25 October 2021 Issue 11 Year 83

PDBY

25 October 2021

Year 83 | Issue 11

yourcampusnews.

#SpeakOut UP holds Anti-discrimination Week

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Mandown’s male victim male perpetrator series

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Political parties and their candidates

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2022 SRC campaign promises

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Photo: Ruth Versfeld

South Africa’s youth voting crisis

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Five ways to welcome Spring to Pretoria

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25 October 2021

2 | From the Editor

PDBY Media Copy: CJ Barnard Maryke Steynvaart Lise le Roux Nondumiso Mntambo Ntokozo Xulu Ndinae Ramavhoya Tiara Joseph Layout: Duane Kitching Kara Olivier Bellinah Zwane Kendra Dean Multimedia: Tshepang Rihlampfu Cletus Mulaudi Cassandra Eardely Madeeha Hazarvi Masehle Mailula Ruth Versfeld Elma Akob Vice Mkansi Nikhila Moodley Social Media: Maria Lehoko Oratile Kgofelo

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25 October 2021

News | 3

Vaccines and returning to campus News Bites Thabang Moloi

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outh Africa moved to an adjusted alert level one on 1 October, following an address by the President, who highlighted the reason for the move to a lower lockdown level being the decline in the average number of COVID-19 cases recorded daily. This means many social activities will be resumed and less restricted. However, the highlight was the “gatherings” numbers, which now allows a maximum of 750 people in an indoor venue capped to 50% of the venue’s capacity. What this means for students is that they might be seeing campus sooner than they expected.

There has been no official statement by the Department of Higher Education and Training, or from Minister Dr Blade Nzimande to this regard.

This can be accredited to the fact that higher education institutions are allowed to implement their own risk-free strategies of allowing students back on campus. However, in his statement last year when the country was under the same adjusted alert level, Dr Nzimande said, “following the President’s announcement that the country would move to Level 1, I am pleased to say that we are now in a position to welcome back 100% of our university students, including all those international students who are currently outside the borders of South Africa”. With the vaccine rollout proving to be a success in the country, this may be an approaching reality.

While mandatory vaccine programmes are being discussed nationwide, UP has not implemented mandatory vaccines. The UP executive released an announcement regarding the university’s position

on vaccines and the return to campus in 2022. The response from the executive explains that UP is “committed to reopening its campuses in 2022”, dependent on the progression of the pandemic and government regulations. Some on campus activities have already resumed for “some programmes [such as for] final year students, selected courses with laboratory- and field practicals and other priority courses”. UP aims to have all students begin on campus in 2022 and is “currently doing a risk assessment for the safe return of students and staff”. They also “strongly urge everyone who is not yet fully vaccinated to do so. It is not only the right decision for every individual’s health but also important for the collective health of everyone”.

While vaccinations are not mandatory for UP staff and students, everyone is strongly urged to get vaccinated.

UP adds that the executive “might change our approach [to mandatory vaccinations] should it become necessary to ensure the health and safety of UP students and staff.

We strongly believe in the benefits of being vaccinated and the role it can play in preventing people from falling seriously ill or dying”.

Prof. Tawana Kupe

hinted to the prospect of returning to campus in an email sent to students on 6 October. He said “With the move to risk-adjusted level 1, the university will make certain adjustments in line with the plans that were developed by each of the faculties and professional service departments”.

While vaccines are voluntary, UP also notes the need for high vaccination levels, as “owing to the evolution and mutation of the virus, the threshold for reaching herd immunity keeps on rising”. The university will continue to consult with and be guided by “the health experts and authorities” and adds that “ the more people that are vaccinated, the safer it will be for us as a community to return to some form of normality.”

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Image provided

r. Michael Barnes was conferred with his PhD qualification during the spring graduation. Barnes is a meteorology student whose Master’s dissertation was converted to a PhD. His thesis studies the dynamics of cut-low pressure systems- upper tropospheric lows which have a great impact on our country’s weather and it focuses on the processes that lead to these weather systems extending to the surface by case study, climatology and idealised numerical experimentation.

When asked why he chose meteorology Barnes said that he has always had a love for physical geography and particularly a fascination with the weather and how it works. “If you are Capetonian and have seen the weather shift completely within an hour or someone in Gauteng who has seen a thunderstorm grow in front of your eyes - it’s hard not to be fascinated as to how these processes unfold. On top of this, to be able to predict weather and climate - processes which are so complex and inherently chaotic and unpredictable - is a

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n 29 September, #SpeakOut UP ran an Anti-Discrimination Week. AntiDiscrimination Week is the anniversary and continuation of nitiatives from 2016 when UP had started the process of revising its Anti-Discrimination Policy by setting up an Anti-Discrimination Policy Working Group. The new policy was necessary to address all forms of discrimination and their intersections at UP. The policy has the objective of shaping a future where discrimination is avoided from first occurance to establish an inclusive and affirming community.

Five years later, SpeakOut UP continues to celebrate Anti-Discrimination Week and moving towards these objectives by informing students of the Anti-Discrimination Policy, their rights contained within, and what they should do if they have been discriminated against.

The #SpeakOut UP Anti-Discrimination and Social Solidarity Webinar had two segments which focused on different topics with different guests.

The first segment consisted of guests from societies at UP such as Beyond Our Limiting Disabilities (BOLD), UP&OUT, and the Legal Shebeen who spoke at length about their thoughts on what discrimination is, including being inconsiderate

towards people and their needs; unlearning certain ways of thinking about discrimination by creating new societal norms and respectfully calling people out when they are acting in a discriminatory manner; the importance of solidarity in acknowledging each other’s diversity and celebrating our humanity as people. The societies spoke about the support system that they offer their members such as having support groups to ensure the wellbeing of their members. In the second segment, the speakers from the Transformation Office and the Centre for Human Rights spoke about the UP Anti-Discrimination Policy (ADP). The UP ADP is detailed in terms of the procedures to be followed when reporting any form of discrimination experienced by students and staff members. The UP ADP was passed in 2019 to address issues of discrimination within the university space and how it can be accessed through the UP website and on ClickUP. The Trans Protocol was also discussed. It is a document that works with the ADP to enable transgender, gender diverse people, and non-binary individuals to navigate the university in a manner in which they are protected.

The influence of the Trans Protocol in enabling students from UP to change their pronouns on ClickUP was also discussed. #SpeakOut UP spoke to PDBY about the webinars.

Was there anyone from outside the UP

Science Oscar winner: Prof. Stephanie Burton

UP’s Fine Arts Division hosts the opening for “Light for Art’s Sake” exhibition

Photo: Ruth Versfeld

challenge I had to be a part of!”, he added.

Barnes started studying meteorology in 2011 as an undergraduate and completed his Honours in Meteorology in 2014. He further completed a weather forecasting postgraduate qualification at the South African Weather Services in 2015 and started his Master’s/PhD studies in 2018. One of the challenges he had to overcome was working as a full-time weather forecaster and completing his postgraduate studies. “Working and studying is tough. So I really had to persevere through those initial few months where you are still getting to grips with the literature and trying to figure out how to get some results out of the data. Luckily I had great supervisors in Dr. Ndarana and Prof.

Landman and a great support network of friends and family who were able to keep me motivated”, says Barnes. He further added that perseverance got him through these challenges.

This is what he said when asked about his plans in his academic career: “I am not sure yet really. I am looking at a few different opportunities at this stage and will make more definite decisions about my future next year!”.

#SpeakOut UP Anti-discrimination Week

Amukelani Makamu

During the month of October, the UP Student Counselling unit runs a Mental Health awareness month. This initiative aims at raising awareness about mental health. For any mental health care support, students or staff can contact the 24-hour UP Careline on 0800747747.

UP has congratulated Prof. Stephanie Burton who has won a NSTF Management Award. This kind of award is considered to be a “Science Oscar”.

Master’s thesis turned PhD Manelisi Magoro

Your mental health matters the UP Counselling Unit

community who attended?

“We were not joined by anyone outside the UP community but we hope that as we continue celebrating Anti-Discrimination Week in the future, we can continue our anti-discrimination awareness initiatives beyond the University of Pretoria”. #SpeakOut Up further explained that they are thankful to have been joined by different structures at UP to provide insight on discrimination and the support offered at UP. These structures included Legal Shebeen, UP&OUT, BOLD, the Transformation Office and the Centre for Human Rights.

Did you get the desired outcome from the event?

“We got the desired outcome from the AntiDiscrimination Week as we were able to inform people about the UP Anti-Discrimination Policy and the Trans Protocol. Through the initiative #SpeakOut UP received a new perspective on the South African Constitution in terms of combating discrimination and got to hear stories from students about anti-discrimination, combating discrimination and ensuring social solidarity”.

