18 May 2015 Issue 10 Year 77

#WhosMyPresident: Rassie answers Twitter questions

Oesdag 2015

pg. - 3

pg. - 9

Jaguars embrace a new chance of victory

pg. - 12

Assisted Suicide: All right or dead wrong?

pg. - 7

Perdeby

Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks

18May2015

year77issue10

More Serrie pictures on the Perdeby website

Serrie 2015 winners Taaibos and Magrietjie. Photos: Kaylyn O’Brien

Serrie success for Magrietjie and Taaibos

ELMARIE KRUGER

On Friday 15 May residences were finally able to showcase their intricate serrie performances after several long weeks of intense practise. Serrie prelims took place on Monday 11 May for the ladies’ residences and on Tuesday 12 May for the men.

The men’s prelims were interrupted for two hours by load shedding, causing the performances to run behind schedule and resulting in some residences only finishing their performances as late as 04:00 on Wednesday morning.

This year the themes were much less dark than they were in 2014.

Instead, most residences opted for more positive and uplifting themes.

Winners for the best themes at prelims were Jasmyn for their “Women of Game of Thrones” theme and Mopanie for their “US/Mexico border crossing” theme. Mopanie also took the prize for best men’s theme at finals, while Magrietjie, whose theme was “From Russia with Love (Russian spies)”, won the prize for best ladies’ theme at finals. Erika won the prize for best reception at prelims.

The overall prelim winners were Magrietjie and Taaibos, who opted for a simple yet effective theme: pirates.

The residences who made it to finals were Magrietjie, Vividus Ladies, Zinnia, Curlitzia and Katjiepiering in the ladies’ category, TuksNaledi in the mixed res category, and Taaibos, Mopanie, Olympus,

Boekenhout and Olienhout in the men’s category.

Res students expressed surprise and delight at the fact that a Groenkloof residence made it to the final round of serrie, a first-time occurence.

The performances at finals were sharp and powerful, however the Amphitheatre only started to fill up well into the men’s performances.

“Our goal this year was specifically to promote multiculturalism. We want people to understand what multiculturalism is. [It] is not [just] to … have different languages in your serrie. [It] is to diversify [the dances], [singing] an Afrikaans or an English song [in] Sotho or Zulu, to change the format [from] a classically Afrikaans or English [serrie] to

[something] more diversified [and] progressive,” says Pieter Scribante, chairperson of Stuku. “This year we [aimed] to educate people – the participants [and] the audience – on different languages and how different songs can complement each other even though they’re not necessarily in the same language. We wanted to promote [the idea of] multiculturalism in residences, because … it promotes dialogue [and] it promotes knowledge of different cultures. In the end, we don’t want to just organise events … we want people to have a better understanding [of multiculturalism],” he adds.

Scribante said that the quality of the performances was very high. He is also content with the diverse themes,

dance moves and the progress Serrie has made this year.

The final results for Serrie 2015 saw last year’s ladies’ winners, Curlitzia, in third place. Their theme was “New York Cab Drivers”.

Katjiepiering, whose theme was “Fired Up”, placed second for the second year in a row. Magrietjie took the top spot in the ladies’ category.

They were also the overall winners of Serrie 2015. TuksNaledi, the winners in the mixed residence category, also won the prize for best mixed res theme. Their theme this year was “Confessions”. In the men’s category, Olienhout’s “Dystopian Future” serrie placed third, Mopanie placed second and Taaibos placed first, repeating their 2013 success.

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Perdeby

Editorial | 18 May 2015

Those who can, teach

www.perdeby.co.za perdeby@up.ac.za m.perdeby.co.za @perdebynews @PerdebySport @PerdebyE Tel: (012) 420 6600

Editorial Editor-in-chief Carel Willemse

carel.willemse@up.ac.za @Ed_in_Chief

Editor Michal-Maré Linden

perdeby@up.ac.za @MicsLinden

News Michael Bongani Reinders

news@perdeby.co.za @Mike_Bongani

Features Leanne Cumming

features@perdeby.co.za @CummingsGoing

Entertainment Elmarie Kruger Sport Simphiwe Nhlabathi

entertainment@perdeby.co.za @elmariekr

Web Marko Svicevic

sport@perdeby.co.za @SimphiweNhlabZA webeditor@perdeby.co.za @MarkoSvicevic1

Copy Herman Hoogenboezem

copy@perdeby.co.za @hermaninoff

Layout Nikita Mokgware

layout@perdeby.co.za @nikineo

Visuals Hendro van der Merwe Multimedia Keegan Schmidt

visuals@perdeby.co.za @hendrovdm webeditor@perdeby.co.za @GraylyJoker0

Teams Layout Ashleigh Batchelor Jacob Swati Kriszti Bottyan Robyn Phillips Copy Bianca van Staden Christelle van Schalkwyk Emma Paulet Happy Mahlangu Jaco Stroebel Jessica Nogieć Rorisang Moloi Shannon Nauschutz Tshepho Mamashela Online Caleb Linden Jarred van der Westhuizen Jonathan Attfield Maxwell Kamlongera Mothusi Masibi Michael Smit Peter-John Hamilton Thabang Letageng Tayisiya Rozova

I’m still in the process of recovering from Serrie this past week. Thirteen consecutive performances is not for the faint-hearted and having to perform at finals still locked down by day-three stiffness is not easy. What impressed me most this year, though, was that Zinnia made finals and with that made Groenkloof history as the first education campus res to ever do so.

The fact that Zinnia had achieved this struck me because of several different conversations I’ve had over the last two weeks. The first of these was a tweet by a former schoolmate of mine that said that

From the Editor he felt sad seeing classmates of ours that matriculated with six or more distinctions studying teaching as he thought it was a waste of talent. I called him a nasty name in my head (his statement made me angry) and then asked him why he felt that way. He explained that money and recognition was more important to him. I felt sorry for him because he’s obviously never read The Great Gatsby. If you’ve never read the book, here’s your epiphany for the week: it’s not about the number of people at your party but the number of people at your funeral that matters. I can tell you that I won’t be attending his funeral one day, even if he had tons of money, but you can bet that I will go out of my way to attend the funerals of several of my teachers.

I then had a conversation with my best friend, who is studying to be an English teacher. She told me that many students studying towards education are ashamed to admit it because of the stigma around the profession and the idea that if you can’t “make it”, you become a teacher.

She herself has been met with many negative responses when she explains what she’d like to do when leaving varsity.

The last conversation was between my residence’s serrie group. In my first year, like those studying education, many were embarrassed to even admit they lived in Katjiepiering. Katjie was the butt of jokes and was generally thought of as a failure. But then last year saw them break into Serrie finals as the underdogs and even place. Since then, the attitude of the residents of Katjie has been noticeably different. There is actually such a thing as Katte pride now.

I hope this transformation is something that is currently happening within Zinnia. Groenkloof residences are too often the butt of jokes and even our Pssst… column. Being a residence that generally houses ladies studying education, I hope that they realise they are even more

valuable than they thought, having proved that they have the strength to break tradition. I also hope that they realise that they can be the inspiration the other Groenkloof residences need to start performing. I believe they can.

Education is so vital to progress. I really hope one day my children won’t be taught by someone who merely scraped a pass in the subject they teach, but over-achieved in it.

In a world where there is less and less parent input into children’s lives, a teacher’s impact becomes even greater in raising a child that can think for themselves and is responsible for themselves. While my schoolmate may have deserved being unfollowed, he did highlight that our teacher’s do deserve more recognition and a better salary if they’re doing their jobs correctly.

If we want incredible teachers, the students studying education need to brilliant too. If this is the case, surely our Groenkloof residences should be the ones always achieving? This attitude change needs to come not just from us as a society but the education students themselves. They need to not back down when someone makes them feel inferior, because they’re not. They will play one of the most important roles in shaping our country’s future, and that alone is incredible.

