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Anniversary Edition
Perdeby Editor-In-Chief Carel Willemse
carel.willemse@up.ac. za @Ed_in_Chief
Editor Margeaux Erasmus
perdeby@up.ac.za @MargeauxErasmus
News Danielle Petterson
news@perdeby.co.za @DLPetterson
Features Bernd Fischer Entertainment Melina Meletakos co.za
features@perdeby. co.za @Bernd_Fischer entertainment@perdeby. @MelinaMeletakos
Sport Maxine Twaddle
sport@perdeby.co.za @MissMax6
Web Nolwazi Mngadi
webeditor@perdeby.
co.za
@perdebynews @NollyNM
Copy Yuan-Chih Yen
copy@perdeby.co.za @Sreddyen
Layout Nolwazi Bengu
layout@perdeby.co.za @cherrypop18
Visuals Brad Donald
visuals@perdeby.co.za @Brad3rs
Teams Layout Ditshego Madopi Edher Numbi Copy Herman Hoogenboezem India Gonçalves Maggie Roodt
Advertising enquiries www.perdeby.co.za Tel: 012 420 6600 Cell: 083 318 9738 carel.willemse@up.ac.za Front page: Nolwazi Bengu and UP Archives Back page: Carel Willemse and UP Archives
CONTENTS
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Letter from the editor: welcome to our legacy
A few media organisations celebrated big birthdays this year. Carte Blanche and The Economist celebrated 25 years and 170 years in the media respectively, Time magazine is celebrating its 90th anniversary and Perdeby is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Seventy-five years might not seem that impressive compared to the above-mentioned media organisations or compared to the Hartford Courant, which started in 1764 as a weekly newspaper in America. It might not even seem that impressive next to other student newspapers in the world.
Building the icon
EDITORIAL
Margeaux Erasmus
Letter from the editor-in-chief
The curious case of Perdeby
75 golden athletes
paper’s longevity. While working through the archives, one thing became clear: students wanted a form of communication and Perdeby has served that purpose for a long time. Perdeby provides a specific service. We let students know about news or events that they might not find elsewhere. The paper’s student focus might be another reason for its success. Mail and Guardian editor-in-chief Chris Roper says that newspapers are struggling and believes that if they don’t change and give readers what they want, then they’re going to die out. Perdeby might not always stay a printed newspaper, but it is a niche publication and, as long as it keeps catering to student needs, I believe that the paper will survive. Journalism is changing at a rapid pace right now because of the internet and digital journalism. It is exciting to think about what the paper can be like in the next 25, 50 or even 75 years. The sky really is the limit for student newspapers. It only depends on what the students who work at the paper are willing to do, and I hope that my successors start using digital journalism and the internet’s opportunities to the full. It really is the way forward for any newspaper in this century. This is our limited anniversary edition. In this edition we have taken a look at how far Perdeby and Tuks have come in the past 75 years. I hope to show this to my family one day, maybe at a time when reading something on paper is a foreign concept. I hope you enjoy this edition. Many of our journalists camped at the archives to put this together. There is one word that I kept thinking when working on this edition: legacy. I hope you enjoy exploring the history of this legacy with us.
A special thanks go to UP Archives. Without their help and assistance, this edition would not have been possible.
Yesterday’s news: a look into the past
The evolution of Oppikoppi
The Columbian Daily Spectator, for example, is Columbia University’s student newspaper and it was founded in 1877. Regardless of how young our university and its student newspaper is, 75 years is still quite remarkable. In this editorial I would like to mention a few reasons why. Perdeby wasn’t started by journalism students who wanted to hone their skills in the industry. The newspaper was started by five ordinary students who worked on the very first edition of the paper in the Theology building on a borrowed typewriter. The first edition of Perdeby also came out after several other publications were started but failed to stay open. There was no knowing how people would respond to Perdeby or whether it would survive its first edition. Sometimes I try to place myself in those students’ shoes. What drove them to start this strangely named campus newspaper? Did they know that the paper would still be around 75 years later? Yet there was something about this campus newspaper that gave it staying power. The newspaper was so successful and popular that it was adopted by the students and the SRC of 1939. Years later, students who worked at the newspaper had to fight to keep it open. The paper was closed down several times and numerous rival newspapers have opened in the past 75 years. The fact that Perdeby is one of the few publications that has stayed open at Tuks is an accomplishment in itself, for both the people who have worked for the paper and for the people who have read it. This year Perdeby distributed a quality survey to Tuks students and most of them agreed that a student newspaper is an essential service. Maybe that is what has supported the
The late Steve Jobs once said that it takes passionate commitment to “really thoroughly understand something”. I believe that every person who has formed part of the Perdeby editorial over the past 75 years thoroughly understood the magic of this publication. It is, after all, only due to passionate commitment from staff members
that the newspaper has survived this long. The proud heritage of entertaining and informing along with the willingness to embrace change is what has sustained Perdeby’s popularity among its readers throughout the years. Considering that the University of Pretoria is a dynamic institution that necessitates change, Perdeby also needed to adapt in order to stay relevant. A relevance that is proven whenever students pick up the paper and walk around with their noses buried in the ‘By. The growth and changes attributed to Perdeby’s in its current form can only be credited to its staff – the students who aren’t afraid to think outside the box. It is exactly this commitment and willingness to adapt that has led to Perdeby’s becoming the largest student newspaper in South Africa. Perdeby presents a rare opportunity where one can learn while teaching, experiment while working and acquire invaluable experience while having fun. I am convinced that everyone who has had the privilege of contributing to this paper only looks back with fond
memories on what they achieved during their term. I’ve seen great journalists come and go and if I were to name them there wouldn’t be enough space on this page. I’ve also had the privilege to work with some amazing editors where the common thread has always been a drive and passion for this publication. Perdeby isn’t simply a mirror reflecting Tuks society. It has always been a memory maker for those who worked on and read it, but more importantly, it has created a platform for discourse among young minds. As Perdeby embraces the digital era, the publication is able to reach an even wider audience to fulfil its job as a campus watchdog. I believe that Perdeby has been cemented as one of the cornerstones in the foundation of the fourth estate of South Africa and will be seen on and around the streets of the University of Pretoria for many years to come. In this commemorative magazine we celebrate the rich history of Perdeby. Carel Willemse
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Anniversary Edition
A WORD FROM PAST EDITORS
Kobus Schoeman established the bachelor’s programme in journalism at Tuks and served as Perdeby editor-in-chief 2003 – 2008.
My involvement with Perdeby was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career as a journalist. Firstly, for the wonderful people with whom I could share the craft of writing and presenting news. And secondly, to catch that huge technological wave which gave us all the surf ride of a lifetime. Imagine the early days at Perdeby. Turning out a student newspaper in 1939 – an odd three decades or so on the back of the Industrial Revolution. Technologically we might have found the reporting, layout and printing processes ancient. But at the time everybody must have been on top of the world. Back to the future. Imagine trying to explain our current media to that generation – how things
have changed. How the profile of reporting, printing and image gathering or presentation have transformed over 75 years. What a privilege to be part of the digital revolution. There are those who say newspapers are dying – and yes, the hard copy might disappear. But, there will always be a sharing of information and wordsmiths crafting the stories. Looking into the future is equally hard for us – to fathom what the media and journalism will be like in another 75 years. Whichever way things go, we are surely fortunate to have experienced the 21st century transition. At a time when an apple could only be found on a tree, how would reporters, 75
years ago, understand what we are about in this day and age? The current gizmo generation does not realise its edge – the speed at which things can now be done. Explain this to our brothers working the presses in 1938. I have such fond memories from my tenure as Perdeby’s editor-in-chief. We built exceptional editorial teams. Each year new volunteers joined the experienced ones to build the Perdeby legacy and set new standards of excellence. All those volunteer editors, graphic designers and photographers who offered so much of themselves – thank you. You know who you are – I’m on a word-count – and Carel would know you too. It was so much
fun. From the weekly rush of getting the pages ready to the late-night court order, preventing us from going to print. Exciting times. It was most gratifying working with each year’s intake of volunteers and seeing how everyone evolved in their roles. But let us single out one special individual from that era – Elvira van der Merwe. What a generous soul. I know everybody who worked with her would still treasure the memory. She dedicated so much love and passion to keep the Perdeby wheels rolling. Finally, let us remember the pioneers who started this journey 75 years ago, paving the way for so many student journalists who followed. Viva freedom of speech. Thank you.
Anna-Marie Jansen van Vuuren (Editor 2006, News editor 2005. Redaksie 2003 – 2006)
Soos die legende lui, het die vyf studente wat een aand om middernag, die eerste uitgawe van die Perdeby op `n geleende tikmasjien saamgestel het, geensins heuning in die mond gehad nie. In teendeel, dit was uit verset teen die verpligte sang van die Britse volkslied na rolprentvertonings, dat die blad in April 1939 die lig gesien het. Aangevuur deur die eerste publikasie, het sowat 80 studente kort daarna, by die Aula saamgeswerm om ook húlle protes te laat geld. Die lied “O, Perdeby” is gesing, en só is die angel gebore. When I was elected as the editor of Perdeby at the end of 2005, I took over from Karien Slabbert and Nicolaas van Reede van Oudshoorn, two editors who taught me a great deal. They took charge of the newspaper at the time when it was still recovering from
being closed down by the SRC a few years prior. Under their leadership the paper thrived.Building on their foundation in 2006, our motto for the editorial team became: Perdeby – “from good to great”. Maar dit was makliker gesê as gedaan. Die spreekwoord lui: “Wie heuning wil eet, moet steke verdra.” En steke het ons gekry – van die VSR wat gekla het dat die blad te “Engels” was, tot studente wat gevoel het ons waag te veel met omstrede rubrieke oor vroulike besnyding en kunsmatige insemminasie. Maar die by wat die lekkerste heuning maak, steek seer, en so het ons besluit om nie ons integriteit prys te gee of van ons doelwit af te wyk nie. Ons wou die angel bly, wat nie skroom om die taboe kwessies op kampus uit te daag en te
bevraagteken nie. Even though we enraged some students, we also lured them with breaking student news, a new features section, striking pictures, and great layout. During our time we paid attention to building the Perdeby brand. We improved distribution by placing wire boxes around campus so that students would know where to pick up their weekly copy and that the newspapers would not just get chucked on the ground at the side of a building. We drew attention to our reporting by putting up posters with headlines around campus, and joined forces with Tuks FM in a crossmarketing strategy in which we interviewed their presenters and they used our news in their on air “paper cuts”. This was also the time in which we got the Perdeby website up
and running again with the aid of two Belgian exchange students. And we got regular contributions from the Mamelodi and Prinshof campuses. It is at Perdeby where I learned some of my most valuable lessons: it only takes a few minutes for keys to get lost in the office, to scoop Kampus Beeld on Serrie news you need to do layout at three in the morning, absinthe really does invoke the green fairy and Elvira was the mother, guide and mentor we thought would always be there. Maar belangriker: met meer as 50 redaksielede wat elke jaar hulle penne in Perdeby se ink doop het ons `n angel wat nog lank heuning kan maak en “O, Perdeby” kan sing.
Alex Antonites
Ek het in 1962 op die redaksie van Die Perdeby gedien asook in 1963. In die loop van die week moes dit persklaar gemaak word. Die redaksie het Dinsadagaande bymekaar gekom in die boonste verdieping van die Ou Klubsaal. Dit was die “plak aand”. Die galeie, die proewe was dan gereed Dan was dit “cut and paste”. Dit was egter letterlik `n uitsny uit die galeie van die proef artikels en berigte. Dan is dit met gom berig vir berig geplak op `n vel papier wat dan die betrokke bladsy Vrydag sou uitmaak. Dit was werk, maar dit was altyd `n baie gesellige en kuier geleentheid. Die Perdeby was altyd goed gelees en dis selde dat kopieë oorgebly het. Studente het aktief aan die briewe kolomme deelgeneem. Soos vandag was daar dikwels debatte oor sake. Studente sake is baie goed gedek. Ek het nou nog `n hele aantal kopieë van Die Perdeby van daardie dae asook my Die Perdeby redaksie fotos in raam. Dis tog goed om te sien dat die voorblad van Die Perdeby vandag nog grootliks dieselfde lyk as destyds.
EDITORIAL
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Anniversary Edition DANIELLE PETTERSON Perdeby decided to take a trip to the archives and look at the biggest, most interesting and strangest news events that have appeared in UP’s official student newspaper over the past 75 years.
Yesterday’s
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1950s
UFO in Church Square Students drew a lot of attention in April 1955 when they built a large alien saucer and placed it in Church Square. The saucer attracted the attention of the local news and the police and the defence force arrived to cordonoff the square to keep the public at a safe distance. A student even dressed up as an alien and appeared out of the saucer. Sonop gets a monkey In June 1959 Sonop welcomed their 104th member – a monkey. The monkey, named Rasper, was given to them by an old Sonopper, Hannes Bruwer. Rasper was put in the care of monkey captain S Hofmeyer. First car intervarsity in SA history In August 1959 UP and Wits raced against each other in cars for the first time in South African history. The competitors drove a predesignated route and attempted to finish each route in the shortest possible time. They were penalised by a set number of seconds for each rule violation. The team with the lowest score won. Tuks beat Wits with a score of 23 998–25 109.
A flying saucer in Church Square attracted a lot of attention and the police in 1955. Tuks students built the UFO as a publicity attemt. Photo: UP Archives
1980s
1960s
Police stop serenade In March 1961 police stopped students from serenading another residence for the first time in UP history. Approximately 100 male students were serenading Klaradyn when police showed up. The police had received complaints from residents in the area that the students were disturbing the peace. Tukkies in movie One thousand Tuks students were given the opportunity to appear in scenes from the movie All the Way to Paris in September 1965. Jamie Uys shot scenes on campus, which would be France in the movie. Women cause of men’s bad behaviour In March 1967 Perdeby ran a story in which male students said that women were the cause of their bad behaviour. According to the men, women rarely said “thank you” when men were courteous to them. One student said that women who came to campus scantily dressed should bear the consequences because there would be whistles and remarks from the men.
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Tuks and Wits students raced against each other in 1959 as part of the first ever car intervarsity. Tuks emerged victorius. Photo: UP Archives
1970s
Women allowed to wear pantsuits In June 1971 UP decided to allow women to wear pantsuits to campus. However, women were not allowed to wear studded jeans, swimwear or hot pants and they were not allowed to wear pantsuits on Sundays. Students stop traffic in Lynnwood Road In June 1977 students brought traffic in Lynnwood Road to a halt when they
protested in an attempt to secure the closure of Roper Street. Police arrived on the scene early but no serious clashes took place between them and the students. The police sprayed students with a fire hose but the water did not reach far enough to have much of an effect. The police closed Lynnwood Road from Roper Street to University Road for the march.
