Universities South Africa (USAf) has expressed sadness at the passing of Anshu Padayachee, Chief Executive Officer at Technological Higher Education Network South Africa (THENSA), an associate organisation in higher education.
Dr Padayachee passed away last Thursday.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors of USAf, we express our most profound condolences to family, friends and colleagues of this true compatriot,” said Dr Phethiwe Matutu, Chief Executive Officer of USAf.
She described Dr Padayachee’s passing as a tragic loss for THENSA, the organisation she previously served and South Africa’s higher education sector at large.”
Dr Matutu said that having been at the helm of THENSA from 2016 to date, Dr Padayachee made a significant contribution to the universities of technology and other comprehensive institutions affiliated with it.
She was central and instrumental to the name change from the South African Technological Network (SATN) to the now THENSA, facilitating the most impactful partnerships and development programmes within that consortium.
Her contribution to higher education dates back to when she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic and Research at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) from 1998 to 2003.
After her time at DUT, she served as CEO of the South Africa–Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD), a doctoral research preparation programme for candidates in Africa, which evolved from an aid initiative into a model of innovation called SANTRUST. She served in this capacity for 13 years before going on to do consultancy work for another eight years after joining the SATN.
Dr Padayachee was a selfless human being who saw nothing but good in other people. “She was an astute leader with a clear vision of what she wished to achieve with THENSA,” she said.
“She was also uniquely generous, going out of her way to create opportunities for people in the sector to thrive. I only met her recently, but I formed a deeply positive impression of her.”
Dr Matutu said South Africa’s higher education sector had lost a true compatriot, a champion for transformation and redress, and a genuine capacity developer.
Students or academics are invited to apply now for a fully-funded scholarship to study a Master’s level course in Ireland.
The scholarship is named after the late ANC stalwart and human rights Professor Kader Asmal, a former government leader in education and water who spent time in Ireland during exile.
The Embassy of Ireland administers a full scholarship to study at a Master’s level at an institution in Ireland. The KAFP is a fully-funded scholarship opportunity offered to South African students to look at the Master’s level in Ireland’s world-renowned Higher Education Institutions.
This flagship programme of the Embassy of Ireland in South Africa is part of the broader Ireland-Africa Fellows Programme offered by Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs. The Kader Asmal Fellowship Programme is targeted at early career professionals in South Africa with leadership potential.
The scholarship broadly supports leadership for the Sustainable Development Goals, and supporting the development of women’s leadership capacity and women’s participation in STEM are vital priorities.
The deadline for applications is 31 July 2023.
Ireland’s Ambassador, Fionnuala Gilsenan, said South Africa enjoys a successful partnership with universities of technologies in Ireland; in addition, there is a National Qualifications Framework shared between South Africa and Ireland, with plans to expand on regional technical colleges, which are now part of the universities of technology initiative.
The ambassador said there was enormous potential in the partnership.
THE Theatre and Performance (TAP) and Drama for Life (DfL) departments in the Wits School of Arts (WSOA) host the multi-site conference in partnership with the internationally acclaimed arts and research association, Performance Studies International (PSi).
The event takes place in Johannesburg from 2-5 August 2023.
Themed Uhambo Luyazilawula (“embodied wandering practices”), the conference highlights practices of artists and scholars with indigenous and/or migrant roots in South Africa, and it places these practices and forms of research in dialogue and exchange with the work of artists and scholars in Africa and globally.
A first for Wits University and Africa, the conference will create opportunities for network development, collaborative research and artistic co-production between African countries, African universities, and African cultural sites/hubs. This will result in the action of new studies, performances, artworks, projects and networks that will endure beyond the conference, thereby continuing the theme of journeying and mapping different spaces and cultures.
Supported by the fourth edition of the National Arts Council’s Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme, the conference takes place across six cultural sites in Johannesburg, including The Wits Theatre Complex, the Centre for the Less Good Idea, Market Theatre, Soweto Theatre, Constitution Hill, and the University of Johannesburg.
Keynote speakers and performances include Dr Mwenya Kabwe, Nondumiso Msimanga, James Ngcobo, and a keynote performance titled HOW: Showing the Making; Sibusiso Shozi. The programme also includes talks, workshops, installations, presentations, exhibitions, and performances of Isidlamlulo by the Empatheatre, Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars by Standard Bank’s Young Artist Award Winners, by the Theatre Duo, as well Mbuso Ndlovu’s Echoes of Heritage.
