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What do societies expect from the SRC?

Katherine Weber

to educate people on what these terms mean. While representatives of BOLD believe that the SRC should be available to talk to students

With SRC elections introducing a new SRC, an opportunity about issues that they are facing on and off campuses that might for change is in the air. Each new SRC has an opportunity hinder their academic performance in any way. to improve on the work of the SRC that came before With this need for increased communication, come the issues them, and to serve the students in the best way that they can. As that are being voiced by students themselves. Certain members they represent the majority of the student populace in various believe that SRC members will be better equipped to serve students ways-such as religious beliefs, social by attending meetings or by being in justice issues, as well as various direct communication with the executive disadvantaged communities, PDBY sought to speak to a handful of student organisations on what they want to see from the new SRC. “Each new SRC has an opportunity to improve committees to target issues and make campuses and campus life more safe and accommodating for students who face issues or have certain disabilities. Collaboration Upon speaking to societies like Up&Out, BOLD and the Muslim on the work of the between the SRC and societies is believed to be the way forward to solving key issues, Student Association (MSA), communication and accessibility is SRC that came before says Archie Mdluli, a member of the BOLD society. a common issue that these societies want to see improvement in more them, and to serve the While the SRC cannot be involved in every society or go to every meeting than anything else. Societies like students in the best held by the executive managements of BOLD and Up&Out, who advocate each society, there has been a call for the for disabled students and the queer way that they can Societies Portfolio to be more involved community respectively, deal with with student societies.New societies and social and environmental issues that even old societies have faced administration need to be addressed by the SRC. With the introduction of gender issues that have gone unanswered by the current SRC such as the neutral pronouns to the university’s online interface, Up&Out registering of new societies like the Palestinian Solidarity Committee expressed a concern for certain lecturers who didn’t quite understand (PSC-UP), who still face issues with no response from the current what these terms meant and felt that the SRC should be doing more SRC.

Race relations among students and fighting racism

Illustration: Cassandra Eardley

Mothusi Mokalane

South African tertiary institutions are often a place to explore and discuss race relations and dynamics, especially given our history as South Africans. The question that we never really focus our energies on is whether not taking an active stand against racism is unintentionally supportive of it.

Racism in South African universities is alive and kicking. Students experience racism from fellow students and the university staff. Steven Collings and Neeshi Singh-Pillay conducted a study titled “Racism on a South African campus: A survey of students’ experiences and attitudes” to determine the degrees of racism experienced by students in South African tertiary institutions. The study revealed that in a sample size of 433 students, 242 respondents (55.9%) reported that they had experienced a total of 926 racial incidents on campus in the 12-month period reviewed. The majority of these experiences (71%) involved discriminatory behaviours, with members of the university staff being the modal perpetrators (56% of all incidents). Collings and Singh-Pillay write that “although racial experiences elicited a range of negative reactions - becoming upset, fearful, or angry - none of the incidents had been reported to campus authorities”. Respondents’ racial attitudes were found to vary as a function of both gender (males being more likely to endorse racist statements) and race (white students scoring highest on a measure of old-fashioned racism and Indian and white students scoring highest on a measure of modern racism).

Nontsikelelo Loteni, the University of Pretoria’s Transformation Office Director, explained that the University has taken a zero tolerance stance against any form of discrimination, including racism. “We raise awareness to encourage everyone to speak against racism or any form of discrimination”. Loteni went on to indicate that inasmuch as freedom of speech is a human right that any person can exercise, no one can be forced to speak on any issue if they feel they do not want to engage on the matter. The university does hoewever raise awareness and encourage students and staff - irrespective of race - to speak against racism and discrimination.

Loteni believes in persuading and educating people rather than criticising them. “Criticising a person won’t lead to any change whereas educating them is an opportunity to persuade them for change”, said Loteni.

Speaking out against racism is somewhat an expectation and duty that we all have, we especially have this expectation of people with influence to speak out. The university motivates anyone to speak out through a platform called #SpeakOutUP, an organisation that condemns discrimination and helps to create a conducive environment for all. Loteni indicated that the University of Pretoria has an anti-discrimination policy in place and the Transformation Office has measures and platforms that one can turn to, should they encounter any form of discrimination. The Transformation Office will investigate the case after a report is lodged in. Additionally, Loteni put forward that, through UP Enterprises, staff can request to attend diversity training.

To report any case of discrimination, students and staff can contact the Transformation Office Director at Nontsikelelo. loteni@up.ac.za and the Acting Manager of the Office at Sarah. matseke@up.ac.za.

News Bites

Katherine Weber and Manelisi Maphela

UP Veterinary student wins Global Research Prize

A UP veterinary science student has won the 2021 Prize for Global Research of the Province of Antwerp for his thesis on viral diseases in African hoofed animals. Dr Hendrik Swanepoel, a South African veterinarian, completed his Master’s degree through a collaborative programme between the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science and Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, Belgium.

How the pandemic has affected the world of art

During Heritage Month, the CEO of the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria, Lekgetho Makola, spoke about how the pandemic has hit the art world and how galleries have had to adapt by using online platforms to display art. Makola spoke about the importance of art and the importance of the centre in trying to create a PanAfricanist artistic experience and making that experience accessible. The centre has started doing live streamed tours managed by staff and have set up interactive sessions where staff members and the public are able to speak to artists about their work.

UP Lecturer wins World Building Congress competition

Karen Botes, a UP architecture lecturer, has won the World Building Congress 2022 abstract competition. The competition requires participants to write a 300 word abstract that relates to building for the future. The purpose of this competition is to connect the international building community to discuss their latest research. Botes’s submission was chosen out of 900 abstracts and was similar to the ideas expressed in the literature review for her PhD study in Landscape Architecture.

Prof. Robert Miller wins a TWAS Award

Professor Robert Millar, Director of the Centre for Neuroendocrinology at UP Centre, was awarded by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for 2020. TWAS awards are presented to scientists from developing countries in acknowledgement of their contribution to the science field. The World Academy of Sciences aims for the advancement of science in developing countries and the promotion of “sustainable prosperity through research, education, policy and diplomacy”.