I’m glad to see Zinnia has taken this step towards a new attitude and I hope their belief in themselves continues to grow. I also hope to see more underdogs excel this year and in the years to come. I also hope that you start considering education students as someone who will impact your child and that you’ll start encouraging them to become better.

Tell an education student they’re wonderful this week!

Michal

Letter

SRC deputy president apologises for EFF behaviour This is a formal apology from myself, Luvuyo Menziwa, the SRC deputy president, to Busisiwe [Beje], the Perdeby journalist who was attacked by a number of EFF members during a meeting when the EFF was supposed to have launched a branch at the Groenkloof campus where her phone was forcefully taken and a recording was deleted due to miscommunication and misunderstanding. I understand that as deputy president of the SRC it is within my duties to ensure that students feel represented and safe around me, therefore I should have acted better as I was in the same venue with Busisiwe and the EFF members during that meeting. I therefore take full responsibility

Cartoon of the week

on behalf of the SRC and apologise for the inappropriate behaviour and misconduct of the EFF members. As a member of the EFF, I apologise on behalf of the EFF as we’ll be considering the fact that the EFF condemns any form of discrimination, abuse and victimisation against women. Therefore, we would like to say we are sorry and guarantee that such behaviour and misconduct won’t take place again. Please consider accepting my apology.

Regards SRC deputy president Luvuyo Menziwa

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Copyright Perdeby is printed by Paarlmedia. All rights reserved. Contributions are welcome. All due care will be taken with materials submitted, but Perdeby and printers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage. The editor reserves the right to edit, amend or alter in any way deemed necessary.

Perdeby cannot be responsible for unsolicited material. The opinions expressed in Perdeby are not necessarily those of the editors and printers of Perdeby.

Illustration: Faith Honey

@PerdebyE

18 May 2015 | News

3

Afriforum and Daso lay complaint against Sasco and Rassie MICHAEL BONGANI REINDERS Following the recent #TuksSoWhite Twitter campaign by Sasco, Afriforum have lain a complaint against Sasco and University of Pretoria SRC President Mosibudi “Rassie” Rasethaba.

The complaint was delivered to university management along with a list of demands, asking them to take steps to address the issue. Their demands were: that organisations like Sasco, the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) and the Anti-Racism Forum’s (ARF) policies are urgently

investigated, that action needs to be taken against the organisations involved, specifically Sasco and the ARF over their comments in the matter of #TuksSoWhite, that an investigation is made into the involvement of the SRC and specifically Rasethaba and his support of the #TuksSoWhite campaign, and that the SRC must also make a public apology.

In a press release, Afriforum thanked UP management for undertaking to address the issues which were communicated to them.

The issues arose after the campaign

spread on Twitter citing UP as a racist institution that only catered for white students and didn’t accommodate black students.

After meeting with Afriforum, Rasethaba said that the #TuksSoWhite campaign must be viewed in context by white students and that he fully supports the campaign. He further stated that if a #TuksSoBlack campaign existed then it would be deemed as racist by the SRC. In response to the questions surrounding his support of the campaign, Rasethaba tweeted, “Also I had not said publicly before that I

support #TuksSoWhite, but maybe today I might as well say it. I support #TuksSoWhite!” He also tweeted, “@ afriforumjeug your so called action against me will not deter students from speaking out against the racism that exists at Tuks.”

Last week a Beeld article wrote that Rasethaba admitted to Beeld that he said that black people can’t be racist.

The article also said that many people object to Rasethaba aligning his views with Sasco and the EFF given that he ran for SRC president as an independent candidate.

Daso was also involved in the

process of laying a complaint against Sasco and Rasethaba. Adrian Eckard, the SRC secretary, stated that he wants Rasethaba to be replaced.

When asked for comment, Tumelo “Duke” Rasebopye the SRC member with the marketing, media and communication portfolio stated, “The SRC is still discussing the complaint and has taken to do a thorough investigation of the issues tabulated in the complaint before making any conclusive commentary on the matter”. Rasethaba declined to comment on the matter.

Image: Societies at Tuks Facebook page

A tweet showing that the UP website still names 2014 SRC president Enwee Human as the current SRC president. Image: Twitter

#WhosMyPresident: Rassie answers Twitter’s questions JODY DAVISON AND MICHAEL BONGANI REINDERS There has recently been discontent with SRC presidents at various universities around the country. In light of this, last week a hashtag called #WhosMyPresident began on Twitter. This hashtag referred to University of Pretoria SRC president Mosibudi “Rassie” Rasethaba and was accompanied by many questions which tweeters directed at Rasethaba.

Perdeby took some of the questions that were asked on Twitter and posed them to Rasethaba directly. The questions focused on issues regarding the SRC as well as Rasethaba, with many drawing attention to the fact that the photos and portfolios of the new SRC have not yet been updated on their website. In response to this, Rasethaba said, “The SRC member responsible for the updating of the

website (Tumelo Duke Rasebopye) only received the website training just over two weeks ago, which allowed him access to the site for updating and the editing of the site.”

He further said, “The upgrading of the website is most at fault for the delays in updating the SRC’s page. Firstly, during the upgrading process there was a lengthy period when no one had access to their web pages. Secondly, the upgrade period extended into the current year and term of the SRC, resulting in a delay in the training of all those who were to receive access and training to navigate their pages.”

When told that students want to know who their president is, Rasethaba said, “I believe that students are aware of who their president is.” Another common question which was asked was, “How much power does the SRC possess to affect change in the lives

of students?” Rasethaba responded to this question saying, “That depends on what the particular change is. The university bureaucracy and powers that be are sometimes resistant to seeing change as advocated by students, making it difficult for the SRC to effectively serve the students.

Greater participation by the student body in SRC activities and projects also strengthens the SRC’s ability to affect change in the lives of students.”

Another question that Rasethaba responded to was, “Does the SRC represent us or does it merely exist to fulfil a mandate given to the university by the department of higher education?” by saying, “The SRC’s primary goal is to represent students.”

Finally, Rasethaba responded to the question of when the next student forum meeting will be, saying that it will be on 21 May.

UP societies registration woes MICHAL-MARÉ LINDEN On 12 May the Societies at Tuks Facebook page posted a statement saying that “all emails have been sent out between 20 and 22 April regarding the registration for societies.” This comes after 21 societies were denied registration for 2015. Berto Schoeman, chairperson of the Society for Current Global Affairs, who were also denied registration, claimed that this was untrue as he had not received any communication.

“We had to repeatedly go to Roosmaryn and ask for the email to be sent out and only after a week of complaining and finally asking her [Fundiswa Sizani, the administrative officer of the SRC] to send the email out in front of us did we manage to get it,” says Schoeman’s comment on the Societies at Tuks Facebook post. This comment was backed up

by Jenna Fulcher, secretary of the Wine Tasting Society, who found out that the Wine Tasting Society had been denied re-registration through the article “No use crying over spilt wine” published in the last edition of Perdeby.

The statement was then removed from the page. Schoeman reposted a screen shot of the original statement on the Tuks SRC page asking why the statement was removed. The Tuks SRC page commented on this post, explaining that the statement was deleted to be replaced with edited information, namely that, “All formal means of communication is meant to be sent through the SRC secretary Ms Sizani according to the constitution.

All societies were supposed to have been informed about the registration on 20-22 April.” The SRC apologised for the miscommunication or no communication, as explained that it was the responsibility of the secretary to send out all emails.

Schoeman confirmed that since 12 May he has not received any further communication from the SRC. Schoeman said that someone needs to take responsibility for the miscommunication, and that the SRC needs to have the students’ best interests at heart. Michelle Kruger, the SRC member with the societies portfolio, confirmed the process and expressed her dissatisfaction that the emails were not delivered.