“We as #SpeakOut UP [...] urge students and staff members to read and use the Anti-Discrimination Policy and Trans Protocol where necessary so that they do not suffer in silence when experiencing discrimination”.

11 October saw the Link Gallery at UP host the opening exhibition for “Light for Art Sake” Exhibition. This is a first of its kind in this division. The exhibition was on Pin-hole and multi-modal photography at and beyond the University of Pretoria.

Some of the photographs that were on display were by first and second year students in the Fine Arts Department. The artist, Carla Crafford, says the title of the exhibition was inspired by the Pin-hole box camera that each student had to use to create their photographs and for perfect images there needs to be perfect sunlight.

One of the photographs that Crafford spoke highly of is by a second year student, Themba Nhlapo. The photograph is titled “Three Views” - Nhlapo can be seen in the photograph topless and wearing a face mask; this photograph was shot in March 2020 when cases of COVID-19 were reported in South Africa. All of the photographs that were on display have been inscribed in a book with the same title as the exhibition.

UP photo competition open to students

UP is running a #UniversitySocialResponsibility Competition that closes on 30 October.

This hashtag serves to show that UP uses its skills, knowledge and research to make a positive and lasting difference in the environment and society. Students are encouraged to enter the competition on their student portal by submitting a photo.

Students that enter stand a chance to win prizes.

UP architecture lecturer takes top spot in global abstract writing contest

A UP architecture lecturer has won the World Building Congress (WBC) 2022 abstract competition. Karen Botes’s submission was chosen out of 900 abstracts submitted to the contest, which challenged applicants to write a 300-word abstract that relates to building for the future. “I feel extremely blessed, honoured and grateful that my abstract was accepted and selected as winner of the competition,” Botes says. Botes’s abstract is in line with the literature review for her PhD study in Landscape Architecture, the title of which is ‘An efficiency analysis of selected traditional African vegetable species and modular living wall systems for food security for Gauteng, South Africa’.

Second Honorary Doctorate: for Prof. Tawana Kupe Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof.

Tawana Kupe, has earned his second honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier. This was for his work in “building academic partnerships across the African continent and the globe”.

25 October 2021

4 | News

Mandown’s male victim, male perpetrator series Katherine Weber

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n 4, 6 and 8 October, Mandown, a special project that deals with issues of male mental health, sexuality and GBV at the University of Pretoria, held their annual seminar where they discuss key societal issues. The seminar takes place in the form of discussions between influential men, women and students on topics that could be considered controversial. This year’s theme was,

“It’s cool to care” and took place over Zoom and was streamed on Instagram.

On Monday, 4 October, the topic of discussion was victim silencing in the context of family, culture and values. It featured guest speakers Philenda Dlamini and Tinyiko Nkuna. Day 2, 6 October, dealt with cyberbullying as a new violence, with Emihle Majikija, Comfort Ayelomi and Nothando Ngubeni making guest appearances.

On the final day, 8 October, the topic of manhood

was explored with guest speakers Prof. Sokudela, Masilu Moshabela and Chairman Collins-Mckinnelle.

These issues were chosen because they are often overlooked for more sensationalist issues. “The whole point of the series is to create an environment where all students feel welcome, however we live in a complex society that faces complex issues that should be dealt with in an open space”, says Tarik Lalla, a member of the Mandown administration.

While this was a discussion between influential people, the discussion was open before and after the session for the public to ask questions and participate in the discussion, so as not to create a closed off space. Although no definitive conclusions were reached during these discussions, many agreed that at least a start has been made to have these conversations in open spaces.

More information can be found on the Mandown Instagram page.

‘Corridors of Death’: The university exposé you’ve been waiting for Mothusi Mokalane

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orridors of Death is a book by Lesego Samora Mahlatsi, also known as Malaika Wa Azania. The book is a collection of essays that explore the lived experiences of black students in historically white universities.

It sheds light on how structural violence, racism and a culture of alienation are pushing students to the edge of depression and increasingly, suicide. The book also suggests that urgent structural and institutional interventions need to be made, the centre of which must be transformation that reflects the democratic and sociopolitical construct of South African societies.

The opening chapter of Corridors of Death is about a very important topic that has gained momentum over the years in South Africa; mental health in universities. Malaika begins the chapter by introducing the story of a student who died by suicide in Johannesburg, she was a student at Rhodes University. Khensani Maseko was in the university’s Student Representative Council (SRC) and she died by suicide following a sexual assault on her by a fellow student. The incident caused her a severe battle with depression. Before Khensani’s death, she took to Twitter to pen down her suicide note, and this sent shockwaves across the country and sparked a dialogue about rape culture within tertiary institutions. However, beyond the dialogue on rape culture, the death of Khensani also started a conversation around mental health in higher learning institutions. Although the dialogue initially was not around race relations, it was an entry point for a discussion that would ultimately centre on the race element in mental health.

Malaika goes on to touch on the inadequate support that institutions of higher learning provide for students who are dealing with mental health issues. Malaika indicates that even though students would sometimes seek help from structures set by the university, there is an element of isolation and protection of perpetrators in universities. In an article

by Sunday Tribune titled “Rape victims face culprits daily at Rhodes”, Khensani’s friends stated that she felt isolated on campus because

of management’s consistent failure to deal with rape cases at the university.

Malaika continued to show the dire situation of mental health in South African universities by presenting stats; in Wits, UJ and UCT, the following students died by suicide in the recent years; Sanele Dlamini, Kago Moeng, Relebogile Pheto, Mpumelelo Tshabalala, Xolani Kosi, Tiyiselani Mpangane and many others. According to the University of Pretoria,

was walking from the library when he witnessed what happened. Having been the president of the SRC and an activist since his undergraduate years, Shingange knew the institution more intimately than most students. In fact, because he was the SRC president around the time of the #FeesMustFall movement, he had the front row seat to the theatre of students suffering.

Malaika makes a point that before speaking to Shingange she already understood the issues causing mental health complications amongst black students in historically white universities – these stemmed from historical traumas suck as alienation from former model C schools, where most black students encountered racism for the first time.

However Malaika presents another point put forward by Shingange that he experienced; the trauma of surveillance. This is trauma that is the result of being intellectually imprisoned, unable to write about certain things which the university regards as damaging to its brand.

Having claimed to been on the receiving end of this surveillance in his postgraduate studies, Shingange knew first-hand the mental and emotional stress that such a practice can birth. Shingange contended that such a practice is more common in historically white Afrikaans universities, “for theirs is a culture steeped in apartheid securocracy” writes Malaika. Malaika continues to show this securocracy and surveillance as she writes about the #FeesMustFall protests at UP. Shingange accounts that it was during this time that black students suffered immeasurably at Image: Black Bird Books Africa the institution. Shingange mentions students like Naledi Chirwa who was 23 students attempted death by suicide in 2018 suspended by the university following the alone. In 2017 the University of Cape Town intensified protests for free education. Chirwa recorded six deaths by suicide. was woken up at 04:30 by the police in her Another important chapter in the book is home and was placed into a police vehicle and Chapter 12 because it hits home for many taken to Brooklyn Police Station. readers. The chapter is titled “A University of Corridors of Death is a book written for Pretoria student dies that day”. Here Malaika is black students in historically white universities in conversation with Thabo Shingange, a former who died of suicide after reaching a level of SRC president and the National Spokesperson invisible agony, and for thousands more of of the South African Union of Students (SAUS). students who live through institutional racism Shingange witnessed the horrifying suicide that is constructed and structured in an invisible that took place in the Humanities Building by manner that only those who encounter it are a student as they jumped to their death. Thabo able to point out.

Image: Instagram - Mandown UP

SRC initiative: The Mindful Moment Amukelani Makamu

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he SRC EX-Officio Student Culture Officer, Thando Mthimkulu, ran an initiative titled “The Mindful Moment”. The initiative was born out of a need for a virtual space for students to connect and talk about their mental health struggles - it is through this initiative that students were able to be connected to the Student Counselling Unit (SCU).

PDBY interviewed Mthimkulu to get more insight on the initiative. “On campus it was always nice to sit with friends and share what is happening in your life, and realise that you are not struggling by yourself”, Mthimkulu said.

Due to COVID-19 and not being on campus students were unable to have that experience.

Thus, the SRC, through the Ex-Officio Student Culture Office, created a virtual space where students could still share their experiences and realise that they are not alone.

For the second semester, the initiative was moved from a virtual space to a physical setting. It was celebrated under the theme, “celebrating resilience”, and this took place at Javett-UP. The initiative was inspired by the SCU’s resilience competition. Conversations where moments of resilience were shared by individuals and how others were inspired by these moments occured, and the perfect vehicle for it was through the performing arts. Thus, student artists like Roman Figga, Ernest and Darxkin were invited to perform. Other UP participants like the Director of Student Affairs, Dr Madiba, and the SCU were also a part of the initiative.

