“When you first took the lead, it all looked so normal. None of us knew though, that there were pitch-dark clouds gathering on the horizon. When those clouds burst – a torrent poured down in the form of a pandemic that literally brought the world to a standstill. I must commend the SRC for facing the challenges head-on and not allowing the grip of fear to paralyze you. You really distinguished yourselves and provided exemplary leadership.

You embraced the health protocols. You took to Zoom, Moodle, and Microsoft Teams for online learning and conducting SRC business. In the process, you took the whole student body and helped the institution to understand where the students were at, in terms of their needs, fears and anxieties.

When the students in deep rural areas experienced data challenges and network problems, you drew the attention of the University to their plight and also engaged in solution seeking processes. This is what leadership is all about: open-mindedness, problem solving, compassion, empathy, teamwork and communication. It’s about building bridges and fostering TRUST.

You understood that UMP comes first, and worked always in the best interests of UMP and its students instead of other agendas. As management, we appreciate engagement with student leadership, even with robustness sometimes, but in the end, whenever we have the big picture approach, we arrive at win-win solutions. Striving for common ground has proved a winning formula.

Our approach as UMP management is to strive for an open door policy. We worked together from the beginning not as antagonists but as collaborators – true to our value of Collaboration. You believed in the power of dialogue and engagement. You lead and demonstrated the importance of mutual respect. The needs of your constituency, the UMP students, were met, in the main because you brought them to us as Management and made sure that these needs are properly articulated. You understood the difference among requests, demands and grievances and did not confuse them.

You have been excellent brand ambassadors of UMP realizing the importance of always dressing professionally for formal meetings/events, acting prudently and properly, so that our University is not brought into disrepute. Doing everything in moderation is the rule of thumb, the minute you over-do anything, that should be a signal that all is not well.

May the leadership lessons you learned in your term of office, remain with you for years to come. I look forward to enduring bonds, and the liberty to call on one another for wisdom and for counsel well into the future. My hope is that when fellow students think of you many years later, they will do so with fondness and with hope. May you have wonderful and rewarding careers and continue to be exemplary leaders.”

@ This is the edited speech of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Thoko Mayekiso. Pictures @ChrisplPhoto

The SSAG Centenary award recognises and invests in emerging researchers and academics in geography in South Africa. Dr Giddy was selected from a very high standard of applicants, which bodes well for the future of the discipline of geography in the country.

“I’d like to thank the committee for the their efforts in assessing the applications for this award. As a geographer in South Africa for the past 10 years, it is really exciting to be recognised by the society for the work that I am doing,” says Dr Giddy.

She explains that the research project for which the award will be used, aims to assess and promote engagement with national parks, conservation spaces and nature-based tourism, broadly, among South African youth.

“The purpose of this is to not only promote domestic tourism spending, but, in addition, the continued funding of conservation spaces is highly dependent on this source of income. It is also important that young South Africans see the value in these spaces in order to sustain their future. This topic is of particular significance at the moment in time, as it can also be a means of encouraging domestic tourism,” she adds.

“The more specific objectives are to determine levels of engagement among this demographic, their perceptions towards these spaces and assess the potential for increased future engagement with these spaces. The end goal is to promote local domestic tourism in the future, which is highly dependent on nature-based tourism.”

Dr Giddy's proposed research has become increasingly important as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated a bigger push towards the domestic tourism market.

"Furthermore, the non-white leisure tourism market is incredibly under researched, particularly in the sub-sector of nature-based tourism. This research, therefore, seeks to better understand the demands of this emerging market as well as their perceptions of and engagement with nature-based tourism, especially as a result of increased domestic tourism caused by the pandemic,” she says.

Dr Giddy was also recently honoured with a National Research Foundation (NRF) award at the 2020 UMP Research and Engagement Awards. She was awarded for her research that focuses on human-environment interaction in the tourism sector. Her research background is relatively diverse which represents both her varied research interests as well as the highly interdisciplinary nature of her work.

She says: “As 2020 was my first full year of employment at UMP it was very exciting to see my research recognised so soon into my tenure at the university. It also gave me a boost during a very tough year to continue to pursue my research and to open up new avenues for research, particularly in the local context.”

Her advice to aspiring postgraduates and scholars is to work on solid, innovative research and to submit to top journals early in their careers. Often their PhD is some of the best research they will produce, as they have the time to put all their energy towards one project.

