The awards are considered as an important mechanism to achieve the institution’s engaged vision, strategic goals and objectives, and to give recognition and reward for excellence in the performance of this core function.

The key objective of the awards is to encourage excellence in engagement and an academic/scholarship-based model for engagement amongst emerging and established academics and support staff, and encourage research in engagement, and engaged research.

Speaking at the event, UMP Vice-Chancellor, Professor Thoko Mayekiso said excellence in research, teaching and engagement is crucial towards the advancement of the university’s vision and values.

“Excellence takes a lot of sacrifice. It is, therefore, with a sense of hope and pride that we celebrate those among us who have excelled. It could not have been easy, and the temptation to give up might have been strong, but your persistence has paid off.

There is a ring of truth in the saying that weeds just grow but flowers are cultivated. Those of you receiving awards surely spent time sharpening, honing, and refining your skills, deepening your knowledge, and keeping your desire burning. It is also true that the road to excellence is always under construction”.

Professor Mayekiso further explained that the university is mandated to provide staff and students with the resources needed to conduct quality research. These include journal articles, books, excellent libraries, databases, data analysis software packages, and statisticians based on campus.

“The awardees are further proof that the investment into these academic projects is worth its weight in gold. Even further proof is the NRF Excellence Award UMP received this year for improved research. 

Congratulations on your achievements, and may you stay committed to making excellence a habit. Thank you for giving expression to our value of excellence,” said the Vice-Chancellor.

‘Your excellence is our excellence’

Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning Professor Shirley Sommers reiterated the importance of all the people who contribute to the excellence of the university as a whole.

“Institutions rise and fall because of the people in them. Sometimes when we speak about institutions, we speak about institutions as these abstract entities, when in actuality institutions are about the people.

Your excellence is our excellence and vice versa. It is the daily hard work of academic staff that results in UMP as an institution maintaining a pass rate of over 80% year in and year out.”

She continued that the university has created opportunities and an environment for them to be able to excel in teaching and learning and research and indeed in engagement.

“This highlights our interconnectedness as people and UMP. We can use the analogy of UMP as a vehicle. The Vice-Chancellor and MANCO are the drivers of this vehicle. The staff is our engine. The Vice-Chancellor and MANCO can steer all they want. The car will not move if the engine is not there, or non-functional.

We need the engine for the vehicle to move. Conversely, the engine cannot steer itself. Right. It needs someone to steer the car for it to operate and show us what it can do. We need each other.”

Professor Sommers further concluded: “While we are here to honour individuals, we are also here to honour the institution that created opportunities for individuals to flourish. To our deans, we thank you for making us proud. We hope that winning the awards will further motivate and galvanize you to shine even brighter.”

The University of Mpumalanga congratulates all the academics who were awarded for their excellence and hard work.

The awards went to:

1. Dr Zakheleni Dube: Emerging Teacher of the Year. In this category, recognition is given to an individual who has made the most significant contribution to teaching and the SoTL in the Faculty during the year.
    
2. Prof Victor Mlambo: NRF Rated Researcher. This award is given to researchers who during the reporting year receive an NRF rating for the first time, retain their NRF rating through a re-evaluation by the NRF, and improve their NRF rating through a re-evaluation by the NRF.
    
3. Dr Kanayo Ogujiuba: Faculty Researcher of the Year. In this category recognition is given to an individual who has made the most significant contribution towards research in her/his faculty during the reporting year.
    
4. Dr Tatenda Dalu: Emerging Faculty Researcher. This award recognizes a young researcher, up to Senior Lecturer level, who is active in research and has made the most significant advancement in the reporting year.
    
5. Prof Wilfred Otang-Mbeng: UMP Engagement Excellence. This award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding contribution towards advancing engagement as one of the core functions of the institution.

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@ Story by Cleopatra Makhaga. Pictures by ChrisplPhoto.

Speaking at the year-end and long-service awards ceremony recently held at the Mbombela and Siyabuswa campuses, Professor Mayekiso said the awards honour individuals who have shown unwavering loyalty and commitment. Long-service employees possess invaluable knowledge, work experience, and problem-solving perspectives and abilities that make their worth to the institution almost incalculable. 

“These are intangibles within an organisation that cannot be stored. There are seemingly tiny actions in an organisation, which have a huge impact on the overall performance of the institution.