4

News | 18 May 2015

Considering community engagement and student needs

Image: Facebook

JODY DAVISON

Tuks students found a pleasant surprise at the main entrance of the university on Friday morning. A man was standing outside the university with a sign encouraging students to smile. He told a passerby that the main reason he decided to do this was to make a tiny difference in the world. He said he knows that students are stressed, especially because it’s almost exam time. He added that because of all the violence that is present in our country, he wanted to show people that there is still hope and happiness around. Image: Facebook

Students have recently raised the issue of student apathy on campus. An open discussion about student needs and community engagement on campus was hosted by TuksRag and TuksLaw Legal Shebeen. The discussion took place on 8 May at 17:00 and was held in the SRC chambers. The discussion was centred on three presentations which took place.

In the discussion, TuksLaw Legal Shebeen facilitated a platform for discussion revolving around socially pressing topics and applying a legally relevant perspective on them.

Peter Kamlongera, the TuksRag chairperson, was the first to speak and dealt with “the various students needs that exist based on different factors such as cultural backgrounds, income

Intervarsity news MARKO SVICEVIC University of Witwatersrand (Wits) MJL Electrical workers marched to the Wits Senate Hall on 14 May, making an impassioned plea to the Wits vice-chancellor, Prof. Adam Habib, and management. They handed in a petition and letter to the Wits management. In the letter they accuse the university of not doing enough to help them. MJL workers have been in a salary dispute with the company’s owner, George Cresswold, since last year.

Wits management has responded to the situation by stating that it is not the university’s responsibility to ensure jobs for workers but added that it was ready to support the workers with their legal battle against Cresswold.

Wits students have given vicechancellor Prof. Adam Habib 48 hours to reinstate ousted Wits president Mcebo Dlamini. Dlamini was removed from office as SRC president last week after being found guilty of misconduct. Wits student and political parties have added that the university will become ungovernable if their demands are not met by Friday 15 May.

Dlamini also voiced his opinion on the matter with several Facebook posts.

Among others, Dlamini added that failure to meet the demands of students will bring Wits to a standstill.

University of Stellenbosch Students at the University of Stellenbosch marched to the university administration building and handed over a list of demands to vicechancellor Prof. Wim de Villiers on 13 May. Among the claims made by the students was that the university’s language policy excludes students who do not speak Afrikaans. After two hours of protests, the group’s demand to speak with vice-rector Prof. Arnold Schoonwinkel was finally met. Prof.

Schoonwinkel said that the university is committed to transformation and that the university management will be meeting up with the group on Wednesday to hear their complaints.

University of Cape Town (UCT) UCT has suspended a student over a racial altercation. Chumani Maxwele was involved in a confrontation with a UCT staff member on 1 May. He was subsequently accused of harassing, threatening and racially attacking the staff member. Maxwele, who notably led the Rhodes Must Fall campaign that resulted in the removal of the Cecil John Rhodes statue, said in a statement

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levels [and] gender.” Kamlongera also addressed the need for student mobilisation. He explained that part of the discussion’s aim was to remind “students of their individual moral obligations to better their communities as a whole through a mobilised movement”. Anthonieta Boni, a Legal Shebeen representative who attended the discussion, said that what did come out of the discussion was that “there is a great responsibility on us as students to engage more in community programs aimed at bettering the lives of our fellow students.” Boni added that during the discussion UP’s constitution was questioned as to whether the constitution “represents students holistically or if it only represents a particular group.”

The second presentation was

done by Raphael Chitambira, a co-director of the Legal Shebeen.

Chitambira spoke about “the statutory considerations and hindrances that should be taken into account when addressing community engagement and student needs.” Chitambira said that “when TuksRag approached us to give a legal perspective on the issue of community engagement and social consciousness, we were naturally inclined to assist them.”

The last speaker was Gernia van Niekerk, from the Department of Community Engagement, who spoke to students about UP’s current initiatives that address student needs and about their approach to community engagement. Van Niekerk explained what the idea of “charity starts at home” means and the importance of charity starting at home. From the people that Perdeby spoke to, most felt that the discussion had a positive outcome despite the poor turnout. However Simphiwe Madungandaba, third-year LLB student who went to the discussion, thought that it was relatively progressive but “felt that there was a lack of representation, that the audience was not a true representation of the student population.”

The graduates’ merchandise concern on 14 May that he would be appealing his suspension. UCT has meanwhile announced that Maxwele would be suspended for five weeks but would still be allowed to write his June exams.

A dispute has come up again between UCT management and supporters of the Rhodes Must Fall movement. The supporters of the movement have been occupying UCT’s Avenue House for three weeks and it has been dubbed “Azania House”.

According to Chumani Maxwele, the reason behind the occupation of Avenue House is that the Rhodes Must Fall group had not been assigned office space as previously promised by UCT. University of Fort Hare The Fort Hare SRC election results were announced on 1 May, with some very unexpected outcomes. Daso, for the first time in the university’s history, claimed a 52.5% majority in the SRC elections. The results of the election come as a surprise as the university has historically been an ANC stronghold with illustrious alumni such as Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo.

Image: University of Pretoria Graduates Facebook page.

Image: University of Witwatersraand Graduates Facebook page.

MARINUS GUBITZ

and t-shirts, is priced in US dollars and is paid for using various online payment methods.

In attempt to gather more information on the matter, several graduates were contacted with regard to their interest in the merchandise.

All of them said that they did “like” the page but were not convinced and took no further action. The hoodie sales have been closed and the TeeChip site reads: “161 sold. We’ve reached our goal!” for the women’s hoodie, and indicates 66 sales for the men’s. Users can request the site to “Bring it Back” seeing as this was a limited edition offer.

There has been no confirmation on whether any of the hoodies or t-shirts bought were received by the interested parties.

UP marketing manager Nicoleze Mulder has been contacted about the matter, but had not responded at the time of going to print. A message was sent to the Facebook page if there is any official agreement between them and the university, but no reply has been received. The university’s legal department has indicated that they are aware of the page and are busy investigating.

A week prior to the 2015 UP graduation ceremonies, a Facebook page, Pretoria University Graduates, was created. A large number of UP graduates were invited to “like” the page and buy UP branded clothing.

The page was created on 17 April this year and started to grow in followers over the course of the next four weeks. The total number of “likes” is currently just over 4000.

The page’s profile picture is the UP logo and it has a photo of campus as the cover photo. A second page called University of Pretoria Graduates was also created, but has only gathered roughly 300 likes. This page bears the hoodie design as its logo.

There have been several warning signs since the launch of the page.

The first was that the merchandise is to be ordered from an online shipping site, TeeChip.com, which is the only information available on who is actually selling the merchandise. The page’s “About” section contains no information at all.

A second major concern comes with the method of payment. The merchandise, which includes hoodies

18 May 2015 | Features

5

Birth of the designer-baby era

SAVVA POUROULLIS

Following a majority vote in the House of Commons, England has become the first country to legalise a procedure that combines the genetic material of three people (that of the two parents and a third woman) in order to produce a child without a hereditary genetic defect that causes mitochondrial diseases.

The change will also pass down to future generations, completely ridding that child’s bloodline of the disease.

The so-called “three-person baby” procedure involves fertilising two embryos using the male’s sperm and one egg from each woman.

Illustration: Faith Honey

The prospective mother’s embryo will contain defective mitochondria, while the donor’s embryo will not. The mother’s embryo’s nucleus is removed and placed inside the other, healthy embryo, which has its own nucleus removed. This process preserves all of the mother’s original genetic traits, such as personality and appearance, but the diseased mitochondria are replaced by healthy ones, preventing a whole slew of diseases and problems ranging from a type of diabetes to blindness and organ failure. According to Dr Gillian Lockwood, a reproductive ethicist, the procedure would not affect “height, eye colour, intelligence [or] musicality”. Prof. Doug Turnbull, who devised the technique at Newcastle University, describes the process as involving only 0.1% of the genetic material of the donor female.