Bomb explosion A bomb exploded on the 17th floor of the HB on the evening of 15 August 1980. The bomb went off outside the office of the head of the economics department, causing damages to the value of R5 000. Right-wing group, the Wit Kommando (White Commando), took responsibility for the attack. Birth of Radio Tuks On 9 February 1981 Radio Tuks began broadcasting for the first time. The station only played in the main cafeteria for 15 hours a week and could not be picked up on the radio. Radio Tuks was constructed during the December holidays at 68 Duxbury Road. Kollege HK drama On 3 April 1981 Perdeby reported that the Kollege chairperson Jan van Zyl had been suspended by the residence. According to the rector, an investigation was carried out after Kollege residents allegedly removed the dump cart of a private building contractor working on university premises and wrongfully removed gates from properties in Lunnon Road. Two senior students and seven
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a look
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into the
past
Anniversary Edition university. The university was only officially declared open to all races in 1989. Student hit by car in Roper Street At approximately 10:40 on a day in February 1987, a student was hit by a car beneath the HB in Roper Street. Thersia Binding was taken to the HF Verwoerd Hospital with minor injuries. Bombs found on campus On the weekend of 31 July 1987 two petrol bombs were found on campus. The bombs were found in the AE Auditorium and room 2-3 of the music department. The university also received a telephone call regarding a bomb threat on level three of the Merensky library, but police and security did not find anything in the library.
1990s
Nelson Mandela visited Tuks in 1991 to give a talk to students. He was forced to escape the amphitheatre stage after a group of students climbed on stage. Photo: guardianlv. com
first years were suspended from the residence as a result. The following month, six Kollege HKs resigned following Van Zyl’s suspension, leaving no house committee. Only two HKs stayed on at the residence. Inclusion of all races On 2 September 1982 the rector announced that UP would allow all races to apply on both undergraduate and postgraduate
levels. The SRC objected to this decision because they were not included in the decision. On 13 and 14 October 1982 the students were given the opportunity to vote on UP’s decision to allow all races to enrol at the university. Only 46.6% of students took part in the vote. Of those who voted, 56% of day students and 44% of residence students voted against an all-white
ANC Tuks members occupied the SRC offices in 1994 in protest. They claimed that a year after applying for an office, they still had not been given one. Photo: UP Archives
Women allowed in Maroela and Mopanie It was decided on 28 August 1990 that from 1991 onwards women would be accommodated in Maroela and Mopanie. The rector and the two men’s residences decided that there was a need to accommodate women in residences. At the time, only 2 338 women could be accommodated. One hundred and twenty places were set aside for women in each of the residences. Radio Tuks closed On Friday 24 August 1990, Radio Tuks was closed following a decision by the SRC. The SRC decided to close the station due to overspending and maladministration. One of the biggest problems was that the station had held a dinee to the value of R6 700 without SRC permission. Radio Tuks had already received three warnings that year because of poor financial control. Radio Tuks reopened On 7 September 1990 Perdeby reported that Radio Tuks was reopened by the SRC. The student council decided that the station should be allowed to operate again because it was needed to deliver a service at social events such as Spring Day and Intervarsity. The student council decided to appoint a new head and to financially carry the station until sponsorships returned. Drama with Mandela at Tuks In May 1991 Nelson Mandela, then deputy president of the ANC, visited Tuks to talk at a meeting in the Amphitheatre. Hendrik Claasen, who was not a student, climbed on stage and tried to reach the microphone but was stopped by ANC bodyguards. Shortly afterwards a group of people climbed onto and occupied the stage. Mandela left through a back door. The group only left the stage after
hearing that tear gas would be used against them. Campus flooded In February 1994, 19 buildings on campus were flooded after heavy rains. The basement of the Merensky library was the worst affected and South Campus was closed for two days. The stream on Sport campus overflowed and many cars parked on the grounds were damaged. An eyewitness told Perdeby that the water was almost 1.5m higher than the bridge. Residents said that between 85mm and 130mm of rain had fallen in the Menlo Park, Brooklyn and Hatfield areas. ANC fights for offices In March 1994 members of ANC-Tuks occupied the SRC offices. The members claimed that they had applied for an office a year prior to the incident but had still not been given one by the SRC. The ANC-Tuks Chairperson Nico Bezuidenhout said that it was of cardinal importance that they get an office before elections and said that the SRC was not giving enough attention to their request. The SRC chairperson told Perdeby that many people applied for offices but that there was not enough space. ANC-Tuks got offices on campus the following month. HB bomb threat In September 1994 university management received a phone call claiming that there was a bomb in the HB. Five police dogs were brought in but no bomb was found. Informatorium computers explode At the beginning of August 1997, approximately 48 computers exploded in the Informatorium. The explosions occurred due to power fluctuations. Problems were
In 1971 UP decided to allow women to wear pantsuits to campus for the first time. Photo: UP Archives
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Anniversary Edition
Left and above: Students stopped traffic in 1977 when they protested to get Roper Street closed. The street used to run through campus and it was years before the street was closed. A student was hit by a car in Roper Street in 1987. Photos: UP Archives
reported by the staff and it was shortly after an electrician arrived that multiple computers exploded. As a result, the Informatorium and the Education and Law Building were evacuated. Pornography on Radio Tuks website In February 1998 Radio Tuks’s website was removed from UP’s web server because of pornography. The website featured a short animation of popular characters having sex. Students sleeping in bathrooms In May 1998 Perdeby reported that people were sleeping in the Student Centre toilets at night. People sleeping in the toilets had begun burning toilet paper to keep
In 1998 it was discovered that people were sleeping in the Student Centre toilets. They were burning toilet paper to keep warm. Last year Perdeby also reported that students were sleeping in bathrooms on campus. Photo: UP Archives
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warm. The toilet’s supervisor said that it had been occurring for some time but that it could not be proven due to a lack of evidence. Report finds racism at Tuks In September 1999 Perdeby ran a story on a report by the Human Rights Commission that found racism and racial discrimination at a number of Tuks residences. The report, released on 13 September, claimed that res rooms were allocated according to race and that black students claimed that they were being discriminated against. Many criticised the report as being biased and vague.
Prosecutor Brandon Lawrence told the court that the state believed that this alleged rape was not the first to take place at Maroela. Provisionally, three charges of rape and three charges of indecent assault were brought against the suspects. The charges were expected to be finalised on 16 September. No alcohol on campus before 12:00 In July 2004 UP management prohibited the sale of alcohol on campus before 12:00. The decision was made because many students reportedly began
Mbeki visits Tuks Then president Thabo Mbeki spoke at the opening of the Oliver R Tambo Law Library and the new law faculty building on 15 March 2005. The former president delivered part of his speech in Afrikaans. He said that he was happy to visit Tuks because it characterises the transformation of the country into a truly non-racial, prosperous and democratic society that was articulated by Oliver Tambo. Student jailed for kissing on campus On 25 August 2005 the Hatfield
2000s
Girl gives birth in residence An Inca resident gave birth in her residence room in July 2002. Jemi Molotsi, who was doing a bridging course in science, went into labour a month before her baby was due. Her friend phoned an ambulance but after an hour it still had not arrived. When paramedics finally arrived on the scene it was too late to move Molotsi to the hospital and the paramedics delivered her baby in her residence room. Alleged rape at Maroela On 10 September 2003 a female minor reported that she had been raped by Maroela residents. The alleged rape had happened a week prior to the report. According to the victim, other members of the residence watched as she was raped. On 11 September three Tuks students and one former student were arrested by police. Four days later the court postponed the matter while the suspects remained in custody.
Tuks’s first black SRC President, Chilu Chani, was elected in 2007. Photo: UP Archives
drinking early in the morning. UP management believed that this was creating a negative culture at Tuks. Student found dead in the Amphitheatre A student was found dead in the Amphitheatre on the morning of 25 February 2005. It was suspected that Gerhard du Plessis, a first-year BSc student and Boekenhout member, had fallen from the roof. Du Plessis’s father told Perdeby that it was an accident and not a suicide.
court gave two students five-year suspended sentences for indecent kissing on campus. According to one of the students, a member of security approached them while they were kissing and made them sign an affidavit that stated that they were touching each other’s genitals. The female student said that they had signed it because they were under pressure but that the statement was false. The male student spent ten nights in jail on charges of public indecency.
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Anniversary Edition
No suicide was suspected in the death of a student on campus in 2005. it was suspected that the student accidentally fell to his death from the roof of the amphitheatre. Photo: UP Archive
A girl gave birth in her residence room at Inca in 2002. Paramedics were forced to deliver the baby in the residence when they arrived an hour after the ambulance was called. Photo: UP Archives
First black SRC chairperson On 12 April 2007 UP got its first black SRC chairperson. Chilu Chani was elected from 37 candidates. Chani said that he tried to disconnect himself from the label but said that “It shows that Tuks is willing to transform in order to catch up with the new dynamics of South Africa.”
2010s
Student expelled for public indecency On 23 August 2010 Perdeby reported that a student had allegedly been expelled for public indecency. The student lived in the Glaskas residence (now Xayata) on the corner of Lunnon and Herold Streets, opposite Nerina. According to a Nerina resident, the student would stand in front of his bedroom window and masturbate whenever he saw a girl in the Nerina parking lot. Nerina sport HK Christine Zietsman told Perdeby that the girls who saw him were very traumatised. “Apparently the guy gets a kick from looking at the shock on the girls’ faces,” she said. Rag in debt In July 2011 an audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers revealed that TuksRag had been accumulating debt to the value of R1.5 million since 2008. In 2008 UP took control of Rag’s finances. TuksRag told Perdeby that this came as a surprise to them because they had received a statement from UP showing that they had a profit of R225 453 in 2009 and a deficit of only R3 811 in 2010. Students protest Spring Day cancellation
In September 2011 students protested after UP announced that Spring Day celebrations would be cancelled that year. Students gathered at the Student Centre where they chanted “Sink the ship” and a group of students marched to the Administration Building demanding an explanation. UP told students that Spring Day had been cancelled because they could not get a temporary liquor licence for the event. They assured students that it was not an attack on or an attempt to undermine tradition. Zuma visits Tuks President Jacob Zuma visited Tuks for the first time on 13 October 2011. The president delivered a lecture on South Africa’s foreign policy. President Zuma spoke about the country’s position in the world of international relations and South Africa’s relationship with various
states, organisations and regional groups. The deputy minister of international relations and cooperation, the director-general and various foreign ambassadors and high commissioners attended the lecture. Girl shoots herself on campus On 11 April 2012 a former LLB student shot herself in the stomach while on Hatfield campus. The student, 24-year-old Chantelle Stockel, shot herself at approximately 18:00 near the CSC. She was reportedly wearing her graduation robes at the time of the incident and had attended the law faculty graduation ceremony at 15:00 on the Sport campus. There were rumours that the girl had tried to commit suicide but police told Perdeby that they were treating the incident as an accident. Stockel was placed under police investigation for the negligent discharge of a firearm. Students sleep on campus In April 2012 Perdeby reported that students were sleeping on campus. Students were sleeping in bathrooms and the Study Centre because they did not have transport home late in the evenings. Staff member making drugs In July 2012 a UP staff member was suspended after being arrested for
allegedly manufacturing drugs. The accused was a senior technical assistant in the chemistry department and it is believed that he bought the chemicals to make the drugs using the chemistry department’s name. Two students charged with murder In September 2012 two students were charged with murder for separate offences. The first student was accused of murdering his law student girlfriend after she was found dead at her family home in Fourways on 6 September. The second student was accused of killing his girlfriend Sithokozile Mkhize, an aeronautical engineering student, on 20 September. Mkhize’s body was found at a construction site in Pretoria East four days later. Oscar Pistorius in court In February 2013 Perdeby reported on Oscar Pistorius’s murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. After being formally charged with murder, Pistorius appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on 19 February for his bail hearing. The state argued that the murder of Steenkamp on 14 February at the athlete’s Pretoria home was premeditated. Pitorius’s trial is set to begin in March next year.
Oscar Pistorius was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp earlier this year. He was held at the Brooklyn police station while in police custody. Photo: UP Archives
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Anniversary Edition
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Mascots: the trophies of res war Sonoppers”, it still managed to play a role in the shaping of Tuks. It was through the combined efforts of Ienk, ontgroening, sleep and blommetjiesvou are words that describe Sonop and Kollege residents that Tuks “acquired” its mascot Oom Gert and the life of an average Tuks residence in the process, Sonop “acquired” their student. Whether it is their late night mascot Garibaldi. attempts at finishing a Rag float in In 1926 the first female residence time or running down the stairs at all was established, known then as Die hours of the day to protect a beloved mascot, residences have always formed Fant and later as Vergeet-My-Nie. In years to follow a new female an integral part of student life. residence, known as Asterhof, would Perdeby looked back at residence be constructed next to this building. traditions and the mascots that helped Asterhof got its first boarders in shape them. UP’s first boarding establishment was 1957, 31 years after the completion of Vergeet-My-Nie. Its seven floors named Kya Rosa. However, by 1909, more living space was required and by stood out above any other building in 1914 the first residence, Kollegetehuis, Hatfield and would mark the beginning of a new era in residences. Today this was established. Kollegetehuis would building is known as Forever Yours and serve as the forerunner for future together with Vergeet-My-Nie form residences. When the first residence Asterhof. During the early years of on the Proefplaas opened its doors, Asterhof’s establishment the giraffe the residents of the old housing became its mascot. The mascot’s establishment, along with their mascot existence can be attributed to Kollege Sarge Bourke, moved into the new residents who would scare Asterhof building and decided that the name residents by poking a teddy giraffe “Kollege” would be kept. into their windows. Kollegetehuis, along with its heilige Asterhof was soon followed by the klippe and org bad, marked the establishment of Klaradyn in 1961. beginning of fundamental residence Klaradyn’s official mascot is a lion traditions and contributed to the shaping of what has become residence named Oom Cleo which was given to Klaradyn in 1969 by Kollege. life. Taaibos, with its mascot Oupa The establishment of Kollege, the first male residence, was followed closely by Rokkit, opened its doors in 1961 and the establishment of Sonop in 1916 by was the second male residence on the proefplaas. Oupa Rokkit and a gnome the Dutch Reformed Church. Although were both “rescued” from Sonop and Sonop is not an official residence of Rokkit became Taaibos’s official the university, but rather a private mascot. Oupa Rokkit kept residence supported by a watch over Taaibos “oudwhile the gnome kept him company. Boekenhout, the third male residence on the Proefplaas, opened its doors in 1962. Its official mascot is the Eiffel Tower which, as stated by the university, came into Boekenhout’s possession through “some or other means”. In 1964 Olienhout opened its doors. In keeping with residence tradition they acquired their mascot through theft and when the residents attempted to return the stolen wooden rhino, known Jasmyn’s mascot as Pendoring, they were told that they Nymsaj. Photo: could keep it. It was only in 1991 that Tahnee Otto the large concrete rhino named Rodney MARISSA BRITS
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was build outside the residence. Jasmyn was also established in 1964 and welcomed its first boarders in 1965. Some of these boarders came from Die Fant who, along with the Vergeet-My-Nie’s housemother and mascot, moved into the new residence. Jasmyn’s mascot is the elephant Nymsaj. Living-space shortages resulted in the establishment of two more residences, namely Huis Erika and Huis Maroela, in 1968. Maroela’s mascot is a maroela fruit named Marools which they adopted in 1971. Since then it has been victim to vandalism and theft and a new Marools was created in 1998. Erika’s mascot is a purple unicorn which Kollege presented to them in 1969. Mopanie was established in 1969. Their first mascot was a large white dog which was modelled on Charlie Brown’s Snoopy but it was later decided that the mascot would be a worm. The mascot was called El Toro but in 1981 the original El Toro was burned by Maroela and Mopanie replaced it with a smaller version. Madelief was established in 1977 and their mascot is based on the cartoon character Garfield. Their mascot is called Charisma and in 1977 was also presented to them by Kollege. Kollege has managed to set Charisma on fire twice since then. In 1982 Magrietjie opened its doors and their mascot is a young lady named Maer Grietjie. Katjiepiering followed in 1991 and remains the only female residence on the Proefplaas. Their mascot is a cat named Lucia. Nerina, the last of the main campus female residences, officially opened its doors in 1992. Constructed in the 1940s, Nerina was originally a residence for upcoming male ministers.