Strong organisations and teams are built on the bedrock of the community. I must admit that there is a growing and very pleasing sense of unity among our members. People who stay long in an organisation, to a point of getting long service, are the ones whose personalities are usually most aligned with those of the institution.”

She acknowledged staff for their excellence in driving institutional success and leading in relation to the security of UMP’s data in cyberspace, the high pass rate, the sound mental health of the UMP community, to the undertaking of cutting-edge research, and the dissemination of information.

Values-driven staff
Professor Mayekiso noted that these successes happen because UMP staff are driven and held together by the institution's values of excellence, integrity, diversity, collaboration, adaptability, relevance, and inspiration by embracing and living these values. She said they were true ambassadors for the university. 

She further mentioned that the individuals who were honoured for their hard work and dedication, left footprints on the institution and on the lives of the people in it; footprints that would last forever. The Vice-Chancellor also noted how the University has preserved through all the challenges with which they were faced the last couple of years.

“Change is the only constant in life, and we have faced many changes and challenges together, especially during the pandemic. But you remained steadfast in your commitment and dedication to the university and the members of its community," she further added.

“As an institution, we have learned to adapt and to focus on the positives. We have mastered the art of recognising what is good in the past and present and being optimistic about the future.

We have realised that it is possible to find growth, learning and opportunity in all the situations we find ourselves in as UMP and we continue to find silver linings even in challenging times.”

Speaking on behalf of the awardees, UMP Senior Engagement Manager, Mr Sithembiso Mbuyane acknowledged the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mayekiso and her management team for honouring employees who have served UMP well.

“This act of recognition by the university will certainly serve to motivate us to be even more loyal, committed and dedicated to the vision and mission of UMP,” he added.

“We are here because once you come to UMP, you become part of a family, a family who genuinely cares. So we must also care. We should show that care by returning year after year to the university. Today we will go out and be ambassadors, and we will use these awards as motivation to do even better and even more for this great institution.”

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@ Story by Cleopatra Makhaga. Pictures by ChrisplPhoto.

This in keeping with the spirit and purpose of the revised Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions that was gazetted in October 2020, and which came into effect in January 2022.

Organised in partnership with CoPAL, the Colloquium (primarily targeted at the 26 Vice-Chancellors of South Africa’s public universities) will also be attended by DVCs, language and legal experts, senior policymakers from relevant departments, including the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Pan South African Language Board and other key stakeholder entities.

The December meeting followed the initial consultation among Vice-Chancellors, which took place in September 2021 as part of an envisaged three-meeting series. 

UMP recently introduced a Master’s degree in siSwati language and literature, following the offering of a Bachelor of Arts Honours in siSwati  in 2021. This is part of UMP’s ongoing vision to be an African university, leading in creating opportunities for sustainable development through innovation, which means being rooted in both African culture and African language.

“UMP sees language as a great opportunity for students,” Professor Sommers explained, adding that the promotion of siSwati “is not merely about where we are situated, but also our ethos. So, we look at the language issue as a great opportunity for our students.”

Challenges of mother-tongue teaching

However, there are still obstacles to overcome when it comes to the teaching of mother-tongue languages and multilingualism in higher education institutions.

Professor Sommers continues: “We are serious about this, and making a difference. We also want to introduce similar offerings (at both Honour’s and Master’s degree levels) in isiNdebele, but we are struggling to find qualified lecturers that would enable us to achieve this as soon as possible.

“I’ve been here since the beginning of 2021 and I am still struggling to find lecturers. This is because few institutions offer isiNdebele at a Master’s level. We need a person with a PhD to be able to teach but not many exist.

It’s a scarce skill and we have offered increased salaries to incentivise people but with little success so far. At the University, we are also trying to encourage our staff members to get their PhDs in African languages.”

She said much of the current focus in education is predominantly around the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects with plenty of inducements offered as they are regarded as scarce skills. 

“However, we need to provide similar incentives to African languages to encourage young people to focus on these as well. Government grants are usually provided for technology and science but we cannot let African languages fall by the wayside as they are just as critical.”

UMP language policy development

Professor Sommers gave a short background to UMP – a comprehensive university offering programmes from higher certificates to doctoral degrees. Launched in 2013, the first cohort of 169 students were registered in three programmes in February 2014.