The first baby to host this modification could be born as soon as 2016.

It is a major step forward for a medical idea that has been disputed and in many cases opposed, both for safety and ethical

reasons. While the process that was legalised in the UK is different from what is typically termed “genetic modification”, it still raises questions about drawing ethical lines with regard to the modification of human beings.

In comparison, the leading technique for genetic modification in the sense of directly editing a living cell’s DNA is called Crispr, a technology inspired by bacteria defending themselves from viruses. When a virus is detected, the bacterium produces a type of enzyme that targets and cuts the invading virus’s DNA, disabling the virus. This technology has been used by scientists who use this DNAcutting enzyme (called CAS9) to snip DNA in living cells and replace parts of it with synthetic genomes. Not only is Crispr superior to previous techniques in its simplicity and precision, but it can also be used to change many genes at once, an important attribute if the technique is to be used for the treatment of more complex diseases.

The technique was invented by Dr Jennifer A. Doudna, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

The discovery of the Crispr technique has led to a sudden and unexpected new era in genome editing. The technique could be used by scientists all over the world to genetically modify human embryos, among other types of cells, with previously unattainable accuracy. If the embryos are then used in conception, such genetic modifications would be hereditary and difficult to track and reverse. There is little global or national regulation concerning the technique, making it technically legal in many parts of the world. As a result, a large group of biologists, including Dr. Doudna, have published a paper in the journal Science calling for a worldwide moratorium on using Crispr technology clinically – or on humans who will be able to pass the genetic modifications on to other generations – until tests can be developed and the process optimised.

While the technique is highly efficient compared to previous techniques, it has yet to be streamlined and approved by authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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Dr. David Baltimore, a former president of the California Institute of Technology and one of the scientists who called for the moratorium, believes human knowledge of genetics is simply too immature for such a powerful tool. To use it clinically would be to stumble around in the dark hoping for the best, says Dr. Baltimore.

While the moratorium is in effect, scientists around the world are morally bound to the wishes of the scientific community at large, but not legally. While this does not sound particularly reassuring, a similar moratorium was called in the 70s when genome editing first became possible, garnering interest among biologists all over the world. Dr. Baltimore was also a proponent of that moratorium, which he considered successful. He claims that “there is a moral authority you can assert from the US and that is what we hope to do.”

Until regulations on the gene editing tool can be established, it is likely that human experiments will be limited, and editing cells that can pass on hereditary characteristics will remain banned in over 40 countries.

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Advertorial | 18 May 2015

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Format for submission & design competition brief can be found at www.cobra.co.za

• Semi finalists will be announced in the 1st week of August 2015. • Finalists will be invited to our prestigious award ceremony where the winners from both categories will be announced, industry leaders and media will be in attendance - it will be a superb networking opportunity. CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: 6 July 2015

18 May 2015 | Features

7

Assisted suicide: all right or dead wrong?

Illustration: Faith Honey

CINDY FRIEDMAN South Africa has recently been divided in a debate concerning the topic of assisted suicide.

The debate was spurred on by a judgement made

by Pretoria High Court Judge Hans Fabricius on 30 April, allowing the terminally ill Robin Stransham-Ford to end his life with the help of his doctor. Although a controversial topic, Judge Fabricius has stood by his ruling because although the judgement would not benefit the patient himself, as he passed away just two hours before the judgement was handed down, he felt it would still benefit the citizens of South Africa.

According to a News24 article published on 5 May titled “Assisted suicide order stands, judge rules”, the main reason for allowing StranshamFord’s euthanasia was that Judge Fabricius felt that absolute prohibition on assisted suicide does not accord with the right to human dignity, freedom and security, which is protected by the South African Constitution. Instead of the sacredness of life itself being seen as paramount, he believes that the sacredness of the quality of life should rather be accentuated.

Thus, a terminally ill patient should be allowed to die with dignity if it is their wish to do so. Regarding the state’s prohibition of assisted suicide, Judge Fabricius stated, “It is noticeable, unfortunate and disturbing that societies in various parts of the world acquiesce in thousands of deaths caused by weapons of mass destruction. They tolerate horrendous murder rates in a number of countries, yearly slaughter on the roads, people dying of Aids, hunger, malnutrition, impure water and insufficient medical facilities. The state says that it cannot afford to fulfil all socio-economic demands, but it assumes the power to tell an

educated individual of sound mind who is gravely ill and about to die, that he must suffer the indignity of the severe pain, and is not allowed to die in a dignified, quiet manner with the assistance of a medical practitioner.”

Arguments such as this one only bear in mind the terminally ill individual who is requesting euthanasia, but consideration must also be given to the physician who will actually have to carry out the procedure. It is a reality that some doctors may find difficult to face, however the judgement provides that “no medical doctor is obliged to [agree] to the request of the [patient].”

Allowing euthanasia will change the medical industry in South Africa completely. Sixth-year Tuks medical student Jaco van der Westhuizen agrees that doctors should be allowed to assist in a patient’s death and said that he personally would be willing to perform euthanasia. He feels that it is a “humane way of stopping the patient’s suffering and maintaining their dignity when pain medication [can] no longer suffice. It also stops the suffering of the families who have to witness their loved ones suffering.”

When discussing the topic of euthanasia, it is important to note that there are two different ways of performing the procedure.

According to the The World Federation of Right to Die Societies, “Assisted death is a model that includes both what has been called physician-assisted ‘suicide’ and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide entails making lethal means available to the patient to be used at a time of the patient’s own choosing.

By contrast, voluntary active euthanasia entails the physician taking an active role in carrying out the patient’s request, and usually involves intravenous delivery of a lethal substance.”

One could assume that the latter, voluntary active euthanasia, could possibly take more of

Citizens stand #UpForSchool JARED DE CANHA A lack of access to basic education is not only a problem for children in South Africa, but a problem which affects children across the globe. Despite the progress which has been made following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to get all children into the classroom, millions of children worldwide still have not had this right realised.

This is why the A World at School campaign was founded in 2013. This global initiative, which has decided to make education their number one priority, has estimated that as many as 58 million children across the globe are not privileged enough to attend school, and hope to remedy this through their efforts.

With the number of children without access to education on the rise, A World at School have launched their international campaign in an attempt to magnify the efforts of countries across the globe to provide key educational opportunities to their citizens. The campaign hopes to achieve this by placing pressure on world leaders through the launch of the #UpForSchool initiative, which is aimed at prioritising education through encouraging as many global citizens as possible to sign what could potentially be the world’s biggest education petition in history. The organisation believes that the petition will provide authority which no government, politician or world leader can ignore and will demand safe and widespread educational opportunities for all children.

The campaign hopes to secure as many signatures as possible through their network of teachers, faith-based groups, businesses and private companies, foundations, NGOs, youth and social justice campaigns which span the globe, as well as through the 500 Global Youth Ambassadors who represent the campaign in 85 countries worldwide. According to the campaign’s website, these leaders, aged 14 to 29, are chosen based on their “interest, passion and dedication” to being a part of the global education solution. One such ambassador is Dennis Ngango, a UP student, News24 columnist and an Associate Fellow of the

an emotional toll on the physician as they are the ones who actively cause the patient’s death.

Sixth-year Tuks medical student Xan Smit said that he does not think it would be upsetting to play an active role in assisted suicide because the decision is not made by the doctor but by the patient himself. The doctor is still helping the patient in the same way that they would help any other sick or injured person.

There is, however, some concern that a law allowing euthanasia could be abused. Van der Westhuizen said that if the law is passed, “a bureaucratic wall will be set up with strict criteria set by the Health Professional Council of South Africa.” He does, however, feel that some doctors may be negligent and that some accusations of abuse may be made due to the high emotional state of the situation at hand.