“I am thankful that this was able to happen and that we were able to create a space where students can still inspire each other and speak to each other and find strength in knowing that they are not alone”, Mthimkulu said.

Mthimkulu added that he would like to thank the SCU for providing students with the necessary resources to assist students when things get a little bit dark.

25 October 2021

News | 5

Museum survival during the pandemic Intervarsity News Katherine Weber

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s the pandemic has continued to rage on, many different sectors and institutions in our society were hit, including UP’s own UP Museums. With the loss of contact lessons, the UP Museums lost their engagement with the public, forcing them to expedite their plans to increase their digital presence. Due to this loss, regaining any kind of contact with the greater public has been their number one priority, which was done through opening the museum during times sanctioned by the government during the periods of 1 February to 14 June and 1 October to the present day. Museum visits are currently managed by appointment only when the museum is open, which is from Monday through to Friday from 08:00 to 13:00, and can be booked through their website.

However, during times where physical contact was prohibited, UP Museums took to online platforms to continue engaging with the public. They posted articles, online puzzles and artworks all throughout last year, but with the move to 2021, they shifted their tactics to more immersive ones, including digital presentations on platforms like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

One of the museum’s goals was to expand their Mapungubwe exhibition. The exhibition, which has been spoken about at length by the museum’s interpretive officer, Nicole Hoffman, is located at the UP Museums as UP is the

Prof. Lis Lange announces the recipient of the 2021 UCT Open Textbook Award

official steward of the collection. The museum hoped to expand the exhibition to include a bead gallery but was unfortunately delayed due to financial reasons. However, with all this need to shift to a digital platform, the museum became the first African museum to make its collection available online for the exploration of the greater public via the Google Arts and Culture

platform on 11 August.

Once the university opens again, the UP Museums hopes to continue physical engagement with the public, both in the university and out, and to work with the university’s disability unit again to offer a quality experience to all staff and students with special needs.

Political parties and their candidates Tumelo Lesufi

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ll political parties have ambitions for their chosen candidates to run for office in the SRC. Its importance for the political parties concerned results in parties pulling out all the stops to campaign for their chosen candidate. This inevitably comes with an implicit faith in the candidate by the party that the candidate embodies the principles and values of their party. This is evident by the responses given by political parties when faced with this question. As said by EFFSC UP chairperson, Fikile Sibanda, “This question is similar to asking how important it is for a tree to be rooted to the soil or for a fish to swim in water, this is to say it is of utmost importance that the person deployed to a particular portfolio in the SRC must carry the ideology of the party, must be able to represent, articulate, apply and serve through our policies, guidelines and schools of thought which are also our ideological tools of analysis viz Marxism-Leninism and Fanonism”.

Similar sentiments were echoed by DASO chairperson, Chardonnay Arendse, to the same question - “It is of utmost importance that our candidates carry the party’s political ethos and principles. It is however equally important that they display an eagerness to serve the students as that is evidently our main concern.”

Political parties therefore carefully select their candidates that will run under their banner.

Arendse explained the DASO processes of selecting and eventually backing their running candidates as follows: “We select candidates to run for the SRC by posting on our group.

Anyone who is interested gets into contact with the DASO chair or secretary. Thereafter we have a selection panel that includes both EC members (in the instance that they are not running for SRC) as well as representatives from the Motherbody DA to determine whether the candidates will cater to the needs of the students while upholding the political ethos of the party.”

EFFSC UP has a variation of a similar method. “Candidates are selected based on

a criteria that is developed by the incumbent leadership structure. The Branch Student Command Team (BSCT) or a task force which is appointed by the BSCT ensures that well equipped members who are in good standing are deployed by the EFFSC UP to the SRC structure. They also ensure that they will be able to further champion what the EFFSC advocates for through whatever means available [at] their disposal in the SRC once they are elected into office. We also work tirelessly to deploy trusted forces to specific and strategic portfolios within the SRC based on relevant capabilities. The criteria is amended annually, if necessary, by

This may place a burden on parties when they have a candidate that they believe will represent their organisation well but who does not have the required GPA. the leadership so that it fits into the current dynamics at play in the institution”. With these different methods of selecting candidates to run for SRC office comes with what political parties have in their policy. However, political parties running for office in the SRC are bound by the Constitution of Student Governance (CSG) that applies to all student structures. There is a regulation that demands running candidates to achieve a GPA score of 60% in their academics. This implies that running candidates, irrespective of what their political parties think of their leadership credentials, will not be eligible to run for office if they do not meet the prescribed GPA score. This may place a burden on parties when they have a candidate that they believe will represent their organisation well but who does not have the required GPA. In such

events some political parties opt to cheat the system by putting forward candidates that are not even members of the political parties so that they have candidates running for office. The IEC does not have a responsibility to background check if political parties have fielded a member in good standing with their party. This implies that voters run a risk of voting for candidates that are not members in good standing of the political party concerned.

“Yes, as previously mentioned above we only select members in good standing to run for SRC elections deployed by the EFFSC UP. To avoid rallying behind political nonstarters we only select those who are ideologically fit to handle the responsibility of serving students through our policies and will be able to do so effectively and diligently. Political parties aren’t bandwagons for parasitic students to use to gain SRC offices and blazers; afterwards they abandon them, so we are very careful on who we rally behind even in the pool of branch members,” said Sibanda.

But this is not always absolute as she further explained that “yes, previously the leadership before us had given opportunities to members who had just joined closer to election and sometimes this may be a risky move as the members are often not on the same page with the vision of the EFFSC at large ideologically and otherwise. I know of a [candidate], who was recruited a month before SRC elections and he went on to do very well and always advocated what the organisation stands for even without a briefing.We will admit this strategy has not always bore great fruits and that is why this year we took the approach of only deploying members in good standing for a fairly longer period prior [to] elections - in addition to ideological sanity in the standards of the EFFSC UP”.

The 2021 election season is over but there is are elections each year and the student population has a responsibility to make a choice for credible leadership. Voters need to understand the dynamics that come with having candidates running under a political banner.

There is a burden of responsibility on voters to be aware and make informed choices.

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Open Textbook recognises excellent textbooks written by UCT staff and students that are responsible for advancing the UCT social justice and transformation memorandum. For the year 2021, Prof. Lise Lange announced that the award for the UCT Open Textbook goes to an Associate Professor, Professor Maria Keet. This was for her book titled, An Introduction to Ontology Engineering. This book is the first of its kind globally in the Department of Computer Sciences. The book addresses South African student context issues such as localisation, multilingualism, disability access and technical innovation.

University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) Food Security Programme UKZN is running a food security programme to ensure that every student at UKZN is food secure. The university will also hold a virtual event to tell the history of UKZN’s food security journey. For more information about this Food Security Programme, visit the UKZN twitter page @UKZN.

University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) Westville Campus reopens vaccination site UKZN has reopened its vaccination site for first and second jabs at the UKZN Westville Campus. Any students, staff or residents that wish to be vaccinated in the area are now welcome to vaccinate on the Westville Campus. All persons are required to bring their Identity Documents with. For more information, visit the UKZN twitter page @UKZN.

Wits University to enhance the training of surgeons in South Africa Wits officially opened its Advanced Surgical Skills Lab on 12 October. The Lab comprises of the latest technologies and teaching facilities. This puts the Wits surgical training as one of the best in the globe. This Lab will cater for the interdisciplinary training needs of disciplines in surgical studies such as nose and throat, general surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology, ear, cardiothoracic, urology, maxillofacial, and more. It will also include the training of nurses, doctors and specialists. This new Lab serves as the Wits Century Campaign Project to celebrate the 100 years of academic and research excellence at the University Department. For more details, visit https://wits100.wits.ac.za Compiled by Amukelani Makamu

25 October 2021

6 | News

2021 SRC accountability Following up on the campaign promises made by the out going 2021 SRC

students?

I am awaiting University guidelines and approval to put the SRC as an entity on crowdfunding.

When will the crowdfunding account start operating? Has this been possible, if not why?

Once I have received the guidelines and the approval.

In what way have students been involved in financial decision making and fundraising?

Has this been sorted out? In what ways have students been involved in financial decision making and fundraising? Please give examples. Could the SRC provide proof that such a form was shared?

A google form has not yet been released but will be released soon.

Nokwanda Kubheka

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arlier this year, the SRC held a Student’s Forum where PDBY queried the campaign promises of SRC members that had not yet been fulfilled. As the 2021 SRC term comes to an end, PDBY followed up on unclear goals and promises from the SRC. Most SRC members responded - however Njabulo Sibeko did not respond to messages and requests for comment despite having 10 working days to respond. Nothando Ngubeni said not to understand a request for proof or numbers to show how day-students funding has increased - which was her campaign promise.