“The majority of our students identify as siSwati speaking followed by those who speak isiNdebele and isiZulu. Aside from the one campus in Mbombela, there is a second in Siyabuswa in which isiNdebele is predominantly the mother tongue.

We are looking to develop our policy from this perspective. We want to take the route of multilingualism but largely focus initially on siSwati as this is the language spoken by the majority of the students who are enrolled with us.”

In February 2022 – in line with the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) new Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions, UMP formed a committee dedicated to language policy development.

Said professor Sommers: “The process is still ongoing and we do not have a finalised language policy yet. To date, the committee has developed terms of reference, the roles and responsibilities of committee members, and how we can best fulfil the objectives of the Policy Framework.”

Obstacles can be opportunities

“As a university,” she continued, “we have made the decision to  approach the language question from an opportunity-based perspective and not only see the obstacles that we will have to overcome to implement it successfully.

When we look at student access and success, we are not referring to university access but access to the epistemology, to the content and to the knowledge; it is language that provides access to the content and the possibility to provide student success.

At present at UMP, we believe that we have good success rates – we hover around 80 and 85% pass rates – but I believe the introduction of a new language policy would increase our pass rates to around 90 to 95%.”

Explained Professor Sommers: “It is imperative to develop African languages in institutions of higher education so that they develop and do not dwindle and die. Apartheid made a concerted effort to degrade and kill off these languages so we are now at a critical point to recover them.

They need to be developed, particularly in the sciences. Language would really be helpful in terms of access in the science departments where pass rates are not as good as they should be.

“Our largest faculty, enrolling the majority of students, is the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. So, we would like to develop a siSwati dictionary and glossary of the terms that we use in agriculture and natural science.

Some of our staff members are working with indigenous communities in Mpumalanga just to make sure that we’re using the correct terminology in terms of language. There is the idea also to reach out to the University of Swaziland to see if it would be possible to adapt some of their material.”

Policy formulation milestones 

UMP’s language committee was established by term one in 2022 in accordance with the deadlines put in place by the university. Terms of reference had to be finalised in term three and these will be presented to the management committee (MANCO) before the end of the year. Policy is due to be finalised in term two of 2023.

She said: “At UMP, we are not reinventing the wheel as other universities and institutions of higher learning in South Africa have already formulated a policy which we are then able – in consultation – to adapt to our specific needs. Consultations also have to take place internally with staff, who need to understand how the policy affects them. We have staff members who are not necessarily fluent in siSwati so we have to triangulate the process.

“We must have the required materials in place which are adequate for access and success. We have to introduce staff development programmes. We know that you cannot learn a language within a semester but it would be useful for those of us who teach to be able to refer students to a document that they can use in terms of scaffolding, language-wise, and which would also help integrate the terminology in the classroom. Many of our staff are not fluent in the mother-tongue languages but there is a willingness to learn and participate in short-learning programmes.”

She said that meetings have been held with DHET (Department of Higher Education and Training) in regard to accessing funds from the University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) which provides resources towards the achievement of specific objectives.

“They are willing to fund language policy development and language policy implementation. However, as this is also part of our vision, the university is also willing to provide funding and cover short learning courses for staff who are willing to engage as well as for the provision of resources such as materials and the purchasing of books.

“We are looking at purchasing materials in SiSwati for our library as well as procuring dictionaries from within South Africa and Swaziland.”

The Language Colloquium

The Colloquium, she believes, should be embraced by all and not just academics, it should aim for inclusivity. 

“Higher education institutions should not be isolated from the communities in which they are located and from the national context. It is always useful to hear other people’s opinions. There needs to be a societal effort undertaken to restore these languages to their rightful place.

We cannot work alone or in a silo. We have to work collaboratively and in partnership with other organisations and communities, including government, the media and NGOs.

These NGOs are the people who really work with communities and, most of the time, they’re the people who really use the language more than we use it, so we have a lot to learn from them.”

The student voice also has to be heard: “That’s our springboard; we are focused on them and their success. Students are represented on UMP’s language committee including SRC members as well as others,” she said.

“We already have isiSwati and isiNdebele speaking students who are tutors and mentors. Is there a bigger role they could play? Can they try and infuse the language even further or are they already doing that?” she questioned.

They could already be doing it, peer-to-peer. If you’re trying to get someone who is battling to understand a concept, you shift gears and you use a different language, a language that is accessible. This is why this Colloquium is so important; it opens up conversations like these, and sparks new ideas.”