“Don’t be afraid to aim high when it comes to the submission of this work! I always recommend that early career researchers seek out as many networking opportunities as possible."  

@ Story and Pictures by Cleopatra Makhaga. 

Against this background, there is an urgent need to address these challenges, thus the establishment of the University of Mpumalanga Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (UMP CFERI), aims to support start-ups – UMP students and alumni, and local entrepreneurs to nurture and grow ideas as well as benefit small and emerging businesses in the province.

The UMP CFERI will contribute towards improving entrepreneurship development as well as halting the increase in poverty within the region. Under the leadership of Dr Kanayo Ogujiuba, the Project Coordinator and Centre Manager and with Ilze Macdonald as the project assistant and Business Development Manager, the Centre aims to take on entrepreneurs and support them through a pre-incubation process and then incubation process to develop sustainable businesses.

“It will benefit students by offering them training and support to any student from any qualification that may be interested in entrepreneurship. There is a Moodle page on the ITS interface of UMP, where training and other opportunities for entrepreneurs, like funding opportunities, are advertised,” says Ogujiuba.

He further explains that the purpose of the Centre is to provide space and support services to new and emerging small businesses, and diminish the poverty stance in the province.

“UMP CFERI support services will include both financial and non-financial services, including but not limited to new business incubation, access to information, finance, markets and strategic partners for growth, training, R&D facilities and supply chain management.”

Tangible success
The Centre currently supports seven clients in the pre-incubation process working on their business plans and another client preparing for the pre-incubation process.

“Four of the seven clients are start-up businesses that are already operating and two are students with business ideas, preparing to start operating in the near future. We are hopeful that five of the clients currently supported will be ready to enter the incubation process before March 2021 and that we will be able to take on another five in the pre-incubation process during January and February 2021,” says Dr Ogujiuba.

During the National Lockdown, the Centre offered three online workshops and trained start-up businesses and students. The training was offered in the form of Zoom sessions and pre-recorded presentations.

“The training was on business plans, finances, presentation skills and market research. In November 2020 the Centre partnered with SEDA Mpumalanga and other stakeholders to start a 10-month coaching programme for SMMEs,” he says.

More training opportunities, including workshops and seminars, are planned for 2021. We hope to have at least five clients in the incubation process by March 2021 and to be able to take on between two and five clients in the pre-incubation process each month. During the pre-incubation process business ideas are formulated, a business profile is prepared and a development plan is agreed upon and the business plan is finalised. After the pre-incubation process the client is evaluated and invited to join the incubation process.

The Centre has collaborated with local businesses, which are also represented on the Advisory Board: Manganese Metal Company (MMC), Kishugu Group and Thomas Varghese Consulting. The Centre building is currently under renovation and will be fully functional by March 2021. “The launch of the Centre was planned for March 2020 but due to the lockdown the launch was put on ice. We did however continue with the establishment of the Centre.”

Dr Ogujiuba says UMP students who are interested in the project can send an email and they will receive the necessary information.

“Even if you only have a business idea and you do not know where to start, the Centre will work with you to formulate your business idea and start working on a feasibility study and business plan.”

Interested students can an email to: ump.cferi@ump.ac.za to join the Moodle page and receive all the correspondence and information.

@ Story and Pictures by Cleopatra Makhaga. 

Thusangwaneno is a non-profit organisation and registered with The Department of Social Development. The organisation’s focus is on education and making it more accessible to everyone. 

“The foundation was started in 2015 when I realised that most students do not have registration and tuition fees. It resonated with my own experience as I also went through the same challenges and with the help of my community I managed to be at university. I feel this project is a way of giving back into the community,” he says.

“I did not know how to raise funds, so I went to the traffic lights alone to ask for donations from motorists. I made R100 000 and subsequently more volunteers started to join in the programme. We have assisted registration and tuition fees”

Through the years, Thusangwaneno has managed to raise millions. It has assisted more than 500 students with registration and tuition fees, donated seven mini-libraries, and countless laptops. It has also assisted more than 150 students with learners and drivers licenses. The foundation has also covered books of learners for more than 300 schools in South Africa and painted seven schools.