Associate Professor René Smith, Head of the School of Arts, says: “The conference theme is a relevant and necessary provocation within global and local contexts where freedom of movement and other human rights, as well as democracy per se, are increasingly under threat.”
“Mobility and journeying are universal and core to the human experience. ‘Embodied wandering practices’ invite us to imagine a world of inclusion and interconnectedness. We are especially pleased that the organising committee for this interdisciplinary conference includes creatives and emerging scholars from different disciplines in the Wits School of Arts.”
Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre expressed outrage, last week Thursday, in a statement, at the Western Cape High Court’s ruling on the regulation of collaboration schools, donor-funded schools, and intervention facilities introduced in the Western Cape Provincial School Education Amendment Act 4 of 2018
This follows the steady systematic introduction of collaboration and donor-funded schools, which would be granted significant freedom by the new legislation in addition to the establishment of intervention facilities for “serious misconduct: offending learners.
This would culminate in the removal of a learner from the formal education system for up to a year.
“EE has consistently advocated for regulatory frameworks that protect the best interests of learners. This formed the basis of our court challenge, which was specifically about the provisions in the Amendment Act around collaboration schools, donor-funded schools, and intervention facilities that were vague, inconsistent with the Constitution and in conflict with the South African Schools Act,” the NGO said in a statement.
The Western Cape Education Department’s Collaboration Schools project reflects the commitment of the Western Cape Government to innovation, as it explores all options for improving opportunities for all citizens, especially in poor communities.
The project is one of a range of pro-poor initiatives by the WCED designed to improve the quality of education in our poorest schools, the department said.
The NGO said it would study the judgement and set out a subsequent media statement at a later time, still to be determined.
Minister of Higher Education, Science Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, has launched the first comprehensive National Tracer Study of Doctoral Graduates in South Africa.
“Our current National Tracer Study of Doctoral Graduates in South Africa is the first such comprehensive study by the government and our higher education institutions and research institutions,” said the Minister.
Speaking at the launch last Friday, he said previous studies were limited in focus and scope, thus not systemic and never zoomed into specific sectors, certain disciplines or even lower qualification levels.
Building on the Water Research Commission’s capabilities in conducting the Tracer study of Water PhDs in South Africa, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) assigned Water Research Commission (WRC) as the project manager for this National PhD Tracer study.
“Through this launch, we aim at the dissemination of key study findings and recommendations, as well as stimulating a discussion with key stakeholder groups, be it government, business, higher education institutions, civil society, and students, on the value of the PhDs in society and the economy,” said Nzimande.
Present at the launch were the DSI Director-General, Dr Phil Mjwara; DSI Deputy Director General Research, Development and Support, Imraan Patel; DDG from both DSI and DHET; Representatives and leaders of Science Councils; National Research Institutions, particularly Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, the CEO of the WRC which partnered with the DSI on this study; and Drs Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, and Phethiwe Matutu, the CEOs of the NRF and USAf, respectively; Prof. Johann Mouton, the Director of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Scientometrics and STI Policy (SciSTIP), who led the research team; including representative of the private and business sectors, among other stakeholders.
Nzimande said the correlation between the weighted number of PhDs, as in the number of PhDs per million of the population and the country’s economic and innovation performance is well established globally.
With the pivotal role that PhDs play in the country’s socioeconomic development, he added that South Africa has not empirically demonstrated and domesticated this cause-and-effect relationship.
“The question is, have we, as South Africa, empirically traced the socio-economic impact of our PhDs?
Both the Department of Science and Innovation’s White Paper on STI and the STI Decadal plan seek to expand the research enterprise by supporting more PhDs and building a solid pipeline of human capabilities.“
Nzimande said the tracing of PhD holders/graduates into their careers and occupations in different sectors, including the entrepreneurial industry, is essential and justified given that the PhD is an apex qualification obtained after a considerable amount of investments (of upwards of 20 years) in learning, teaching and supervision support, mainly at the State’s or tax-payers expense.
Advanced countries have been conducting studies to trace the mobility and careers of PhD holders. The EU countries, for example, have commissioned these studies under the general theme or title of the “Mobility and Careers of Doctorate holders” – to trace what is called the “stock and flows” of PhDs in and out of different sectors and EU member state countries.
With a significant portion of PhDs enrolled and graduating from South African universities coming from outside SA and with SA having positioned itself as a PhD training destination, especially for the continent, it is thus important for the country to answer questions relating to the brain gain, brain drain or brain circulation of these highly skilled human resources and human capabilities.