According to a Times Live article titled “The will of the people must prevail on euthanasia law”, in 1998 Nelson Mandela asked the Law Reform Commission to research “assisted suicide and the artificial preservation of life”.

The commission favoured assisted suicide and wrote a draft bill. The bill, which was to have been debated in parliament, was given to then health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang in 1999, but nothing further was heard of it.

Royal Commonwealth Society by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust. Ngango has collected almost 300 of the approximate 5.5 million signatures since his recent appointment as a Global Youth Ambassador, and said that his support of the campaign was in aid of “the 58 million children who are out of school and the hundreds of millions more who are in school, but not learning”. Ngango also explained that education had played a vital role in helping him achieve his success, and that he identifies with the message of the A World at School campaign to provide education for all.

A World at School believes that in order to achieve their goal of providing educational opportunities to children, the campaign must tackle the barriers which prevent the advances of education. These are caused by poverty and discrimination which occur across the globe and include conflicts, emergencies and natural disasters, the practice of child labour, the practice of child marriage, discrimination based on disability, gender, and ethnicity, a lack of teachers, and a lack of funding and infrastructure. According to the campaign’s website, the actions by the countries with the highest percentages of children out of school also prevent their achievement of the goal of education. This is because more than half of the 29 countries listed as having more than 500 000 children out of school currently do not have adequate strategies, laws and conventions in place to achieve the MDG of universal primary education.

The campaign has set its sights on increasing pressure on global governments by adhering to a timeline set by the international community. Thus, the organisation has set a deadline for the end of this year and has established a #EducationCountdown movement aimed at holding the global community accountable for the completing of the implementation of the stagnant MDG. The campaign also hopes to enlist support from teachers and businesses through the creation of “Action Packs” specifically tailored to ensure that people assist in influencing the decision-makers in various communities.

A World at School have also welcomed applications for students to become Global Youth Ambassadors. Ngango has encouraged anyone interested in prioritising education to sign the petition to help reach the worldwide goal.

The movement is based on the belief that nothing changes without applying the correct pressure, and it is hoped that the combined voices of millions from across the globe will persuade world leaders to increase their efforts in ensuring that every child can exercise their right to an education, free from danger and discrimination.

South Africa is yet to find out if the Constitutional Court will formally legalise euthanasia. According to News24, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is appealing the ruling made by the Pretoria High Court. NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said that they “are disappointed with the judgment because it has far-reaching implications from a health and constitutional rights point of view, and for the powers of the NPA”. Mhaga said the order affected the powers of the NPA because they would not be able to prosecute the doctor despite euthanasia not being legal in South Africa. If the Supreme Court of Appeal allows the ruling of Judge Fabricius to stand, it could go to the Constitutional Court. This may result in a change of legislation by Parliament.

Judge Fabricius feels that the government should rather allow South Africans to have their say, as a debate will help the legislature to arrive at a better decision. For democracy to be seen to be working, the government should take this matter to the people. As with any debate of a controversial nature, there are always a number of pros and cons thrown into the mix, but hopefully the final verdict will be one that is in the best interests of our society as a whole.

8

Entertainment | 18 May 2015

Tuks band Glyph’s musical journey KYLE OBERHOLZER Glyph is not yet a familiar name to most Tuks students, however that might change this year as the local group was recently playlisted by TuksFM. The duo behind Glyph is Pam King and Jared van Damme, and Perdeby recently spoke to them about their journey so far.

Glyph is a new name in entertainment circles. Tell us about how you started. How long have you been playing for?

We knew each other from studying together at Tuks but had never really spoken. We started out because one of Pam’s best friends [Brittany Joubert], [who is] now [our] band manager, decided [that] Pam should perform live. She started a Facebook page for Pam and sent invites to her Facebook friends. Jared has been part of the music industry since high school. He knew some people who had originally offered him a gig but [then] offered it to Pam [instead]. This happened in about August 2014.

Has being playlisted by TuksFM influenced your fan base?

Being playlisted on TuksFM was a turning point for our music.

We’re extremely grateful to TuksFM for giving our music a shot and we’ve seen our fan base grow at a steady rate since we [have been] on air. Instead of [our] friends and family, our music has reached strangers and even people overseas.

Has it been tough moving into the industry and dealing with managers and record companies in search of opportunities?

Surprisingly, the journey has skyrocketed considering we’ve only been around for ten months, [and] not on a full-time basis.

We’ve had the opportunity to play at some great gigs and meet some incredible musicians, which is really exciting, and the first song we wrote and recorded made it onto radio, which is really motivational. Our manager is really amazing, and with her being

Image: Imdb.com

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck Brett Morgen ELMARIE KRUGER The opening scene of Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck looks and sounds like the exact situation this documentary’s title would suggest. It features what appears to be random shots from 60s American television intermingled with footage of Cobain’s early life and recordings so experimental that they wouldn’t seem out of place on a John Lennon and Yoko Ono collaboration album.

This mosaic of sights and sounds plunges the viewer deep into the psyche of the cryptic Kurt Cobain: Nirvana frontman, rock icon, and tortured genius. Instead of being a chronological start-to-finish retelling of Cobain’s life story, Montage of Heck manages to do what few other Cobain-centred books and films could: it humanises him.

So often fans and documenters focus on the despondent rock star that they neglect to consider Cobain as a son, brother, husband and father. Documentary filmmaker Brett Morgen has approached Cobain’s story with great sensitivity, tact, and, most importantly,

in the right place at the right time we have gone further in this time period than we ever thought we would. We’ve also been offered to record at a few places but we are still waiting to be [scouted] by a record company.

You seem to have quite a unique sound. Have you had any musical mentors or has your music writing just been a “from the heart” exercise?

We haven’t had very many mentors in terms of our music style but we’ve definitely been inspired and influenced by the bands we listen to, where we’ve always said things like, “Man, I wish we [could] sound like that band,” and, surprisingly enough, specifically with regard to the post-hardcore music genre. This [post-hardcore] was originally the [genre] we wanted to enter but it’s quite difficult to cultivate that sort of sound with only two people – especially live – and so we thought novelty folk might be a direction more suited to our natural sound.

Balancing university and trying to make music must be quite a challenge. Has full-time music-making been an option for you, or are you content to work by day and play by night?

We’re both studying information design, which makes it a lot easier to [talk] about music during the day. However, balancing music with varsity is probably the most difficult aspect of our music career. Our days are consumed with design but we usually put time aside for writing and playing on the weekends. We struggle to find the time to produce, refine and record our music, not to mention play gigs and rehearse.

Is there any chance of seeing Glyph at upcoming festivals?

[We’re] still children in the music industry. We don’t have enough material at this stage to bring forward who we really are as a band, so at the moment we are just focusing on producing an album.

with the support of the Cobain family.

Montage of Heck features interviews with Cobain’s sister, mother, father and stepmother, along with in-depth commentary from ex-girlfriend Tracy Marander, bandmate Krist Novoselic, and Courtney Love, his controversial widow. The film also features some of Cobain’s unreleased recordings, his artworks, journal entries and previously unseen home movies.

Montage of Heck takes an intimate and insightful look at scenes from Cobain’s life that have been dramatised with great care using artful animations. A breath of life is also given to his personal drawings with the help of animators Stefan Nadelman and Hisko Hulsing, giving the film an even more personalised feel. Nirvana’s repertoire of hits is also treated with great sensitivity and respect.

One of the film’s most positive aspects is that it manages to address Nirvana’s discography without becoming “‘Smells like teen spirit’: the movie.” In fact, this song isn’t heard until well into the credits. However, Morgen syncs the music video to a haunting choral version which does the single more than justice.

