CPUT staff and students will be commemorating World Aids Day on our Cape Town Campus today.

The event is the culmination of a year which saw CPUT being heralded as a front-runner amongst tertiary institutions in the fight against the disease.

The cornerstones of CPUT’S HIV/Aids unit are the peer educators, who work tirelessly on campus spreading prevention methods and giving support.

Last month, peer educators from all three campuses were acknowledged for their contribution at a glitzy event.

Director of the Higher Education Aids Department (HEAids), Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia, says CPUT is doing very well compared to the 23 other institutions his organisation monitors.

“Peer education is the way forward and I believe in it,” he says.

“CPUT is doing very well and I appreciate your efforts.”

HIV/Aids unit HOD Dr Ashraf Mohammed personally congratulated each educator and awarded them with a certificate.

Join the HIV/Aids unit between 1 and 2pm in Seminar Room two of the Administration Building on Cape Town campus.

The theme is “Getting to Zero” and the team have an uplifting and informative programme planned.

By: Lauren Kansley

Written by CPUT News

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The first of three Welcoming Ceremonies kicks off at the Cape Town campus today.

The ceremonies welcome first years and their parents to CPUT and are an introduction to Vice-Chancellor Dr Prins Nevhutalu and his Executive Management.

The event moves to the Wellington campus on Tuesday and ends in Bellville on Wednesday.

Afterwards, students at the Cape Town and Bellville campuses are in for a treat.

For the first time this year, Student Affairs will host their Welcoming Event directly after the official event hosted by the VC. Cape Town students can look forward to being entertained by DJ Fresh, South Africa’s most successful house DJ.

In Bellville, Cassper Nyovest will rock the quad from 11.15 am onwards. Both artists have performed at CPUT before and attracted record crowds.

All Welcome Ceremonies kick off at 10 am with the student bash taking place directly afterwards.

Like the CPUT Student Affairs Facebook page to keep up to date on the variety of performances taking place throughout the year.

Written by Lauren Kansley
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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

The HIV/AIDS Unit will hold the first 2009 Voluntary Counselling and Testing Drive from 9 to 13 March on Bellville Campus and 16 to 24 March on Cape Town Campus.

The initiative, which is rolled out in collaboration with the CPUT Health Clinic, facilitates voluntary HIV testing. Staff and students who participate in the drive get to learn their HIV status and are counselled accordingly.

Bellville Campus

09 March: Freedom Square Residence (16:00 - 21:00)
10 and 11 March: Auditorium (09:00 - 16:00)
12 March: Tygerberg Hospital Dental Technology Dept (09:00 - 16:00)

Cape Town Campus

16 March: Catsville Residence (16:00 - 21:00)
17 and 18 March: Student Center (09:00 - 16:00)
19 March: Granger Bay Campus (09:00 - 16:00)
23 March: Down Town Lodge (DTL) (16:00 - 21:00)
24 March: Elizabeth Womens Residence (EWR) (16:00 - 21:00)

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What Kind of Child was published last year by Kwela Books. The author is Mr Ken Barris, acting language co-ordinator in the department of Engineering at the Cape Town Campus.

The book was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize (Best Book Africa section) and the Herman Charles Bosman Fiction Prize.

The book is set in Cape Town. It’s a postcolonial novel about two worlds that occupy the same space but don’t seem to touch each other much. It traces the lives of two people, one born on the streets, one born to a life of relative privilege, and contrasts their experiences and social conditions.

Mr Barris is currently completing a PhD, focusing on how South African writing has evolved through the dying years of apartheid into the post-apartheid era, and how in some respects this literature has retained hallmark characteristics.

Mr Barris said, “It’s an interesting topic for me, because it coincides with the period in which I’ve been active as a writer, and because I personally know some of the writers I’m researching.”

Mr Barris has also won the 2006 Thomas Pringle Award, conferred by the English Academy of Southern Africa

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Students enrolled in the Foundation Engineering programme had a chance to showcase their skills at a gala evening, held recently on Cape Town Campus.

The event featured Foundation Engineering’s second annual CPUT Goes Green competition, judged by a panel that included Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom. The minimum requirements for Foundation Engineering are the same as mainstream Engineering. However, the extra time built into the programme allows for longer periods of interaction with lecturers and more opportunity for site visits and other enrichment activities. On completion of the Diploma, Foundation students may register for an Engineering BTech.