“I want to avoid going into details by immersing myself in the findings and recommendations of the study, but as a system, we have been concerned with both the supply and demand side of the PhDs,” said the Minister.
“While we were making strides and successive leaps in increasing the numbers of PhDs graduating annually from our universities, the question of the absorptive capacity of these PhDs by the country’s economy has been lurking in the background.”
This study reflects on the PhD absorptive capacity of the private sector, the public research system and higher education institutions.
Most importantly, this PhD tracer study will be a useful input into that digital platform even though the National PhD Tracer study is open to more than just NRF-funded students.
“As the Department entrusted with driving research and innovation, we pride ourselves in using well-researched data and evidence in making decisions about critical policy issues or interventions,” Nzimande concluded.
The Department of Science and Innovation has launched National Science Week 2023 under the theme “Building a Culture of evidence-based practice.”
The National Science Week will run from 31 July to 5 August 2023.
South Africa is currently considered one of the most technologically advanced countries in Africa and was rated the most innovative region in sub-Saharan Africa in the 2022 Global Innovation Index.
“We continue to advance our position among the world’s scientifically and technologically advanced countries, and we are working hard to profile our scientific achievements.
“South Africa and the entire world have challenges that require us to advance science, technology, and innovation expeditiously. As the Dept of Science and Innovation, we have committed ourselves to using science, technology, and innovation as catalysts for faster and inclusive economic growth, in the short and longer term, as per the National Development Plan,” said Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science Innovation.
Come 31 July 2023, the only noise in our country should be about science! National Science Week.
Inside Education Foundation, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to youth development and empowerment, is proud to announce the launch of the 2023 100 South African Shining Stars, to coincide with late struggle icon Tata Nelson Mandela.
The Foundation is calling for nominations of exceptional young individuals who epitomises the values of Madiba by making a significant impact in their respective communities.
The annual 100 SA Shining Stars initiative aims to recognize game changers, disruptors, innovators, and high-potential professionals under the age of 35 who are shaping the future of South Africa. By highlighting their achievements and contributions, Inside Education Foundation aims to inspire and empower other young people across the country.
“We believe the youth are the driving force behind positive change in our society,” said Matuma Letsoalo, chairman of the Inside Education Foundation.
Letsoalo added: “Through the South African Shining Stars initiative, we want to celebrate and honour the extraordinary achievements of the young ambassadors, who are making a real difference in their communities. We encourage all South Africans to nominate deserving individuals who exemplify excellence and dedication.”
Nominations are open to achievers from all provinces in South Africa who are actively contributing to community development in various fields, including:
Education
Health
Sport & Recreation
Justice & Law
Arts, Culture, Media and Entertainment
Science & Technology
Business & Entrepreneurship
Environment
Civil Society and Youth Activism
Philanthropy
Politics & Governance
Transport & Tourism
To nominate a deserving candidate or self-nominate, participants are invited to click here and complete the easy and quick nomination process. Nominees must be South African ID holders between the ages of 18 and 35, and their work and vision should have had a tangible impact on their communities and South Africa as a whole.
The nomination period opens on 18 July 2023 and will close on 30 September 2023. A distinguished panel of adjudicators will select the 2023 100 SA Shining Stars finalists.
“It really takes a village to produce a UP Professor,” said University of Pretoria Deputy Dean of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof Tivani Mashamba-Thompson, in her inaugural address last Wednesday.
In her address, the respected awarding-winning Prof paid tribute to her grandfather, who dared to dream that his grandchildren would one day be leaders in their fields.
She said that despite having no formal educational qualifications, working as a security officer in Johannesburg, leaving his family in rural Limpopo where access to quality education was limited, he made sacrifices and supplemented his salary through side hustles to send her mother to boarding school and teachers training college.
“Following that, he ensured that she had a better start in life by building her a comfortable starter home for her and her children. I dedicate this inaugural lecture to my late grandfather Father Frank Maluleke and to all the people who ensured that his dream came true.”
She was grateful too for the influence of her role model mom, Mihloti Mashamba, inspirational late grandmother Florah Maluleke, husband Rowan Thompson and children, Gabrielle Thompson, M’hloti Thompson and Frank Thompson.
She also thanked the university leadership and praised mentor Prof Thabane, colleagues, and FHS executives, with a special mention to Dean Prof de Jager, “who puts up with having his lunch break disturbed every time I want to share something that cannot wait for him to finish his lunch and a constant request for selfies”.