The documentary is a harrowing, draining two-hour journey into the mind of one of music’s most private figures that will leave a string of teary-eyed fans in its wake. What makes Montage of Heck different from standard biographical documentaries is that it manages to paint Cobain’s character in such a way that viewers are torn between pitying the little boy in the Batman outfit whose life was torn apart by his parents’ divorce, and being exasperated by the rock star with the stonewashed jeans and strawberry-dyed hair and his contemptuous attitude towards fans and interviewers.

It is this Medusa’s head of emotions that will make Montage of Heck linger in the minds of viewers, and what has made it, as Consequence of Sound’s Justin Gerber calls it, “the definitive Cobain documentary.”

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Calendar 23 May: Jacaranda Day – SuperSport Park 25-30 May: Springbok Bar birthday week – Springbok Bar 31 May: Flavours of Tshwane – Pretoria Country Club 13 June: Capital Craft Beer Festival – Voortrekker Monument 20 June: South African Metal Music Awards – Rumours Lounge 4 July: GeekFest – Huddle Park Golf & Recreation 18 July: Blood Brothers – Carnival City

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En

Entertainment | 18 May 2015

9

Image provided.

Tuks student makes a business out of entertainment SHAUN SPROULE

Photo: Staff photographer.

Krêkvars calls for larger student audiences CHAD JOHNSTON The drama department will be hosting its 15th annual Krêkvars festival in July and they are appealing to students to come and watch the local Tuks talent. The event is an opportunity for students and outside artists to present the work that they have created to the student population.

Krêkvars usually takes place late in July and those involved start working on their shows very early in the year. A lot of hours are put into rehearsals and those who create shows are very interested in getting more students involved in watching them.

The festival runs during the day and as such it allows those who are on campus all day to come through and enjoy a show in their free time. The productions put on at Krêkvars are often offered in different languages to cater for those who aren’t multilingual.

Students involved in Krêkvars are keen to mix and mingle with

others at the university. “If we could spread the word and get more students to come [and] watch plays, then we can build unity on campus,” says Max Breytenbach, the third-year drama students’ Krêkvars representative. His sentiments are shared across the board as most drama students say that they would love for others to watch their work and to comment on it.

Over the years, the festival has created platforms for many artists in the industry, such as Gopala Davies who won the award for best student director at the 2014 Grahamstown National Arts Festival.

Art is often used to discuss or criticise society. The work coming out of the drama department is doing just that and students would benefit from seeing these artworks. The Krêkvars festival will run from 20-25 July. Students who have questions or comments regarding the festival can speak to a representative at the drama department, which is located behind the IT building.

Takunda Chiweza is a fourth-year BCom Economics student who is working hard to make a name for himself as the host of the deep house event Suave Sundays at Joe Public. Perdeby spoke to Chiweza about his involvement in this initiative.

You and DJ Zats work together to bring Suave Sundays to Joe Public. Tell us a bit more about your involvement in this event.

Suave Sundays is an event that I’ve always wanted to do.

Basically, I brought the idea of a big event that we do [where I’m from] which takes place on Sundays and how Sunday events seem to be becoming more popular. [I] decided to apply it to Hatfield. If you look at Hatfield, people don’t really do much on Sundays, so I approached Zats, who works at Joe Public, and we spoke to his boss and kind of just saw if we could make it a thing.

What is Suave Sundays all about?

What you can expect is chilled vibes to relax to [and] end your weekend off nicely. We’ve got hip-hop DJs like Zats and Stix [electro DJ] is coming back next weekend. So we want to try to cater to all kinds of music tastes.

Where do you see your career going with your involvement in this?

I am very adaptable. So [whenever] I see [something has] opportunities available, I’ll do it. I’m not set on one thing, I’m always looking for opportunities and if one is available I’ll take the gap and go for it.

You must work and interact with many people. Have you learnt anything from this experience?

I was taught from a young age to put [myself] in someone else’s shoes and I would say I am influenced by the encounters that I [have] in everyday life, taking every meeting as an opportunity and [a] lesson and see how I can apply that in my own life to get to where I want to be.

Mopanie hosts Oesdag 2015 CHAD JOHNSTON Mopanie’s 5th annual Oesdag was back with a vengeance this year. The festival took place on 16 May. The event was held at the Pretoria High School Old Boys Club from 14:00 to 24:00. An estimated 5000 tickets were sold for the event, making it the largest Oesdag yet.

Although there was a bit of fuss around the price of the tickets, the event filled up quickly after gates opened at 14:00. There was particular excitement this year as Sama award-winning band aKing were set to perform at 21:00.

As usual, the beer tent seemed to be the place to be for much of the day as everyone prepared for the evening.

Mopanie’s Oesdag is held when to celebrate the harvesting of the mielies that they planted the previous year. As the day progressed more people began streaming in and the atmosphere started to get more festive. There wasn’t much for the crowd to do, although the mielieeating competition and mechanical bull were very popular attractions. Parking became a slight issue as more people seemed to flock in and out of the event, with cars lining the narrow streets and often blocking the road.

While there were some logistical issues, such as a mobile ATM that was late to arrive, Mopanie seem to have organised the event really well. Some local DJs got the party started before aKing arrived. As usual they didn’t disappoint while they went through some of their hits and really got the crowd going.

As soon as aKing left, the event started to slow down, however it didn’t stop. There were people dancing and once again the beer tent began to fill up. Mopanie had pretty good control over everything, preventing any major incidents.

The festival as a whole was very successful and definitely something that shouldn’t have been missed. One can only hope that next year’s Oesdag can live up to or even surpass this one, but it’s going to take a lot to beat the 2015 instalment of the event.

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From top: Oesdag 2015 attracted over 4000 people; attendees could participate in a mielie-eating competition; the mechanical bull was a popular activity. Photos: Shen Scott

10

Fun and Games | 18 May 2015

Pssst...

things overheard in the newsroom HERMAN HOOGENBOEZEM The Perdeby office is a supremely serious space of work, focus and long hours.

Inevitably, this leads to the occasional lapse in mental acuity (read: brain fart). Below is a list of some of these stress fractures in the Perdeby façade.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Michal: “Yes, I email myself stuff”.

Emma: “I do too, but sometimes I email myself kisses.”

Herman: “I’m too scared to google wifebeater. Perdeby might end up on some kind of watch list.”

Michal: “I only have glittery body cream. It’s the end of the month.”

Khumo: “Having to buy Microsoft Word for your laptop is like having to buy the car’s engine separately.”

Rebecca: “You don’t deserve alcohol.

Your brain cells are dead enough.”

India: “I had a sneaky gherkin in my burger.”

Herman: “Was it implied or was there thrusting?”

Max: “We should have a sign on the door that says ‘It’s Friday. F**k off.’”

Michal: “We should play One Direction.” Max: “This is the best day ever.”

Carel: “Satanist!”

Serrie season has come and gone, but Pssst… isn’t about to let the hype train pass without hopping on board. Pssst… has compiled a bumper edition of serrie shenanigans for all you gossip kings and queens.

Pssst… would like to start off with a few dishonourable mentions. Sonop, you had one job. Everyone was looking forward to you disappointing in finals, and you don’t even have the decency to make it. Pssst… wasn’t surprised to see a few ladies crying in the piazza after the serrie finalists were announced.

Pssst… isn’t pointing any fingers, of course, so your secret’s safe with us, Erika.

For most reses, serrie prelims were disastrous, as usual. Pssst… would say that Asterhof had a rubbish theme, but that’s just trash talk. Madelief, Pssst… would like to know one thing from you: what were you thinking? If you’re going to base your theme on a popular film franchise, at least have the decency not to underestimate the audience’s intelligence. On that note, Pssst… would like to know exactly what/who the Knolle’s band were supposed to be – Star Wars characters or members of Daft Punk? A little bit of midriffflashing will only get you so far, Madelief.

Speaking of underestimating the audience’s intelligence: you know nothing, Jasmyn.