The CPUT Goes Green initiative aims to demonstrate how Foundation students have been empowered with the skills required in industry. Students are asked to create or improve an environmentally friendly engineering product and present their business plan before industrial, governmental and academic representatives. The project draws strongly on the students’ communication skills and is designed to simulate the experience of presenting a proposal in the working world.

Mo Armien, Director of Bergstan Civil Engineering, and Kim Clarke, Senior lecturer from Stellenbosch University ’s Chemical Engineering joined Deputy Minister Hanekom in adjudicating the competition.

The first prize went to the Civil Engineering and Surveying group consisting of students Haajer Solomon, Rico du Plessis, Noor Basadien, Johan Christiaan Erasmus, Sollie Mathokazi and Ameer Manuel. The winning group presented a plan for putting all the elements for environmentally friendly housebuilding into a single company.

Electrical and Chemical Engineering students won second prize for portable, recyclable plastic cubes that could be used in place of cement bags.Third prize went to a Mechanical Engineering group, who proposed a plan for improving the ballasts of ships.

In addition to the prize-giving for CPUT Goes Green, awards were also handed out to the top students in various subjects. These were presented by Vidius Archer of Foundation Engineering.

The management of the gala evening itself, including all décor, refreshments and entertainment, was done by Foundation students, thereby giving them the opportunity to practise some of the project management skills they had learned during their course. The event was presented in the style of a formal red carpet affair. Students Juan Otto and Noleen Gxamza, the evening’s MC’s, ushered guests, past torch bearers, to the cocktail party that preceded the competition. A military bagpiper piped everyone into the lecture theatre. The full complement of the SA army band and singers Justin Fransman and Erick Mulumba, who are Foundation students themselves, provided musical entertainment during the evening.

“Students involved in this event made their way home with warm hearts,” said Foundation Engineering lecturer Marie-Anne Ogle,”knowing that together, memories which will last a lifetime, had been created.""

By the Foundation Engineering Department

Photographs: The winning team were (left to right) Haajer Solomon, Sollie Mathokazi, Rico du Plessis, Johan Christian Erasmus, Ameer Manuel and Noor Basadien.

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CPUT’s annual Open Day continues today.

The event takes place at the Multipurpose Hall on the Cape Town campus till 4 pm today and continues on Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm.

Every department and faculty at CPUT is represented at the event ensuring potential students are exposed to the full range of courses on offer.

Event organiser Grant Barends says Open Day is a must for all grade 11’s and 12’s.

“You can come with your school or parents,” he says.

Information on financial aid and bursaries will also be available for those who need it.

Heart FM is broadcasting live from the event.

By Lauren Kansley

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Disability Awareness Week is being celebrated on the Cape Town campus of CPUT between 14 and 18 May.

The week kicks off with the Athlone School for the Blind's Marimba band's performance in the Student Centre today during lunch.

On Wednesday yellow lines will be painted on staircases around the campuses to make moving about on campus a little easier for visually and mobility-challenged students and staff members.

Various other events will also be taking place throughout the week to help create awareness of Disabled students and staff members.

CPUT libraries will be hosting exhibitions about disability awareness on all campuses.

You can also vote for your most inspirational disabled student on the CPUT Facebook page.

Please contact Lillian Fortuin for further information on times & dates of activities on 021 953 8447, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 082 560 1743.

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It was a warm welcome in more ways than one for the hundreds of students and parents at CPUT’s Cape Town Campus.

They braved soaring temperatures to attend the first year Welcome Ceremony which kicks off a series of orientation events at the institution.

The crowd was addressed by Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Anthony Staak who, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, thanked the first years for choosing CPUT.

WELCOME: Heads of Departments and CPUT Management attended the first-year Welcome Ceremony.

"Thank you for selecting CPUT as your institution of choice. We endeavor to provide you with an opportunity to make a success of your studies and become well-balanced individuals to take your place in the working world,” he says.

"Today, you are being inducted into an exciting environment that will help shape your future."

Staak told the students that career success involved being more than just a diligent student.

"Your success at CPUT will depend on how committed you are to your development. Your learning will not stop when you leave university,” he says.

"You are amongst the chosen few given an opportunity to study; don't misuse it."

HOTTING UP: Students and their parents gathered under umbrellas and the trees while attending the Welcome Ceremony.