Democratising healthcare access in Sub-Saharan Africa through research conducted by teams in Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa and globally since 2015 was the focus of her lecture.
“The ultimate goal of our research is to democratise healthcare access through REASSURED diagnostics,” said Prof Mashamba-Thompson in her address on 11 July at the Tswelopele Building, Lecture Hall 1, attended by the university’s top brass.
REASSURED is an acronym that stands for Real-time connectivity, Ease of specimen collection, Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Robust and Equipment accessible and Delivered to end users. The REASSURED criteria guide the research focus on POC diagnostics.
Prof Mashamba-Thompson, on 10 March, received a Bronze Scientific Achievement Award in recognition of her excellence in research from the South African Medical Research Council.
Dignitaries present at the inaugural lecture included Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academics Prof Loretta Feris, FHS Dean, Prof Tiaan de Jager, FHS Deputy Dean Teaching & Learning Prof Vanessa Steenkamp, FHS Deputy Dean Research and Postgraduate Education Prof Flavia Senkubuge, as well as FHS School Chairs. Interim Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Mosia and Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Education, Prof Sunil Maharaj, attended virtually.
She said access to high-quality and timely diagnostic services is essential for strengthening health systems.
However, Prof Mashamba-Thompson, cautioned that diagnostics services have traditionally received limited attention in global health compared to drug discovery and vaccine development.
Inadequate diagnostic systems and inequitable access to reliable tests often contribute to poor health outcomes, especially in settings with limited access to laboratory infrastructure.
However, she noted that Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics have emerged as a promising healthcare innovation to address these challenges. POC diagnostics are near-patient diagnostic devices that provide rapid results to guide clinical decisions.
Prof Mashamba-Thompson said the World Health Organization had defined criteria which should be met by POC diagnostics used in resource-limited settings.
“We have identified that there is limited focus on sustainability of POC diagnostic tests that are deployed in resource-limited settings and limited focus on local infrastructure capability for sustainable delivering REASSURED POC diagnostic tests to end users.”
As part of the research, Prof Mashamba-Thompson recommended an increase in research resources investment on research focused on advancing local development and sustainable implementation of POC diagnostics that meet the WHO’s REASSURED criteria to ensure sustainable quality service delivery to improve health outcomes of underserved populations.
The research focus employs an implementation science approach to assess whether POC diagnostics, used in various SSA settings, meet the REASSURED criteria.
The Prof noted that tests must be connected to health data platforms in real-time to enable the reading of test results to provide required data to clinical decision-makers and for disease surveillance. Combining high-quality point-of-care (POC) diagnostics devices with mobile health technologies offers novel ways to diagnose, track and control infectious diseases and improve the health system’s efficiency.
“Our Nature Review examined the promise of these technologies and discusses the challenges in realizing their potential to increase patient’s access to testing, guide clinical decisions and improve the capability of public health authorities to monitor outbreaks, implement response strategies and assess the impact of interventions worldwide,” she added.
One of the key outcomes of the research relates to affordability. She added that tests should be affordable to end-users and the health system.
“The affordability of POC tests to end users and health systems is paramount. Globally, vulnerable populations face healthcare challenges such as limited access to diagnostics and poorer health outcomes,” she said.
Prof Mashamba-Thompson added that these challenges are more pronounced among vulnerable populations from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the health system is fraught with inadequacies and lack of resources.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers observed the financial challenges faced by the public health sector under pressure to meet the increasing need for tests. Fortunately, the private health sector played a crucial role in expanding COVID-19 testing capacity.
Prof Mashamba-Thompson acknowledged that the presented research emanated from the work that was done by the team that she led in UKZN and UP in partnership with the University of Washington, University College London, McMaster, McGill University and Imperial College London.
“Our POC diagnostics research will also incorporate non-invasive sampling technologies, and we are collaborating with Prof Ashleigh Theberge’s lab at Washington University. We also plan to work on diagnostics for precision medicine, which will be enabled by our collaboration with the NuMeRi under Prof Sathekge’s leadership.
She said the team was also partnering with Edinburgh University to create a WHO collaborating platform for POC Diagnostics in SSA.
A partnership has also been reached with American multinational medical devices and health care company Abbott for a multi-country HCV POC diagnostics performance evaluation study, which started in West Africa, represented by Ghana.
On Mandela Day, 18 July, South Africans are encouraged to give up 67 minutes of their time to help others.