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@ Story Republished from USAF.

To Read more about the Vice-Chancellor’s Colloquium, visit:

https://www.usaf.ac.za/the-strides-that-the-university-of-mpumalanga-is-making-towards-multilingualism/?fbclid=IwAR3u4QV6bmgRQYZnPJV_ubO9rhrvMBpH-NchxYcq_A-Wsode-qkSIO4xTik

Professor Mlambo is an NRF C1 rated researcher (Jan 2021 to Dec 2026), having previously held a C3 rating (2015 to 2020). UMP presented him the NRF Researcher of the Year award, which is given to researchers who receive an NRF rating for the first time, retain their NRF rating through a re-evaluation by the NRF, and improve their NRF rating through a re-evaluation by the NRF during the reporting year.

Speaking after the event, Professor Mlambo said: “It’s exciting and rewarding that the University recognises our work because we spend many sleepless nights trying to do the work. Even on weekends. It doesn’t just end with executing the research activities, you also have to focus on training students – read their work and provide them with the necessary guidance.

Most of our research outputs come from the work of research students. So obviously, that means you must provide quality supervision and make sure that they are doing the right things in the labs and so on.”

Professor Mlambo is a committed researcher and animal scientist specializing in the natural sciences. His research on the Sustainable Animal Production for Human Health, Environmental Stewardship & Food Security, focuses on the replacement of antibiotics in animal production, reduction of enteric methane emissions and low-cost alternative dietary ingredients for food animals.

“Our research focus is on sustainable animal production. To this end, we design and evaluate production practices that protect the environment, protect human health, and which also make a profit for farmer,” he adds, noting that there are many challenges that face animal agriculture.

“We are designing nutritional strategies that resolve the challenge of environmental pollution caused by animal production. We also have a problem where animal products are said to cause problems in human health,” he explains.  

According to the NRF, Professor Mlambo is, "an established researcher with a sustainable recent record of productivity in his field; his peers recognise that he has produced a body of quality work and demonstrates the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods to investigate them.”  

Successful journey 

For one to become successful, Professor Mlambo advises that they need to have a strong work ethic.

“It’s very important to be internally driven. There are many times when things don’t go according to plan, but it is important to persevere, remain enthusiastic and work even harder.”

Besides research work, some of Professor Mlambo’s commitments at UMP include being the chair of the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee, member of the Executive Committee of Senate, member of the Animal Research Ethics Committee, and a member of the Institutional Committee for the Evaluation of Applications for NRF Rating and other Grant Funding Organisations.

Professor Mlambo has successfully mentored three postdoctoral fellows and supervised 14 PhD and 29 MSc students while producing 123 peer-reviewed journal articles and three book chapters.

His former students have gone on to become influential animal scientists in their own right. He is also Co-Editor-in-Chief for Animal Feed Science and Technology – a discipline-leading journal published by Elsevier with a five-year impact factor (IF) of 3.247.

“I am also an Associate Editor for the South African Journal of Animal Science (IF = 0.60), and a member of the Pool of International Experts for the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and an invited Expert Advisor for the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS).”

Professor Mlambo also serve as an external examiner (PhD, MPhil, and MSc theses) for various universities in South Africa (the University of Fort Hare, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Pretoria, University of Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch University, University of South Africa, and University of Johannesburg) Botswana (Botswana University of Agriculture & Natural Resources and University of Botswana) and the Caribbean (University of the West Indies), among many others.

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@ Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures @ChrisplPhoto.

The University of Mpumalanga (UMP) was established in August 2013 as one of two new post-independence (1994) universities in South Africa. UMP is a comprehensive university offering undergraduate to postgraduate programmes. In 2015, UMP began implementing its first 7-year strategic plan (2015 – 2022) as a guide to its strategic focus areas.

The strategic plan focussed on eight core areas namely: Governance and Strategic Leadership and Management, Teaching and Learning, Research and Knowledge Generation, Planning and Institutional Support, Quality Student Experience, Engagement and Partnerships, Finance and Human Resources.