The following questions were sent to the SRC for the Student Forum based on their 2020 campaign promises and theSRC’s end of term follow up questions and responses. Questions sent to SRC members who did not respond are stated here as well.

JACO VAN JAARSVELD: SRC Secretary When will the SRC ClickUP page start being used by the SRC as a way to communicate with students? For what reasons was the ClickUP page not implemented?

How has the SRC liaised with the Department of Student Affairs (DSA) to discuss the prospects of installing such a page?

Innovation and education does not have a problem with the SRC communicating via the ClickUP page - ClickUP’s primary focus should be that of teaching and learning and not as a form of communication.

LERATO NDLOVU: SRC President How many policy making workshops with students have been held this year? Follow up: What were the plans and did they prove to be successful? Please state instances of workshops as promised in your manifesto.

When will the update newspaper that is meant to be sent to students via email on a monthly basis be initiated? Please offer an update on the process. If it has not been achieved, please offer an explanation to the student body?

Follow ups regarding having a newsletter being sent via email to each student was weighed against a risk / benefit ratio. The costs involved were too much and not worth it having - the POPI Act would be involved. The newsletter is still in its development phase and this option can always be reviewed in years to come under different circumstances.

The office of the president engaged different private accommodations on the rape and sexual assault support process and aims to amend and improve it. Big policy and constitutional amendments will come in 2022.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is still being finalised (legalities). We hope to see fruition by the end of this year - if not, next year’s SRC will bear the fruits of the MOU.

All members who work with the SRC GBV desk/email have been on #SpeakOut camp which was educating on all matters relating to gender and sexuality. They received further training and assistance from the transformation department.

How much has been set aside to help solve students’ need for financial advisers?

During your manifesto presentation, you mentioned that there is a need for funds to be set aside so that students can have contact with financial advisers. How much has been set aside to help solve students’ need for financial advisers?

The study finance officer has worked alongside the finance office and various help has been given on the student portal making the assistance digital. We greatly promote financial aid as the finance department has made this available for students already. Students can also contact the student finance officer for advice for funding opportunities which is already available - however this is still an ongoing process which is being worked on.

What solutions have been built with regard to concerns of financial holds, financial arrangements and registrations?

Please provide statistics on how many students were helped and how students were prioritised.

Approximately 80% of students with the correct details submitted were able to apply for the study aid fund in the first semester. There were two roll outs to ensure that more students could be assisted. The UP SRC donated half of their budget to make the student aid fund possible. 100% of those who fit the criteria were assisted.

How has the SRC’s relationship been strengthened with external entities (programmes with corporate world to direct mentorships and bursaries)?

What came from the three private entities and what have you been able to achieve? Please include statistics of students assisted by each mentioned external entity and in what way they have been assisted.

What sensitivity training have SRC members had for sexuality and gender?

Please offer an update on the success of the training. Which SRC members have been trained? When were these members trained? If any members have not been trained, why have they not been trained?

MELVIN VAN ROOYEN: Student/Study Finance

JOZIAS MAHUBE-REINECKE:

SRC Treasurer

What steps have been taken to start the crowdfunding account aimed at alumni, businesses and the municipality?

Please offer an update on the approached crowdfunding platforms.

How has the crowdfunding idea come to fruition and helped

25 25 October October 2021 2021

THUTO MASHILA: Transformation and Student Success How has the #SaveTheSemester initiative been further developed? How is the counselling provided by the #SaveTheSemester initiative different from that provided by the UP counselling unit? Has the SRC liaised to provide more counselling services to students during exam times?

I stated that #SaveTheSemester is also going to focus on mental health. We had a few videos with the aim of assisting and or advising students. One of the videos was from the counselling unit that was aimed at giving advice with regards to handling stress during exam time. That is how the initiative tackled the issue of mental health. We are constantly in touch with the counselling unit to see how students can be assisted during the time of exams and in general. We try to emphasise that there are more ways and or channels of receiving counselling besides the counselling unit - but what also forms part of the unit is the 0800744 special hotline number that students can phone.

We emphasise that students can also phone that number. Furthermore, if students are having challenges with receiving appointments,we follow it up with the head of the counselling unit.

How have res policies been transformed to help struggling students academically?

Thuto Mashila stated that they are in talks with Chané Williamson to adjust policy so that those who are disadvantaged are not discriminated against.

What was the outcome of talks with Chane Williamson? What policies have been adjusted?

At the moment we have the Institutional Culture Survey and in the survey. I, as the transformation officer, was there to ask key questions with regards to transformation and changes that need to take place with regards to residence policies. Only residence students are allowed to answer those specific questions as it pertains to them. Part four of the survey speaks to residence policies and residence surveys.

The SRC urges all students to take that survey because it will speak to transformation in the university and residences - specifically the policies. The changes will be informed with the results of the survey among others. We thus urge every student to participate in the survey so that we can see tangible transformation. Statistics are required for transformation to take place.

How have self-defense classes been implemented? Please update on the initiative? Have pepper sprays been distributed, if so, to whom? If not, why? Has there been any talks/distribution efforts in private accommodations?

I have stated in the past that this initiative will take place in conjunction with the offices of RAG and Facilities, Safety and Security. We are still trying to gather funds but hopefully it will take place before the end of the final semester. Furthermore, we do believe that pepper spray does not really sort out the GBV / harassment crisis however they can be very useful in this regard.

How has the office worked to overhaul res culture? How has the problem of inclusivity been sorted? What has the initiative achieved and how have students been involved?

In the institutional culture survey as explained above. Students are urged to take the survey so that change can be implemented accordingly.

News | 7 What channels have been created for easier reporting?

The SRC saying that “it is better for a woman to deal with these issues” shows a one-sided view of GBV that only affects women.

What has the SRC done to make sure male students know that they can utilise the email address when they are affected by GBV? The member promised to create easier channels of reporting.

While the GBV email address was created last year, what channels has the member been able to create as promised during the campaign?

Please offer statistics on how many students have reported cases of GBV and how many have been assisted successfully?

How does the reporting systemwork?

Who has access to the emails?

How is the person’s identity protected?

After an email is received, what steps are undertaken to help resolve the matter?

When will computers be available on campus 24/7?

Please update.

In which residences have communal kitchens been introduced?

Please update, this SRC’s term is almost over, have you received authorisation and if not, what was the reasoning behind it? If you have, when will it begin?

How has the office ensured that more female staff are visible at main access points?

What “open line of communication” has been created between day students and the SRC? Has the day house sub council been established? If not, why?

Who sits on the house sub council?

The day house sub-council is a Constitutional amendment/addition from the office of Day Students and External Campus Affairs. Once the Constitution is finalised, the sub-council can be established.

What efforts have been made towards the eradication of membership fees for students who come from poor backgrounds?

Nothando Ngubeni stated that 60% of [her] budget is going towards day houses. The SRC will take it one step at a time.

What steps have been taken?

The funds are there, it will be announced soon on SRC social media platforms, however, we will look into working together with the day houses to assist day students so that they can also participate.

What was the outcome of the mentioned drafted request?

Was this achievable by the end of July? If not, when will the idea come to fruition?

Please elaborate on what the backlogs are, and what were some of the key points discussed in the draft request? Please may the SRC supply a copy of this draft proposal to PDBY? In what ways has the office ensured that students feel safe on and off campus?

Where have panic buttons been installed?

What areas have been indicated as “vulnerable”?

What efforts did the SRC make to hold these student engagements, if this was not made, what caused the delay?

Can the SRC please supply proof to PDBY in the form of a draft proposal or any other relevant document that there was a dialogue engaged to implement panic buttons on campus?

How has the office increased the number of security guards at university residences?

Njabulo Sibeko stated that they had previously touched on it. In proposal we seek to draw up red crosses with areas without policing.

Following which, more policing will try and be afforded there.

Accordingly, security services will be distributed to say the outskirts of Hatfield.

Has more policing been provided in these areas, if not, why?

In what way has the office ensured that buses travel to external campuses more frequently?

Njabulo Sibeko stated at the Student Forum that they have consulted with various offices with regard to buses and have shown fruition at Groenkloof and Onderstepoort. Amendments will follow accordingly.

What were the improvements made? E.g., what were the number of buses before and what did the SRC do to increase this?

How has the office worked to ensure the establishment of green routes on all campuses?

Sibeko, despite the SRC being given 10 working days (five days more than required), did not respond to questions directed to him. He did not respond to texts when contacted directly. For transparency, the following are the questions that were sent to Sibeko without responses.

NOTHANDO NGUBENI: Day students and external campus affairs

During the Student Forum, Sibeko stated that the goal was to reach this change by the end of July.

Where have red crosses been drawn up and on what criteria were these areas classified as such?

