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BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

UP’s Professor Lise Korsten has hit the ground running as the new and first female president of the African Academy of Sciences.

The pan-African body, established in 1985 with the primary goal of promoting science, technology, and innovation on the African continent, has a new governance line-up headed by Prof Korsten, who won the hotly contested election for the presidential post.

“I must be honest, I did not think I was going to get elected,” said Prof Korsten, who is a Professor in Plant Pathology and Co-Director of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security. “This is a very challenging position that will require extensive networking building relations with various stakeholders and creating new partnerships. To champion change I will need to, as a priority, realign, re-focus, recharge, and redeploy people and committees, and redesign structures and systems that will take us into a very new, exciting, but different future.”

She said she is honoured at being handed such a big responsibility. “It is about the African continent, and it is all about timing. The time is now for Africa to rise, and the opportunities are enormous if we are ready to explore these. The Governing Council will have to accelerate our pace of transformation and adjustment to catch the waves of opportunity, otherwise, Africa will miss the boat and not rise to the occasion. We should not be left behind and should lead the way because the next century will bring significant changes and opportunities. The Academy will need to grow, invest in, and nurture our youth and particularly our female scientists because it is our biggest asset.”

Her vision for the Academy is to have a strong, dedicated Governing Council that will take it to new heights, build trust and respect within the secretariat, and develop a turnaround strategy. “This is important for me so that we can close a difficult chapter and build new partnerships, create new initiatives, and focus on opportunities that will benefit African scientists. We want to increase the number of our Fellows and focus on the diaspora and investors to help create new centres of excellence in Africa.

We are clear on the many challenges we have as an academy and the continent and will endeavour to prioritise and focus on areas such as health, climate change, water, energy, and food security, as well as the many sociopolitical challenges we have. We will embrace new technologies such as AI that can provide future solutions for our continent, and will seek peace and prosperity for all our people and work towards the [African Union’s] ‘Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want’.”      

The Academy is planning several new sub-committees and exciting projects, such as developing young African scientists, a focus on female academics and women’s health, getting more involved with the multinational organisation African Animal Care and Use (ACURET), the African Synchrotron projects, taking part in the African Development Bank climate change initiative Africa Pavilion, and the African Union’s small business development platform BOMA. “We also aim to strengthen relations with the African Union, European Union, World Economic Forum, and so on, as well as the International Science Councils, Inter-Academy Partnership, other academies from China, the United States of America, and Europe, as well as African institutions, academies and, most importantly, developing our unique African footprint in science.”  

Prof Korsten encourages young people to dream the impossible dream, but not make dreams their master. “Find a balance in life and invest in good friendships, love your work, build careers, find good mentors… and become fellows of the African Academy of Science… Seeing the stars in the eyes of young people with dreams and aspirations and, most importantly, a determination to succeed, encourages me to keep working hard.”

Image and source: UP

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Singer-Songwriter and professional Jazz Pianist Nhlonipho who hails from Swaziland, has released his debut single ‘Ngiyatisola’ from his upcoming EP Selemo. The profound nature of this single will resonate deeply with listeners, captivating their emotions with its soulful sounds and heartfelt lyrics.

Ngiyatisola delves into the theme of regret, specifically the missed chance of approaching someone who held significant meaning in their life. Nhlonipho deeply laments not summoning the courage to request her phone number during their initial encounter. She continues to occupy his dreams and thoughts, prompting contemplation of alternate realities where he might already be married if he had bravely confessed his feelings when they initially crossed paths.

Nhlonipho’s musical career has led him to work with renowned South African and international artists such as Ami Faku, Black Coffee, Luyolo Yiba, Thando Mngomezulu, Samthing Soweto, Citizen Deep, Amanda Black, Morda Bongz and KekeLingo, to name a few.

Raphael Benza, Chief Opportunity Creator of Vth Season had this to say, “Every now and then Southern Africa gives us a true multi-talented artist for our enjoyment. Nhlonipho is just that. We are excited and blessed to share his music and talent with the world. We look forward to an amazing EP and for his exciting and captivating performances”

“I am very excited about this release. I’ve received so much love, especially from people back home. I can’t wait for people to hear the full project, Selemo. After years of being the man behind so many big records, I’m finally ready to give people Nhlonipho”. Nhlonipho’s upcoming EP Selemo is set to drop on October 20^th.