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Key findings

The University undertook an evaluation study to assess the impact of its 2015-2022 strategic plan. Amongst some the key findings are as follows:

• Based on the annual performance indicators, the Governance, Strategic Leadership and Management goals and objectives were achieved year on year, with scores of 100% in five out of the six years that were assessed. In the other year, 91% of defined activities were achieved under this strategic focus.
• The university saw rapid growth on all academic indicators. The number of academic programmes (qualifications) on offer increased from three in 2014, nine in 2016, to 48 in 2022. The number of students enrolled from 169 in 2014, 1 262 in 2016 to 7 100 in 2022, and the number of students graduating from 203 in 2015 to 1 113 graduates in 2021.
• The number of academic staff also increased from 13, three (23%) of whom had PhD qualifications in 2014 to 160 of whom 73 (48%) were PhD holders in 2021. The university compares favourably with other universities in terms of the percentage of staff with PhDs, it is 2 percentage points from achieving the 50% target as defined in the Medium Strategic Framework (2015 – 2019) by Government.
• The university is competitive in terms of number of publications per academic staff member, averaging 0.62 against an average target of 0.55 units over the seven years.
• The university was able to complete its academic year in 2020 and 2021 despite the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated lockdowns. The ICT infrastructure of the university enabled the institution to have few interruptions during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak.
• The university is doing extremely well in the ENACTUS competitions, a national community innovation programme, winning close to 20 trophies between 2017 and 2021, among other achievements.
• The university had clean audits over the six-year period, 2016 to 2021.

To access the full version of the report, go to: www.ump.ac.za

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@ Story by UMP Communications Division.

Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, Building 7 is friendly and offers the best home-away-from-home service. It has also been recognised as an organised and safe social space for female students.

It has received several awards, which would not have been possible without the diligent service of the house warden, Ms Queeneth Mashaba, residence student assistants, and compliance from the students who live it. Through dedication, good communication with the cleaning staff, maintenance personnel, the groundsean, and most importantly the students, Ms Mashaba has managed to create a good living environment for students.

She manages the residence with a team that comprises of UMP Honours in Development Studies student, Mandy Fasika, who is the Residence Student Assistant (RSA). In turn, her team consists of other RSA colleagues, house wardens and assistants, and floor representatives.

“I feel very good about winning this award. It shows my dedication, and that I always do my work with diligence. We have won these awards many times, but I still feel good and very excited every time I hear the name of my building being called out. This award just proves that hard work pays off.”

Ms Mashaba's duties include allocating students to their rooms, taking care of their needs, and ensuring that their assets are safe. As a retired nurse, she also assists with health-related matters after hours when the clinic is closed.

“I am very passionate about and proud of my work. I especially enjoy working with the young female students, I learn from them as much as they do from me. I am also passionate about UMP’s values. 

I apply the values in every living and learning activity that we do. I get to know more about the students through the activities we have, which also contributed to winning the awards.”

Mashaba follows a yearly plan which includes serial meetings with the students, but the first meeting is most crucial as it serves as an induction of how the building operates.

“I explain to students how they should behave in regard to cleanliness, noise, respecting each other, and reminding them about their main aim of coming to university,” says Ms Mashaba.

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Building 7 is very social and has created a safe space for female students. “We also have 'Girl  TalK' which are meetings that I value the most, they play a big role in building these young women with good behaviour and cleanliness. Everyone is involved in the Girl Talk meetings and it makes learning fun.”

Further elaborating, Ms Fasika explains that, in addition to Girl Talk, the residence has activities like 'Men and Women Talk' and a few others that are aimed at educating students about different things that affect them.

“I deal a lot with reporting issues, planning and holding events, helping with key control, and always being available in case any health emergencies arise that would need for house wardens to call an ambulance."

As an RSA, Fasika says she and her team of RSA reps, house wardens and assistants assist with reporting issues and the execution of planned events.

“I work closely with students, they report to me any challenges or issues they encounter within the residences, for example, maintenance issues or anything that disturbs them or affects their living conditions. I plan and execute living and learning activities that promote social cohesion, learning, our university values, and raising awareness.

I am also responsible for writing proposals and reports, and for giving feedback. Being an RSA is not as simple as it may look, there's a lot of effort and dedication needed.”

Fasika says that she felt very honoured and happy about winning the award because they work hard for the building to have a good reputation as the cleanest residence with great discipline.

“Our students participate in all the initiatives that we do. We won because we have a good record of how we maintain the residence and ensure that things run smoothly.”