It was known as Voortrekker until 1970 when it was changed to Tambotie. The great demand for a female residence resulted in the change from Tambotie to Tankotie. It was only in 1992 that it became Nerina. The mascot Tankotie was a character from the Andy Capp cartoons named Flo but when the residence changed to Nerina the mascot changed to a harlequin named Nika. As the years went by, the University of Pretoria would expand, gaining students, campuses and residences. From the Prinshof, Groenkloof and Mamelodi campuses to the Onderstepoort campus, residences would be established, each one bringing new traditions and cultures. Roosters, tigers, goats, birds, fairies, ladybirds and geckos soon joined the Tuks mascot family. Asterhof’s mascot Giraster. Photo: Tahnee Otto
External campus residences Onderstepoort is a mixed residence situated on the university’s veterinary campus. Its mascot is a goat named Flehmen but they also have two live mascots named Spyker and Jezebel who live in the goat pens. Kiaat is the only male residence on the university’s Groenkloof campus. Their mascot is a Tiger named Oats. Inca is one of three female residences on Groenkloof campus. It was established in 2000 and their mascot is a ladybug called Libby. Lilium is a ladies residence situated on Groenkloof campus. It opened its doors in 2001. Their mascot is a stuffed green and purple gecko named Apatili that lives in residence with his companion Madam Lili, a metal-frame gecko. Established in 2003, Zinnia is the youngest female residence on Groenkloof campus. Before becoming a female residence, it was a mixed one. Their mascot is Tinkerbell, the fairy from Peter Pan, whom they affectionately call Tink. Olympus started off as a unisex residence on the university’s Prinshof campus but in 2005 it became a male residence. Their mascot is a falcon in flight called Mercury. Curlitzia became the female residence on Prinshof in 2004. Before this, it was a unisex nurses’ residence. Their mascot is a rooster named Colonel Gullus. Tuks Naledi can be found on the university’s Mamelodi campus and is only five years old. Tuks Naledi is a mixed residence that only caters for first years. Their mascot is a star.
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Anniversary Edition
Tuks tradions Tuks traditions A history of thievery and unification
MARISSA BRITS Traditions such as Spring Day, Oom Gert and International Day have become fundamental to every Tukkie. But where do these traditions come from and how have they become cemented into the very fibre of what it means to be a Tukkie? From the very first day of UP’s existence, there was a mass call to create traditions which in this case resulted in the establishment of Commemoration Day.
Commemoration Day
Commemoration Day can be traced back to the day that the Transvaal University College (TUC), as UP was originally called, moved from their outdated and cramped offices into the then newly built Old Arts building in Pretoria East. The contrast between the two campuses was so great that it left a lasting impression on all who witnessed it. As a result it was widely considered that 3 August 1910, the date on which the cornerstone of the Old Arts Building was laid, was the actual beginning of TUC. In 1923 it was decided that Commemoration Day would be held annually on 18 August and that the day would celebrate the move to the Old Arts Building.
Spring Day Shortly afterwards, in 1930, two major events took place that would change the university. Firstly, the university’s official inauguration and secondly, the medium of instruction becoming 100% Afrikaans. Before this, only 32% of classes were conducted in Afrikaans. For this reason the festivities of Commemoration Day
shifted focus from the Old Arts Building to the inauguration of the Afrikaans university from 1932 onwards. In 1938 it was decided that the annual Spring Day would be held on 14 September and it would commemorate the university’s Afrikaans heritage. In this way, Spring Day replaced Commemoration Day. The student council wanted Spring Day to be a university holiday but their wish was only realised in 1943. On 3 August 1944 it was decided that Spring Day would be celebrated on the Wednesday nearest to 13 September and that it would remain a university holiday.
Oom Gert
Over the years an undetermined number of mascots have come under the protection of some or other group in the student community. However, only a few have managed to become a part of Tukkies tradition. In the same way that Sarge Bourke is linked to Kollege and Garibaldi is linked to Sonop, Oom Gert is a part of the Tuks family. In his former life Oom Gert was known as Oom Paul, but this was before he was “acquired” in 1929 by four students from Van Erkoms’ tobacco shop in Pretorius Street. Oom Paul stood outside the tobacco shop with a bag of tobacco and a pipe in his right hand as a promoter for Springbok tobacco. When the owner of the shop was later informed of the mysterious circumstances surrounding Oom Paul’s disappearance, he allowed the students to keep him. And from 1932 onwards Oom Paul became Oom Gert and the residence battle over his possession began. Oom Gert has enjoyed the company of many residences around campus, including a few visits to some of the ladies residences where he was defended by hockey sticks and shoes. However, the battles to prevent his abduction became quite violent with the injuries incurred by both kidnappers and defenders. Oom Gert now has a fractured skull and an amputated arm. This marked the end of residence raids. The interim committee of 1945 decided that Oom Gert should belong to whichever residence managed to collect the most money during Rag. However, it was only when all residence raids were banned that Oom Gert was safe. In the 1950s, Tuks’s residences managed to put their differences aside during the rescue of Oom Gert from Wits students. Oom Gert is now kept safely somewhere inside the university, as much away from other university students as UP’s own.
International Day
It was a long time before UP welcomed its first international students. The first five international students came from Iran in the 1970s, but since
Tuks Spring Day 1969. Photo: UP Archives
Tuks Spring Day 2013. Photo: Tahnee Otto
then the university has opened its doors to a vast number of cultures. All of these are expressed and celebrated during the university’s International Day which was established by international students and has since become an integral part of Tuks. The event involves exhibitions by the foreign embassies or high commissions in South Africa, traditional dancing and singing and the crowning of Mr and Ms UP International. Spring Day, Oom Gert and International Day have become fundamental Tuks traditions. They have drawn students from different residences, faculties, cultures and countries together. Whether it is to celebrate a day, the history of which has long been forgotten, or whether it is to steal back a stolen mascot, these traditions are instilled in a Tuks student from the day they are an ienk (a first year) and continue to represent all things Tuks.
A replica of Tuks’s mascot Oom Gert. Photo: Ilana van Heerden
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10
Anniversary Edition
Looking back on the old
to appreciate the new
TARYN RICHMOND
A
nniversaries tend to bring out a sense of nostalgia in people and the anniversary of one of the oldest student newspapers in the country seems like a good opportunity to delve into the history of the home that birthed it. The University of Pretoria (UP) has been around for 105 years and Perdeby dug into the archives to find out how UP has developed since its conception. It started off with nothing but a humble building The Transvaal University College, now known as the University of Pretoria, opened its doors for its first official academic day on 12 February 1908. It opened with just 32 students, 4 professors and 3 lecturers in a building called Kya Rosa on the corner of Skinner and Schoeman Streets, in the area we know as Pretoria City Central. The Kya Rosa building which can be found inside the UP grounds to the left of the main gate is a replica designed by Albrecht Holm and houses the TuksAlumni offices. Changing address The university quickly discovered that with the growing number of applicants and the limited teaching area, more space was required. Plans were put into motion and on 3 August 1910, the cornerstone of the Old Arts Building, as it was called back in the day, was laid on a piece of land opposite what today is known as Pretoria Boys High School. The Old Chemistry Building was built in the same year and for the following few years served all of the university’s needs with a student population of 62. Growing, growing, grown The rise in student applications and the presentation of diverse subjects called for more buildings to be introduced. By 1919, the arts, sciences, agriculture, law and theology faculties had been established. Soon after, the faculty of veterinary science was introduced at Onderstepoort. In the 1930s the education and theology faculties, which focused on the religion of the Dutch Reformed Church, were introduced and two decades later the medicine, dentistry and engineering faculties
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The Old Arts Building. Photo: UP Archives
were established. The Transvaal University College (TUC) became a full-fledged university in 1930 and it is from the acronym TUC that the university derives its nickname, Tuks.
Interesting facts: Why do we have fences? The university used to be situated in a bushy area where farmers would let their cattle graze. Due to complaints regarding stray cattle that caused damage at night, a fence with three gates was erected around the premises in the 1920s to keep the animals out. A number of years later a higher fence was built to presumably keep out the two-legged, sticky-fingered pests. The growth of sports at UP Initially, the sports grounds were situated on main campus where the Musaion and Aula are located now. With the growing demand for university buildings, it was suggested
that the sports grounds be moved to the experimental farm which is where it can be found today. Where does the name LC de Villiers come from? Dr Louis Celliers de Villiers was a lecturer in the Department of Geology and an avid sports fanatic. He served at the university as a coach, manager and chairman for the sports teams. His memory is preserved through the name of the impressive LC de Villiers Sports Complex. Roper Street drama from 1977-1993 It is strange that a road could have caused so much conflict over such a long period of time, but the closure of Roper Street certainly got a number of students’ and citizens’ blood boiling. A survey done in 1977 discovered that on average 16 689 students crossed Roper Street on weekdays between 07:00 and 18:00, and that this foot traffic could not be sustained over a
Maps of UP over the years. Image: Paul dos Santos
long-term basis as it put the students in danger. This started years of consultation between the city council and the university where alternative routes were suggested to ensure that the street remained closed. The student council decided to voice their opinion on the matter as it concerned their safety and on 24 June 1977 a large group of students met and walked from the northern side of the Humanities Building along Roper Street and crossed Lynnwood Road in protest to ensure that Roper Street remained closed. In years to follow, the street was opened and closed a number of times due to resistance from the area’s residents and the city council. On 24 July 1993 Roper Street was officially closed, enabling the university to construct a new Student Centre where the current CSC can be found today. What was one of the biggest physical changes to the university? Up until the late 50s, the university buildings occupied a primarily horizontal plain. However, the architect Brian Sandrock decided that the buildings should expand vertically due to restricted space on the campus as well as the continual demand for expansion. The introduction of highrise buildings that would give the university more of a modern feel was first seen in the design of the multistorey Human Sciences Building. Now known as the Humanities Building, it once straddled Roper Street which passed underneath it, connecting the eastern and western campuses. This building has become an identity icon for the university.
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Anniversary Edition
The evolution of
student politics
Image: Modeste Goutondji
MOLEBOGENG MANGOALE
S
tudent politics has undergone a massive transformation over the past century at the University of Pretoria. In order to comprehend the transformation of student politics at this university, we have to understand how it has evolved leading up to present day. Formerly known as the VSR, the first Student Representative Council (SRC)
was formed on 17 March 1909 with 66 enrolled students committed to establishing this body of student governance. At that time, the council’s main objective was to organise and control diverse issues within the student community and also to represent students concerning matters that were brought to the attention of university management or any other external institution. The rise in the number of students at the university
forced the council to establish subcommittees within its structure, ranging from culture, sport, residences, societies, faculty houses and more. This was done to secure the effective and fair representation of all students. The transformation of the national political spectrum in 1994 resulted in an increase in the number of black students at the university. The university had to change its policies and adhere to national unity and inclusivity. However, during this time most students did not regard the SRC as representative of their interests which resulted in an increase in political societies on campus. These included the Tuks Student Alliance, the Wetenskap Studente, the South African Student Congress (Sasco), the Pan-Africanist Student Organisation (Paso), the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Tuks, to name a few. A multi-party congress was adopted by the Student Senate in May 1995 with the primary aim of designing a new representation structure and drafting a new constitution to provide for the needs of all students. In the same year, during the Political Awareness Week, political parties debated on the topic “UP in transformation”. The ANCYL called for a dominant English language policy as a priority and the DA adopted the policy of a compromise between English and Afrikaans, which currently serves as the language policy. The main objectives of the political societies on campus in postapartheid South Africa were political transformation, inclusivity and equality. The language policy served as a significant indicator of the above-mentioned objectives. In 1994, Jakes Xulu became the first black member of the Student Council and in 2007 Chilu Chani became the first black president of the SRC. In 1995 Irma du Plessis, now a sociology lecturer at Tuks, became the first female SRC chairperson. The first ever Student Coun-
cil in 1909 allowed for only three out of eight members to be women. The new millennium achieved much of the anticipated transformation but it came with new challenges for student politics on campus. The focus was on achieving change and democratising the university in order to attain equitable representation and to diffuse political representation. In 2009 there were grievances about the SRC as a legislative body being biased to certain political societies on campus. However, the SRC chairperson of the time, Hector Beyers, dismissed these claims. In the same year, a protest by students took place on campus demanding the restructuring of the SRC in order to ensure political party representation. In 1996 a similar protest occurred when Sasco, Paso and the Azanian Students Convention protested against the appointment of Prof. Johan van Zyl as the rector of the university. The students referred to him as “arrogant” and “racist”. Prof. Van Zyl continued to be the rector up until 2001. One thing that present day student politics at Tuks shares with previous generations is the challenge of the student constitution. Over the years the constitution has been rewritten and reviewed in order to facilitate and meet the broad interests of students. No SRC elections took place in 2012 and the constitution was rewritten this year. As a result a Temporary Student Committee (TSC) was appointed to fulfil the functions of the SRC. Elections took place on 17 October and the new SRC has taken office. In 1994, 33% of Tuks students voted, 35% in 1995 and almost 40% in 1998. In 2011 over 7 000 students voted in the SRC elections, a 20% increase from the previous year. Just over 4 000 students voted this year. Jordan Griffiths, the current TSC president, said, “Today our job is to focus on making sure we help the students in every possible way to graduate and move on to contribute in the working environment,” he said.
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12
Anniversary Edition
THE CURIOUS CASE OF PERDEBY
WHY THE NAME PERDEBY?
PEOPLE ALWAYS FEEL A NEED TO COMMUNICATE AND IT IS FOR THIS NEED THAT PERDEBY WAS ESTABLISHED. TO CELEBRATE PERDEBY’S 75-YEAR HISTORY, WE HAVE PUT TOGETHER A TIMELINE WHICH DOCUMENTS OUR GROWTH. THE PAPER’S LIFE SPEAKS OF DETERMINATION, PASSION AND PERSEVERANCE, BUT MOST OF ALL IT SPEAKS OF A DESIRE TO BE A PAPER FOR STUDENTS BY STUDENTS. HERE’S TO A GREAT 75 YEARS.
Covers of student publications from 1912 to 1939. Photo: UP Archives
MARGEAUX ERASMUS
The First Tuks Papers
THE PERDEBY Timeline
When the University of Pretoria started there was no established campus newspaper. But as the university grew, students felt that a campus newspaper was necessary in order to aid communication between students. It was for this reason that the first Tuks newspapers appeared. In November 1912 the first student publication appeared at the university. It is called The T.U.C. Students magazine/ studenteblad van die T.U.K.. It came out approximately once a year, but students wanted a more regular form of communication. This led to several attempts to open more regular student publications. The earliest of these publications was Vocator which was released in 1927 as a student magazine, but it was not successful. In 1930 the university founded a formal company with the purpose of creating a student newspaper for Tuks. The company was called
The Students’ Forum Publishing Company and they started the first student newspaper in South Africa in 1930. The newspaper was called The Students Forum, Die Studente Forum. Despite its many critics the paper survived its early years and expanded to include an annexure called Liga. However, both publications closed in 1931 after only 14 editions. The T.U.C. Students magazine/ studenteblad van die T.U.K. was replaced by the yearbook Trek in 1931. Trek was scheduled to come out twice a year and was supposed to be a medium of communication for students, but its lack of continuity was one of its biggest weaknesses. Other newspapers were started
Perdeby has 3 300 readers.