NJABULO SIBEKO: Facilities, Safety and Security

Please offer updates on the assessment of architectural structures. Is campus more accessible? How? Could the SRC supply proof that an assessment was taken or attempted?

Njabulo Sibeko stated that students are urged to contact the management centre to arrange for escorts.

How has the office made campuses more accessible for students with disabilities?

Njabulo Sibeko provided that the Department of Student Affairs has been contacted and architectural structures are being assessed.

How much increase in funding for students in day houses has the SRC been able to provide?

Nothando Ngubeni said that 60% of the budget has been allocated to day houses.

Compared to the past, is this an increase? Show us how the budget has been increased please.

Ngubeni said that she did not understand this question.

Ngubeni was later sent a text detailing what this question required from her - which was either the amount of money or a percentage that shows that this mentioned 60% is in fact an increase as this was her campaign promise. PDBY did not receivce a response.

What measures can students take against unkept campaign promises?

The Department of Student Affairs (DSA) explained what action students can take to hold SRC members who did not keep their promises accountable. The director of student affairs, Dr Matete Madiba, said “Our focus is not on campaign promises but on the POAs [Plan of Action] that they produce. We take a developmental approach and they start the planning process from the initial induction and training they get. They then refine their plans and once finalised they make the plans public and use them to report on progress. We use the same for a round of evaluation meetings we have with them”.

Images: twitter @UP_SRC

Students who are directly affected by unkept promises can contact the SRC to find out when these promises will come to fruition or to express their views on the current situation. Students can also contact PDBY and share their views in a letter to the editor. See pg 2 for details.

Responses have been slightly edited for clarity.

25 October 2021

8 | News

2022 SRC Campaign Promises Amukelani Makamu and Susanna Anbu

D

uring the SRC election period of 2021, PDBY attended the SRC Manifesto sessions of the various SRC portfolio’s. This article serves as a mirror representation of the campaign promises made by certain portfolio’s SRC elects in their Manifestos.

Thus, no SRC member listed in this article has answered in their capacity as an SRC member but in their own personal capacity while campaigning.

SRC Presidential Elect 2021/2022: Thuto Mashila •

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Ensure students have the necessary knowledge on what the SRC is supposed to do for them and what they can assist in.

Strengthening the visibility of the SRC, by interacting in events held

by Residences.

Prioritise fund-raising to help address historical debt and students that are financially disadvantaged.

Speak to businesses and external parties to create a fund to allow the SRC to address student debt and assist international students.

Ensure access to learning devices and data bundles to allow students to be able to participate in classes and perform well academically.

Constantly engage with companies to provide functioning equipment and engage with students to ensure that their needs are being addressed.

Involve students in issues of governance and issues of the constitution that pertain to student governance to ensure efficiency in the performance of duties.

Ensure the continuation of the relationships between societies and the SRC, as well as the promotion of programmes that speak to inclusivity, transformation and safety. Ensure that all students including students with disability are assisted in every way and not left on the side lines. This will ensure an environment free of discrimination and Gender Based Violence (GBV) and allow students to feel safe and heard in issues that involve them.

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SRC Deputy Secretary Elect 2021/2022: Anoint Fikile Sibanda •

SRC Deputy President Elect 2021/2022: Stefan Steenekamp •

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Ensure that lecturers and modules coordinators do not sacrifice the quality of education due to the online nature of teaching at the university.

Assist students with registration through a hybrid system as some students struggled to register on time and resulted in exclusion.

Fight student academic exclusion.

Provide previously disadvantaged and international students with laptops, data and additional training in computer literacy.

Address financial barriers, by collaborating with the university to get funding from external parties for students in need.

Collaborate with the Finance Department to ensure that everyone is held accountable.

Address and assist mental health issues by ensuring that affected students get the possible help they need as soon as possible. Issues will be dealt with by collaborating with the Department of Student Affairs (DSA) , executives, student counselling services and to ensure that the number of psychologists are increased on every campus by collaborating with BestMed and other medical services to ensure that these medical professionals are paid for.

Ensure that there are more workers in the DSA , to allow them to help more students.

Implement a sub-council to support each office of the SRC, to help plan and organise events to get exposure for certain issues and assist in training faculty house committees.

Ensure the safety of all students against GBV, especially in the residences.

SRC Secretary Elect 2021/2022: Tarik Lala •

Ensure the running of what would be the SRC itself. Ensure that administratively, before the SRC begins term in office

through projects, especially in ex-officio roles as well as the transformation roles and programmes, before beginning these programmes that the SRC should find itself in the position to address issues faced by students such as financial exclusion, academic exclusion.

Thus, the SRC must be administratively ahead of and proactively ready for the issues that the SRC will be addressing.

SRC should reach out and contact students as the SRC begins its term in office, not rather once the students have faced the problems themselves. Thus, SRC should provide a platform for students to come forth with issues so that they can be addressed long in advance.

Would like to achieve an administrative process that is proactive and addresses issues at a level where the SRC can anticipate what is going to happen and address/respond/act before it becomes a major issue.

Would like to support certain programmes within the SRC especially within the transformation portfolio but equally the SRC must ensure that postgraduate and international students are provided the platform to raise their issues or to even have programmes themselves to address their challenges.

Advocate for transparency and accessibility Ensure that the student governance at large engages with the DSA Ensure that Day Houses, Faculty Houses and Key Committees and Special Committees are on board with the SRC Agenda to ensure that students have access to leadership and have access to resources. This will require the SRC to build a very strong communication line with these various structures.

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Being a drive for institutional policy change by putting together a committee that will coordinate change and reforms by engaging key stakeholders with other SRC members which will be supported by various institutional personnel, which will help implement immediate constitutional and institutional change to realise rapid change.

Establish a results based management that will provide an effective and transparent platform to demonstrate accountability, results and impact of student leaders. With this, student issues will be effectively recorded and effectively dealt with.s. SRC will also have direct communication with residency sub-councils and attend sub council meetings.

There will be an implementation of reports which will include information with regards to student debt, mental health, legal services-cases on and off campuses, gender based violence, academic and financial exclusion, resident culture issues and residence placements. It will also include information on issues of poverty, institutional, environmental, gender and sexual assault cases statistics which will provide students with accurate information. This will be made available through spreading of SRC minutes, by making the SRC tab on ClickUP permanent, and by posting on social media, and will be released regularly.

• Conduct surveys quarterly in order to get feedback on postgraduate courses.

• Promote mental health initiatives for postgraduate students.

2. International Students segment: • Help international students with visa and registration applications.

• Continue with online applications for international students instead of having to go to the University in person to seek help.

• Ensure the university does not reject personal medical aid for international students so that they do not have to pay an additional R5000 on top of the registration money.

• Liaise with ISD for cheaper medical aid for international students.

• Faculty House postgraduate and international students portfolio holders must be trained on how to conduct international student applications, passport and visa applications because half of the portfolio holders are not postgraduate students or even international students.

• Ensure international students receive institutional assistance for accommodation.

• Have a social support programme to ensure that international students adapt to a South African environment.

• Create an International Student Committee to help international students with visa applications etc.

• Start a mentorship programme for first year international students.

• Liaise with the university for International student financial aid by raising funds and granting international students study loans.

Day Student and External Campus Affairs Elect 2021/2022: Lauren Thabethe •

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Postgraduate and International Student Elect 2021/2022: Neville Mupita Aims to divide the portfolio into two segments: 1. Postgraduate segment: • Will liaise with relevant department to increase the intake of postgraduate students in the University because statistics have shown that in 2020, UP had 53 430 undergrad students but only 5867 students were taken into postgraduate studies.

• Will work with the university to give out the necessary information to final year students about postgraduate studies.

• Give the necessary academic support to postgraduate students.

• Hold incompetent and unapproachable supervisors accountable because postgraduate students have complained about slow communication from supervisors.

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“I ran for this portfolio because it is closer to my heart. I am a day student and I share the same struggles that day students face. When I decided to run for this portfolio, I had strategies in my mind on how I could solve some of the issues that are being faced by day students.

I ran for this portfolio because I want to be the voice of day students and students that are in Groenkloof, Prinshof, Mamelodi and Ondersterpoort campuses.

I believe I have the required knowledge that will assist me in dealing with some of the matters”.

“In my office tenure, I intend to ensure that all day students, this includes students from Groenkloof, Prinshof, Mamelodi and Ondersterpoort are included in the full university experience. I want to instill a culture of inclusivity amongst students, especially the LGBTQIA+ community. Issues that are being faced daily by students in accredited private accommodations are also of utmost priority to me.I will ensure that students have a comfortable stay at these residences. These issues will of course be handled successfully with the help of house committees from the different residences”.

“While doing my research I have discovered that students from external campuses are not familiar with the SRC structure.