She is grateful to work with Ms Mashaba. “She has had a great impact on my life as an RSA. Everything that I know I was taught by her. I started being an RSA knowing nothing and she took me under her wing and equipped me with all the skills and knowledge that I now have.

“Ms Mashaba taught me to have good relationships with students, and many other personal life lessons. She has always been a great mode of motivation and encouragement. I will forever be grateful to her.”

Fasika concludes: “There is nothing more rewarding than efforts being recognised and celebrated. It truly felt like all the year's hard work has paid off.”

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@ Story by Cleopatra Makhaga. Pictures ChrisplPhoto.

For her degree, Dr Bhuda investigated the origin of mathematical ideas and concepts in Ndebele artefacts. She says the study has presented new knowledge that the Ndebele mathematical artefacts were not born after the encounter with the Boers but have always been part of cultural practice. The study also found that mathematical artefacts have both historic and cosmic origins.

“Moreover, they need to be protected using existing laws and such knowledge needs to be part of the school curriculum which forms a method of preservation.”

Dr Bhuda further says that history has not documented some historical information and there has been a lot of misrepresentation of the AmaNdebele people and their artefacts.

“An intensive study was imperative as it needed to rectify past mistakes and trace back when the mathematical artefacts started being practiced and their symbolic meaning,” she added. 

“It’s time for African people to share their own knowledge and interpret it according to the indigenous people’s worldviews.”

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Dr Bhuda notes that the research was conducted in Klipgat, North-West, where a community of Ndebele people who lived in Pretoria were moved during apartheid to a village called KwaMsiza.

“These people have a lot of knowledge about historic events that took place between the Boers and the Ndebele,” she adds. “The study’s findings indicate that the AmaNdebele artefacts were developed over the 16th century and rapidly developed after 1883 when the Ndebele lost the war to the Boers. The earliest study was conducted in the 1920s, which did not make full investigations on tracing the origin of the artefacts.”

She says oral history in this study was reliable to correct misinterpretations that the practices started after 1883 in the Transvaal.

The 29-year-old began her journey towards obtaining her PhD in 2019. She says it was a very different level of commitment towards her studies, and that putting together a research proposal was particularly challenging.

“I got a bit delayed because I was awaiting an appropriate supervisor but once that was sorted out, we worked extremely hard to catch up on the little time that was lost. It was a rocky journey with challenges but he was there every step of the way." 

Her interests include: decolonisation of education, African indigenous research methodologies, traditional medicine, traditional customary laws and leadership, promotion of indigenous languages, and indigenous knowledge preservation, protection, management and dissemination.

Dr Bhuda says that she has chosen the field of Indigenous Knowledge Systems because of her belief that African cultural heritage needs to be promoted and taught at all levels of education.

She also thinks that indigenous people and their knowledge deserve appropriate representation, which is why she decided to be an academic author and pursue a career in academia.

Some of her accolades include writing for a number of publications on various subjects related to Indigenous Knowledge Systems, which is a multidisciplinary discipline.  

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@ Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures supplied.

 

Ngomane was not born with a disability. Her story of triumph began shortly after graduating from high school. “I slept one night and woke up the next day unable to get out of bed; my entire right side (upper and lower limps) was paralysed.

"I was hospitalized for several months and used a wheelchair while also going to therapy, which helped me to start believing in myself. I soon realised that I couldn't change the situation, but could live with it, that's when I decided to return to school and follow my dreams of becoming a nature conservationist.”

Ngomane has not allowed her disability to undermine her dream of becoming a renowned scientist. After enrolling for a Diploma in Nature Conservation at UMP, she realised that she couldn't change the situation but had to make the best of it.

“I could either throw in the towel or accept my disability and follow my dreams of becoming a nature conservationist. With that mindset, I began to gain confidence and in 2019, I stopped trying to hide my disability, and started living my life and enjoying my studies." 

She adds: “I was never discriminated against because of my condition. My lecturers have been warm and loving, and I enjoyed every minute of my work integrated learning during my third year."

Fit to pursue her research

Ngomane’s love for nature and the environment started when she noticed that not all species enjoy the same attention and protection: “Fish and insects are not fully protected as they are not considered as ‘charismatic’ as lions and elephants and are becoming extinct as a result of human impacts.

It inspired me to pursue and continue with studies in nature conservation so that one day I will be able to provide solutions and save the lives of both terrestrial and aquatic organisms.”