1964
According to an article published in Perdeby on 25 January 1996, students had to sing the British national anthem after watching a movie at the Bioscope in 1938. The Bioscope was the biggest cinema at the time. A few students wrote to the cinema asking permission not to sing the British national anthem after watching movies but the Bioscope rejected their request. Students booked a block of 80 seats one night and at the end of the movie they stood together and sang an old Afrikaans folksong “O Perdeby” instead of the British national anthem. A year later the student newspaper Die Perdeby appeared on campus, but other articles have reversed the events, saying that the newspaper came out before the students sang “O Perdeby” at the Bioscope.
because students wanted a more regular form of communication. One of these newspapers was Die Skerpioen which opened in 1934. It was given out under the protection of the Student Council (the SRC of the time) and was a four-page newspaper. However, Die Skerpioen ran into trouble and the paper shut down after only four editions. In October 1934 another magazine called Castalia appeared. Castalia was a magazine for art and culture and it was meant to come out quarterly. Another paper called NUSANS appeared in 1935. The paper was satirical and according to the Ad Destinatum 1910-1960, the university’s almanac, the paper was not accepted by students, especially after an article in the paper insinuated that the ANS (Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond) and NUSAS (the National Union of South African Students) should merge. However, the Student Council
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Anniversary Edition
PERDEBY’S EVOLVING APPEARANCE:
Perdeby’s look has changed several times over the years. Photo: UP Archives
with its chairperson Andries Nolte insisted that the university needed a student newspaper. In 1936 a student newspaper called the Praetor was opened. According to the Ad Destinatum 1910-1960, Praetor was not as successful as the Student Council had hoped and it only released five editions. Despite these failed publications, the want for a student newspaper continued to grow. In 1939 five anonymous students who called themselves the “vyf liberaliste” (five liberals) started the next venture for a student newspaper. The first Die Perdeby was created in the Theology building on a borrowed typewriter as a surprise for the student community. The paper was so successful among students that the Student Council held a mass meeting and decided that Die Perdeby would be accepted as the university’s monthly student newspaper. The Student Council
How much would you pay for PERDEBY? Perdeby was not always distributed around campus for free. When the paper was printed during its first year, students had to pay three pennies for a copy. This price then started to fluctuate. During the next few years the cost of the paper varied between two and three pennies. In 1951 Perdeby was distributed around campus for free for the first time, but in 1965 the university tried to charge students for the newspaper again for financial reasons. They hoped that this financial contribution would reduce the printing costs of the newspaper. However, students did not want to pay for the paper and the university stopped charging students for their copies of Perdeby a year later. The paper has been distributed for free ever since.
took Die Perdeby under its protection and appointed the editorial which included the five students who brought out the first copy of the newspaper in April. The first editor of Die Perdeby was George du Plessis. The next edition of Die Perdeby came out on 1 June that year and a third edition came out on 1 September.
Die Perdeby’s early years Die Perdeby became a regular monthly student newspaper in 1940. But in 1941 doubts about Die Perdeby’s existence started to emerge from the student community. A few SRC members and other students argued that the money being spent on the paper could be used for someting better. World War II also made it difficult for Die Perdeby to stay open. In 1941 Die Perdeby closed as a result of a lack of finances and a paper shortage caused by the war. The paper was reopened on 1 April 1944 under Louis van Wyk but took on the new name, Die Nuwe Perdeby, and was a monthly student newspaper. Van Wyk wrote in the first edition of Die Nuwe Perdeby that it had opened under difficult circumstances because the need for a student newspaper was too strong for the university or students to ignore. Die Nuwe Perdeby started to grow from 1944 and in July of that year the paper announced that it needed a bigger staff, which included the paper’s first cartoonist Gert Schutte. In the next few years editors started putting their mark on Die
The first editions of Perdeby look very different to what we know today. The first papers were text-heavy and had no colour. As technology improved and Perdeby’s printers changed, so did the paper’s look. On 24 May 1955 the paper printed with colour for the first time. Colour was used on the front page and in the masthead. Perdeby’s motto has changed over the years too. The first paper said it was the “UP maandorgaan” (UP monthly) and when Die Nuwe Perdeby came out in 1944 it stated that it was the “Studenteblad van die Voortrekker-Universiteit” (the student newspaper of the Voortrekker university). A few years later the motto was the “Studenteblad van die Universiteit van Pretoria” (the student newspaper of the University of Pretoria) and this changed to the “Studenteweekblad van die Universiteit van Pretoria” (the student weekly newspaper of the University of Pretoria) once it became a weekly. In 1977 Die Perdeby was considered “Tuks se eie koerant” (Tuks’s own newspaper) and this motto only changed in 1996 when it became “Tuks se eie koerant. Tuks’ own newspaper” to include English and Afrikaans students. Since then Perdeby’s motto has become “Tuks se amptelike studente koerant/ Official Tuks student newspaper/ Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmuso ya Tuks”.
Nuwe Perdeby and changed the paper. Some of these changes are still influencing how Perdeby functions today. In 1945 Willie Lubbe changed the size of the newspaper. Lubbe published Die Nuwe Perdeby in a smaller and more accessible size. Die Nuwe Perdeby’s production schedule changed under Lubbe as well when the newspaper became a biweekly. In 1948 Die Nuwe Perdeby became a weekly newspaper under Albertus van Zyl. The first of its kind in South Africa. In 1952 Die Nuwe Perdeby’s size changed again. This time the newspaper was printed in tabloid size, the format still used today. This bigger format allowed for more articles to be printed. There were few news and in-depth articles in the early years of the paper’s existence and this led to questions around Die Nuwe Perdeby’s relevance to arise again in 1953. At an SRC meeting on 20 March 1953, the SRC discussed whether Die Nuwe Perdeby should be closed and be replaced by residence publications. Despite this criticism the paper was not closed and continued to grow. On 7 August 1953 the paper was expanded when two buitemuurse
On 23 February 1968 the newspaper’s name changes from Die Nuwe Perdeby to Die Perdeby. Africa
1968
students (students who were situated on the old Proesstraat campus and worked during the day while attending classes at night) were appointed to be representatives for Die Nuwe Perdeby. In this way the paper was able to publish news relating to all students on campus. The 1954 Die Nuwe Perdeby editor Cristoff Human aimed to make the newspaper more focused on campus news. This focus has continued throughout the years as Perdeby still strives to deliver campus news to its readers.
News and the changing student landscape As Perdeby’s focus changed to cover more campus news, so did the way its newsroom functioned. In 1959 it was suggested that the paper should cover more residence and sport club news. However, the editor Jan Spies said that he didn’t have the finances to print bigger copies to accommodate all of the campus news the paper started to cover. To accommodate the extra news the editorial decided to print on cheaper paper to allow for bigger editions to be printed. In addition, a news editor was appointed in August 1960 to help cope with the amount of news that Die Nuwe Perdeby was covering. As Perdeby developed, questions around its function and relevance emerged once again. On 6 March 1964 an article stated that students were not sure what the role of Die Nuwe Perdeby was. The writer said that the press was important because it influenced people and helped them
14
Anniversary Edition
The Paper’s Changing Identity Perdeby’s aim has always been to be a newspaper for Tuks students. The student population at the university, however, has changed over the years and with that so has the identity of Perdeby. From the 1950s to the 1970s Perdeby was affiliated with the Afrikaanse Studentebond and aimed at preserving and building the Afrikaner identity. This, however, caused tension as English students felt excluded. In the 70s there was a movement at the university to include female students in university activities. The university tried to do this through a “finesse” programme. During this time Die Perdeby also started to include more news about the university’s female students. In the 5 September 1975 edition, after a year’s “finesse” and “dames” (ladies) news, Die Perdeby starts a damesblad.
make up their minds about events. He said that the newspaper must reflect the students and must function as a communication forum. By 1968 Johan Steynberg, the editor of that year, said that Perdeby had become a true newspaper and had covered campus news.
Editors in hot water The students who have led Perdeby in the past, sometimes said things or published articles that the university or the students were not happy about. From the 1950s to the 1980s Perdeby’s editors got into a lot of trouble. Die Nuwe Perdeby started to speak out on issues in the student community as it grew. In the 9 March 1956 edition an article stated that no initiation would take place from 1956 onwards. This came after several Did you know? In 1976 Die Perdeby got a dark room so that they could develop their own photographs. A year later Die Perdeby’s offices are upgraded to include a newsroom and conference room.
After the 70s, students started to write to the paper because they wanted it to become more inclusive of all students at the university. Die Perdeby conducted a survey in 1981 with students on campus who did not speak Afrikaans and these students felt that Perdeby had to become more relevant to the English student population. When South Africa became a democracy in 1994, students of all races joined Tuks. Students felt that the Student Council was not representative and just as the university had to change to become representative of all students, Perdeby had to change as well. In 1999 the paper’s name was changed from Die Perdeby to Perdeby in order to include the entire student population. Perdeby’s transformation from an Afrikaans newspaper to a bilingual, and now mostly English newspaper was not easy. In 2001 it was
reported that the university closed the paper because it did not adhere to its language policy of 50% English and 50% Afrikaans. In 2003 the Perdeby editor mentioned that it was difficult to publish information in both Afrikaans and English. In 2006 the problem arose again as editor Anna-Marie Jansen van Vuuren noted that the Afrikaans reader wanted less English and the English readers said that Perdeby published too much information in Afrikaans. The language policy has become less strict since the early 2000s and Perdeby’s newest constitution states that it will only print Afrikaans articles when it can. In this way Perdeby ensures that all students can read most of the content in every edition.
initiation articles were published in the beginning of 1956. However, Die Nuwe Perdeby editor Johan Fourie questioned whether 1956 would be the final year of initiation. He stated that the banning of initiation had become a tradition, just like initiation itself. In the same edition the SRC chairperson wrote in defence of initiation. As a result of these articles, and two other articles that criticised the rector, the SRC and Fourie appeared before a disciplinary committee. The SRC chairperson and Fourie resigned as a result of the hearing. Die Nuwe Perdeby was closed from June until August in 1956 because of this decision. Only when a new SRC was appointed, could a new editor be appointed. But editors were not the only ones who ran into trouble with the university. On 17 June 1966 two news journalists wrote about the Johannesburg Balie’s meeting with Senator Kennedy who came to South Africa to listen to a speech. The two news writers entered the meeting uninvited because the press was not allowed in the meeting. Many other
newspapers, including international papers, referred to Die Nuwe Perdeby’s Kennedy article published that June. During this time Die Nuwe Perdeby was regarded as the “VSR mondstuk” (mouthpiece of the SRC). This became problematic when outside newspapers started quoting Perdeby articles as views of the SRC, as in the Kennedy story. On 5 August 1966 “VSR mondstuk” was removed from the front page because newspapers had sourced that Die Nuwe Perdeby article and used it as a comment of the university’s SRC about Kennedy’s visit. In 1969 a letter from the editorial stated that the editor Eugene Berg had been dismissed by the SRC. A week later the SRC gave its reasons for the dismissal. They said that Berg did not meet the three criteria expected of a Perdeby editor: to use his power to place good articles in the paper to give a good image of the university, to control his staff and to check all content before it is printed. The SRC also said that Berg failed to control all information in the paper every week and that he did
not think critically about all the letters he published. Berg disagreed with these reasons. He said that it was his prerogative to publish letters and that articles were checked by his editors. He added that if Die Perdeby could not criticise certain things, then it had lost its function. The SRC intervened in the appointment of editors as well. Before the 2000s members of Perdeby could vote for students who they felt could be editors of the newspaper, but these appointments always had to be approved by the SRC. In 1981 the SRC did not want to appoint the news editor chosen by the Die Perdeby staff. Werner Krull, a deputy editor of Die Perdeby, wrote about the SRC’s refusal to appoint the news editor in a letter. Moreover, in 1986 a mass meeting was called where students would vote on whether the editor of 1986, Frans Viljoen, must resign. The ASF (Afrikaner Studentefront) was behind this motion because they felt that Viljoen was not in touch with Tuks students. If the editor was dismissed the entire editorial would be vacant. Later that year a letter from the editorial mentioned that another editor had resigned earlier that year after the SRC refused to confirm the appointment of the in-depth news editor.
A changing media mindset For years the SRC controlled Perdeby, checked their content and appointed the paper’s editors. This started to change in the 1980s as perceptions of the media and the media’s reaction to outside interference changed. During this time media freedom also became a more sought-after right. An Afrikaans Student Persunie conference called for greater student media independence in the 1980s. The editor of that year, Thys van der Merwe, wrote that Die Perdeby
15 000
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Die Perdeby Perdebyisisthe the Die biggest student student biggest newspaper in newspaper in South South Africa.
5000
0 1953
1960
1964
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Perdeby’s growth over the years. Graph: Nolwazi Bengu
1966
1976
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1977
1988
1992
2011
2013
1976
15 needed to publish stories about things that were happening rather than protect and build the university’s reputation and image. Van der Merwe stated that the SRC censored the paper and that the SRC only liked Die Perdeby when they published positive articles about the SRC. He likened Die Perdeby’s problem with the SRC to that of the South African media and the apartheid government. In 1984 Die Perdeby was blamed for damaging the university’s reputation. The editor of that year, Danie Moller, said that Die Perdeby had a watchdog role and must write about what happens on campus, whether that news was negative or not. In 1985 an article explained the SRC’s relationship with Perdeby. The article stated that Die Perdeby was the mouthpiece of the SRC and that the SRC chairperson and the SRC member with the media portfolio could demand to see all articles before the newspaper went to print. Braam Greeff, the editor of Die Perdeby in 1985, resigned after the SRC would not approve the appointment of Ben Zaaiman for news editor in that year. During September the outgoing editorial would choose an editor and deputy editor. The editor would then appoint the other section editors who needed to be approved by the SRC. In this case, the SRC would not approve Zaaiman’s appointment because of his beliefs and because he might impress those beliefs on Perdeby. The SRC argued that that would damage the image of the university. Greeff did not think that this was a valid reason and said that freedom of religion was a basic right. The SRC did not go back on their decision.
Perdeby’s political criticism In 1966 editor Frans Viljoen wrote in his editorial that 60% of students saw Die Nuwe Perdeby as tame. The paper was regarded as more conservative
Anniversary Edition
Sonop holds the record for having the most editors in office in Perdeby. A Sonop resident was editor of the paper from 1945 to 1986.
Did you know that Perdeby used to be distributed on Fridays? This changed in 2000 because Perdeby moved to different printers and because too few students were on campus on a Friday.