But due to the many problems South Africans face and the ever-increasing unemployment rate, more than 67 minutes is needed to address these issues.
Mandela’s vision was for a just and fair society where every citizen had equal rights and opportunities. When addressing these issues, we should focus on meaningful and sustainable efforts.
Unemployment represents a significant challenge that South Africa faces today. It occurs when individuals actively seeking employment need more opportunities to secure jobs.
Unfortunately, a significant portion of our country’s unemployed population comprises young people aged 15 to 24. As Mandela Day approaches, we must come together to address this pressing issue and empower our youth.
Statistics reveal that a staggering 10 million young South Africans are currently unemployed. This number emphasises the urgent need for action. Unemployment, if addressed, can lead to a host of negative consequences.
One of the key factors contributing to unemployment is the legacy of apartheid, which has resulted in the uneven distribution of job opportunities across the country. To combat this, we must focus on creating new avenues for employment.
Embracing renewable energy sources could help address the adverse effects of load shedding and create employment opportunities for the youth.
Equipping young people with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary for farming allows them to generate income while fostering self-sufficiency.
Skills shortages are another critical aspect that needs to be addressed.
The government should allocate a substantial portion of funds towards providing unemployed youth with the necessary materials, tools, knowledge, and skills required in sectors experiencing skill gaps.
By bridging these gaps, we create a more inclusive workforce that can meet the demands of various industries.
On Mandela Day, we must unite to empower our youth and create sustainable job opportunities.
Let us honour Nelson Mandela’s legacy by working towards a South Africa where unemployment is a thing of the past and every citizen has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to our nation’s success.
‘South Africa talks a great deal but lacks a great deal of implementation capacity.’
This was the opinion of Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of the United Nations University and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, during a policy debate around unemployment held at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Future Africa Institute in Hatfield, Pretoria.
The debate, themed ‘Rethinking traditional approaches to tackling unemployment in South Africa: Exploring feasible, well-designed grant-based approaches for the unemployed to complement active labour-market policies’, was hosted by Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme and independent research forum Econ3x3.
SA-TIED is a programme that looks at ways to support policy-making for inclusive growth and economic transformation in the southern Africa region through original research in collaboration with the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), South Africa’s National Treasury, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and other governmental and research organisations in the region.
Econ3x3 is an independent forum for critical public debate on unemployment and employment, income distribution, and inclusive growth in South Africa, and it publishes accessible research-based contributions and expert commentaries.
The debate at UP encouraged an analysis of the success of grant-based approaches to tackling unemployment in other developing countries.
Participants suggested that South Africa could learn from other countries by assessing the relationships between grants and active labour market policies and how, collectively, these can boost employment.
“Many of the things I heard during this debate are quite important, and they are worth repeating, but I have to add that this is not the first time I am hearing these sentiments,” said Prof Marwala, who is also a UP alumnus and the former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg.
We are starting not from point zero but from negative.
“My message to South Africa and South Africans is that it is time to implement. We do talk quite a great deal about implementation capacity. We need to start doing things. And I am reminded of what the first Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, once said: ‘Like never before, we need thinkers of great thoughts; like never before, we need doers of great deeds.’ It is time for us to start doing.”
He said South Africa’s struggles with implementation stem from a pressing shortage of technical capacity, which can be easily seen in the inadequate skill sets among the country’s political groupings.
“Go and look at some of the layers of our government. Go to local governments. I come from Limpopo province in Thohoyandou, and we can see that we need engineers to be able to run that municipality,” Prof Marwala said.
“Where will we get them because we do not train enough technically skilled people in South Africa? They do not want to go and live in rural areas, and we need to change that mindset. But we also need to expand our training process.”
“Secondly, organisational and managerial skills are something that we need to develop actively, but we need to start at a young age. The idea that somebody can suddenly start knowing what needs to be done when they have just graduated from university is false.
“Education starts in our homes at the earliest of ages, and we need to be actively involved in making sure that we have a cohort of cadres who are equal to the task when it comes to confronting the problems that we are facing as a society.”
Discussing timelines for when South Africa should implement solutions, Prof Marwala said: “We obviously ought to have known in the past. Today is too late. It needs to have been done in the past. When should we start? We should start now. And we should know that we are beginning not from point zero but from negative. We have lost time. We have lost ground. This is urgent. Our people want jobs. Our people want prosperity. We need to have good roads. We need to once and for all replace informal settlements with decent living areas for our people. We need to fix our education and health systems.