Image: Supplied

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

University of KwaZulu-Natal student Mary Zulu was selected to the Women’s Springbok XV’s rugby squad. She is studying for a BSc in Sports Science degree. Zulu was raised in the Blessed Gérard’s Care Centre in Mandeni in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

There are plans for women’s rugby in South Africa to become professional and Zulu has set her sights on making a career out of the game. A talented and determined player, she is ‘always fighting hard to become a better version of myself. Her other achievements include Craven Week U16 Champions (2018), Club Tournament Champions (2022) and USSA 7’s Plate Champions (2022) to mention a few.

South Africa is one of the top rugby-playing nations of the world but there is plenty of room for improvement in the women’s format. ‘I believe it all starts with media coverage because the more coverage we receive the better the chances are of everyone becoming more aware about women playing rugby – as we speak so many people don’t even know that there is a Springbok women’s team which is sad, but it’s just the way women are treated sometimes, she said.

Zulu belleves heightened media coverage will help women’s rugby go professional. ‘With more recognition we will get sponsors which will bring more attention. I feel if we get taken seriously, people will see the love and determination we have for the sport’, said Zulu.

Image: UKZN

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Meet Noluthando Sigudu, an inspirational Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and Director of Noluthando Sigudu Attorneys. She started of working as a waiter at Spur while studying towards her LLB degree.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Limpopo and doing her practical legal training at the University of Pretoria (UP). She didn’t stop working just because she was now a graduate, instead she continued working as a waiter and cashier, while busy applying to law firms, she even went on to work for Pick n Pay Clothing as a consultant, until she got her dream job that is related to her qualification.

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“I did what I had to do to get to where I need to be. I’m forever grateful for where God has placed me before and where I am right now,” said Noluthando.

From cleaning tables at Spur, to working at Pick n Pay Clothing to an Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and Director of Noluthando Sigudu Attorneys.

Noluthando Sigudu is surely an inspiration!

Image: LinkedIn

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

The time has come for Nikiwe to take her journey into womanhood. The date 1 September 2023 is highly significant to the Radebes, Nikiwe turns 21 and as tradition dictates, uMemulo needs to be held. Now, the stage is set for an epic 2 episode special from the 31st of Aug – 1st of Sept at 6.30PM sharp on e.tv

As Nikiwe enters her journey to womanhood, it strikes her that her uncle Bheki reminds her so much of her father. And because he played such a meaningful role in her life, it was he who encouraged her to plan her own uMemulo ceremony to be held in KZN – a true moment for celebration.

The 1st of September also marks the show’s 100th episode since the series’ new team of writers headed by Bongi Ndaba began. Nikiwe’s Memulo is one of the foremost stories that promises to deliver a compelling plot centered around the show’s main protagonist, the character of Nikiwe herself.

Watch the epic celebrations of Nikiwe’s Memulo from the 31st of Aug – 1st of Sept at 6.30PM only on e.tv.

Image: Supplied

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Just a year after registering for his LLM at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Dr Thapelo Teele’s dissertation was upgraded to a PhD. In the two short years since, Dr Teele has successfully completed his doctoral thesis and been awarded a PhD in legal rhetoric studies – a rarely seen feat and one of the many reasons Thapelo is one of this year’s inspirational graduates.

He humorously describes himself as a “professional motivational letter writer”. Speaking with him, however, adjectives like intellectual, down-to-earth, optimistic, effervescent and determined are far more likely to come to mind.

Growing up between South Africa and Lesotho – and having a father in the legal profession – in his early years gave Thapelo the impetus to study law. This, he said, came from the benefit of being able to see the world through a multitude of lenses and understand that the law affects almost every aspect of our lives.

“I grew up in both countries, and having seen those different perspectives formed a lot of my understanding of how the world works. There was also the matter of seeing how pervasive the law is in our lives. Just the process of moving between countries requires a passport, which is a legal document, even though we might not think of it as such,” he said.

“So, without really realising, I always knew that the law permeates every aspect of our lives – whether we’re aware of it or not. Of course, it also helped that my father is a legal practitioner, because I could see from a very real perspective what it looked like to operate within the realm of the law.”

Academic ups and downs

When it came to tertiary education, he was somewhat hesitant to follow the path of legal studies. He chose instead to enrol in a Bachelor of Arts (BA), diving into history, sociology, political science and English literature. However, all roads seemed to lead to the law.

“I initially applied for my BA and thought I was going to do law as a combined course in my second year, but I was a little scared. So, I thought to myself, ‘It’s fine, you’ll do it at a later stage.’

