The Mpumalanga Premier is looking at partnering with UMP in relation to funding students studying agricultural and mining related courses. Mtsweni shared the outcomes of her meeting with the university leadership, during her State of the Province Address (SOPA).

She said: “Agriculture remains the backbone of our economic system both in terms of employment generation as well as provincial and national gross domestic income contribution. Mpumalanga remains a largely rural province, and our people are still mainly dependent on agriculture for self-sustenance.”

AGRICULTURE
Mtsweni explained that the establishment of the Mpumalanga International Fresh Produce Market (MIFPM) remains a critical means to stimulate increased agricultural production for both the domestic and export markets.

The province will identify, isolate and address the shortcomings that have plagued the International Fresh Produce Market.

Before the end of this financial year, the province will commence with the first phase of the top infrastructure for the Fresh Produce Market, which will be put into operation in the next financial year. This will be done in a way that promotes economic development, agricultural production and food security.

The province will continue to work with established agribusinesses to ensure that the sector continues to increase its contribution to export earnings and investigate how emerging black farmers can be assisted to meaningfully enter this business on a sustainable basis. This it will do by speeding up the resolution of all outstanding land restitution claims and conduct an audit on all allocated farms, to identify those that are unused. These farms can be reassessed with the intention to make them productive for food security, job creation and for attracting direct foreign investment.

“In collaboration with the University of Mpumalanga, we intend to use some of the farms for research purposes by University of Mpumalanga postgraduate students. We will change the structure of some of our agricultural programmes so that we maximize their potential.” There will be an increase in agricultural production in crops, fruits, vegetables and animal production through the provision of production inputs, technical advice, training and linkage to the readily available markets.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Consultation with relevant stakeholders are currently underway on the development of a Provincial Skills Development Master Plan that will ensure transformation of the skills set to industry/economic needs. Through the University of Mpumalanga, there will be a development of targeted training programmes in Agriculture and ICT, ensuring access to land and market, and incubator hubs for business operations.

The provincial government will establish a 4IR Commission that will consist of both private and public sector which will ensure development, implementation and monitoring of an integrated 4IR and e-learning strategy.

“Working closely with the University of Mpumalanga, we will harness our investment in agricultural research, new smart technologies and the training of farmers to enhance the sector’s market share in global trade,” said the Premier.

Lastly, the Mpumalanga province will establish a special Premiers Bursary Scheme for PhD studies within the next 100 days. “We will enroll 10 students per year, more biased towards young women and those under the age of 30 years.”

The Mandela Day activities was fruitful for UMP as we discovered projects that we could assist the community with. We have committed to assist Cyril Clarke Secondary School, to improve their Grade 12 pass rate, particularly in agricultural subjects. We will also arrange for Grade 9 learners to visit the university.

This month we’ve had the pleasure of being visited by the Premier of Mpumalanga, Ms Refilwe Mtsweni, who met with the management team to discuss possible areas of cooperation between Provincial Government and the University. The Premier’s special interest is in relation to the funding of students studying agricultural and mining related courses.

We are super proud of our Bachelor of Science in Agriculture student and Mbombela campus CRC deputy chairperson, Thuso Tshiloane, who started Helping Hand Foundation, which assists learners in financial need with basic necessities. The 21-year-old recently won a National Humanitarian Philanthropist Award as part of the South African Union of Students (SAUS) recognition. Keep doing UMP proud.

Let us also congratulate Dr Mduduzi Ndlovu, a senior lecturer at the School of Biology and Environmental Sciences who recently attained a Double Digit H-Index, as listed in the latest Google Scholar.

UMP and Sanlam recently hosted stakeholders over dinner. The purpose of such events is to bring together our strategic partners, inform them about the development of our beautiful university and to demonstrate the role they play in partnering with us.

Partnership is what makes us thrive. This was evident when nine student teachers from the School of Education Foundation Phase at Siyabuswa campus became the first group to engage with nine students from the St. Gallen University of Teacher Education, Switzerland. For three weeks, the eighteen students worked in tandem at four different schools, in the Nsikazi circuit of the Ehlanzeni district, as part of their work-integrated learning component and intercultural exchange programme.