The 24-year-old is part of the Aquatic Systems Research Group (ASRG), headed by UMP lecturer Dr Tatenda Dalu.

“The ASRG group allowed me to do what I can on my own. If I struggled, everyone within the group was there to land a helping hand, including Dr Dalu who took me and other students for all our field work excursions. Thus, during the field data collection I was also part of the process, including doing my own lab work.”

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Her study aims to educate the public about the dangers of poor plastic management and the damage it causes to our rivers. It seeks to find ways to reduce plastic waste pollution, particularly in the aquatic environments.

“It demonstrates that microplastic pollution was prevalent within the Nelspruit region. In the case of microplastics, there isn't much that can be done to reduce them other than proper plastic and waste management, education, raising awareness and reducing the plastic products that we use every day.

As I have discovered, most wastewater treatment plants do not have the latest technology and are not designed to remove microplastics during the wastewater treatment process, but I believe that with improvement in wastewater treatment technology in the country, we will be able to mitigate and significantly reduce the number of microplastics entering the environment."

The research was carried out in two river systems, the Crocodile and Luvuvhu located in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, respectively.

“Both river systems were in deplorable condition and were heavily polluted with microplastics. Furthermore, the study discovered that there was more plastic littering or illegal waste dumping taking place within these two river systems along its banks.”

Ready for her Master's

Ngomane says that she has enjoyed her research and has intentions to continue further with her studies. “I would like to do more research as I move to my MSc studies for 2023.

My MSc research will aim to further investigate issues around plastic pollution and pro-environmental behaviour to assess how these communities preserve plastic pollution while further aiming to raise community awareness of the consequences and impact of polluting our rivers,” she says.

Nowadays, Ngomane doesn’t think of herself as being incapable. She says: “I can do almost everything that other students can do, and I no longer rely on other people for help.

I've learned to live with my disability and developed new coping and adapting strategies to accomplish even the seemingly impossible, such as going to field to sample rivers in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces for research projects.”

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@ Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures supplied.

 

The Faculty Researcher of the Year award is given to an individual who has made the most significant contribution towards research in her/his faculty during the reporting year.

Upon receiving the award, Dr. Ogujiuba acknowledged the Head of the School of Development Studies, Prof Estelle Boshoff for her encouragement, appreciated the UMP Research Office led by Professor Phindile Lukhele-Olorunju for their continuous support to UMP Academics, and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mayekiso for providing an enabling environment, supportive of Research, Teaching, and Engagement.

For his 2021 publications, Dr Ogujiuba used an: Evidence-Based Analogy Policy Framework, to provide answers that could accelerate Structural Transformation. It was focused on four key areas: Trade, Business, Macroeconomics, and Climate Change/Food Sustainability.

 

For business related articles, Dr Ogujiuba posited that the SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) sector is an important driver of economic growth. Data on turnover from the AFS survey show that small businesses have made inroads in South Africa’s formal business sector.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are the lifeblood of South Africa’s economy, making up more than 98% of businesses across the country and contributing about 39% towards the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product). However, data shows that South Africa has the highest failure rate of SMEs compared to elsewhere in the world. SA small businesses fail within five years,” he explained, noting that these statistics prompted further investigations into the dynamics of the sector.

"Pertaining to macroeconomics, we looked at why Africa is marked by a slow recovery from the pandemic, rising food and energy prices, and high levels of public debt, the reason inflation nearly double pre-pandemic levels, risking social and political instability and worsening food insecurity."  

According to Dr Ogujiuba, most countries in the region lack resources to support and stimulate growth, in contrast to richer countries elsewhere that could inject trillions of dollars into their economies. This evidence provided a framework for further analysis, using South Africa and Nigeria as case studies.

 

For Climate Change/Food Production related articles, Dr Ogujiuba said that his research team posed questions such as:

1. Are there enough commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions in Africa?
2. Why do financing commitments to help developing countries adapt to climate change remain negligible?

"These questions have become pertinent because more than one in five persons in Africa suffers from hunger, and the options for an estimated 140 million people projected to face acute food insecurity are limited," he said.

From the research findings, Dr Ogujiuba concluded that, “If policymakers and politicians study the outcomes of the research, it will better inform them to realign policies as per the trend."

Dr Ogujiuba works across faculties and strives to dismantle boundaries to provide solutions for effective leadership and value optimisation.

