medical tools.
For their project, the pair designed an electronic stethoscope which can be used by medical practitioners to listen to internal sounds in the body, such as those produced by the heart, lungs and abdomen.
“The device offers real time data phonograms of internal body sounds and can capture and store them. This enables doctors to go back to the captured data and replay the sounds to check for abnormalities even when the patient is not there,” said Mantji.
The system is also able to detect from where in the body the sound is coming.
The three best projects received awards from Professor Estelle Trengove, Head of the School of Electrical and Information Engineering.
Students Lauren Barger and Vassiliki Marantos won the best poster for their project, Advanced Control of a Ball. The device they developed controls the position of a ball on a flat plate without the ball rolling off.
“We hope that our project will be used for future control engineering students, who will use the model to implement their own controllers. We are hoping for the project to be developed into a lab kit for the control department. The applications are simply an educational or testing platform, however the same theory applies to various other similar systems such as drones, suspension control in cars and many more”, said Barger.