Illustration: Simon-Kai Garvie
than liberal. But the editorial said that Die Nuwe Perdeby was not aligned with any political party and that it wanted to be balanced. In contrast, local newspapers labelled Die Perdeby as a right-wing organisation in 1986. The editor of 1986, Dricé Odendaal, said in response to these allegations that Die Perdeby’s role was to inform students, to act as a watchdog, to be balanced and not to emphasise one way of thinking over others. She said that Die Perdeby wanted to stay objective There were instances when Perdeby editors commented on political situations. On 24 February 1989 Die Perdeby wrote about the SRC’s prohibition of the magazine Skryfskiet. Skryfskiet was released in February in that year and had a picture of a silhouette of Nelson Mandela on the front page with that year’s Rag theme used as a headline: “Waar’s daai man” and “A face not seen for 25 years”. The editor of Skryfskiet discussed Mandela’s possible release from prison in the edition. Apparently, an SRC member said that Skryfskiet did not fit in with the Afrikaans identity of the university and that
the SRC was afraid that Skryfskiet was going to align Rag with political situations and damage its reputation. Die Perdeby saw this prohibition as an infringement on press freedom.
A long walk to freedom In 1989 the SRC decided not to read through the entire Die Perdeby before it went to print and the newspaper started to be seen as an independent media entity on campus. But this did not mean that Perdeby was completely independent. In 1990 a new constitution was formed allowing for a Perdeby Control Committee. The committee was chaired by Prof. Nick Grove according to the Ad Destinatum 1993. Despite the 1988 editor Paul Dijkstra’s decision to remove Die Perdeby from the SRC, the paper became part of the SRC again in 1992. In order to keep the paper’s objectivity, Die Perdeby decided only to vote on matters concerning the paper. But in 1994 Die Perdeby gave up its voting right on the SRC again because voting on the SRC went against journalistic ethics. In 1995 many changes were
made to the university structure to aid transformation in the university after South Africa became a democracy. A Multiparty Congress (MPC) was formed in 1995 and a new constitution for the university was drafted. In this year the first central and executive student council was elected. Students started to vote for parties instead of individuals during the elections and the student structure was renamed the Student Representative Council. Die Perdeby along with Rag, Radio Tuks and Student Culture became service providers under the new constitution. This meant that they could operate on their own with their own elected management structure. But the service providers would still be accountable to the SRC. In 1998 the university formed a media ombudsman to handle complaints around Die Perdeby and Tuks FM. The Media Complaints Commission was implemented to ensure a high standard of reporting, a free flow of information, accountability of campus media and the freedom of speech of Tuks students.
All the debauchery In August 1990 Die Perdeby newspapers were
In 1985 Drice Dricé Odendaal was appointed as Die Die appointed as Perdeby’s first female editor. Perdeby’s first female editor.
1985
stolen from Pretoria News (where the papers
There was another theft in 1992 when 10
were printed in that year) when a group of
000 out of 12 000 copies of Perdeby were
young men posed as the editorial and took all
stolen.
of the copies. The editorial also received an
An article in Perdeby about the paper’s first female deputy editor Drice Odendaal in 1984. The following year Odendaal became the first female editor at Perdeby. Photo: UP Archives
this as well.
On 3 October 1997 Maroela and Boeken-
anonymous phone call warning them that their
hout burnt a bunch of Die Perdeby newspapers
papers would be stolen. Later all the papers
and then threw them at Anastasia Kleinhans, a
were found. The paper’s editor suspected that
subeditor in the office. The article alleged that
Sonop was behind this.
they might have done this because of a photo of
Later in August of that same year 6 000
two men kissing on the front page of a previous
papers were stolen and burnt just after the
edition and because of an article about the state
papers were delivered. It was suspected
of bathrooms on campus.
that the same male residence was behind
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Anniversary Edition Perdeby bought six computers in 1990. Now the editorial was able to do its own layout for the first time. From the 1990s onward the editorial has worked on the entire production of the paper. Perdeby was the first student newspaper in South Africa to become fully computerised. Before this articles were written by hand and sent to the printers who set and placed the articles in layout.
to be a newspaper about students, for students.
tweet read “Hello, Twitter! Check us out on perdeby.co.za”.
A new era for Perdeby
Perdeby’s online presence grew steadily in the 2000s. As people’s involvement online grew, so did Perdeby’s. The paper received 30 000 unique viewers on its website each month in 2011.
In 2004 a new editor-in-chief, Kobus Schoeman, was appointed to head Perdeby after it closed a few years earlier. He was also a journalism lecturer and the 2004 editor Tarien Roux hoped that this would bring professionalism to the paper. However, Perdeby’s troubles did not end there. In 2007 Perdeby was caught between the conflict of an SRC candidate and university management. The paper’s publication schedule was put back by two days when the candidate went to court because he wanted his name put on the candidate list.
A phoenix-like rebirth Perdeby faced several struggles in the late 1990s and 2000s. The SRC shut Perdeby down in 1999. The argument for the paper’s closure was that the paper had lessened in quality since 1998. The SRC said that the university’s image was being tarnished and decided that drastic action must be taken. The SRC argued that the quality of the paper was reduced after 1994 because Perdeby received greater independence from the SRC. The editor of the time, Willie Basson, argued that the newspaper was catering to an audience that had drastically changed over the years. “The central problem appears to be accountability,” he said. The SRC and editorial met and decided to appoint a committee to review Perdeby’s constitution. In the meantime a control committee was formed that was aware of Perdeby’s constitution. Once
a new constitution had been written Perdeby would get its service provider status back and a new editorial would be appointed. Basson acknowledged that the paper had some problems and hoped that the new constitution would solve them, but he did not think that the process that was followed was the best one. Perdeby was closed down in 2001 again because of administrative, financial and business problems. The university also claimed that Perdeby was closed because it did not adhere to its 50% English and 50% Afrikaans language policy. In 2002 the birth of a new student newspaper was announced. Perdeby’s management structure was rethought and changed. A permanent manager was appointed to oversee the newspaper’s production process and to take responsibility for the paper. The editorial aimed to create a professional newspaper and wanted
In March the 2007 editor Carel Willemse said that, “Controversy surrounded the Perdeby office Thursday evening just before we had to go to print. This is the third time I had to change my editorial. I have to censor my thought on this subject because I might just get sued.” Later on 26 March 2007 a “censored” front page was printed because of this. SRC candidate Cobus van der Linde was responsible for the interference with Perdeby and according to university authorities he did not qualify to run for the student body but resorted to court action to be included in the SRC nomination list. In the end he was allowed to run in the election.
In 2013... After many years of struggle Perdeby turned 75 years old in 2013. Ten thousand copies are printed every week to keep the tradition alive. Although the progression toward online content has been slow, Perdeby has created a new and more modern website and receives 45 000 unique viewers on the website each month. In 2013 an online local news service was also started on the website called Daily Roundup. It offers local, international, sport and entertainment news. Most of the newspaper’s posts are linked to Facebook and Twitter. This is only a small step toward generating online content, but with time appropriate changes can be made. Perdeby has not only survived for 75 years but has also become a legacy.
In 2008 Perdeby was made an independent organisation on campus. The paper aimed to be a balanced newspaper. The 2000s also marked the new online era in journalism. In 2009 Perdeby had 20 000 unique visitors on its website each month. Perdeby joined the social media scene in 2009 when a Facebook page was created. In 2010 Perdeby sent out its first tweet on Twitter on 11 April. The Illustrations: Simon-Kai Garvie
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Die Perdeby is the first student newspaper in South Africa to be published on the internet. If you logged in onto a university computer you could read the paper electronically on the university website (www. up.ac.za/perdeby).
1995
Perdeby creates its own commercial website at www. perdeby.co.za. The website URL that is still used today. The website received 10 000 unique visitors per month in 1998.
1998
In 2013 Perdeby’s website received 45 000 unique visitors per month.
2013
17
Anniversary Edition
Art: Illustration: Modeste Goutondji
an unexplored world at Tuks MARKO SVICEVIC
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long the long walkways, grass patches, lecture halls and library is another element at the University of Pretoria that is not always noticed: art. Be it drawings, paintings, sculptures, architecture, ceramics, literature or even photography, UP has a fascinating collection of pieces ranging from ancient times to the contemporary era. The university has four main museums and a total of 56 collections on its seven campuses. According to the guide UP in a Nutshell 2012/2013, there are 872 sculptures at the university. UP boasts the largest collection of sculptures in the country, the largest ceramic collection in the southern hemisphere, which consists of 11 000 pieces, the largest and oldest collection of archaeological gold artefacts from Mapungubwe, 3 500 South African artworks, 6 000 European artworks and the largest and oldest archive in the country with 100 000 photographs of different South African artworks. The Van Tilburg collection The Van Tilburg Collection, bequeathed to the university by JA van Tilburg in 1976, includes Chinese ceramics over 4 000 years old, vases from the Chinese emperor Kangxi’s personal collection and a spectacular painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. The ceramics collection is made up of 1 699 pieces of earthenware (pottery), stoneware and porcelain and also includes Japanese Arita and Imari as well as Korean ceramics. In summary, the collection is
especially focused on Chinese dynasties and consists of plates, garniture, vases and flowerpots. There are 4 018 paintings and artworks in the collection. More than half of them were drawn by the 19th century Dutch painter Marinus Reus. Other featured artists include Giulio Falzoni, Nicolaes Cornelisz Moeyaert, Abraham Storch and Johannes Heppener. The Van Tilburg Collection also includes a collection of 39 pieces of European furniture. The Edoardo Villa collection Edoardo Villa was an Italian prisoner in South Africa until 1947. He donated 143 artworks to the university which are on permanent display in the Edoardo Museum situated on Hatfield campus in the Old Merensky Library. According to Friedland Art Incorporated, the museum was opened on 31 May 1995, on Villa’s 80th birthday. The Edoardo Villa Museum was designed in 1939 by renowned South African architect Gerard Moerdyk and was declared a national monument in 1991. The Anton van Wouw collection The Anton van Wouw collection is the world’s largest collection of bronze, marble and plaster sculptures by the famous South African sculptor Anton van Wouw. Van Wouw moved to South Africa from the Netherlands in 1880 and his first commissioned work was a statue of the then president Paul Kruger. According to the Gauteng Tourism Authority, the Anton van Wouw Museum on Hatfield campus is a Dutch National Monument. The Mapungubwe Museum
The Mapungubwe collection is probably the most popular collection at the university. Currently located in the Old Arts Building, it attracts over 3 000 visitors annually. The museum was opened on 15 June 2000 and contains about 156 000 objects related to the Mapungubwe archaeological site. The collection consist of 174 declared heritage objects and is made up of dinosaur fossils, gold fragments, animal bones, copper and ivory, bone tools, clay figurines, glass beads and organic materials such as fibres, seeds and charred sorghum. According to the university’s website, 75% of the collection is ceramics. However, a metal and bead collection is included in the museum. The museum’s archives consist of about 20 000 pages of documents ranging from photographs, manuscripts, maps and research publications. The museum is home to the famous Mapungubwe gold-foil rhinoceros. The Mapungubwe collection is the largest ancient gold collection in southern Africa. Aside from the four main collections there are another eight collections at UP. Among these are the Kruger collection, the Christo Coetzee collection and the Van Gybland Oosterhoff collection, which consists of 1 750 objects making its ceramic collection the largest of its kind outside of the Netherlands. With such a fascinating wealth of artwork, it is easy to see why one would visit the museums at UP, especially considering that most of the collections are open to the public and charge no entrance fee.
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18
Anniversary Edition
Building the icon The history of buildings on main campus Follow our campus tour with the map on page 20. DESRÉ BARNARD
F
rom its humble beginnings and scattered buildings, the University of Pretoria has grown from the inaugural 32 students to well over 60 000 students today. For this anniversary edition, Perdeby decided to meet with UP Campus Tours for a stroll around campus in search of the history of the buildings on main campus. There are 76 buildings on main campus (excluding South Campus) and since we cannot possibly mention all the buildings on all the campuses, here are some interesting facts about a few of the most iconic buildings on main campus. We start our tour with a bit of history. The university began in a small four-bedroomed house on Skinner Street known as Kya Rosa. The first students started classes at the then Transvaal University College (TUC), under the guidance of four professors and three lecturers. By September 1911, TUC had moved from Kya Rosa to the newly built Old Arts Building. While you may think that Kya Rosa is the oldest building on campus, the Kya Rosa that we know is in fact a replica. The original Kya Rosa was built in 1895 and belonged to the owner of The Press (forerunner of Pretoria News), Leo Weintal. The late Victorian-style house was named after the owner’s wife Rosa, and Kya is the Zulu word for “house”. Kya Rosa was out of use by 1915 but in 1980 the university commissioned the replica. Built from salvaged materials of the original house, construction began in 1983 under the direction of Tuks’s alumnus Albrecht Holm. Today Kya Rosa is situated at the main entrance on Lynnwood Road and houses the TuksAlumni Office. It has a small conference and entertainment area. A little-known fact is that in the garden behind Kya Rosa are the
The HB. Photo: UP Archives
Kruger Rocks. These are the rocks that Paul Kruger sat on while he prayed and cried after losing the South African War. Our tour continues as we walk down Ring Road and turn right, past the Musaion, which is argued to have some of the best acoustics in the world. It was designed by Brian Sandrock, a Tuks alumnus, and the story goes that he fired everyone on his team and designed the building all on his own. When the team returned for the opening in 1961, they were astounded and admitted that they would never have accomplished what Sandrock had done. The building has influences of the Little Brazilian or Modern Brazilian style and was built on the old athletics track. What many people believe are stairs on the slopes next to the Musaion are in fact remnants of the athletics track's spectator seating. Straight ahead of us is the Old Arts Building. The Old Arts was the first building on campus to be completed and is arguably the most iconic of main campus’s buildings. Construction began on 3 August 1910 and finished a year later. The building was designed by Percy Eagle, a student of Sir Herbert Baker (of Union Buildings fame), and was influenced by the Cape Dutch and Neo-Romanesque styles. In September 1911, the growing numbers of students and staff – now at 62 students, seven
How UP main campus has changed over the years. Image: Paul dos Santos
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professors and six lecturers – moved in, and main campus was born. Despite the formality of their attire (men in three-piece suits and women in corsets and dresses – yes, despite popular belief, 9 of the 32 students were women), shenanigans started in the very first days when students took the hay in which the new furniture was packed, formed a big heap and leapt from the first storey. The Old Arts Building was proclaimed a national monument in 1968, and in 1990, the fountain in front of the building underwent a redesign where the two red lechwes (antelopes) were introduced, sculpted by Coert Steynberg and sponsored by Dr Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte. The fountain has become a popular spot for people to pull pranks, such as students putting soap in the fountain, causing bubbles to overflow onto the lawn. For all its majesty, the Old Arts Building wasn’t technically the first building on campus. Just behind the Old Arts is the Renaissance-style Old Chemistry Building which broke ground before the Old Arts, but was only completed in 1911, after the inauguration of the Old Arts. The Old Chemistry Building was designed by the then head of public works John S Cleland and was constructed at a cost of £13 500. In 1971, the southern wing of the building was demolished to make way for the
19 Merensky 2 Library. In its day, the Old Chemistry Building housed the departments of chemistry and physical science and the department of zoology. Today it is home to the quality assurance unit and the Campus Kiosk. Standing with your back to the Old Arts you see the Engineering I Building which is by far the most interesting of the plethora of the engineering buildings. This was the campus’s first skyscraper and was completed in 1975. The building was designed by Sandrock as well (he also went on to design the Humanities Building, the amphitheatre, the Administration Building and the Geography Building) and is an architectural triumph as the building was built from the top down: the two main towers were erected and then the floors were suspended, connected by cables which were fixed to the support frame across the top of the two towers. Sandrock wanted the building to define the university square while not obstructing the view of the Old Arts Building from the University Road entrance, hence its elevation. The University Road entrance itself is also known as the Elandspoort entrance and was completed in 1958. The four columns are covered in coloured glass, and these mosaics incorporate emblems of the ZuidAfrikaansche Republiek, the Union of South Africa, the old TUC and modern day UP in order to symbolise the development of the university. The copper elands were added in 1977 as a tribute to the farm, Elandspoort, on which much of main campus developed. Next door to the Old Arts is the Old Merensky Library. The original library was housed in the Old Arts Building before being relocated to the Old Merensky. Construction of the Old Merensky began in 1937 following a generous donation of
£5 000 from Dr Hans Merensky. It was designed by Gerhard Moerdyk (of Voortrekker Monument fame) and was influenced by several styles, including Art Deco, Neo-Classicism, Cape Dutch and Regency. With all these influences, Moerdyk added that he was also influenced by the Persian style and symbols from Egyptian ruins. The building was designed to look like an open book, and it is said that the baboons above the doorway were Moerdyk’s way of saying that if a person doesn’t study at the library, they are as stupid as baboons. The building was officially opened on 15 April 1939 and is said to have been a practice run for Moerdyk’s most famous achievement, the Voortrekker Monument. The Old Merensky was declared a national monument in 1991 and is now home to the Edoardo Villa Museum as well as a Mimi Coertse collection. Again, with growing student numbers, the Old Merensky became too small and in November 1971 construction began on the Merensky 2 Library. The building was designed by the firm Lou, Marais, Marquard and Kuhn and was opened in August 1975. The tapestry in the library was commissioned to commemorate the centenary celebrations in 2008 and it represents the multiculturalism of Tuks. It was created in collaboration with designer Calvin Mahlaule and Tuks alumna Irma van Rooyen. Across the way from the Merensky 2 is the Humanities Building (HB) which is colloquially known as one of the cheese graters (some of the women’s residences also look like cheese graters). Despite being one of the oldest departments at Tuks, the humanities only found permanent residence when the HB was inaugurated in 1977. It was designed split-legged because the city council at the time refused to close Roper Street. In 1993 the city
Anniversary Edition
Old Arts tower. Photo: UP Archives
council allowed Roper Street to be closed to the public, allowing the university to create a pedestrian campus (you will notice that the road past the Student Health Building is still called Roper Street). In 2011, two faceless base jumpers emulated the first Tuks students and leapt from the roof of the 21-storey building and posted the video on
Interesting facts The Aula, designed by Karol Jooste, served Pretoria until the State Theatre was built in town in the 1980s. The pipe organ which was installed in 2004 used to belong to the Bosman Street Church. The relief on the north-western façade of the Administration Building is not symbolic of anything, contrary to popular belief. As the story goes, Brian Sandrock was working on the plaster-of-Paris model and a fly got stuck in it. He attempted to save the fly with a match stick, and liked the design that resulted so, if anything, it represents the death of an unfortunate fly.