He added: “It’s not easy since I do a lot of balancing because of my other university responsibilities, but research is my passion. Reading and writing are hobbies for me, so it becomes easier because I am doing what I enjoy. Research informs my teaching.” 

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@ Story by Cleopatra Makhaga. Pictures @ChrisplPhoto.

 

Themed “Digital-for-development: Enabling transformation, inclusion and sustainability through ICTs”, the conference provided a platform for scholars, academics, and IT practitioners to discuss new theories and practices in digital-for-development ecosystems such as business applications, data-driven sustainable development, emerging technologies for transformation, inclusion and sustainable development.

Chaired by UJ’s Dr Patrick Ndayizigamiye and Professor Ntombovuyo Wayi-Mgwebi, UMP’s Head of School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, the event had a postdoctoral symposium, which provided a platform for postgraduate students to engage in research with academics and fellow students to address topics such as eHealth for transformation, inclusion and sustainability, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for good, and the emerging technologies for transformation, inclusion and sustainable development.

Digitising Africa

Speaking at the event Michael Onyango, founder of Kenya's largest and most trusted WhatsApp network platform, The 4gotten Bottomillions (4BM), an initiative that started in 2017 to enable those in marginalized groups in Kisumu, Kenya to have access to social-economic opportunities, explained that the African continent population is projected at 29 billion and the African GDP is expected to grow, meaning that there’s more need for digital education and services.

“It’s important to get the right frontier technologies for the growing population. Give your clients skills that will enable them to go on for the next 20 years, because this continent has the highest growth and the biggest population – also the biggest market.”

Onyango further mentioned that Frontier Technologies, which includes everything from blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the Internet of Things (IoT) and Virtual Reality (VR), are all key to getting people into the right places. “These fantastic qualities are important in our lives, not just today, but for years to come.”

Global trends

Another keynote speaker, Professor Bruce W. Watson from the Centre for AI Research, and who is the Capitec Chair of Applied Artificial Intelligence, and SACAIR (Southern African Conference for Artificial Intelligence Research) Chair of Computational Thinking for Artificial Intelligence, presented on Global Trends in IT research and their impact on Information Communication Technology, said digital skills training is key when empowering disadvantaged communities.

"Training to create a deep understanding of what differs from what, and why there's the well-known Explainable AI problem. It's important that people understand what we are talking about – bring them up to speed with the digital language."

He further noted that policy issues will assist to provide access to the masses, and that people can be able to retain their data.

“Google, Facebook and all the free companies are who they are because they are working on free data, which belongs to us. We must start colonizing our digital policies so that it is easier for us to work across geographies as countries and as people. Again, it’s the issue of ownership.”

Professor Watson mentioned that he wrote The AI Practitioners Guide for Kenya, which aims for a more open, inclusive, and sustainable approach to AI. “Anyone who's working around Artificial Intelligence in Kenya knows that there are certain guidelines that we want to have in place.”

UMP: Closing the gap

UMP lecturer Dr Mncedisi Bembe chaired the sessions that were under the topic Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Good and the included topics were: Towards an Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index for Africa, An Ensemble Model based on Learning Vector Quantization Algorithms for Early Detection of Cassava Diseases using Spectral Data and an adaptive and dynamic heterogeneous ensemble model for credit scoring.

Professor Billy Kalema from UMP chaired theories and practices in digital-for-development ecosystems and these included using the Ubuntu Philosophy to Understand the Motives Behind the Practice of Password-Sharing and Dissemination of Climate Information: Insights from a Case of Rural Small-Scale Farmers in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, South Africa.

Professor Nwayi-Gwebi said that UMP, through its partnership with the Nemisa CoLab, offers training to various communities to address the digital divide.

“The training is offered to different community groups, like schools, TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) colleges and other community offerings. Recently, through Nemisa, we have trained a group of military veterans and their dependents. These training initiatives are aimed at basic use of computers and also 4IR technologies, thus making it easy to use for business marketing and for those searching for employment,” she added.

“The university has made great strides in terms of using technology for teaching. This enabled quick responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, and continues to introduce more innovative tools towards quality teaching and learning. The overarching goal of the IDIA is to build within the South African university research community the capacity and expertise in data intensive research to enable global leadership.

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@ Story and pictures by Cleopatra Makhaga.