Professor Thoko Mayekiso
Vice Chancellor

An Ornithologist by training, his broad research interest is in birds, mammals, termite and animal disease ecology.

Q: What does an H Index mean?
Well, in simple terms this is a measure of how relevant your work is to other scholars. In my case an H index of 10, means 10 of my publications have been cited more than 10 times in other publications. The higher the quality of your outputs the more likely for it to be cited by other researchers. I have been a professional academic for just six years. During this period I have published my work only in accredited and mostly high impact factor international journals.

All together my work has been cited over 300 times by other researchers around the world. An H Index is also highly considered by the NRF when one applies for a rating. It is a significant measure not only within the country, but also worldwide. Currently UMP only has five NRF rated researchers. I’m confident that the number will grow in the near future.

Q: Is this your first time getting any form of researcher rating?
No. I first started lecturing at the University of the Witwatersrand in October 2013, and got my first NRF Y-rating the following year. This is basically a measure of how good a researcher you are compared to your peers within the country, and I have been rated since then.

Q: Tell us a bit about your career achievements.
I am an Ecologist. I study the Biology of living life, so when you think of Ecology you think of Ecosystem functioning and Biology. I am trained as a bird biology expert, which makes me one of the few black professional Ornithologists in the world. I got my PhD in Zoology from the University of Cape Town in 2012. Earlier that same year, I was headhunted by the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa and appointed as the species programme coordinator for the country.

Q: What other research related activities are you doing?
The final APS is calculated as the sum of the subject APSs, where a candidate has elected to take more than seven subjects, the four compulsory subjects for the programme plus the best three other subjects are counted.

I also mentor and supervise Post-Doctoral fellows; these are early career PhD graduates who want to advance their careers in research. I also continue to collaborate with Professors from my former institutes: Wits University and the University of the Free State.

Q: What does it take to be where you are in your career?
It takes hard work and dedication. But it’s mostly because I stood on the shoulders of “giants”. You need the right mentors to guide and afford you an opportunity to learn from them. Your mentor(s) must be a leading researcher in your field. One who will reach down to pick you up and take you to high places?

Q: Who are your mentors?
Professor Graeme Cumming (H Index = 51) my PhD advisor who is now at James Cook University in Australia is actually a former honours student of Prof Richard Bernard. At UMP, my head of school Prof Dan Parker also encourages and assists in my academic development.

Q: Do you also mentor others?
Yes, I currently mentor several students at UMP, Wits, TUT and UFS. Some of my mentees are fulltime academics at other universities

Q: Is your career where you have always wanted it to be?
Yes. I have always wanted to be a natural scientist and I have known this since I was in elementary school. I grew up surrounded by lots of animals, (domestic and wild) and I still love the outdoors. My parents always thought I would either be a veterinarian or a biology teacher.

The University of Mpumalanga (UMP) in partnership with Sanlam hosted a dinner at the university recently. The purpose of the event was to strengthen relationships, inform potential strategic partners about the successful developments at UMP, and also demonstrate the role they could play in partnering with the university.

The event was opened by the Vice Chancellor Professor Thoko Mayekiso, who started by thanking guests for honouring the invitation. She went on to share the university’s achievements, explaining that UMP has grown in leaps and bounds in the last five years. It launched in 2014 with only 169 students but this year registered 3 400 students. The university started with three programmes and this year it has 20.

The Vice Chancellor added: “Can you believe that it’s only been five years, but we are already offering master’s degrees? Those that have charged us with the responsibility of pioneering this university have entrusted so much on our hands. We are embracing this trust as a privilege bestowed upon us, yet fully mindful of the responsibility it places on all our shoulders.”

She further explained the importance of partnering with international universities and how this has opened doors for students at UMP. In Africa, UMP has partnered with Muni University in Uganda, University of Swaziland, Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique and Makerere University Business School in Malawi. In other countries UMP is in partnership with the University of Novi Sad in Serbia, the Saratov State Agrarian University in Russia, Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen in Germany, Central Florida Community College, Harvard University in the US and the Dalhousie in Canada to name a few.