Dr Molepo’s work has been recognized by the Parliament of South Africa, and the Presidency awarded him for his compassionate work as he made an immense contribution in the community. In 2020, he was ranked 42nd of the 100 most influential young South Africans by Avance Media and took the third position under the education category.

His career kick started as a student assistant and later became a tutor at the Tshwane University of Technology.

“I worked for six months as an administrator for NSFAS then worked as a postgraduate officer. I worked as a lecturer and was promoted to a senior lecturer and programme leader for municipal management at North West University. The journey was perforated with hard work and determination.”

He joined the University of Mpumalaga in 2020 as a senior lecturer for Public Administration and later as a programme leader for Bachelor of Administration.

Dr Molepo has a Doctoral Degree in Public Affairs and some of his achievements include presenting research papers at both national and international conferences. He has also published scientific papers in numerous accredited and non-accredited journals; both national and international.

He is the Executive Director of the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM) whose mission is to encourage and promote good governance and effective service delivery through the advancement of professionalism, scholarship and practice in public administration and management.

@ Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures supplied.

“We feel honoured to have landed a contract of this magnitude. Getting this contract has rejuvenated our souls thus giving us the passion and power to keep moving forward for the next challenge. We share the celebration with our land reform beneficiaries as this contract literally lifts up our emotions to take part in something communal, something shared with other people,” says Tjale.

The appointment comes after Mpumalanga Provincial Department issued farms through the land reform project. The farms were unfortunately not striving because of various issues such as lack of capacity to produce by beneficiaries, lack of skills, and lack of funding, amongst others.

Tjale's company will offer mentorship for vegetables, grain, and livestock in four districts of Mpumalanga. He explains that the training and mentoring will empower farmers with the skills and knowledge necessary to operate their farms. 

“This project will assist farmers to become self-sustainable, be able to support their families and create jobs for others. They chose us because we met the minimum requirements and the fact that we were able to outline a clear plan on how we are going to make the land reform farm more productive. The project will be rolled out in Nkangala, Gert Sibande, and Ehlanzeni District," he adds. 

“Most farmers need to move away from a traditional way of doing things into a more precision kind of farming. This is the reason we extended our scope to obtain accreditation from The Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICTseta) to offer systems development courses so that we can train our farmers on how to develop applications and systems that are going to enhance their farming businesses." 

Tjale graduated with an Advanced Diploma in Agricultural Extension in 2016. He is a qualified facilitator and assessor accredited by the Agriseta to train over 15 agricultural qualifications. He is also a co-founder of Bokamoso Global Solutions, which was registered in 2017 after he graduated from UMP.

“I was very hands-on and involved during my academic years, which has made me quite effective in combining creative thinking with logical design ideas to develop solutions to challenging environmental problems."

Currently, Bokamoso Global Solutions trains farm employees and gives them certificates with the hope that they will some day open their own companies or farms. So far Tjale’s company has trained over 300 farm employees with no formal education in nine commercial farms and five cooperatives. So far iIt has trained commercial farmers, which include Timbali Flower Growers, Sis Apples Bonnie Braes Farms, and Zz2, to name a few. 

“Our company is fully accredited with Agriseta to offer expert technical advice, training and mentorship to farmers and farming communities. Our company provides rigorous management and control of the entire design, engineering, procurement and construction of agricultural projects and provides its clients with enhanced flexibility and security for managing change during the project lifecycle. We also provide farm management, mentoring and training services," says Tjale.

@ Story by Cleopatra Makhaga. Pictures supplied.

Professor Mlambo says that the rating is an affirmation of the progress he has made as a researcher. He believes that an NRF rating is a validation of the relevance and quality of his research agenda and output.

“It is the recognition of my international standing as a researcher, a reputation that is most desirable in the pursuit of international collaborations. It tells me that my peers, at home and abroad, acknowledge that I have engaged in novel, high quality, impactful research that modifies disciplinary thinking and influences policy and practice.”

“This new rating is an improvement on my previous C3 rating. It’s a thumbs-up to my collaborators, my postgraduate students, and the University of Mpumalanga for the support rendered,” he says.

In his research, Professor Mlambo designed and evaluated feeding strategies designed to reduce competition between animals and humans for food. This includes valorisation of agro-wastes, which would otherwise be discarded to the detriment of the environment, as animal feed.