The Margaretha Mes Institute for Plant Physiology was named after Prof. Mes who was the head of the Department of Botany from 1944 to 1959. The Institute is made up of three buildings: the Vetman Building, named after a World War II veteran; the Stoneman Building, named after Dr Bertha Stoneman who made a large donation to develop the institute; and the Bateman Laboratory, named after HW Bateman, who was involved in the design of the laboratory. The Bateman Laboratory boasts one of the world’s first phytotrons (enclosed greenhouses).
Female residence Nerina used to belong to the Loreto Convent. The university bought the property when the convent moved to Queenswood. Legend has it that a nun named Emily secretly met with her lover, a monk named Histerie, in the emergency underground tunnel which linked the monastery and the nunnery. She supposedly fell pregnant and, having betrayed her vows, proceeded to hang herself rather dramatically in a confessional. Histerie, in despair and even more dramatically, plunged a dagger through his heart on the hearth of the church. The Nerina ladies are rumoured to see the ghost of Emily in various places, including the area where the confessional was (now a bathroom) and in the hallways.
Roosmaryn used to be the female residence Aanhou Wen. The building was constructed in the early 1900s on the site of the old Laerskool Pretoria-Oos and was bought by the university in 1954. Laerskool Pretoria-Oos moved across the road from the main entrance in 1958. Roosmaryn was constructed using Pretoria red brick and shares similarities with schools in the area, like Pretoria Boys and Girls high schools, and Afrikaans Hoër Seuns- and Meisieskool.
Known as the Manie van der Schijff Botanical Garden, this three-and-a-half hectare garden contains more than 3 000 plant species, and boasts a complete African cycad collection. Ever wondered why they check your car boot when you leave campus? Not only are they looking for stolen computers or dead bodies, but also to check that you aren’t trying to steal a cycad. Cycad fossils have been found that date back to 280 million years ago. Many types of cycad are on the verge of extinction and are thus very valuable.
Tukkiewerf was part of a series of three buildings which belonged to the Catholic Church. The university bought their chapel, their monastery (built in 1925) and their monastery hall (built in 1946) in 1980. The chapel is known as the Church of Saint Alfons Maria de Liguori, the founder of the Redemptionists. Urban legend has it that two students got drunk at Oom Gert, got married in the chapel and then walked across to the law department and got a divorce.
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Anniversary Edition YouTube. No one was harmed or caught. On the other side of the Old Arts is the Student Affairs Building which was completed in 1915. This Neo-Romanesque building, which was designed by the Department of Public Works, originally served as home base for Kollegetehuis, the first residence on main campus. They were eventually moved to the Experimental Farm (the proefplaas) and the building has since housed a variety of departments including Speech Therapy, Student Affairs, the Student Disability Centre and Student Counselling. Past the Student Centre is main campus’s newest, state-of-the-art Thuto Building. This 2 400-seater was designed by the firm Jeremie Malan Architects and holds the distinct honour of being the first building on campus to have an African name. Thuto means “education” or “learning” in Sepedi, Sesotho and Tswana. There were several jacaranda trees on the site, some of which were 50 years old. Sadly, 15 trees had to be removed but 11 of those were recycled into public sculptures by the final-year art students. Seven of these sculptures were placed outside in collaboration with the architects. Up the road is the Law Building which has to be one of the most symbolic buildings on campus. Designed by the architect firm Kruger-Roos, the building is meant to symbolise the transparency of the legal world. It was inaugurated by former President Thabo Mbeki and in 2006 it secured its place as the third-best building in Gauteng as voted for by the South African Institute of Architects. The building consists of offices, lecture halls, the Oliver R Tambo Law Library as well as many artworks by the
Map of main campus. Image: Paul dos Santos
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20 likes of Ike Nkoana, Andrew Vester, Anton Uys and Tuks’s fine-arts lecturer, Diane Victor. Turning right past the Graduate Centre are some of the buildings that belonged to the Christian Brothers’ College (CBC). These include the Masker, the Lier and the JJ Theron Lecture Hall (Theron was the dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences from 1948 to 1956), as well as Huis-en-Haard. Huisen-Haard was originally the St Anthony dormitory which served CBC students. It was purchased by the university in 1969 and was renamed Huis-enHaard by the then vice-chancellor and principal of the university, Prof. CH Rautenbach. The closest English translation would be "hearth and home" and is a name meant to symbolise an older style of dwelling. The building included a cafeteria, offices, recreational space and a staff tea-room. At one stage it housed Perdeby's editorial offices. Today the building is home to the Centre for the Study of Aids (hence the flowers outside which form a red ribbon), Wannabee (named after one of the university’s icons, the honey bee) and Oom Gert se Plek. Opposite Huis-en-Haard is the Economic and Management Sciences Building (EMB). This building, which was designed to link the older buildings with the newer ones, displays elements of the various styles of the surrounding buildings – PostRomanesque Revival, design elements from the Old Arts Building and the Pretoria brick tradition. The architect, Tuks alumnus Samuel Pauw, also designed the Client Service Centre area. The EMB is the longest building on campus and was completed in three stages with the first two having been
finished in August 1989, and the final phase in July 1990. The building was inaugurated by former president FW de Klerk in March 1991 and includes the Sanlam Auditorium which often hosts large conferences. An architectural tribute to the Old Arts Building can be seen in the bridge between the EMB and the IT Building. The bridge’s dome is shaped like the Old Arts Building and is symbolic of the history of Tuks. Further on we arrive at the Drama Building. This building was completed in 1928 and was a dormitory to house CBC staff. The building has housed several different departments since the university bought it in 1968, including the archaeology, African languages and anthropology departments, but in 1982 the drama students moved in. The U-shape of the building is indicative of its Neo-Romanesque influences and this area serves as a place for drama students to rehearse in the open courtyard. Finally, we come somewhat symbolically back to the main entrance. The main entrance on Lynnwood Road was completed in 1994, a year after Roper Street closed. The three columns at the entrance are covered in rough granite on the outside to represent how students arrive rough and unpolished. The smooth granite on the inside of the columns is meant to represent how students leave the university as enlightened and equipped with knowledge and life skills. Now that Perdeby has equipped you with some of the history of main campus, you can leave Tuks, running your hand along the smooth granite arguing your success.
21
Anniversary Edition
Tuks is niks sonder
tegnologie ANLERIE DE WET
I
n ons konstante ontwikkelende wêreld is daar sekere dinge wat nie sonder mekaar kan bestaan nie. Soos ham en kaas, en Klippies en Coke, wat sou Tuks wees sonder tegnologie? Tegnologie by die Universiteit van Pretoria (UP) het eintlik maar kop begin uitsteek in 1971, nie lank na die wêreld se publiek aan die persoonlike rekenaar voorgestel is nie. Met die opkoms en gebruik van rekenaars het die universiteit in 1975 besluit dat biblioteekdienste vergemaklik kan word deur dit te rekenariseer. Dus het Tuks die biblioteek se adjunk-direkteur en dataverwerker, mnre. H de Bruin en MC Willemse, gestuur om in Europa navorsing te doen by die universiteite wat gerekenariseerde biblioteekstelsels gebruik en sodoende `n stelsel te kies om by Tuks te implementeer. Daarom is die DOBIS/LIBIS- program sedert 1977 ten volle by UP in gebruik geneem. Dit het Tuks se biblioteek die eerste Suid-Afrikaanse biblioteek gemaak met `n gerekenariseerde bedryfstelsel. Daarna het die universiteite van Potchefstroom en Natal ook besluit om soortgelyke programme te bewerkstellig. In die daaropvolgende jare was daar gereelde opgraderings aan die program gemaak tot en met die ontwerp van die UP Library netwerk in die laat 90s wat vandag nog gebruik word om spoedig `n sekere boek of dokument op te spoor. Die “bib”, soos wat dit hedendaags bekend is, het ook proefskrifte in elektroniese formaat tesame met `n elektroniese argief wat navorsingsuitsette vergemaklik en die droom van `n digitale biblioteek `n werklikheid maak. Met die gebruik van `n webaflaaibare inligtingsisteem was Tuks heel eerste in Suid-Afrika om `n vennootskap met buitelandse biblioteke en kliënte te stig, wat gebaseer is op die uitruil van leesmateriaal en inligting. Daar is duisende besoekers, studente en personeel wat elke dag deur die kampusse van UP se hekke in en uit stroom en sekuriteit het al `n noodsaaklikheid geword vir die universiteit. Net soos wat misdaad verander het met die gebruik van tegnologie, so ook het die Departement van Veiligheidsdienste ook verbeter weens tegnologie. Die “gideonsbende” (soos kampus sekuriteit voorheen onder studente bekend was) se geformuleerde missie is “Om `n veilige en aangename omgewing te skep, waarbinne studente en personeel kan gedy.” Met behulp van elektroniese sekuriteitshekke, verklikkers, alarmstelsels en studenteen
Illustration: Modeste Goutondji
personeelkaarte, is die 24-uur krisisdiens moontlik. Die eerste tegnologie wat by Tuks gehelp het om misdaad te bekamp was die verklikkers wat in Februarie 1977 in die bib geïnstalleer is. Die destydse direkteur van biblioteekdienste, Prof. ED Gerryts, het verduidelik dat dit geïnstalleer is omdat dit te lank vir studente geneem het om in en uit die bib te beweeg aangesien hulle verplig was om hulle sakke by die ingang in te gee. Dit was gedoen om te verseker dat daar geen boeke geneem word sonder die bib se kennisname nie. `n Jaar later is `n verskeidenheid van alarms vir brand, kragonderbrekings, lugreëling en inbraak in al die geboue geïnstalleer. Die elektroniese sekuriteitshekke is eers in die vroeë 1990s geïnstalleer toe al die afsonderlike kampusse omhein is. “In 1999 is daar oorgeskakel na `n enkele toegangskaartstelsel vir UP as geheel,” sê Dr. Jakkie Pretorius, die direkteur van Inligtingtegnologie. Volgens Ria van der Merwe, `n UP argief assistent, was daar wel voorheen van karton ID-kaartjies gebruik gemaak. Van der Merwe verduidelik dat daar “studentekaarte waarop algemene inligting was soos ouers se adres, matriekvrystelling en personeelkaarte waarop salarisse ens. aangedui is,” tesame met `n foto. Sy verduidelik verder dat hierdie stelsel net gewerk
het omdat daar baie minder studente was wat dit makliker gemaak het om mense te identifiseer. Hierdie karton kaarte was selfs gebruik in koshuise as etekaartjies waar `n duplikaat met die hand gemaak is, in `n boek gesit is en by die eetsale gehou is om te identifiseer wie etes mag ontvang. Wanneer dit kom by die administrasie van Tuks, speel tegnologie `n omvattende belangrike rol. In die ou dae het hoopvolle leerlinge aan die Akademiese Registrateur geskryf om vir aansoekvorms te vra, wat dan per pos uitgestuur is. Toe was `n aansoekvorm die grootte van `n pamflet en het slegs die minimum inligting gevra, soos graad 11 punte, wat jy wil swot en jou ouers se kontak besonderhede. Alhoewel aansoekvorms vandag nog deur die pos ontvang word deur leerlinge sonder internet toegang, kan die wat wel toegang tot internet het die makliker en vinniger roete volg deur aanlyn op die UP webwerf aansoek te doen. Die UP webwerf is al van ongeveer 1994 goed aan die gang en mense kan op die webwerf meer uitvind van Tuks en al die fakulteite en aktiwiteite wat dit aanbied. Studente se punte en eksamenroosters was altyd op kennisgewingborde op kampus gesit, byvoorbeeld langs die Geesteswetenskappe gebou, onder die bib voor die ABSA OTM en by die Geologie gebou. Studente se name het
altyd langs hulle punte verskyn op die puntelys, maar studente was ongelukkig aangaande privaatheid en daarom is die name na nommers verander in die laat 90s. Vandag kry studente hulle akademiese inligting op die studentenetwerk ClickUP, wat Desember 1998 institusioneel geïnstalleer is. Vir studente soos Liezl Aylward,`n tweedejaar in BCom Bemarking, is ClickUP `n noodsaaklikheid en die moderne Tuks student kan nie daar sonder nie. Aylward sê: “Dit gee my leiding en laat my kennis neem oor alles, soos take en toets datums.” Dit word gedurig opgradeer en daarom kan dosente studiemateriaal en kennisgewings ook op ClickUP plaas. Dit bied elke student private toegang tot dié inligting deur gebruik van hul gegewe studentenommer en `n wagwoord van hul keuse. Dit is moeilik om te sê hoe Tuks hedendaags sou funksioneer sonder tegnologie. Dit sou verseker chaos wees om sekuriteit, administrasie en die verhouding tussen duisende studente en personeel te beheer. Inteendeel, sou Tuks ooit in vandag se samelewing bestaan sonder tegnologie?