They do not really know where to run to for help. I want to address this challenge that they have. I want to actively engage in these campuses so that students are familiar with the SRC structure and feel included”.

“There are crime hotspot areas in Hatfield, and I am willing to work with my colleague from the facilities, safety, and security portfolio to identify these areas and alert students about them and give recommendations that could prevent students being victims to crime. With the help of our security from the university, we are going to prioritize student safety and ensure that students have a university experience that is not traumatic”.

“I am a leader that likes being on the playground, I will leave no email unanswered, every concern that is brought to me by students will be handled with urgency. I intend on meeting with some of the students personally at times and get to engage with them on a personal level. It is not possible to meet all the students, but I will form structures that will bridge the gap between students and me”.

“My main objective is to serve students in the most diligent way possible. I want day students to feel like they belong. I do not want to leave any room for exclusivity. Day students’ concerns should be heard and resolved amicably”.

Features | 9

25 October 2021

The value of a degree after COVID-19 Asanda Made

T

he COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a decrease in physical interactions to ensure that everyone was as safe as possible.

Despite this, the maintenance of everyday activities was still necessary to ensure that life did not come to a complete standstill.

The best solution for various activities was to shift to an online platform, especially for the working class and students. In the case of a student, these everyday activities are mostly made up of attending lectures, completing assignments, and studying.

The shift from face-to-face learning to online learning was necessary to ensure that students were able to progress academically or complete their studies. Online learning meant that most of these activities were to be done virtually, which was completely different to what many students were used to. To this day we still have technical difficulties in live lectures, or watching recorded lecture videos, but the process was, for the most part, simple and easy enough. Online assessments were completely different as prior assessments were conducted under strict supervision to maintain ethical behaviour during assessments and to ensure accurate results reflecting a student’s knowledge.

Since online assessments have been conducted remotely, there has been a lack of supervision, which created opportunities for students to behave unethically. Ethical behaviour during assessments is a concept every student is familiar with, along with the knowledge that cheating is not tolerated at any level of education - especially not at tertiary level. According to “Psychology of Academic Cheating” by Eric Anderman and Tamera Murdock, academic cheating involves learning, development, and motivation. In terms of learning and development, cheating serves as a shortcut that could result in a student incorrectly developing skills and not acquiring enough knowledge in a specific course.

The Department of Institutional Advancement at the University of Pretoria (DIA UP) stated that online teaching and learning increased some risks - including the risk of academic misconduct and dishonesty through digital plagiarism and the unauthorised sharing of work by students. They also highlighted that the brand value of the degree the student aims to obtain weakens with every instance of attempted fraud and dishonesty. There is also a possibility of longlasting repercussions for all graduates in terms of employability, not just those who participated in cheating. In the case of current students

who are found guilty of academic misconduct, there is a risk of losing all credits for the affected module and expulsion. Students who have already graduated risk their degree being revoked and being reported to the South African Police Services and relevant professional bodies.

To enhance the integrity during assessments, UP lecturers were encouraged to apply specific measures and rethink assessments.

Some of the general measures recommended by the DIA UP included creating several versions of an examination and linking it to randomly distributed groups of students; dividing long papers into separate parts that are no longer than 45 minutes; setting higher cognitive level questions that do not rely on recall (Google search questions); putting a watermark on questions papers that indicates it is copyrighted to UP; using Turnitin to check for originality in submissions; using a system where students write exams after receiving a password-protected PDF and, after answering the assessment by hand, students would upload their scanned and PDF scripts to ClickUP. These measures helped decrease the chances of students consulting different sources such as fellow students, the internet, or study material to discuss the questions. Students were also required to sign a code of honour and integrity statement in the affirmative to be morally responsible and accountable, and to undertake not to cheat or collaborate with other students.

UP prides itself in the quality of its degrees. The above measures reflect the necessary

steps taken to ensure the integrity of its programmes, thus rendering the question of whether a degree obtained online during this period would be recognised and valued in the job market redundant. It should also be noted that, according to an article regarding distance learning by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS), employers accept degrees achieved through distance learning and view them as identical to those achieved through studying on campus.

Image: Cassandra Eardley

10 | Features

25 October 2021

South Africa’s youth voting crisis Kirsten Minnaar

I

n South Africa and all around the world young people appear less willing to vote. During the 2019 elections, very few young people voted or even registered to vote. As the 2021 municipal elections approach, it appears that South Africa will once again see very little participation from young voters.

As Quartz Africa described after the 2019 national elections in South Africa, “disillusionment has set in, particularly among those who are as old as South Africa’s democratic regime—the twenty somethings.”

According to the Daily Maverick, “young people register, and vote, at far lower rates than their older counterparts” even though they make up a disproportionately large number of the electorate. 9 million South Africans who were eligible to vote during the 2019 national elections did not register to vote.

According to the Independent Electoral Commission, most of this group were young people, with 46% aged 20 to 29. Many of the young people who did register to vote in this election did not end up voting, despite the Electoral Commission’s efforts to try and convince younger people to participate. According to eNCA, even though people “aged between 16 and 29 make up more than 400,000 of the 433,000 new registrations to vote in this year’s local government elections”, youth apathy is still a big problem in this election. The Daily Maverick explains that “registration figures for the forthcoming 2021 municipal elections indicate that the situation has worsened. Approximately 9% of 18 to 19-year olds and 44% of 20 to 29-year olds are registered and able to participate in November’s election.”

“...there seems to be a general feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness among many young people.”

While there are many reasons why young people would choose not to vote, there seems to be a general feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness among many young people. “I am one of the young people that have registered to vote, but I will not be voting this year. From the work that we have done and the places we have been to, there is a general sense of hopelessness”, said Pearl Pillay, managing director of the NPO Youth Lab, about the 2019 elections. This organisation put together a Manifesto unpacking parties’ youth-centric policies. According to Quartz Africa, many young people living in townships and rural areas feel “left out

by South African party politics”. This feeling of hopelessness also appears to be the reason that many young people are not voting in the 2021 municipal elections. According to eNCA,

Photo: Madeeha Hazarvi

young people living in some of Gauteng’s townships say that they are not planning on voting because “politicians have not kept their promises”. The Daily Maverick also explains that low turnout rates among young people is a global phenomenon. “Undoubtedly, young South Africans are shaped by factors that influence young people everywhere, which include changes to communication technology and media consumption, weaker party loyalties and the disinclination among younger generations to regard voting as a civic duty.” There are also likely to be “country-specific reasons that explain the reluctance to vote among younger South Africans and this has turned our attention to the impact of high unemployment rates, poor governance experiences and rising political distrust and disaffection towards political parties in particular. Together,

The silent eating disorders Lauren Harries

W

hen thinking about eating disorders, the automatic image that society has impressioned into one’s mind is that of a skinny female. Not often do we picture the male population suffering from this mental illness. However, according to Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, the number of males suffering from eating disorders is on the rise.

According to WebMD, eating disorders are considered a serious mental and physical illness as well as a psychiatric condition that often comes in the forms of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating.

However, male eating disorders often look different to those of females. Men more commonly experience eating disorders in the form of excessive exercise, binge eating and fasting. This is in contrast to its manifestation in females, where the most common types of eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia.

Despite many men experiencing eating disorders, it must be noted that men are still underrepresented, underdiagnosed and undertreated when it comes to this illness. According to a journal article titled Eating Disorders in Men: underdiagnosed, undertreated and misunderstood, resources for male eating disorders are lacking as, until recently, research and treatment paradigms were geared towards and only focused on females with such a disorder. This has also led to risk assessments and eating disorder treatment plans which reinforce the gender stereotypes associated with the illness.

This often results in male eating disorders going unnoticed.

It is commonly known that many men turn to eating disorders due to muscle and body dysmorphia. This is a mental state that results in the body being seen differently by the person than how it actually appears. According to the journal article Eating Disorders in Men: underdiagnosed, undertreated and misunderstood, this dysmorphia

these factors may produce a jaundiced view of representational procedures like elections and political actors”.

While many young people’s apathy towards elections is understandable, it can also hurt this group in the long term. As Daily Maverick explains, “the participation gap between young and older people at elections does the former a great disservice. It invites a scenario of “mutual neglect” — a term coined by Martin Wattenberg in his 2016 book, Is Voting for Young People? — where young people ignore formal electoral politics and, in turn, are ignored by politicians. For as long as they are inactive at the polls, there is less incentive for South Africa’s political elites to pay attention to their policy preferences and political views and they will be largely disregarded”.

the result of placing men’s health in a detrimental space.

