25 May 2021
Tales of a 2021 graduation Thabang Moloi and Manelisi Magoro
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he Autumn Graduations took place from 13 April to 7 May, where a total of 31 virtual graduation ceremonies were conducted. 11400 qualifications were awarded during the Autumn Graduation season, 198 of which were doctorates and 1289 master’s degrees. The Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and IT kick-started its ceremonies by presenting 450 degrees from four departments. The Faculty of Education awarded 259 degrees for distance learning. The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences awarded over 1 000 degrees and the Faculty of Humanities concluded its virtual graduation ceremony by awarding 537 BA degrees. The pandemic disrupted many of the normal campus activities and proceedings in 2020 and 2021. Graduation day, the one day that a student looks forward to the instant they set foot into a higher learning institution, has also fallen victim to the pandemic’s aftermath, and had to go virtual. This came as a disappointment to many students as it meant that they would not be celebrated to the extent of their satisfaction – that meant there would no longer be any ululations or outbursts of praise and gratitude from proud parents, family members and close friends. Higher learning and teaching institutions have not yet found an efficient and safe way to conduct physical graduations that are not in breach of the COVID-19 regulations. That has not meant that students couldn’t attend virtual graduation ceremonies and get their degrees via courier. The Autmun Graduations marked the university’s third virtual graduation since the start of the pandemic, with the first one being a few days after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the national state of emergency in March 2020. The proceedings are as ‘normal’ as they could be, and includes a welcoming
and acknowledgement speech from the ViceChancellor and Principal, Professor Tawana Kupe, who then hands over to each faculty’s dean to introduce and present the Honorary Doctorate candidates of the faculty. The degrees are then conferred in their hierarchy. Reabetswe Phati, a BCom Financial Sciences graduate, shared her experience and expectations for her graduation this year: “I expected what every person expects when they graduate, the whole family present and shouting my clan names as I cross the stage […] Expectations were not met but the opportunity to [take pictures] with my parents and dress up was still pretty great”. Thebe Lephallo, who is a BCom Statistics graduate, shared the same sentiments and shed light on what the future holds for him, “A whole lot. An engagement with the world of work and appreciating where I am going to apply the skills I absorbed in my studies”, he said. Nduduzo Majozi, who was awarded a master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, says that it is natural to expect a normal ceremony with friends and family. However, she was “blown away” by the video where their names were announced and degrees were conferred virtually. Majozi says her master’s degree is an entry requirement for a PhD and she is hoping to be employed on a full-time basis in academia and that this qualification serves as a stepping stone towards her dreams. When asked what she would tell her first-year self, given the opportunity, she replied “I suggest you follow your dreams, it will get hard but if you honestly choose a course that you love, the love will sustain you. Make friends, be approachable because umuntu ungumuntu ngabantu”. New graduates are advised to sign up to UP Alumni Connect at https://upalumniconnect.com to stay in touch. For highlights on the graduation season follow #UPGraduation2021. Illustration: Madeeha Hazarvi
Top scarce ICT skills in South Africa Nokwanda Kubheka
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he Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sector Survey 2021 report, which was compiled by Marilyn White Radebe (the BITF’s Deputy President companies along with executive members, Mfundo Hlope and Sean Achim of the Black IT Forum), has recently been released. It shares industryspecific input towards the 2020 Critical Skills List Report by Labour Market Intelligence Research Program. The report focused on individuals who are working in the ICT industry or have graduated with a degree in ICT. The results further revealed that there are twenty-five skills in shortage within the ICT sector in South Africa, including data scientist, ICT security specialist and data management manager. They also reported that when compiling a list of scarce skills,
Intervarsity News Rhodes University
Rhodes University graduate, Esihle Lupindo, has been awarded the much coveted Fulbright Foreign Student Exchange Scholarship. This scholarship, which will provide full tuition and board funding, has been awarded to Lupindo to study for his Doctoral degree at the University of Nebraska in the United States. An avid advocate for the representation of queer individuals, he was also chosen by the Mail & Guardian as one of South Africa’s Top 200 Young South Africans in 2020. He was selected amongst a large competitive pool of university graduates who intend on pursuing postgraduate studies in the United States. After enduring a difficult selection process, which saw Lupindo, who graduated with his Master’s in Sociology at the Makhanda-based university, emerges victorious as he goes on to pursue his PhD studies.