Tomorrow the Welcome Ceremony takes place at the Goodnow Hall at the Wellington Campus and the Auditorium at the Bellville Campus on Thursday.

By: Thando J. Moiloa and Lauren Kansley

Written by CPUT News

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The Cape Town Campus houses the largest cohort of CPUT students, with just over 16 000 students enrolled in various programmes at the campus.

Situated on the slopes of District Six and flanked by the city’s most notable landmark – Table Mountain, the campus is home to the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences which is the institution’s largest faculty. 

The vibrant Faculty of Informatics and Design is also based at this campus, while various courses from the Faculties of Engineering, Applied Sciences, and Health and Wellness Sciences are also offered here.

LEARN: The Cape Town Campus library offers a range of spaces catered towards learning

Students have access to state-of-the-art facilities, such as high-tech laboratories, computer labs, study areas, a clinic, an HIV/Aids Unit, Student Counselling, and a well-stocked library. 

The campus also boasts a vibrant student life with various activities planned throughout the year by the Department of Student Affairs.

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

CPUT students are encouraged to make use of the wide variety of services offered by the institution’s Student Counselling unit.

Each unit is staffed by psychologists and social workers, each skilled to offer counselling and therapy.

The unit also offers career counselling, which includes psychometric assessment. Other services available include welfare services, academic support and skills development.

Students also have access to free self-help material at the unit’s resources venues on the Bellville and Cape Town Campuses. The resources include video, audio and computerised information all aimed at aimed at the personal, emotional, academic and career development of students.

The unit has offices at the Cape Town, Bellville, Mowbray and Wellington Campuses and their services are also available to all students studying at the institution’s service points.

The services are free of charge.

To make an appointment to see a specialist at the Student Counselling Unit please contact them at the following numbers:

Bellville Campus
Ground Floor, Library Extension
021 959 6182

Cape Town Campus
The second level, Administration Building
021 460 3237

Mowbray Campus
Room 0.03, Barkly Davies Building
021 680 1501/ 1574

Wellington Campus
Extension to Administration Building

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

Faculty of Business and Management Sciences in collaboration with the Alumni Office recently hosted its annual Diversity Seminar on the Cape Town Campus.

The theme this year was Silent Youth Voices, and all speakers emphasized the need for this generation to make their voices heard and take responsibility for their actions.

Artscape CEO, Marlene le Roux encouraged the audience to recognize differences among themselves and shared what needs to be done in the future to bring about social cohesion, nation building and inclusiveness.

“Now is the time to think, feel and act differently,” said Le Roux.

CPUT alumnus Toni Stuart, who is a fulltime poet, told the audience that she gets paid to write, perform and teach poetry.

Stuart said her poetry comes from silence. “If there’s no silence we won’t hear others’ voices as well as our own.”

A group of Office Management and Technology (OMT) students, whose story was called Youth Voices, received the award for the Best Digital StoryTelling Video and walked away with certificates. 

Charlton Gary Brandt was selected as the Pay It Forward 2016 Champion for the volunteering he has done and continues to do in the community.

All first year OMT students have to engage in the Pay It Forward Project which is linked to the curriculum.

“Students are selected from each class to receive a merit award, based on their engagement with communities, the professionalism they display, the time periods they volunteer as well as feedback from the organizations at which they volunteer. It is imperative that students volunteer their services and in so doing, assist in uplifting communities.  Education is  not about one person being advantaged, it is about communities being the beneficiaries, ” says OMT senior lecturer Mandie Richards.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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First year Business Administration 1 students in the Office Management and Technology (OMT) Department (Faculty of Business and Management Sciences) recently donated a cheque of R40 000 to The Children’s Hospital Trust of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

The department started the initiative in 2009 as a Business Administration 1 live academic project and has to date donated R291 000 to The Trust.

During the cheque handover at the Cape Town Campus this week, OMT lecturer and project facilitator, Belinda Berman, said that the R40 000 was raised by 203 students who undertook the academic project in 2015.

“By supporting the expansion of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, you have given more children a better chance of survival, you also provided an enhanced environment for families to support their children and the staff to continue enabling the best care,” Berman told the students.

She added that more than 1 750 students had been involved in the project over the last seven years.

Prizes for the group that raised the most profit in 2015 went to Wings of Hope after they raised a whopping R6 691.50.