“I kept putting it off, but I felt more and more drawn towards it. In one way or another, I always got the inclination of the fact that the law had something or other to do with a lot of the content that I was engaging with,” he said.

Graduating with his BA in 2014, Thapelo applied and was accepted to the postgraduate LLB programme. Amidst a variety of academic and social challenges, what was slated to be a three-year course took the young academic five years to complete.

“It was supposed to be three years, but it actually took me five years because the transition was quite challenging for a number of reasons. On one hand, it was a very different way of thinking that I had to adapt to. On the other, we had the beginning of the Fees Must Fall uprising, which caused quite a bit of disruption in the academic calendar,” he explained.

Unfortunately, the pressures of law school and initial difficulties with keeping up academically meant that Thapelo found himself being academically excluded in 2018. Rather than become discouraged, the perceived failure only served to steel his resolve to complete his LLB – and give him the tools he needed to continue studying towards his PhD.

“I must acknowledge that I struggled quite a bit and failed a couple of courses, to the point that, in 2018, I was actually academically excluded from law school. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to appeal that and apply for readmission.

“It was interesting, because without realising it, that academic exclusion and appeal process was so deeply important to where I find myself at this point in time. It essentially entailed collecting data and evidence and writing a motivational letter defending myself. So, it was helping to sharpen the skills that I’d need for the profession I’d eventually get into.”

A turning point to triumph

While readmission was an “emotional roller coaster”, the process served as a turning point for Thapelo. Having formed good relationships with many of his professors, in part due to “repeating some of their courses”, the young lawyer’s final year was one of his best.

“My final year was 2019 and it was really a phenomenal year for me. I had a wonderful lecturer, Professor Jaco Barnard-Naudé, who knew my love for research and let me know about an opportunity to attend a summer school in Paris hosted by the University of Kent.

“Much like the readmission process, I had to write a motivation to get in. And I succeeded. When I got there, I was incredibly academically challenged. I was the most academically junior and it made me realise that I need to pick up my game. I need to read more, and I need to immerse myself in research more if I want to stand out as a researcher,” he said.

“One cannot deny the importance of having a village. From the administrative staff at UCT to the lecturers, to librarians and everyone else who has assisted me and helped me do everything from refining my ability to research to fill out funding forms correctly, they have been phenomenal.

“Then there’s obviously my family. My parents have been so patient and supportive, even in moments when they didn’t quite see the vision. My friends – even those who graduated and left me while I was still at law school – have helped me to keep going and stay confident in situations where my confidence could have been destroyed,” he said.

In addition to building a close-knit community around himself, Thapelo acknowledges that seeking support from a therapist and looking to God in times of difficulty have been instrumental in helping him to reach the heights he has.

Image and source: UCT

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Yizani Sifunde (isiXhosa for “Come, let’s read”) is a collaborative 5-year project funded by Liberty Community Trust in the Eastern Cape. It’s a 3-way partnership between Book Dash, Nal’ibali and Wordworks, with local Eastern Cape partners ITEC and Khululeka. Although the project started in 2020, 2021 was the first year of on-the-ground implementation.

Yizani Sifunde aims to infuse underserved communities in the Eastern Cape with high-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) training, an abundance of books for the children and their families, and sustained literacy practices in the community and in the family.

More recently, attendees of Yizani Sifunde’s training sessions (parents and ECD practitioners) that go on to start a reading club in the community receive a starter-pack of 25 books for each child attending their reading club, a hanging library and other useful training materials and support.

Images: LinkedIn

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Serendipity may best describe the twist of fate that led Yoav and Jabulile Majola’s paths to converge. Two strangers raised in different worlds, brought together through a musical collaboration that defies expectations, while exploring a shared journey of discovery, vulnerability, and healing.

Yoav, widely known for his Indie Folk sound, was raised in a home versed in Classical music and Opera. Rebelling against his formal musical upbringing, Yoav picked up the guitar in secret, developing a unique style of electronic-esque writing that has captured audiences worldwide. Jabulile, on the other hand, is fresh to the scene. Raised in a Children’s Home by a Christian couple in Greytown, Kwazulu Natal, he discovered a passion for music, utilising it to share stories via the Church.

Their paths crossed through a mutual friend, leading them to embark on a writing session. Within a day, the duo had recorded the initial idea for “Stranger” and after the positive responses they received from friends, they agreed to keep collaborating until eventually the album UNYAZI emerged.