Pssst… would say something about Klaradyn’s serrie, but Pssst… honestly can’t remember their performance. Like, at all.

Pssst… thinks that Inca’s comeback was more like coming out – not that Pssst… is judging you or anything, Inca. Pssst… has been accused of slut-shaming recently, you see.

But what most people don’t understand is that Pssst… doesn’t need to shame anyone – they do that perfectly well all by themselves.

Oh, Lilium, what can Pssst… say? Not much, it seems, seeing as Pssst… had no idea what was going on in your serrie. Then again,

neither did you.

Nerina included so many songs about winning in their serrie that they forgot to actually do it. Sorry Nerina, but Pssst… thinks your serrie was less rags to riches and more rags to … well, rags. And OP? Well, at least you aren’t TuksVillage.

Pssst… is glad to see that Kollege did not disappoint on the drunken-chicken-dance front this year. Maybe one day, Kollege, instead of arriving to your serrie mid-performance and following Maroela into the wrong venue, you’ll stop overcompensating for the fact that you are the rebound guys of res.

Pssst… hears that Maroela are quite disappointed that they didn’t make finals this year. Pssst… can’t understand why, though, since the only thing even remotely interesting in their serrie was a bit of nip-slip and the fact that Pssst… could totally see their underwear through their costumes.

Pssst… can’t say much about Kiaat, other than the fact that Pssst… is thankful that they kept their shirts on this year. Who knows, next year you might even keep your dignity too.

Pssst… would like to congratulate Vividus Men for being only slightly less bad than they were last year. At least you could do it with the lights on this time, Vividus.

Serrie finals weren’t as interesting as Pssst… was hoping they would be. There was almost no drama to speak of, except for a Mopanie house member who tried to pick a fight with campus security. Perhaps if Mopanie had put more effort into their serrie and spent less time starting brawls they clearly couldn’t win, they wouldn’t have nearly injured one of their performers by throwing him so high that he made contact with the Amphi stage’s roof.

Pssst… thinks it’s really cute that Vividus Ladies thought they actually had a shot at winning serrie this year. No, ladies. Just no.

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Olympus, once again you have managed to make it to finals and nothing more. Maybe you should take a page out of Boekenhout’s book and … oh, wait.

Pssst… thinks that finals must have been difficult for TuksNaledi. You know what they say: you are your own toughest opponent.

Pssst… doesn’t really understand why Curlitzia did as well as they did, but this might be because Pssst… slept through their entire performance. At least Pssst… was able to stay awake through Zinnia’s performance.

Not that it helped.

Speaking of sleeping, Pssst… couldn’t decide whether Katjiepiering were Fired Up or fizzling out. At least the Katte didn’t embarrass themselves by doing worse than they did last year. That wouldn’t have been great for your reputation, now would it, Katte?

Just ask Erika.

Olienhout’s unflattering tracksuits and theme made Pssst… a little confused. Pssst… doesn’t think the Houte understand what the term “dystopian” means, but that’s okay, because most of the audience didn’t either.

Pssst… found it quite amusing that when the presenters asked who should win in the ladies’ category, an enthusiastic crowd member suggested it should be Taaibos. Pssst… loves incidents like these. The jokes practically write themselves.

Even more amusing was Magrietjie celebrating Curlitzia’s third place even more than Curlitzia were. Then again, Pssst… would likely have done the same.

Serrie might be over, but that doesn’t mean that Pssst… is taking time out. On the contrary, Pssst… has eyes and ears everywhere and will be back next week. As long as the residences keep embarrassing themselves (oh, do they ever) Pssst… will be around to tell you about it.

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18 May 2015 | Sport

11

Tuks’s own claims Namibia Amateur Strokeplay Championship beleide

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TAY LETHULOE TuksGolf’s Demi Flanagan won the Bank Windhoek Namibia Amateur Strokeplay Championship which took place on 25-26

April in Namibia. After just a few short months in the TuksGolf system, she has been able to display an unprecedented amount of talent which made her a beneficiary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrew’s. TuksGolf coach Quintin Byleveldt describes Flanagan as a hard worker who shows tremendous talent and has the potential to win a lot more tournaments.

Perdeby chatted to this rising star.

You recently won the Namibia Amateur Championship. What was the experience like?

It’s an experience I won’t forget because it’s my first international win.

You competed against established golfers such as Caro Els. What was your approach to the championship?

It was great competing against her because I just pushed myself even more. I was ahead of her starting the last round. I just focused on what I [had] to do, make birdies and just keep my lead.

How do you feel about your performance at

the championship?

I was really thrilled [that] the hard work paid off.

What was it like competing with golfers from other African countries?

It was fantastic. I have a few friends from Namibia and Botswana now so I got to meet [new people], which was great.

How do you look to build on this achievement?

My goal for the year is to be the number one amateur golfer in SA, so I’m really pushing myself for that.

What got you interested in golf?

My father. He is the one that actually introduced me to the game and that’s how I fell in love with [it] from a really young age.

I started playing from the age of six.

How have you found the experience with TuksGolf so far?

I really love it. They work hard, which makes me work hard as well, which creates a good environment for you to reach your full potential.

You are a part of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrew’s. How has that impacted your golfing?

It’s great being a part of the [Royal and Ancient Golf Club] and it’s a bigger motivation knowing that I am part of it.

Through this I am working on reaching my dreams.

Interview with Varsity Cup Hockey Captain Kelly Kaulback THANDO CELE The Tuks ladies first team has been involved in the Varsity Cup Hockey tournament over the past few weeks. The ladies were unfortunately beaten 2-0 by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) at the semi-final stage and eventually finished third overall. Perdeby managed to catch up with Candy Stripes captain Kelly Kaulback to chat about her experience at the tournament and her vision for the season.

Despite your exit, the team played a strong game in the Varsity Cup tournament. Could you take us through the journey from the first game to your semi-final against UJ? The journey actually started way before the first game. We started our conditioning, planning and gym programme in October last year. Since then, all everything has been about was “Varsity Cup, Varsity Cup, Varsity Cup” and going into the tournament we really couldn’t have been more prepared than we were. The management, our various coaches and everyone that we had on board facilitated the best possible preparations.

By the time game one came, we were extremely excited and ready ... to play because it was what we were working toward and [had] been ready for. The 4-3 win gave us such confidence but also an extreme wake-up call and taught us valuable lessons about the standard of the tournament. We aimed to improve game by game until we envisioned ourselves winning the tournament. It’s for this reason why losing in the semi-final was so heartbreaking because we had scored more goals than anyone prior to this loss and had lost just a single game.

This year’s squad consists of a relatively young group of players, so were you surprised about how well the tournament went for the team or was it expected from your side?

Interestingly enough, I had never before played in a team like this where everyone just wanted to

Kelly Kaulback in a Varsity Cup Hockey match against Maties. Image: Saspa

play for each other and play for the stripes. We had a real “earn your stripes mentality”. From game one through to game eight, every single player put everything into each of the games, in terms of effort, and every player really did earn their stripes. So to answer your question properly, it wasn’t as much of a surprise that we played so well. There is always that thought at the back of one’s mind that “Okay, we have a young team that’s relatively inexperienced for a tournament like Varsity Cup,” but most of these youngsters had just come off their u/21 provincial tournament. [The provincial tournament] was a week before Varsity Cup, and [they] had won gold so that was certainly an extra boost to the confidence within the camp.

Above all, with all the preparations that were in place and when we clicked, it didn’t even feel like our team was young. Everyone knew the roles, responsibilities and of course the goal and job at hand.

There are nine first-years in your squad this year. How has this changed the dynamics of the team chemistry?

Last year I was vice-captain of the team and the dynamics were really good. We clicked because we had been together for quite a while. This year the team chemistry has been really good, if not more positive than last year. It has really been amazing because we’ve had all this “fresh blood”, if I can say that. New and fresh ideas

and “fresh legs” in terms of the pure excitement of wanting to play hockey, week-in, week-out.