“Two of our students doing BSC in Agriculture will be going to the Dalhousie University soon, where they will spend two weeks in summer school. One of our colleagues has just come back from Harvard where she spent four months. This is to show you that our partnerships actually work,” added Professor Mayekiso.

To highlight more successes at the university were some of the department heads and representatives. The School of Computer Information shared with guests projects such as ENACTUS, which has developed an application that will assist government to trace the street vendors and register them on their database. And the students have won the first prize for the project.

Upcoming projects include second year students being part of the ICT for the deaf project, which is aimed at mentoring high school learners in programming. And about the university’s involvement in a national mobile week initiative by the government, which will bring awareness to the community about the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Artificial Intelligence awareness.

Hotel and hospitality School presented by Dr Oswald Mhlanga spoke about a unique model that UMP has designed for hotel and catering services. “We have strategic units that fall under the hotel and catering business, and these include dining halls and a fine dining restaurant, which is in the school of hospitality and tourism. This shows that we can actually blend teaching and learning. You can see from that, that the type of graduates we produce are likely to outperform their peers.” Sanlam has taken a keen interest in UMP. The company is supporting various activities at the university. Last year they sponsored an academic award for Best Student in the Diploma for Nature Conservation.

Chief Executive of Sanlam: Group Market Development, Mr Themba Mvusi said that he found the University of Mpumalanga’s progress encouraging. He further explained that Sanlam aims to support and empower as many people as possible and work with individuals with the profound desire to manage financial security and the future.

“This relationship with UMP is the kind of partnership we would like to see going forward. Sanlam has been in existence for 100 years and operates in over 40 countries globally and 34 countries in Africa. What has given Sanlam the resilience to carry on is diversity. We would like to help you (UMP) reach your 100 years,” he said.

In closing, Vice Chancellor Professor Thoko Mayekiso pointed out some of the challenges and lessons she and her team have learnt from over the past five years: “These challenges and lessons showed us the importance of consistent hard work, determination, perseverance, resilience, passion, integrity and ethical leadership.”

Other stakeholders from the banking services, who also have a keen interest to partner with the university, also graced the event.

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture student and Mbombela campus CRC deputy chairperson, Thuso Tshiloane, started Helping Hand Foundation, which assists learners in financial need with basic necessities. The 21-year-old recently won a National Humanitarian Philanthropist Award as part of the South African Union of Students (SAUS) recognition.

“My passion for giving and sharing started while growing up in Casteel, Bushbuckridge. But it was after I enrolled at UMP that I really saw the need to assist those less fortunate. It all started after I became involved in several organisations including Campus Student Representative (CRC), the Black Management Forum Student Chapter (BMFSC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) as well as the South African Student Congress (SASCO). Being part of these organisations opened my eyes to the desperate needs of students out there.

Growing up people always told me that I would make a good leader one day. Two years ago, I founded, Why No Agriculture (WNA), an awareness organisation to help people understand the agriculture industry. Most people think agriculture is not an interesting career or a profitable business. The organisation is fighting to break all those negative stereotypes about agriculture.

For Mandela Day last year I initiated the child friendly gardens at orphanages with my team of 54 other UMP students. And this year in April I started Giving Hand Foundation, which assists students in financial need with day-to-day necessities such as food, clothes, shoes, sanitary towels and more. When I started the project, I was mainly looking at the non-funded and international students from neighbouring countries. Funding for the project was started from my pocket money and was backed by Mcolisi Ngcamphalala, former SRC President, who also brought sponsors. This year the SRC president Castro Mashabane and the treasure, Simon Mashile offered to assist get more funding and they did.

The foundation is a success as it has already assisted more than 40 students in just a few months of launching. My goal is to grow the programme, with the hope of assisting more than 10 000 students nationally. I would also like to encourage all SRCs and LRCs from different institutions to take part by launching branches at their institutions: high schools, TVET Colleges and Universities.

Things are looking good for the Giving Hand Foundation. This month for Mandela Day we are working with the National Youth Development Agency and other sponsors including Zoe Foundation and Mumasi Kitchen. These sponsors have come on board for the handing out of resources in the second semester. My motto in life is that you are a community member first before you are a student. You always have to devote time to change someone's life and that is the reason I initiated another programme called Let’s Go To Tertiary. This is to advise high school learners about how to go about choosing careers at UMP, providing them with university applications and funding opportunities. But I only do this during the winter school holidays.