FEATURES
22
Anniversary Edition
OPPIKOPPI
a
THE EVOLUTION OF
o p p i k o p p i 2 NUMBER OF PERFORMANCes 0 1 tOtaL PerFOrMance tIMe 3
6
ticket price:
r800
Photo: Reinhard Nell
thursday
friday
saturday
51
61
54
660 3 240 3MINUTES 060 3MINUTES MINUTES
remember Oppikoppi’s easter festivals? Oppikoppi’s annual Easter festivals were held over the Easter weekend every year. They were discontinued after the Strictly Come Twakkie (Not Quite Easter Festival) in 2009 . The festival was known for being a lot more relaxed compared to its August counterpart.
International bands:
number of stages:
•dEFTONES •yELLOWCARD •mANCHESTER OrcHestra •rOBERT dELONG •FINLEY QUAYE •guanaco
On HOw OPPIKOPPI starteD:
careL HOFFMan
“In 1995 Tess [Bornman] said we should try to get a festival going. And that was really the start of it. We booked every single original music band in the rock ‘n’ roll arena. We did flyer and poster marketing for months, and in the end, attracted roughly 2 000 people with 27 bands.”
FOUNDER OF OPPIKOPPI
– The Event (www.theevent.co.za)
HOw Has OPPIKOPPI grOwn sInce Its IncePtIOn?
2013
2005
1995
20 000 people
15 000 people
1 200 people
ENTERTAINMENT
23
Anniversary Edition
Perdeby isn’t the only one celebrating a milestone birthday. Next year, South Africa’s biggest music festival Oppikoppi turns 20. We took a look at how the festival has evolved since it started in 1994.
what’s new?
Technology that has changed the oppikoppi experience
BEER DRONE
oppikoppi
This year Oppikoppi festival-goers could avoid long queues at the bar by ordering free beer using an app on their smartphones. The beer would then be delivered to them using unmanned aerial vehicle technology, which is basically like a mini helicopter. The drone was nicknamed “Manna” after the story in the Old Testament in which bread fell from the sky to feed the Israelites who were leaving Egypt. “It’s an almost biblical thing that beer is dropping from the sky,” Carel Hoffman, the founder of Oppikoppi, has been reported as saying.
CAPE TO KOPPI If you live in Cape Town and want to make the trip up north to Oppikoppi, the Cape To Koppi train trip is just for you.
OPPIKOPPI DIGITAL MAGAZINE Oppikoppi’s digital magazine provides you with everything you need to know about the festival. The app includes: • Stage line-ups • An interactive map • Videos • Music • Profiles of artists
TAP ‘N’ GO PAYMENT SYSTEM
cape town
Oppikoppi partnered with Standard Bank in 2011 to introduce their cashless “tap ‘n’ go” payment system. The aim was to shorten queues and reduce the security risks that come with carrying cash. The system, which is now in its third year of use, sees festival-goers load money onto a card that they are issued with when they arrive. Money can be loaded onto the card using cash, a debit or credit card as well as mimoney. At the time, the NFC (Near Field Communication) system was the first of its kind to be implemented in South Africa.
In wHat’s a naMe? A HISTORY OF OPPIKOPPI FESTIVAL TITLES
ENTERTAINMENT
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUTH AFRICAN FILM INDUSTRY
JOHAN SAAYMAN AND NAYAAB MAHARAJ The South African film industry has a lot to be proud of. It has reached international recognition over the years with two films showcased at the Berlin International Film Festival, three screened at Cannes and Academy Awards nominations for five films including Yesterday, Tsotsi and District 9. The industry has also seen the release of films such as Bakgat, Spud, Semi-Soet and Mr Bones, all of which showcase South Africa’s diversity in culture, language and content. Hollywood, however, still reigns in most aspects of the film industry and as notable as South Africa’s achievements are, the quality of our film releases aren’t quite what Hollywood’s are. This is the result of various reasons, subject matter being one of the biggest ones. Both Hollywood and South Africa’s first feature films were released in 1910. At the time, Hollywood was making films such as The Fugitive. It’s films were melodramatic, full of romance and happy endings. South Africa, on the other hand, focused on social contradictions which developed as a result of the harsh lives of “nonwhites” during the mining revolution and these can be seen in films such as De Voortrekkers. The mining
revolution began as a result of the gold and diamond rush. This also led to rapid industrialisation, and the use of black labourers which marked the beginning of an apartheid ideology, which shaped the structure of our films as they focused on the topic of apartheid, not in opposition to it, but rather as a vehicle of consciousness, raising awareness of the issue and uniting people through the common medium of film. While South Africa focused on
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its rich history, America drew its inspiration from different topics, making it more accessible to the world. South Africa focused on making movies for historical value and Hollywood made movies for entertainment. This is one of the reasons why it seems that South Africa is not ready to embrace the diversity and level of subject matter Hollywood has. More recent attempts to entertain audiences has resulted in shallow
humour. “There’s a huge gap between the good films, which are usually very good, but the majority of mediocre films tend to be cheap and nasty or just childish,” says acclaimed critic and entertainment journalist Barry Ronge. “There are competent Afrikaans writers, directors and actors and they make interesting films,” he adds. A most recent example of the difference between film industries
The Film and Publications Board banned Of Good Report, a decision made based on the depiction of a simulated sexual act involving the 16-year-old student, who was played by a 23-year-old actress.
25 in Hollywood and South Africa is evident in the banning of the movie Of Good Report at the 34th Durban International Film Festival earlier this year. The movie was banned because of its use of what the Film and Publications Board called child pornography. The film was later unbanned as the board could not decide on the context of the content and whether it did in fact constitute pornography. “The ridiculous nonsense about the film was such an ego boost for the Durban Film Festival and it was a long-needed scrutiny of how and why the censors still think they have the political power,” says Ronge. “It was so sad and interesting to see the censors hanging on to the rules of the Vorster years, while the rest of the world grew up and got clever,” he says. With the end of apartheid, the South Africa film industry is starting to move away from one kind of storytelling to focus on more diverse stories. This is because of the international focus on South Africa, which is seen as a prime location for making a film with many internationally acclaimed movies such as Mad Max 4, Blood Diamond and Safe House being shot here. International filmmakers choose South Africa for various reasons. “It’s cheap, it has a vast range of locations – sea, veld, desert, mountains, major cities and shanty town locations – and there are superb technicians in this country. It’s an easy compromise because the South African techies get a good salary and the international producers get a good profit,” says Ronge. It is however not to us that the profits stream. “These producers come here for the locations, the cheap labour and the use of excellent technology but then they go away to the US or the UK and make their boxoffice money there,” Ronge says. Budget still remains a problem for the South African industry because funding for local films is not nearly
A spectrum of local cinema
what it is for our international counterparts. Hollywood has the upper hand, spending large sums of their budget on marketing alone, resulting in 69% of all box office dollars earned overseas. “What angers me is that the serious films seldom get funds from the government because it is assumed that the arty films will not make money,” says Ronge. “Films like Babelas!, Bakgat and Poena Is Koning scrape the bottom of the barrel but because audiences love them, they
Five fun film facts 1.
The South African film and television industry contributes around R3.5 billion a year to the country’s economy.
2.
In 1995, when the country first became a viable location venue for movie and television production, the industry employed around 4 000 people. This has grown to around 25 000 people.
3.
The state is the primary investor in the production of local films. This is done through the National Film and Video Foundation, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Department of Trade and Industry.
Anniversary Edition
4.
Earlier this year, production on Black Sails, an international pirate drama television series began at the Cape Town Film Studios, making it the largest production ever made in South Africa.
5.
The film Safe House was originally meant to be set in Rio de Janeiro but the insurance companies felt that the riots taking place at the time would make it unsafe. The script was then rewritten to be set in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Once South Africa was decided on, it took four months for the City of Cape Town to settle negotiations allowing for four days of filming at Green Point Stadium.
make money, which allows them to get a new bunch of government money for a copy-cat sequel.” According to Ronge filmmakers who aspire to deliver quality films do not get subsidies, because the donors believe that the film will fail. “It has been that way for decades and it looks as if it will stay that way,” Ronge says. When it comes to stars that light up the silver screen, South African movies tend to use local actors, therefore the dialogue and storyline are generally suited for a South African audience only. Hollywood, however, encourages international talent, which showcases its diversity in terms of script, dialogue, score and special effects. Although we lack the scouting capacity Hollywood has, South Africa has its share of talent. Many local actors such as Sharlto Copley (District 9, Elysium), Charlize Theron (Monster), Fana Moekoena (World War Z) and Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) have gained international acclaim. In light of how difficult it is for local actors to make it internationally, Ronge says that the way for local actors to make a name for themselves is on TV. “They learn the technical issues, get a feel for the work. If their agents can then find a smart film script, good for them, but shows like
Molly en Wors have run for three series. That’s where they really get their money. There are so many more TV shows than feature movies that actors prefer TV gigs. They know that a soapie or a sitcom will have a longer run, and a role in a following series. It’s not exciting or creative, but is a secure situation, it pays okay, and that beats sitting around, waiting for a movie [to come] along.” South Africa is well on its way to becoming a top-ranked, wellrecognised film producer. Proudly South African production company Cape Town Film Studio’s latest endeavour, Black Sails, is one of the largest productions ever filmed in South Africa. Produced by Michael Bay (Transformers), Brad Fuller and Andrew Forum (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), it is putting the spotlight on our local industry which contributes around R3.5 billion a year to the economy. As we look to the future, South African audiences already have a number of projects to look forward to, with ten locally produced titles released in 2010, 12 in 2011 and 17 released in 2013. While the future of the industry may be cloudy “as long as the popcorn crowd keeps on laughing” South Africa will continue its steady rise to the top.
ENTERTAINMENT
Anniversary Edition
26
Fashion through the decades: where did Tuks fit in? MAGGIE ROODT
M
any things can be said about appearances. Johann Friedrich von Schiller said that appearance rules the world. Aesop said that appearances are deceptive and an old Spanish proverb states that chins with no beards deserve no honour. But appearance is dependent on fashion, and as the history of clothing rules and regulations at the University of Pretoria (UP) have come to show, bearded chins might deserve some honour after all. UP fashion has evolved along with global fashion trends through the decades. Some trends have faded away, other trends were forcibly reinstated and students who did not adhere to the rules were denied class entry. During the 50s, students were required to wear their UP blazers and the dress codes were very strict. Female students were allowed to wear their blazers to class whereas all male students wearing a blazer had to remove it before attending lectures. Men were not allowed to wear their blazers with slacks or shorts and women had to wear long skirts and dresses. At this time, according to university policy, female students were also not allowed to smoke on campus while wearing their blazers and it is still frowned upon for any student to smoke while wearing a UP blazer. The smokers who hang around the Humanities Building today would most likely not have been allowed to go to class back then. In the 60s, while the rest of the world was focusing on flowers and psychedelic-patterned dresses, UP men wore ties, pants and their UP blazers. The ladies also wore their UP blazers but they were not allowed to wear pants and had to make do with dresses and miniskirts (this was the era of platform shoes and miniskirts, after
Photos: Reinhard Nell
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all). Wilma Coetzer, ex-staff member at the Institute of Pathology and part-time law student, says that she was instructed not to reach for flasks on the top shelf because her miniskirt was too short. But short miniskirts are the least of our fashion problems on campus these days. The 70s brought a great deal of change to UP dress regulations. In 1971 female students were finally allowed to wear pantsuits, except on Sundays. On Sundays it was a requirement to dress formally and women wore items such as knee-length skirts. The wearing of pantsuits was only permitted if the pants were not transparent and if they were accompanied by a matching formal jacket or tunic that covered the buttocks. Most of the rules during the 70s were applicable to female students only, but there were still some rules imposed on male students. For example, men were not allowed to wear sandals. All male students had to wear formal, closed shoes and long socks.
In 1974 it was permissible for men to wear formal short-sleeved shirts for the first time. In comparison to today’s male students, who wear tank tops and t-shirts, male students dress a lot more casually than those in the 70s. Only students who studied physical education or drama were allowed to wear tracksuits to campus if they were performing physical activities on that day. In 1977 it was agreed that jeans would be allowed, marking the beginning of the foundation of every modern day student’s wardrobe. Another student from the early 70s, Jannie Otto, who is currently a professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Johannesburg, says that the strict clothing regulations from his student years at UP left a lasting impression on him. Today he still wears bow ties wherever he goes. The 1990s finally saw UP’s clothing regulations become more relaxed. Male students were allowed to wear shirts without a tie, pants or shorts with a hem, and neat closed-toe shoes. Female students were allowed to wear dresses, skirts, knee-length pants or normal pants and closed-toe shoes or sandals. Students could still wear their UP blazers, but this was fast becoming a dying trend (this could have had something to do with the strict smoking rules the blazers enforced). Currently, the only rule in our code of conduct regarding clothing is that students are not allowed to wear shorts. Needless to say, this rule is ineffective, seeing as shorts are very popular nowadays. These rules and regulations might seem absurd to students now but they were important at the time. We can be grateful that someone dared to change an important rule once, or we might not have been as comfortable as we are today.
75 years of rivalries
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Anniversary Edition
PHILIP STOFBERG “A Witsie’s not worthwhile, so pack up your troubles on a Witsie’s back.” “My neighbour is a Witsie, as feeble as can be.” These lyrics, and many more of the like, were created by our Tuks student predecessors to get the blood of their arch-enemies boiling. In the first half of the 20th century, students from Tuks and Wits fought this rivalry in singing competitions at intervarsity derbies. They also adopted a more underground approach by taking part in raids. During these raids, students would try to steal the mascot of the opposing university. The birth of the mascots Oom Gert became the Tuks mascot in 1929 after four Kollege men kidnapped the wooden statue from the front of a shop in Pretorius Street where it was used to advertise tobacco. When the owner learned where Oom Gert had disappeared to, he kind-heartedly told the students that they did not need to return the old man. Phineas, Oom Gert’s counterpart from Wits, was borrowed from a barber’s shop in 1922 where it was also used as an advertisement. It was supposed to be returned after a rugby match against the University of Cape Town (UCT) but the Scottish effigy was kidnapped by students from UCT. Phineas’s original owner donated him to the Wits students who had rescued him from the UCT medical residence where he was being held captive and Phineas was promoted to university mascot. Let the games begin Tuks students stole Phineas twice, in 1931 and 1934. For 16 years Tuks managed to hold off the Witsies from exacting their revenge, but on 28 April 1950 a Wits student managed to steal Oom Gert. He arrived at Sonop dressed as a rat catcher, warrant in hand. While “working” the student searched for Oom Gert and eventually found the old man full of cobwebs underneath the floorboards in one of the Sonop rooms. One night, a contingent of Wits students snuck into Sonop and stole Oom Gert. He was later returned to Tuks after a set of rules to make raids safer was implemented between the two universities. The final games The rivalry between Tuks and Wits grew steadily over the following years. In 1963, however, some of the traditions that went along with intervarsity started to disappear. After a Wits song upset Tuks students, a mass meeting was held to decide whether or not to continue with intervarsity. It was decided at the meeting that the universities would
Illustration: Modeste Goutondji
not exchange comments in the stands. Big Brag (an annual event where the universities’ first teams were showcased) was also discontinued the following year. Wits decided to break all sporting bonds with Tuks in 1968 after Tuks students violently held down a few Wits students and shaved off their hair. Even though Wits reversed the decision and ties were quickly repaired, the relationship between the two universities remained uneasy. The tension was worsened when Wits wanted to include players of colour in their intervarsity teams. As an Afrikaans university in the midst of apartheid, Tuks was against the possible inclusion of coloured players in a “white” sport. Over the next few years Tuks remained indecisive on whether to take part in a racially-integrated intervarsity. Ultimately, the tradition-rich intervarsity between Tuks and Wits was not to continue.