From day one of this season, it just took off and I can personally say that I don’t think the setup of the first team has ever been this unified and goal-orientated, with the same beliefs and just all for the same reasons: for the stripes and for each other. It’s a building block for the future.

We’ve come third now but it’s definitely a winning and unified culture that the juniors can take on to further strengthen this bond we all have, especially when they’re the experienced heads of this team.

With all of this positive energy, how high are you aiming this year in terms of the league, USSA and future tournaments?

At the beginning of the season we actually sat down and wrote down our goals: win the premier league, top three finish in the Varsity Cup and USSA gold. We’ve come third in the Varsity Cup so there’s a tick in the box. We definitely wanted to strive for gold as we always try to do, but now [that we’re] looking forward, we’ll use this third place finish as another building block to further improve in the next edition of the Varsity Cup. For USSA, we’re going for gold. There’s really no other option.

We’ve managed to be consistently good at USSA level and we definitely want to re-live the glory of our 2013 season where we won gold.

Image: SASPA

Ten minutes with Jermaine Kleinsmith THORISO PHASHA After spending the 2014 rugby season nursing and rehabilitating a knee injury, Jermaine Kleinsmith returned to action earlier this year. Kleinsmith played a crucial role in the Tuks Varsity Cup side, featuring as a regular in the starting 15 throughout the tournament.

Perdeby chatted to the Tuks wing.

When did you start playing rugby and who got you into it?

I think I started when I was six years old. It runs in the family [because] my brothers and my dad were rugby players and it’s a passion.

The culture and tradition here in South Africa is mainly rugby so you get exposed to [it] at a young age.

What has been your highlight playing for Tuks so far?

The highlight [was] definitely the win against Maties [the University of Stellenbosch] because they are the [rivals]. It’s always a huge buildup when you play Maties. All the guys were in it and I think we gave the crowd a good game.

UP-Tuks1 got knocked out of the Varsity Cup semi-final in March. What do you think went wrong?

I think it’s mainly the mental aspect. Mental buildup affected the whole game because the track record doesn’t show that we’re dominant over Pukke, not that they’re a better side than us. It was a mental battle and I think they wanted it more, so that’s why they won the game.

Varsity Cup is done and dusted. What’s next on the agenda this season?

Currently I’m playing here for Tuks [in] the Carlton Cup. What are your short and long term goals in rugby?

I just want to finish my degree this year [in sport sciences], and my long term goal [is] definitely to become a professional rugby player.

What would you be doing if you weren’t playing rugby?

That’s a difficult one. I’d probably be studying something ... like medicine because my brother is a doctor. My brothers are smart guys, and the thing is my family wanted me to study something [like medicine], but I couldn’t because my passion is sport.

How do you balance rugby and academics effectively?

I balance it quite well because the rugby sessions are mainly in the afternoons, so class will be in the mornings. [We] accommodate the classes before rugby. You first have to pass before you can play rugby.

What keeps you motivated?

I’d say definitely the dream to become a Springbok rugby player.

Sport

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Jaguars embrace a new chance of victory CARLI-ANN FURNO On the weekend of 8 May UP hosted the opening matches of the highly anticipated Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League, which is one of South Africa’s most prestigious netball events. This series involves ten teams from nine provinces competing for the esteemed “Brutal Fruit Cup” title, ranking them as the best netball team in the country.

The Jaguars, one of two teams representing Gauteng, consists of 15 registered UP students.

In the final match of last year’s league, the Jaguars were sent home with heavy hearts after falling short by one point in the last few minutes of the game. On Friday night, however, they stepped more firmly back onto the court stronger in their first match against the Gauteng Golden Fireballs. A very clear message was sent about their determination to take the title this time around, with a victory of 65 goals to 29.

Immense pressure still rested on their shoulders for Saturday night’s game, where they would once again face defending champions the Free State Crinums. The match was just as exciting as everyone expected it to be, and the crowd was kept on the edge of their seat

as the one-point lead changed hands by the minute. Dedicated defence from the Crinums allowed for several intercepts, but it was the Jaguars who managed to clutch each narrow lead by seconds in the first three quarters of the match.

The final quarter had onlookers on their feet, with a three-minute countdown and a one-point Jaguar lead.

The Jaguars anxiously took their positions to face the next Crinum centre pass, surprising the crowd with crucial turnovers that led them to a 45-40 victory.

Melissa Myburgh, vicecaptain and player of the match, said she does not believe that victory in the matches ahead is now guaranteed. “Each team The Jaguars consist of 15 UP students and represent Gauteng. Photo: Stefan Stander has analysed our game and will try to counter this in any way that they fantastic, but ultimately everything rests on the of our players are leaving to play for the Protea can. We hope to improve on basics from here,” final match [of the Premier League]. We have a team in Ireland. We are excited to see whether said Myburgh. Jaguar coach Jenny van Dyk totally new combination next weekend as five our young talent can cope or not.” commented on the game saying, “The victory is

Tuks reach semi-finals of TuksCycling chase third USSA title varsity hockey TAY LETHULOE

The Tuks cycling squad are hoping to claim victory for an unprecedented third time as they head to the USSA cycling championships in Stellenbosch. The competition takes place from 29 June to 3 July and is hosted by the University of Stellenbosch.

TuksCycling, who are the current USSA champions, will be counting on the experience of their squad as they have won this annual tournament twice before, as well as the experience of hosting last year’s event. It will not be easy, as they will face a number of gruelling stages in road and mountain biking for both male and female participants as they not only compete as a team for the championship, but for individual accolades such as the yellow

DANIËL BASSON This year was the ladies’ opportunity to compete in the Varsity Hockey tournament, which was held over two weekends at three competing universities. Tuks started the tournament as one of the favourites and did not disappoint, as they were placed second on the combined log after their respective rounds of fixtures. However, they fell short of the title as they were knocked out in the semi-finals.

The opening weekend of the competition was hosted

by North West University (Pukke) in Potchefstroom.

Tuks faced the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in their opening round and came out on top in a high scoring affair with a 4-3 scoreline. Tuks overcame Image: Saspa their early nerves and beat the University of Cape Town 8-0. Next, Tuks had a match up with hosts Pukke. The home ground advantage did not pay dividends as Tuks managed to defeat their opposition 2-1 in what turned out to be a very tense match. Their winning streak continued in the last match as Tuks beat Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 4-1 to round off the first weekend of Varsity Hockey fixtures.

Rounds five, six and seven were to be played at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

UJ and the top finishers after these rounds would qualify for a semi-final position and ultimately the opportunity to become the Women’s Varsity Hockey champions. Tuks’ unbeaten streak came to an end in round five against eventual table topping side University of the Free State as they

suffered a 2-1 defeat. Tuks found their winning form again in the next game as they beat Wits 4-1 on home soil, but unfortunately only managed a 1-1 draw in their final group stage encounter against University of Stellenbosch.

Unfortunately Tuks were beaten 2-0 in the semi-final by a spirited UJ side. UJ dominated the first half of play and managed to score twice while they had Tuks pinned down in their own half. In the second half Tuks gave a much better performance and had the majority of the possession and chances, but could not capitalise on them.

The finals of the Women’s Varsity Hockey will take place on 18 May.

and green jerseys. The team will also have to be wary of competing teams which include Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, the University of Cape Town and hosts the University of Johannesburg.

With the majority of the TuksCycling team being part of professional teams, preparation for the championship is already underway, which will help Tuks as they face unfamiliar coastal weather conditions and strengthened opposition teams determined to derail Tuks’ successes in the highlight of the student cycling calendar.

When asked about the chance of them claiming the championship, chairperson and cyclist Jacques Horn said, “We are capable of winning it for a third time, which is something not very many teams get to achieve. We have a very good team.”

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