This approach does not only alleviate food and nutrition insecurity, but it also contributes to the attainment of sustainable development goals of environmental protection and energy efficiency by moving away from first-generation waste disposal methods. Most of these non-conventional feedstuffs/agro-wastes contain bioactive compounds with beneficial antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

“Early-on in my research career, I was fascinated by the influence of plant secondary compounds, such as proanthocyanidins, on parameters such as nutrient digestibility, enteric methane emissions, blood parameters, growth performance, and animal product quality,” he says.

“The conundrum that characterizes the nutritional effects of proanthocyanidins in ruminants is the backdrop against which several of my notable contributions to the science of animal nutrition have been made.”

“While every researcher strives to produce their best work and thus might have a very high regard of their output, it is always good to get an independent party’s perspective. Such esteemed independent parties in research do not come more highly regarded than the NRF within the South African context. As such, I see the C1 rating from the NRF as a message from fellow scientists, affirming that my scholarly outputs are of high quality.”

Professor Mlambo is currently engaged in a project with Dr MJ Madibana of the Marine Research Aquarium, and the Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries. They are working on nutritional interventions designed to reduce the cost (economic, environmental, and social) of fish farming in South Africa.

“Our focus is on the carnivorous dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) whose farming faces several nutritional challenges. We will investigate the potential of insect meals and other terrestrial animal proteins as fishmeal alternatives for this economically important fish,” he says.

Professor Mlambo’s career began at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria as a Junior Professional Officer followed by a stint at the University of Eswatini where he was a lecturer and Faculty Administrator for four years before taking up a post at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados. He spent three years here before joining North-West University, where he was the Director of the School of Agricultural Sciences. He joined UMP in 2018 and was appointed Professor in the School of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences.

“Despite the relatively short period that I have been with the institution, several milestones have already been reached. We have been able to introduce a Diploma in Animal Production and an MSc in Agriculture (Animal Science) while we await the approval of a PhD in Agriculture. Research facilities are under development, starting with state-of-the-art laboratories that are nearing completion. We have put into operation the postgraduate student management processes within the faculty and we expect the first MSc students to graduate in 2022. We have also successfully linked the School of Agricultural Sciences with Harper Adams University under the Erasmus+ Staff and Student Mobility programme,” he says.

Some of his roles at UMP include being the chair of the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee and the deputy Chairperson of the Animal Research Ethics Committee, and a member of the University of Mpumalanga 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 13 PhD and 25 MSc students while producing 105 journal publications. His former students have gone on to become influential Animal Scientists in their own right. He is also co-editor for Animal Feed Science and Technology – a discipline-leading journal published by Elsevier with a five-year impact factor (IF) of 2.7.

“I am also an associate editor for the South African Journal of Animal Science (IF = 0.60). I am 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).”

“I 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.”

His advice to scholars and postgraduate students is that it is important to set oneself goals, a process that is somehow made easier by reviewing the reward and personal promotion policies of most Universities because they specify what achievements one needs to demonstrate to move through the academic ranks. He says when training postgraduate students, it is vital to provide them with a framework that allows them to develop their skills beyond the superviros’ capabilities.

“This approach also ensures the growth of the supervisor as an academic. Make it a habit early on to always publish high-quality research in reputable journals because your reputation as a researcher/academic depends on it. There are no shortcuts, no easy targets, the investment of time is a must. A successful academic career requires deliberate, effortful, and orderly planning,” he concludes.

@ Story by Cleopatra Makhaga. Pictures @ChrisPLPhoto

The study group has been in existence for over 50 years and convenes in different countries across the globe. The group was launched in South Africa in 2004. This year Dr Shabalala and other industry leaders were part of a five-day virtual workshop hosted by the University of Witwatersrand (Wits).

Participants were given an industry problem and Dr Shabalala was tasked to investigate how customised packages of tourism products and services can be utilised to mitigate the challenge of catering for the domestic market, minimise travel cost and maximise revenue. The title of her findings was: The value of the domestic tourist towards Travel and Tourism Industry: Case of Mpumalanga Province.

“Generally, the tourism industry focuses on international tourists. Due to the current global pandemic, however, domestic tourism is considered as a means to save the local and national tourism industry. The development of a practical mathematical model that can be adopted to try to address the presented situation is vital,” she says.