The use of excessive exercise to lose weight is sometimes referred to as anorexia athleticism and is often used as a compensatory behaviour for caloric intake according to Eating Disorders in Men: underdiagnosed, undertreated and misunderstood. This often starts disproportionally affects gay, bisexual and asexual men. This off as men exercising for weight loss or muscle gain in order to disproportionate effect is said to be linked to the high levels of achieve better health. However, this usually results in a runaway concern around body image within the queer community which diet which further leads to self-starvation and, ultimately, anorexia places members of it at a higher risk of developing an eating nervosa. This kind of eating disorder often results in other aspects of disorder. the person’s life being affected, such as work, social activities or just In addition to this, a commonly experienced male eating meeting day-to-day responsibilities. disorder is one that is often linked to, and influenced by, athletic The pressure placed on men by the media and society as a whole achievement. Many men want to gain or lose weight to be able to to look a certain way has resulted in many men developing eating achieve optimal performance within their sport or hobby or even to disorders to keep up with the unrealistic expectations. Here are be eligible to compete in it. Such an achievement is often achieved five guideline questions taken from Men’s Journal to ask yourself through excessive exercise, usually while in a calorie deficit, with to help determine if you need to seek help: are you drastically decreasing your calorie intake?; are you increasing how frequently or for how long you exercise?; are you obsessed by thoughts of food or your body?; is exercise interfering with your work and social life?; and do you feel any physical symptoms such as feeling weak, rundown or dizzy?.

According to NEDA, eating disorders have the highest rate of mortality of all mental illnesses, with the male population having an even higher risk of death than the female population. However, according to WebMD, a study found that men who seek treatment for their eating disorders usually have positive outcomes. Despite this, information, research and treatment surrounding male eating disorders is still nowhere near the same level as that for female eating disorders. It is said that, in order to achieve full awareness, effective diagnosis and treatment for males going through eating disorders, the illness needs to be seen as more of a human issue and less of a gender issue.

If you or anyone you know might be suffering from an eating disorder, please seek help and/or reach out to the UP Student Counselling Unit (SCU) at studentcounselling@up.ac.za or at 0800 747 747 or send an SMS to 31393 and they will call you Photo: Cletus Mulaudi back.

25 October 2021

Entertainment | 11

Internet Girl’s The World I love and more

Image provided

Jan Ndlovu

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Images provided

Feminine Beauty and the Artist Catching up with local artist Kayla Oosthuizen Ashleigh Pascoe

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ayla is a local artist, and produces eye-catching pieces that are sure to get even the art novice excited. PDBY spoke to Kayla about her art where she unpacked her artistic talents and offered some insight into what it means to be an artist in Pretoria, what art means to her and where her creativity stems from.

Where are you from, and where did you develop your artistic talents?

I am originally from a little town called Vereeniging but I am currently staying in Pretoria while I am finishing my degree. I honestly have no idea when or where I started developing my artistic talent. Since I was young I have always loved being creative and painting all over the place. I didn’t go to art classes besides art as a subject up until grade 9 so it has always just been something that I enjoy doing a lot. I have definitely improved my skills over the last three years as I have had lots of time to practice (thanks COVID-19!)

What is your favourite piece out of all of your creations?

My favourite piece is definitely my most recent painting of the lady with the pink hair, however, I have another that is just so much more important to me. I started painting a little frog when I was in grade 11 but I used to hate it because I was busy painting it when I found out I didn’t get into Fine Arts at Tuks which led me to somehow believe it was that specific painting’s fault that I didn’t get in. After a year or so I finally finished it and now it has a very special place in my heart because it showed me that my talent is not defined by the acceptance of others.

What inspires your art?

I usually just wing it if I’m honest haha. However, I have recently been enjoying drawing out sketches of my ideas and then asking my friends what they think would look cool and then I somehow add

their additions to the final paintings.

How would you describe the style of your art?

I have a very wide range of artworks that I create. For commissions, I mostly do whatever the clients want, which is often monochrome portraits. My own art style on the other hand is very colourful conceptual, psychedelic art. I love creating art that makes one feel as if they are in a whole other universe.

What are the main themes of your art?

Most of my paintings centre around female characters (I genuinely don’t think I have ever painted a man other than for commission pieces). I guess it feels like I put a bit of me in each painting. Thus, the theme of my art usually follows along the lines of a female presence in this alternate reality that I have painted.

From that, the spectator can interpret my art however they like.

Which mediums do you use to create your art? Do you only use paint, or do you dabble in other mediums?

Lately, I have only been using acrylic paint for most of my art as I find it easiest to work with and usually gives me the results that I want. I also love pencil work and any type of sketching even though I don’t do it as often. The only medium I genuinely dislike is chalk.

I am way too messy to keep it under control haha.

Which audiences do you believe support your art the most?

This is also such a wide range. At the moment I think it is mostly people around my age (19-25) since most of my art is quite colourful and out there. I have done some murals as well and I would love to become more involved with mural painting.

How can one contact you if they wish to buy or commission a piece?

I have an art page on Instagram, @kaylie_colours, where I show the process of my paintings and where one can also order commissions from. Other than that, I can also be contacted through my email at kayla.oosthuizen1@gmail.com.

outh African band, Internet Girl, is a unique, three-piece alternative band that released their 2021 EP, The World I love, on 11 June. The EP consists of just six songs, but in those 15 minutes the band successfully makes you want to get up and dance the night (or day) away. All the songs carry with them a sense of nostalgia for one’s teenage years, where spring slowly dissolves into long summer holidays. The perfect harmony of the drums and the guitar fused with bubbly pop vocals sets the tone for the EP. This band is filled with young, upcoming artists with an energy that will hopefully reach international ears.

As the album progresses, the hip-hop sound filters into a more pop centric sound in a major twist. This is attributed to fewer words, repetitive choruses, acoustic sound, and the pitch of the singer’s voice. In an era where hip-hop is just a hooking chorus with a good beat, this is a rather pleasant surprise and a well-crafted piece with good lyrics and instrumental beats. The artists did a grand job of creating a catchy chorus and hook that captures listeners.

The opening song, “Dumb Party”, and the last song, “Living Far Away”, embody the same feelings and explore the struggles of love amongst the many distractions life has to offer. When one is young, spending time with friends, partying, and travelling never stops. The songs between the first and final fuses together to create an album that feels like it belongs on the afternoon radio of 2000’s punk rock. If you are planning a summer vacation or a get-together with friends, this EP is worth adding to your playlist. It is an EP you want to blast while taking a sunset drive on a cool summer evening.

The band recently released two new singles, “bitter” and “popstar” in September and October respectively. The songs stay true to the general feeling conveyed on The World I love and shows that this band has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. Internet Girl is worth keeping an eye on and they are sure to grow in the near future.

Editor’s Picks Playlist

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ere are some vibey local tunes (some old and some new) to get you movin’ and groovin’ this spring.

Chris Theron – Shelter Lo – Ghost – Fetch Me In The Morning Steve Umculo, Khai – Running out of Space Crosscurrent – Wait Filthy Hippies – Framed Emma Van Heyn – Looking for Amanda Adele Nqeto – Need Someone Alexandra May – Someone Else The Shabs – I Feel Alive Fishwives – Pied Piper Zuko Sol, Bo Molefi, Choonkie, Phil Higgins – Coffee In The Morning Elle E – Tag Along YouthSticks – See The Sun (Summer) aboynamedblu – where lucy said Daytura – Analogy

12 | Entertainment

25 October 2021

PDBY Featured Artist

Winds of August Dani van der Horst

PDBY’s artists to watch

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DBY chatted to Pretoria-based alternative cover band (for now), Winds of August, about their music journey so far and what fans can expect to see from them in the future. They describe themselves as a band “who enjoys incorporating anything from new and different sounds to the familiar classics”.

The band currently consists of Esmarie Boshoff on vocals, Johan van Zadelhoff on guitar, Llewellyn Annandale on bass, and Alex Palmantouras on drums. Llewellyn and Esmarie are both from Namibia while Alex and Johan are from South Africa.

Llewellyn and Esmarie are both music students at the University of Pretoria while Johan and Alex are full time musicians.

How did you get into music?

Esmarie: I got into music by listening to Shania Twain growing up. After that I was convinced you had to play guitar to be a rockstar, so I started guitar lessons when I was six and the rest is history.

Johan: When I was about 9 or 10 I just decided to take piano lessons. We had one in our house and my sister used to play and I was just curious to see whether I could do it as well. Later switched to drums ‘cause it looked cool and then finally settled on guitar and found the instrument I love.

Llewellyn: I started out with classical guitar lessons around the age of 12 but always enjoyed learning familiar pop songs to play and sing along with. I started playing electric bass guitar about four years ago and have been working as a session bassist for various artists in Namibia since then.

Who would you say you have drawn inspiration from in terms of your sound?

Esmarie: I listen to a lot of singer-songwriters as well as alternative rock, so I would say that definitely influences the way I approach music. I have also learned a ton from my fellow bandmates who introduce me to new styles and sounds.