I am happy that my contribution is being recognised because this will hopefully bring in more sponsors. I have received several accolades already. In 2018 I received the National Community Champion at the Black Management Awards. I’m currently a finalist for SAPPI Community Matters Award for Cleaning the SOS Children’s Village. The winner will be announced at the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT) annual Awards Ceremony in October.

I was recently one of the 50 students selected from 16 countries worldwide to attend and represent UMP at the IASAS Student Leader Global Summit (SLGS). The goal of the summit was to bring student leaders from different parts of the world together to discuss student governance, leadership, social justice and other topics of shared interest. The biggest lesson I took from this experience was to understand that there are certain things you as a person cannot change and you need to accept that. The summit also made me aware that there’s a huge need for us to listen to others with no need to respond. Just listen.”

Mandela Day started with staff members and students separated into groups. Professor Mayekiso and Deputy Vice Chancellor: Academic, Professor Richard Bernard spent time at Cyril Clarke Secondary School planting trees and giving career guidance to learners.

The Vice Chancellor said: “The 67 minutes doing community work at the school was fruitful for UMP. We also got to spend time with the principal discussing other projects that the University could assist the school with. One of the projects we have identified is assisting the school to improve their Grade 12 pass rate, particularly in agricultural subjects. We will also arrange for the Grade 9 learners to visit the university.” Another high school, Jacob Mdluli in Matsafeni was visited by the Dean of Students Dr Paul Maminza who was accompanied by Mr Frans Leautle, Mr Viljoen and Dr Machingambi. They helped out in the vegetable garden planting beetroot, onion and spinach seedlings.

“The school has an Environmental Club, which has committed itself to taking care of the gardens. We are happy to have been able to contribute to the school in keeping with the spirit of Madiba,” said Dr Maminza.

UMP acting Executive Director: HR Mr Mfundo Myeki, student and founder of Giving Hand Foundation, Thuso Tshiloane, SRC president Castro Mashabane and other students were at the SOS Children’s Village in KaMagugu, cleaning the home and repacking the library shelves. “We did the garden and handed out the donations that were put together by the University,” said Tshiloane.

SRC President Castro Mashabane added that Mandela Day is for giving and sharing with the less privileged, "Today we are reminded of the sacrifices that we have to make to improve the lives of others. The day serves as a reference to introspect on what we should continue to do daily. "

Some staff members, who were tasked with knitting blankets, hats and scarves, went to Hlayisani Community Nutrition and Development Centre in Ngodini. The group led by Patience Motha, donated the knits they had made, to the centre. They ended the day by planting a tree that would symbolise caring, growth and togetherness.

Ms Motha explained that Nelson Mandela committed his life to the liberation and working for the country. “As a university, we are happy to assist the community, more especially the local centres, because it is our responsibility to help those who are less fortunate and in dire situations."

A representative from Hlayisani Centre, Thandiwe Sithole was grateful for the help they received. She said the 67 minutes with UMP has assisted the centre with basic necessities.

Sithole said: "We are very thankful to UMP staff for the help, support, visit, and donations of items we have always needed but could not get because of lack of funding. People might say that 67 minutes is not enough but to us it has helped more than we could have imagined.”

Showing appreciation to staff and students for their participation on Mandela Day activities, Professor Mayekiso said: “It was heartening to see you UMP staff and students making a contribution in the lives of others. Individually, our work may look like a drop in the ocean. Working collectively though, our impact becomes an ocean itself. Few days galvanize us so powerfully like the Mandela day.”

Prior to UMP’s involvement, the Swiss-South-African intercultural cooperation programme had been running for almost a decade by Liz Mackintosh of African Schoolroom and Michael Wirrer from St Gallen University.

Last year Ms Macintosh and Mr Wirrer approached Deputy Director: Continuing Education Services at UMP, Mr Gerhard Viljoen, with a proposal to have the institution and Swiss students work in tandem.