Berman thanked all the students for their time and efforts, The Trust and all the CPUT community for their support.  All students receive a certificate of participation and a lunch pack after the ceremony.  The winning team also receive a prize.

The annual live project takes the teams of student’s two-and-a-half terms to put complete.  Students raise funds from donation sheets, raffles, selling products on campus, at sporting events, etc.

More than equipping the students with the necessary holistic skills, the department promotes social responsibility as the donation to the hospital responds to a social need by not only CPUT but South Africa as a whole.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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The Department of Student Affairs recently held a Green Market Day on Cape Town Campus to inform students about their impact on the environment and how they can minimize their own footprint.

Representatives from the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation and Clean C gave talks and Johannesburg-based musician Cassper Nyovest entertained the crowd.

Other activities included the CPUT racing car outside the Administration building, the HIV/AIDS Unit tested volunteers in the Student Centre and 70 stalls were on display around the Piazza.

Marketing students also demonstrated the knowledge they learnt this year when they ran profitable stalls during the Market Day.

Personal Selling lecturer Tania Petersen, who co-ordinates the annual event, says the initiative was for

academic assessment and the proceeds from the sales will be donated to  Al Noor Orphanage in Woodstock.

The event challenged students to apply all the skills they acquired from their subjects such as marketing, personal selling, accounting, and End-User Computing.

Working in groups of up to 15 students they also utilized other skills like entrepreneurship, project management, team building and conflict management.

Petersen says students would also have to prepare income and expenditure statements after the event, so their knowledge of accounting was also tested.

It took the students two months to conceptualize and plan for their projects. They also had to do the branding and advertising of their projects using posters and social network sites.

The groups erected stalls around the Piazza and sold different foods, snacks, sweets and meat products to staff and students.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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As a result of protest action at our Cape Town campus this morning a decision has been taken to close only that campus immediately.

We are aware that protesters forced staff and students out of a number of buildings and started fires in the multi-purpose hall.

In the interests of everyone’s safety classes on that campus have been cancelled and staff have been encouraged to work from home for today only. Normal operations will continue tomorrow.

All other campuses should operate as normal today.

Written by Lauren Kansley
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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

CPUT’s innovation drive gained momentum when an integrated project by students in the Information Technology Department led to the creation of a robot.

The robot was built by staff and third-year students from all the department’s four streams.

“We decided to do a star wars theme for Open Day and part of the theme was to build a Star Wars Robot. We decided to build a BB8 droid,” says Project Owner Prima Inderlal.

The robot uses an aduino module, Bluetooth module, motor shield controller and a mobile app. It shows how Information technology integrates with robotics. 

“We controlled the aduino using C programming, controlled the movement of the robot using an android app which linked to the aduino via Bluetooth,” adds Inderlal.

“We have also registered on www.bb8builders.club and are possibly one of the first to complete the bot in Africa, let alone South Africa according to their member map.”

The department recently demonstrated the robot at a ceremony on the Cape Town Campus where its partners in industry showered the students with gifts in recognition of their work over public holidays, weekends and nights.

CSG International sponsored a Raspberry Pi 3 bundle to Jason McKay and Workpool sponsored R1 000 cash gift each to Brandon May and Lwamkelo Cakata.

Openbox Software sponsored 12 R400 Takealot.com vouchers to the other students who participated, while DVT sponsored some items to start the build of the robot.

The students also created a video showcasing the project which the department intends to show publically after it is edited.

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Staff members, students and members of the public are invited to get their hands dirty in support of Mandela Day at CPUT.

CPUT will be celebrating Mandela Day with former and current District Six residents on July 31 when a general clean-up of the former horticulture nursery on the Cape Town Campus will take place.

The site is the ideal spot for a community urban garden, which could benefit the community and CPUT.

The activities will include:

• A general clean up - clearing of the vegetation and rubble
• Gardening: cleaning of herb garden, composting and planting
• Maintenance: cleaning walls, painting, fixing the panels etc.
• Fixing the boundary fence
• Bricklaying of composting bays
• Cleaning and reviving the fish pond
• Cleaning and marking the location of the original Horstley Street

Register by July 21 and submit to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information contact Desmond Jackson on 021 959 6868/9 or Civic Engagement Office, New Science Building, Bellville Campus.

Mandela Day is celebrated on July 18, (Mandela’s birthday) every year and commemorates the lifetime of service the late Nelson Mandela gave to South Africa and the world.