Johan: I feel that we all have different music backgrounds, which I think is great. My music range goes from Rock to Folk, dips a little into Metal, back to Blues and just a little bit of Jazz.

Our circles do overlap in some genres, but there's a lot to be learned from my band members and so much room for experimentation, mix and match here, fiddle around there, and see what works or what doesn’t.

Llewellyn: My original influences were mostly punk bands such as Blink 182, Sum 41 and Green Day, but I went into a huge blues phase where for almost two years I would exclusively listen to musicians such as Robert Johnson, Son House and Eric Clapton. My tastes have broadened out quite a bit since then and nowadays I find I’m most inspired by artists such as Vulfpeck, Jacob Collier and Snarky Puppy.

If you could perform anywhere (both in South Africa and the world) where would it be?

Esmarie: I would love to perform at a big festival like Glastonbury, that way I get to share the stage with more amazing artists.

Johan: If we're talking local, Splashy Fen and Rocking The Daisies or just a bit to the north in Mozambique, STRAB. Internationally, it might sound cliche, wherever the music takes us. As long as we’re around people who truly love music, I'd be happy to perform anywhere.

Llewellyn: I’m a big fan of music festivals, so locally

Photo provided

Oppikoppi and Daisies are big dreams of mine. Internationally I would love to be able to just see the world making music, so a few places I’d love to visit are Spain, Czech Republic and South America.

Where do you see your band in two years’ time?

Esmarie: I would love for us to be performing on larger stages and South African festivals.

Johan: On the road touring South Africa.

Llewellyn: I would love for us to have gotten some studio time in by then, so hopefully we would be on the road touring one of the newly released albums!

Who would you like to perform with from the South African music scene and why?

Johan: So many to choose from, for me personally bands like Fake Leather Blues Band, Pedro Barbosa, Die Horries and Zebra.

They have great energy on stage, and I just always like to see them perform.

Llewellyn: Blues musicians such as Albert Frost and Dan Patlansky have always been some of my biggest South African icons, but I would love to share the stage with Crimson House and Desmond and the Tutus as well.

Do you have any projects coming up that we should keep an eye out for?

Esmarie: We are currently working on new and original songs that will keep the crowd going, but that will also be unique to our sound.

Where can we watch you perform?

Esmarie: You can catch us on 21 October at Sowaar Bar for a Cancer Awareness Benefit concert!

Johan: We are still in the early stages of performing, but we do the open mic circuit in Pretoria for now. Aandklas, Jarr Bar, Sowaar Bar and Railways, with plans in the pipeline to perform at Fokof Bar and Whisk Wine Bar in the near future.

Check them out on Instagram: @windsofaugust_

Five ways to welcome spring to Pretoria

Ayesha Vania

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or the outdoorsy folk, spring is the perfect time to get those steps in. Put away your K-Way puffer jackets and grab those Fitbits, because Pretoria has a hike or two for you.

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Wolwespruit Mountain Bike and Trail Park is a

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fantastic spot.

Day passes for mountain biking are R60 and, at an even bigger steal, R35 for trail running. (See issue 9 for more details). Groenkloof Nature Reserve is also a fantastic spot to increase those endorphins, with day passes starting at R45. The trails are home to horses and zebras, so Groenkloof doubles as a low budget Kruger trip too!

The Waterkloof lookout point.

Once a well-kept secret, the lookout point has now become the place for a sneaky picnic or a sundowner. At the low, low cost of zero Rand, you too can perch yourself on a rock, whip out your cheeseboard and enjoy the setting sun. Bonus points if you spot a bird and shout, “bird”.

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Nkwe Day Trip from Pretoria.

Spring in Pretoria is that perfect time between arctic winter and volcanic lava summer, so naturally that means swimming. Nkwe Pleasure Resort offers day passes from R80 and is a great spot to have a picnic, get your tan on or perform an Olympic-worthy dive off the top of the waterfall. Your move, Tom Daley.

Quiz Nights.

If spring has sprung out your extra brain cells, put your skills on show at a local quiz night. There are ample opportunities to impress, with quizzes on almost every night of the week. Monday at Eazy Tiger from 18:00, Tuesdays at Springbok Bar from 18:00, and Wednesdays at Terra Rooftop Bar from 18:30 or Aandklas at 18:00. Tiger’s Milk and Jukes also occasionally offer quiz nights so keep an eye out for those.

CHRIS KEARNY ‘Ball and chain’ Chris Kearney is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Pretoria. He has been in the Pretoria music scene for about 15 years and never fails to deliver groovy tunes. Give him a listen if you enjoy some good old-fashioned rock ‘n roll, his single “Ball & Chain” is on most major streaming platforms. Keep an eye on his socials to stay updated on where he is performing.This is an artist you want to catch live.

IG: @chriskearney.music FB: Christopher Kearney

TRIIIP ‘Animal’ TRIIIP is a 3-piece electronic rock group from Johannesburg. The group is composed of Ciaran Quinn, Ben Chuvali, and Brogan Herron. Their funky, unique sound is best described as a mix of indie-pop, post-punk, and house and is sure to get you moving your feet. Give their single “Animal” a listen, it is available on most major streaming platforms.

IG: @triiipband FB: TRIIIPbandza

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Experience Turkish Culture at the Buyuk Chamlija Socia Eco Park Buyuk Chamlija Socio Eco Techno Park is an absolute gem, hidden in that shadowy place we call Centurion. The tranquil farm boasts an abundance of pomegranate, fig and olive trees, instantly transporting you to the east, but in Centurion. The on-site restaurant Karinja is built in a traditional Turkish dome style and does not disappoint.

On the food front, there is also a Turkish coffee and ice-cream truck. The Eco Park hosts markets on the weekend, with the next one coming up on 4 November. As if Turkish food, perfectly landscaped gardens and old-world charm weren’t enough, there is also a bird park and a goat and alpaca sanctuary. You’re welcome.

25 October 2021

Sport Bites TuksTennis on a winning streak

TuksTennis won in four categories of the 2021 Gauteng North TuksOpen Tennis Tournament. Guelord Kayambo and Kyla Yelverton won first in the men’s and women’s singles respectively. Blaise Izungu and Hendri Swigers won the men’s doubles and Kyla Yelverton and Amy Olivier the women’s doubles.

Lydia Wilsenach also won bronze in the women’s singles.

TuksLifesaving wins in Gqeberha

TuksLifesaving won the overall title at the 2021 SA National Lifesaving Championships in Gqeberha.

Lifesavers Elijah Dredge, Johan Lourens, Ockert van Schalkwyk, Robbie le Roux and Tove van Zyl all set new South African records and qualified for the World Games in Alabama, 2022.

TuksCricket club manager new chairperson of USSA Cricket

Blanche Conradie, the club manager for TuksCricket, was elected chairperson of USSA Cricket after serving as the vice-chairperson. Conradie says she is excited to “ensure that [...] student athletes continue getting the opportunities they need to excel in both their studies and cricket careers”.

TuksFootball player called to Banyana Banyana

TuksFootball player and TuksSport High School matriculant, Wendy Shongwe, has been called up for the Banyana Banyana national team. She will play in the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifier against Mozambique.

Compiled by Kayla Thomas. Info via TuksSport.

Sport TuksSwimming at the CANA African Swimming & Open Water Championship Held in Ghana this year, the 2021 CANA African Championships saw UP’s TuksSwimming claim multiple medals with winning times. For more results after the date of publication, check out @tukssport.

Stephanie Houtman: Silver - Women’s 400m freestyle - 4:40.17 Silver - Women’s 3km open water - 38:23.18 Gold - Women’s 800m freestyle - 9:07.14 Christin Mundell: Silver - Women’s 200m freestyle - 2:04.60 Gold - Women’s 50m breaststroke - 32.64 Gold - Women’s 400m freestyle - 4:40.02 Gold - Women’s 400m individual medley - 5:10.80 Lizanne Viljoen: Bronze - Women’s 100m butterfly - 1:04.19 Gold - Women’s 200m butterfly - 2:19.35 Roberto Gomes: Bronze - Men’s 400m freestyle - 4:03.72 Bronze - Men’s 800m freestyle - 8:27.33 Bronze - Men’s 1500m freestyle - 16:24.33 Andrew Ross: Silver - Men’s 200m freestyle - 1:51.63 Silver - Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay - 7:34.09 Gold - Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay - 3:34.02 African Championships Record Matthew Randle: Silver - Men’s 50m breaststroke - 28.70 Silver - Men’s 100m breaststroke - 1:03.06 Silver - Men’s 200m breaststroke - 2:15.03 Seven gold medals in the junior category as a Tuks Sports High School swimmer.

Compiled by Kayla Thomas

Photo by Serena Repice Lentini on Unsplash.

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