The end of an era / Other games tried and failed Tuks tried to organise an intervarsity with Kovsies (University of Free State) in 1973. This was cancelled after the 1974 event due to the cost of travelling between the universities and the fact that Kovsies was already taking part in an intervarsity with Pukke (North-West University). This left Tuks with an annual rugby match to be played against Maties (Stellenbosch University), which would only be seen as a friendly and not as an intervarsity match. In 1977 the first intervarsity between Tuks and the University of Johannesburg (UJ), then known as Rand Afrikaans University, took place. Intervarsity with UJ is still held annually and ensures for heated competition year after year. This rivalry is, however, contested by the heated rivalry between Tuks and Maties. In recent years, with the creation of the Varsity Cup, Tuks and Maties have overshadowed other universities in this tournament and have become each other’s greatest rivals.
SPORT
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Anniversary Edition
A divided Varsity Cup Should the Varsity Cup competition be exclusively for students?
DAN LOMBARD AND MAXINE TWADDLE
T
he Varsity Cup has become one of South Africa’s most prestigious rugby tournaments played at a university level. As the competition has become more intense, universities have adopted a more professional approach to the tournment. Most universities have recruited non-student players to boost their squads in the hopes of becoming South Africa’s best rugby playing university. This has created debate within the rugby community about the increasing levels of professionalism in university teams. Critics argue that this decreases the value of student sport while supporters argue that it improves the quality of the rugby being played. According to the Varsity Cup’s constitution, 18 members of a matchday squad consisting of 23 players have to be students at the university they are representing. These students need to achieve an academic average of at least 30% and have to attend classes. Players who have represented their country at a senior level or who have represented a club in more than four Super Rugby matches cannot play in the Varsity Cup. This year the University of Pretoria (UP) was charged with five counts of fielding ineligible players in the Varsity Cup. The university was found guilty on four of these charges. UP was also accused of fielding an ineligible player on three occasions during the Varsity Cup’s Young Guns competition but was found not guilty. UP is not the only university to have been found guilty of fielding ineligible players. In 2012 the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) were found guilty on these charges in the Varsity Cup. The University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Fort Hare, the University of the Western Cape and the University of KwaZulu-Natal were also found guilty of fielding ineligible players in the Varsity Shield. NMMU’s u/20 team was found guilty of the same offence in the Young Guns competition. Rob Louw, a former Stellenbosch
SPORT
Illustration: Simon-Kai Garvie
University, Western Province and Springbok flank, feels that only students should be able to play in the Varsity Cup. “[The] Varsity Cup is a platform that was created to discover the rugby talent missed by Craven Week and union scouts. It gives the average student the opportunity to play in front of a national audience,” he said. Tank Lanning, who played for the University of Cape Town and Western Province, says that not all universities have equal resources and therefore cannot all afford to recruit players. He said that fielding players contracted to provincial rugby unions makes the competition unfair. However, UP-Tuks 1 head coach Nollis Marais believes that a student
who is contracted to a union should be allowed to play in the Varsity Cup. “Playing in the Varsity Cup allows the player to develop,” he said. Former Tuks wing and current Blue Bulls u/19 technical advisor Hayden Groepes also supports the idea of professionalism in the tournament. “The Varsity Cup is a great platform for players to launch a rugby career,” he said. Nelio de Sa, who has played for UFS, South Africa’s u/21 team and Portugal, agrees that the Varsity Cup should be a professional tournament. “If theVarsity Cup does not become professional, it will slowly fade away,” he said. He added that it is unreasonable to expect players to balance rugby and studying. “A
professional rugby player does not have the time to actively pursue a full-time degree.” Varsity Cup chief executive officer Duitser Bosman said that the tournament has branded itself as a student competition and should remain as such. He explained that, “Initially, there were no restrictions on the amount of non-students that were allowed in a team simply because we needed to grow the competition,” but that circumstances have changed and universities should now only field students. “There is another platform for professional players to play,” he said. He added that he believes that the Varsity Cup is now “strong enough to make it a student-only competition”.
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Perdeby’s greatest sport articles
GABRIELLA FERREIRA
S
port has the potential to change the lives of both athletes and spectators. A season, a tournament or a match can define an individual or a team. Sport creates definining moments for those who participate in it and for those who watch it. The sporting history of Tuks is decorated with such moments and for the past 75 years, Perdeby has been informing readers of these. We looked back at some of the most important and interesting sport articles that Perdeby has published. Northern Universities play the All Blacks (by an unnamed journalist and published 19 August 1949) On 17 August 1949 a team made up of a combination of players from northern universities, including Tuks and the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), played against the New Zealand international rugby side, the All Blacks. It was the first time that a university side had played a national rugby team. The team was captained by Tuks’s Willie Lubbe and was made up mostly of Tuks players. The game took place at Loftus and the university team lost 17-3. This was not the last time that Tuks rugby played against an international side. Tuks teams went on to tour countries such as West Germany, Italy, France, England and Portugal, where they played against various club teams. Most recently the Tuks rugby team played the Portuguese national side in Portugal in 2006, losing 1513 in an evenly-contested game. Tuks win Hadley Boxing Shield (by an unnamed journalist and published 16 June
1950) In 1950 TuksBoxing won the Hadley Boxing Shield for the second time in 27 years. The competition saw the best of Tuks’s boxers taking on the best of Wits’s boxers. The team was made up of seven boxers of which only two suffered losses based on points. Boxing used to be one of the most popular sports covered by Perdeby when the newspaper started with articles on boxing dominating the back pages. Tuks women’s hockey plays British Columbia Thunderbirds (by Sean Botha and published 23 July 1993) Tuks’s first team women’s hockey side played against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds from Canada in July 1993. Tuks lost the game 4-1 as the Thunderbirds dominated the match and showed great teamwork and experience. South African teams lacked such experience as sanctions imposed on South Africa from the late 1970s isolated the country from the sports development that the rest of the world experienced. This isolation is regarded as the reason for the decline in the quality of South African sport at the time. Melton Rasimphi wins SA Duathlon Championship (by Shadrack Mokhuchedi and published 28 July 2008) On 30 June 2008
Illustrations: Simon-Kai Garvie
Tuks athlete Melton Rasimphi became the first black man to win the South African National Duathlon Championship. The race consisted of a 10km run, followed by a 50km timetrial cycling leg and then a 15km run. Tuks Varsity Cup champions (by Carlo Cock and published 16 April 2012) Since its inception in 2008, the Varsity Cup has grown to become one of the biggest inter-university competitions in South Africa. Tuks won the competition for the first time in the university’s history in 2012 after beating historical rivals Maties (Stellenbosch University) 29-21 in the final. Even though Tuks led most of the game, Maties did not make it easy for them and responded quickly to any lead taken by Tuks. It was only in the last quarter of the game that Tuks managed to secure a 15-point lead, which the team built on to win by 8 points. AmaTuks promoted to PSL (by Carlo
Cock and published 14 May 2012) Football at Tuks has come a long way since it was first offered at the university in 1908. One of TuksFootball’s greatest accomplishments was when its professional team AmaTuks was promoted to the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in 2012. AmaTuks were able to secure their spot in the PSL after a good 2011/2012 National First Division season which saw them achieve a 17game unbeaten streak. AmaTuks secured their position in the PSL after a 2-0 victory over FC Cape Town on 9 May 2012. Amatuks ended their first season in the PSL in eighth position. Tuks win Varsity Cup again (by Dan Lombard and published 15 April 2013) Tuks won the Varsity Cup for a second time in a row after beating Maties 44-5 in the final. The match was Maties’s first loss in the 2013 Varsity Cup season. They had beaten Tuks 18-16 when the teams played each other in the group stage of the competition.
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MAXINE TWADDLE
At the 2012 TuksSport end-of-year awards evening, TuksSport director Kobus van der Walt described, “Another golden year for the University of Pretoria, one in which we made our presence felt at almost every level of international and national sports.” In this “golden year” 33 athletes and officials from Tuks represented South Africa at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Three of these athletes won medals for South Africa, contributing to half of the country’s medal tally. Another Tuks athlete represented Mozambique. The university had 111 representatives (including the 33 Olympians) at a national level and was represented by 76 athletes and coaches in national age-group teams. Twenty-two Tuks students represented South Africa in international university sport events. The momentum created by 2012’s achievements was carried into 2013. The athletics club won the university athletics championships, the cricket team successfully defended the National Club Championship and the first rugby team won its second Varsity Cup title. The university’s football team finished in the top eight of the Premier Soccer League in the club’s first season in the competition. This success is not in isolation. The University of Pretoria has a rich sporting history. With world-class facilities, knowledgeable coaches and talented athletes, it comes as no surprise that the university has produced so many top sports people. Perdeby looks at 75 athletes across all sporting codes that are affiliated with UP, either as former students or as members of the university’s sport clubs. Perdeby’s list does not rank the athletes, but recognises individuals who have contributed to sport at the university. The first ten athletes are mentioned separately to highlight their significant achievements. Naas Botha Naas Botha was selected for the u/20 national rugby team when he was a student at Tuks. Botha played 28 matches for South Africa and scored 312 points. Botha is regarded as one of the best fly-halfs to have played rugby. The British press nicknamed Botha “Nasty Booter” in reference to his extremely accurate kicking (with both his left and right foot). Botha captained the Northern Transvaal (now Blue Bulls) team a record 128 times. They won the Currie Cup nine times while Botha was playing for them. Botha played in the controversial tour to New Zealand in 1981, where New Zealand supporters protesting the South African government’s apartheid policy invaded the pitch and staged airplane flybys. Cameron van der Burgh Cameron van der Burgh won gold in the 100m breaststroke at last year’s London Olympics, setting a new world record. Van der Burgh broke his first world record in 2009 when he swam the 50m breaststroke in 27.06 seconds, beating Oleg Lisogor’s seven-year-old world record by 0.12
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75 golden Image: nedbanksport.co.za
seconds. Van der Burgh is the first South African swimmer who trains permanently in South Africa to win an Olympic gold medal. Van der Burgh won two medals at this year’s FINA (International Swimming Federation) World Championships in Barcelona. He won gold in the men’s 50m breaststroke and took silver in the 100m breaststroke. Burger Geldenhuys Born Schalk Burger, Burger Geldenhuys holds the record of being the most capped Blue Bulls player. Burger did not represent any other provincial team during his long domestic career. Geldenhuys played seven matches for South Africa from 1981 to 1989. Bongani Khumalo Bongani Khumalo joined the Tuks football team in 2005. He made 50 appearances for the club. Khumalo has captained South Africa’s national football team and is contracted to English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. He is playing on loan for Doncaster Rovers for the 2013/2014 football season. Khumalo has also been loaned to Preston North End, Reading and Greek side PAOK during his time with the London
Image: bbc.co.uk
club, which began after the FIFA World Cup in 2010. Victor Matfield The most-capped Springbok player, Victor Matfield has played for the national team 110 times. He captained the Springboks when they beat the All Blacks 30-28 in New Zealand, the All Blacks’s first home defeat in five years. Matfield is generally considered to have been one of the best locks in the world. Matfield retired from rugby after the 2011 Rugby World Cup. During his career Matfield won three Currie Cup titles, three Super Rugby titles, two Tri-Nations titles and one IRB World Cup title.
Heyneke Meyer Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer studied sports psychology at Tuks. Meyer became head coach of the Blue Bulls in 2002. Under his leadership the team won four Currie Cup titles. He also led the team to a Super Rugby title in 2007 - the first time a South African team had won the competition.
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national record of 17.25m in the event in 2005. In 2009, Mokoena set an African record for long jump, jumping 8.50m at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Madrid. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi Middle-distance runner Mbulaeni Mulaudzi is the first black South African athlete to be ranked world number one. Mulaudzi was the 2009 world champion in the 800m. He has represented South Africa at two Olympic games. In 2004, where he carried the South African flag at the opening ceremony, Mulaudzi finished second in the 800m with a time of 1:45.61, 0.16 seconds behind winner Yuriy Borzakovskiy. Mulaudzi represented South Africa at the 2008 Olympics but did not race in the 800m final.
n athletes Image: 3news.co.nz
Khotso Mokoena Godfrey Khotso Mokoena won a silver medal in long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mokoena’s personal best jump is 8.50m, which he jumped
Image: telegraph.co.za
in 2009 at an IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) event in Spain. This distance set new African and South African records. Mokoena also participates in triple jump and set a
Caster Semenya Mokgadi Caster Semenya is one of South Africa’s most prolific female athletes. In 2008 Semenya won the 800m at the Commonwealth Youth Games in a time of 2:04.23. The following year she won the 800m and 1 500m events at the African Junior Championships. Semenya ran the 800m in 1:56.72, improving her 800m personal best by seven seconds and beating the South African senior national record held by Zelda Pretorius and junior national record held by Zola Budd. Later that year Semenya won gold in the 800m at the IAAF world championships. Semenya carried the South African flag at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics where she came second in the 800m event. Fanie de Villiers Fanie “Vinnige Fanie” de Villiers played 101 cricket matches for South Africa. De Villiers made his Test debut in 1993 against Australia. Australia needed just 117 runs to win in the last innings of the match but a superb bowling performance from De Villiers, who finished the innings with figures of 6-43, led South Africa to a five-run victory.
Other Athletes Athletics Hestrie Cloete Hannes Dreyer Surita Febbraio Jacques Freitag Llewellyn Herbert Ernst Kruger Burger Lambrechts Morné Nagel Elizna Naudé Willie Nel Gerhardus Pienaar Steve Rautenbach Ina van Rensburg Ruan de Vries LJ van Zyl Bessie Windell Cricket Tertius Bosch Sydney Burke
Anton Ferreira Louis Norval Francois du Plessis Mignon du Preez Cycling Piet de la Rey Football Steve Cowley Golf Andries Oosthuizen Rowing Matthew Brittain Bridgette Hartley Sizwe Ndlovu James Thompson John Smith
Rugby Willem Alberts Gary Botha Kalie Botha Kevin Buys Wynand Claassen Jacques Cronjé Ernst Dinkelmann Bryan Habana Gerhard van den Heever Derick Hougaard Eben Joubert Adolf Malan Jacques Olivier Wynand Olivier Oupa du Piesanie Fourie du Preez Danie Rossouw Johan Roux Louis Schmidt Uli Schmidt
Johan Spies Pierre Spies CJ Stander Wilhelm Steenkamp Dawie Steyn Rudolf Straeuli Werner Swanepoel Joost van der Westhuizen Dan van Zyl Swimming Suzaan van Biljon Éliane Droubry Lyndon Ferns Roland Schoeman Gerhardus Zandberg Tennis Deon Joubert
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