With Yoav’s signature ethereal acoustic sound merging seamlessly with Jabulile’s heartfelt lyrics and captivating vocals, “Stranger” becomes an anthem for embracing the unknown, and a testament to the power of connection to overcome the fear of change.

Their upcoming album, UNYAZI (which refers to the moment of brief luminescence that fills the sky after a flash of lightning) is an invitation to delve into the intimate and transformative world that Yoav and Jabulile have crafted together.

The album represents a tapestry of emotions, shaped by the personal bereavement each experienced during the recording process, while also speaking more generally to the collective grief we’ve all experienced over the last few years. The album is a glimpse into the process of individual, and shared healing.

Each track on the album carries a raw authenticity. Using both Zulu & English lyrics, the duo express their respective journeys and vulnerabilities, while inviting listeners to explore their own emotional landscapes.

As Yoav explains, “Throughout the process of writing this record, it felt like we were going through a collective grief. Our intention was to create something healing and nourishing, and in the process, we experienced healing ourselves. UNYAZI becomes a vessel through which their emotional journey and creative bond is transmitted to listeners, offering solace, comfort, and a sense of shared humanity.

Through their shared journey as strangers turned collaborators, they have created something truly extraordinary. As they embark on this new chapter together, they invite you to join them.

Catch Yoav & Jabulile Majola’s debut performance at Cape Town’s Avalon Auditorium at the HOMECOMING CENTRE (formerly known as The Fugard Theatre) in District Six on 1 September.

Image: Supplied

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Five Wit University students, Harry Saner, Tamsyn Bessit, Panashe Dumbu, Muhammad Saloojee and Athi Diliza were part of Team South Africa that returned with two gold medals, 11 silver and seven bronze medals at a sporting event for university athletes.

The World Student Games took place in Chengdu in western China, under the auspices of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), whose motto is Excellence in Mind and Body. This celebration of international university sports and culture draws thousands of student-athletes together to compete, making it among the world’s largest and most prestigious multi-sport events.

Harry Saner, a 22-year-old fencer, is no stranger to international competitions. Formerly ranked 93 in the world for the Junior Men’s Foil in 2020, Saner has since gone on to participate in the 2022 African Championships in Casablanca, Morocco, where he received his first senior bronze medal. His love for fencing started as a kid when he wanted to be a knight in shining armour.

The mechanical engineering student says studying and trying to be a high-performing athlete can be challenging. However, the trick is consistency and time management. With his great sense of perseverance and grit, the next stop for him is the Olympics.

Basketball player, Panashe Dumbu is getting familiar with international platforms. Dumbu plays ‘small forward’, a position likened to a “swiss army knife” because they can do just about everything, from scoring, rebounding, handling the ball, passing, and defending. He was drafted to the national U17 Basketball Team while in high school. The first-year Electrical Engineering student made his debut at the World Student Games and is predicted to feature at many other local and international stages.

Tamsyn Bessit is a senior national champion for women’s artistic gymnastic and has participated in two World Cup Games. Her love for gymnastics started at the age of four. The third-year Bachelor of Sciences student was drawn to the sport because of the self-mastery and discipline that it brings. “Every day I get into the gym, there’s a new challenge. Nothing is ever the same and it helps me in life.” According to Bessit, all of this teaches lifelong qualities that empower her to deal with whatever life throws her way.

Wits alumni Muhammad Saloojee and Athi Diliza are committed to developing talent. 

Muhammad Saloojee, is a professional rowing coach who has had the opportunity to coach his students to national winning teams, and was drafted to coach the team that went to China. His love for rowing began in high school, and this is where he decided that he wants to coach someone to an Olympic Gold Medallist. As a coach, he enjoys working with athletes and believes it is a privilege to be a mid-wife on their journey to great heights. He adds that rowing is an incredibly beautiful sport with a touch of magic to it. Inspired by Jurgen Grobler, the most successful rowing coach of all time, Saloojee is using all within him to realise his destiny and propel those he coaches. He holds an honours degree in psychology and a BA in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from Wits.

Wits alumnae Diliza has made a name for herself as a sports manager for diving. The Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Psychology and Law graduate was the force behind the diving team at the FISU games. Diliza is also the Chairman Committee of the South African Schools Diving Association and the Secretary of the Gauteng Schools’ Diving. The versatile coach was a formidable gymnast during her time at Wits.