Last month the students began their intercultural exchange programme. For the first three days Swiss students were housed at the Bushfellows Lodge near Siyabuswa, where they underwent an initial cultural induction programme. This was to give them a window into the world of indigenous knowledge systems and the role of traditional healers. The session was organised by Mr Mphaleng Mpahlele and Laura Ziyane, a second-year student, Laura Ziyane explained her journey into becoming a traditional header.

From there the students travelled to Mbombela where they were dispersed to their host families and the four local schools. To ensure that the students settled in well, Mrs Lindiwe Jiyane, a school development practitioner, and senior lecturers at the Siyabuswa campus, Dr Andries du Plessis and Dr Eurika Jansen van Vuuren visited the schools, and engaged with the principals, mentor teachers, and students.

Senior lecturer at Siyabuswa campus, Dr Eurika Jansen van Vuuren introduced the Meerkat Maths programme, African music and taught students how to make simple musical instruments from recycled material. While Ms Nokwanda Mbusi, a Mathematics and Mathematics Methodology lecturer at Siyabuswa campus made sure everyone understood the integral role that music, art and dance can play even in mathematic teaching.

Ms Mbusi explained how she ran the programme: “I shared with the Swiss students and everybody how to achieve conceptual understanding of patterns in mathematics by using SA cultural dance, music and SA artwork. Participants sang cultural songs using African languages, danced and clapped hands to a rhythm that could be translated into mathematical patterns involving counting; they observed geometric patterns that appeared in SA cultural artefacts such as in Ndebele houses and African traditional attires,” she added.

“The integration involved sharing with the participants some of our African history as it relates to music and dance. All these activities culminated in the identification of different patterns that can be used in the mathematics classroom,” she said.

Once at their placement schools, Swiss students made their lessons come alive by taking children outside, since our weather is so welcoming. Every-day surfaces such as walls and walkways became Swiss students’ canvases on which to paint graphics with educational value such as a number line and hop-scotch blocks among others.

In their reflections, students from both groups reiterated the value of their intercultural experience.

Fourth year Bachelor of Education Foundation Phase student, Ms Nokukhanya Shongwe said the inter-culture programme was a great experience.

“I had the opportunity to learn about Swiss education systems and their culture. I was assigned to a Swiss partner who I had to work with throughout the whole program. We planned and presented lessons together and I'd mostly help with interpretation from English to siSwati.

“We all shared information about our countries. We travelled to tourist sites and it was great to see how our beautiful our country excited the Swiss. It was a great experience for exchanging teaching methodologies,” said Shongwe.

Another student also from the Foundation Phase, Ms Paulina Mnguni, shared the same sentiment. “I enjoyed the lesson planning and teaching with the Swiss students because they have a different way of teaching. I had a chance to compare and find differences between the two countries’ education systems and the cultures. I also enjoyed helping my partner with her thesis. One Swiss student produced a short children’s storybook.”

A Swiss student said: “We learnt to cooperate with South African colleagues who have the same motivation and inspiration as we have to change the world through education. We realised that our South African colleagues do get the same input in their training on how to teach in a holistic way as we get back home in Switzerland. It is just the framework they will be teaching in that makes the implementation of these new didactical and methodological ideas very difficult. It was exciting and enriching on all levels to prepare and teach together with my South African tandem partner.”

Wrapping up the programme all the students, principals, mentoring teachers and host mothers met at UMP Mbombela campus to bid their visitors farewell.

In his closing remarks during the farewell Dr du Plessis emphasised the value of connections.

“The quest to break the isolation of schools and students in rural areas, especially around the Siyabuswa campus, is in line with the UMP’s vision: creating opportunities using innovative solutions.”

Mr Wirren said: “We have been running this assistant teachership program in various English and French speaking countries worldwide for the last ten years. It is for the very first time that our Swiss students prepare, teach and reflect lessons together with colleagues from the destination of their assistant teachership.”

Mr Gerhard Viljoen, who worked closely with Ms Macintosh and Mr Wirrer concluded by saying: “This first joint programme was a success. Ensuring that students work in tandem, peer-to-peer intercultural co-operation has now entered a new phase.”