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has officially welcomed its 16th Vice Chancellor and Principal in a ceremony held on 29 April. Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, who previously served as the deputy vice-chancellor for Research and Postgraduate Affairs at
relevant industry organisations must be taken into account. According to the technical report on scarce skills, learning a skill takes three years, but internships, learnerships, and graduate programs are usually only 12 to 18 months long. A significant number of graduates have obtained the necessary qualifications but have not been given the opportunity to gain the necessary skills. Software development is also a very broad discipline in which, for example, you may find a shortage in one region, such as Java, but a large number of Net developers in the market. This is why skills portability and the need for ICT practitioners to be lifelong learners is important. The findings also reveal that most unemployed people with scarce skills are graduates, with 51 percent having a bachelor’s degree and 41,67 percent having a postgraduate degree. the Braamfontein-based institution, officially began his term at the beginning of 2021, taking over from predecessor Prof. Adam Habib. The ceremony was held at the iconic Wits Great Hall and was attended by Wits University Chancellor, Dr Judy Dlamini, Director General in the Presidency, Ms Phindile Baleni and Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande. Vilakazi, who takes over as Wits University celebrates its centenary, detailed in his speech plans to transform Wits into the “African academy of the future”, as well as bright plans to collaborate with the public and private sectors alike to “reinvigorate” the Braamfontein precinct into an ecosystem that would “[enable an] environment for the flourishing of great ideas.”
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) in the Western Cape has recently announced the establishment of the School of Climate Studies, which has its official launch date set for June 2021. In a statement released by the University, SU said that it aims to bring academia together with the private and public sectors, combining the climate-related knowledge systems, the climate policies of the public sector as well as the innovative capacities and the climate redress of the private sector. Remarking that this is in line with SU’s mission to move towards being a carbon-neutral university, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, Prof. Eugene Cloete stated that the SU School of Climate Studies would be the first of its kind in South Africa that would have the status of a faculty, and that the institution was in the developmental stages of creating a master’s degree in Climate Studies. Compiled by Tshepang Moji
Campus Nostalgia
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31 August 1973 Architects on study tour
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course in Architecture was founded in 1931, shortly after the Transvaal University College became the University of Pretoria (UP). The course was taught in collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand, which awarded the degree. The article in a 1973 publication is about a housing project that had been started by the Department of Architecture at UP in 1971. In 1973, although background research had been conducted, the course leaders decided to apply the research results to a practical project - the redevelopment of an area in Pretoria (in the manner of a ‘living laboratory’). The office concerned with this consisted of two lecturers, postgraduate and final year students, as well as the entire fourth- year class. The course leaders decided not to start measuring the results of the research. There were many examples of this kind of research overseas replace with: that were relevant and so the fourth-year students were given the opportunity to take a trip to Europe and apply the results from the previous studies. Therefore, it was decided to give the fourth-year students the opportunity to study it overseas through a trip. The tour ran from 25 August 1973 to 23 September 1973. These were some of the countries they visited: • England: Thamesmead and other housing projects in London. Milton Keynes - the youngest of the new cities etc. • Scandinavia: To visit various housing projects and new cities, as well as to investigate the work of building systems and contemporary architects. • Munich: Olympic city and redevelopment of old city The students collected travel money under the name “Architectura 4” in various ways. The main project was in cooperation with Messrs. Schachat Cullum, a well-known firm of homebuilders and property developers. The students held a house competition amongst themselves and the winning design was built as a show house in Constantia Park. The students collected donations of building materials for this house because the profit from its sale was to be used for the travel fund. In addition, the students received R5 000 from Messrs. Schachat Cullum. During the show, a public competition would be held in which, among other things, two return flight tickets to Europe - donated by South African Airways - would be awarded. Compiled by Nokwanda Kubheka
Tuks professor appointed vice-chair of international law commission session Tshepang Moji
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he United Nations’ International Law Commission (ILC) has recently announced the appointment of Professor Dire Tladi as the first vice-chair of the commission’s 72nd Session. Prof. Tladi is a globally renowned Professor of international law in the University of Pretoria’s Public Law Department. This prestigious appointment adds another feather to Prof. Tladi’s illustrious cap. Appointed by the National Research Foundation’s South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI), Prof. Tladi currently serves as the SARChI Chair for Constitutional International Law. He has also served as the Principal State Law Advisor for International Law to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and as a Legal Advisor to South Africa’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, based in New York City. The distinguished academic and advocate of the High Court additionally holds the title of Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch, is one of the two editors of the South African Yearbook of International Law, and is currently a Special Rapporteur to the ILC on the topic of jus cogens. The International Law Commission’s current session, which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, began on 26 April and concludes on 4 June, and will be held again from 5 July to 6 August 2021.