“Since the world was forced to close international travel, to revive the travel and tourism Industry intra-tourism, followed by inter-tourism, were opened with strict restrictions which were to be adhered to by tourists, the establishments and service providers. Active domestic tourism became key to the efforts to save the collapsing industry. Without a doubt, the value of domestic tourism is evident.”

"As the tourism industry representative, I am happy with the work done so far and the team is committed to working with me until the findings are achieved."

Dr Shabalala says that on the first-day the industry representatives outlined the problems posed by the local industry. Each industry representative made a 20-minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of questions. During the session, applied mathematicians and graduate students worked virtually in small groups on the problems of their choice for four days, while on the fifth day they reported back to the industry on the progress they had made.

“I got involved with MISG during my previous stint at Wits. I administered the logistics of the Study Group from 2013 to 2017 February. As I was still a PhD candidate under the Faculty of Science, in the year 2020, I was approached by Prof David Mason to develop a tourism research problem with a COVID-19 aspect."

"The developed research problem was approved by the organising committee and I presented it on the 1st of February. I participated as a Wits Alumni and UMP nGAP staff member,” she says.

This year’s study group was sponsored by The Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Science, Wits University, as well as The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS).

@ By Cleopatra Makhaga. Pictures Supplied.

Against this background, there is an urgent need to address these challenges, thus the establishment of the University of Mpumalanga Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (UMP CFERI), aims to support start-ups – UMP students and alumni, and local entrepreneurs to nurture and grow ideas as well as benefit small and emerging businesses in the province.

The UMP CFERI will contribute towards improving entrepreneurship development as well as halting the increase in poverty within the region. Under the leadership of Dr Kanayo Ogujiuba, the Project Coordinator and Centre Manager and with Ilze Macdonald as the project assistant and Business Development Manager, the Centre aims to take on entrepreneurs and support them through a pre-incubation process and then incubation process to develop sustainable businesses.

“It will benefit students by offering them training and support to any student from any qualification that may be interested in entrepreneurship. There is a Moodle page on the ITS interface of UMP, where training and other opportunities for entrepreneurs, like funding opportunities, are advertised,” says Ogujiuba.

He further explains that the purpose of the Centre is to provide space and support services to new and emerging small businesses, and diminish the poverty stance in the province.

“UMP CFERI support services will include both financial and non-financial services, including but not limited to new business incubation, access to information, finance, markets and strategic partners for growth, training, R&D facilities and supply chain management.”

Tangible success
The Centre currently supports seven clients in the pre-incubation process working on their business plans and another client preparing for the pre-incubation process.

“Four of the seven clients are start-up businesses that are already operating and two are students with business ideas, preparing to start operating in the near future. We are hopeful that five of the clients currently supported will be ready to enter the incubation process before March 2021 and that we will be able to take on another five in the pre-incubation process during January and February 2021,” says Dr Ogujiuba.

During the National Lockdown, the Centre offered three online workshops and trained start-up businesses and students. The training was offered in the form of Zoom sessions and pre-recorded presentations.

“The training was on business plans, finances, presentation skills and market research. In November 2020 the Centre partnered with SEDA Mpumalanga and other stakeholders to start a 10-month coaching programme for SMMEs,” he says.

More training opportunities, including workshops and seminars, are planned for 2021. We hope to have at least five clients in the incubation process by March 2021 and to be able to take on between two and five clients in the pre-incubation process each month. During the pre-incubation process business ideas are formulated, a business profile is prepared and a development plan is agreed upon and the business plan is finalised. After the pre-incubation process the client is evaluated and invited to join the incubation process.

The Centre has collaborated with local businesses, which are also represented on the Advisory Board: Manganese Metal Company (MMC), Kishugu Group and Thomas Varghese Consulting. The Centre building is currently under renovation and will be fully functional by March 2021. “The launch of the Centre was planned for March 2020 but due to the lockdown the launch was put on ice. We did however continue with the establishment of the Centre.”

Dr Ogujiuba says UMP students who are interested in the project can send an email and they will receive the necessary information.

“Even if you only have a business idea and you do not know where to start, the Centre will work with you to formulate your business idea and start working on a feasibility study and business plan.”

Interested students can an email to: ump.cferi@ump.ac.za to join the Moodle page and receive all the correspondence and information.

@ Story and Pictures by Cleopatra Makhaga.