The Mandela Day campaign encourages South Africans to spend 67 minutes to support a charity or serve in their local community. The 67 minutes symbolically represent the number of years the former President fought for human rights and the abolition of apartheid.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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CPUT’s commitment to produce work-ready graduates has seen academic departments building strong ties with industry.

The Department of Human Resource (HR) Management has launched the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) CPUT Student Chapter.

Established more than 30 years ago, the SABPP is the professional body for the country’s HR practitioners, as well as a quality assurance body for learning provision and accredits the HR academic programmes at universities.

Addressing the launch of the Student Chapter recently on the Cape Town Campus, SABPP Chief executive, Marius Meyer, said the body is meant to set students up for success.

“The HR field in South Africa is growing, in fact the country is in the top 10 in the world, so you chose the best career,” Meyer told the HR students.

“South Africa is the first country in the world to have HR standards.”

He argued that it is the role of the profession to rid the world of fraud and corruption.

Roland Huckle, the Head of School of Commerce, Management and Governmental Science at CPUT, encouraged the students to take advantage of the networking opportunities presented by the SABPP and grow themselves professionally.

During the launch the best students in the diploma and BTech programmes were awarded certificates.

Registration certificates were also handed to the chapter’s members who later elected their executive committee.

SABPP COO, Xolani Mawande, said a chapter is launched when it has at least 50 registered members, and will be given financial support by the SABPP for promoting professionalism as its recognized structure.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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The Student Learning Unit, a division under the Fundani Centre, aims to promote student learning, progression and success by creating an “empowering environment” through partnerships with all those involved in teaching and learning.

Thanks to its mentorship programme, students have access to well-trained peer tutors and mentors as well as support for the development of competencies in chemistry and physics.

The unit empowers students to deal confidently with the university’s social and academic needs by improving their ability to solve mathematical problems independently and enhancing their academic literacy proficiency.

Social support is provided through the mentorship programme, which attempts to restore the social dimension of learning that often gets lost at universities.

The programme serves as a socialisation and enculturation process that enables new students to fit into the institutional environment.

The unit employs postgraduate student as learning facilitators. During consultations they create a welcoming environment in which productive engagement is possible and the exploration of subject matter is achievable.

“The learning facilitators are favourably positioned to give assistance to students because their schooling experience is relatively fresh, and have developed a better insight on what the students are going through in their studies,” says lecturer Xena Cupido.

The programme is freely available to students from the foundation programme up to B-Tech level and appointment bookings have to be made at least three days in advance.

Students on the Cape Town Campus and surrounding satellite campuses can visit the eLearning Centre or email Siphokazimboxela on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Those on the Bellville Campus and nearby satellite campuses can visit the IT Centre or email Mziyanda Ndede on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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The issue of renaming the Cape Town campus may be a thorny one but Vice-Chancellor Dr Prins Nevhutalu says it is our obligation to act.

CPUT’s Cape Town campus (previously Cape Technikon) was built on prime real estate on the city’s edge after forced removals during apartheid pushed the District Six community out of the area.

The subsequent development of Cape Technikon on the land antagonised the community and to date much of the surrounding land remains undeveloped.

The District Six integration project is an attempt by the university to right some of the historic wrongs which were committed prior to CPUT’s existence.

Some of these interventions include land restoration- where a large parcel of land east of the campus was relinquished, a number of community projects, the development of sport facilities for the neighbouring communities, bursaries and finally the renaming of the Cape Town site to the District Six campus.

Recently the first in a series of community engagements was held between CPUT and District Six stakeholders where the possibility of renaming the campus was broached.

The meeting kicked off with an informative Geographic Information System mapping by Civil Engineering lecturer Siddique Motala which gives an exact idea of where District Six streets and landmarks were in relation to the current campus layout.

In the discussion D6 stakeholders raised concerns about the shallowness of memorialisation without due process and urged the university staff and students to educate themselves around the heritage of the area.

In summing up Nevhutalu told the group that this was only the first in a series of similar discussions.

“I agree with what you are saying. We cannot afford to do nothing, history will judge us harshly if we do that. It is not the only thing we have to do but let us reimagine this campus,” he says.

Written by Lauren Kansley

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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

CPUT students have unlimited access to state of the art computer facilities for all their academic needs in the Information Technology (IT) Centre.

Located on the Bellville Campus, the R26-million IT Centre offers students basic and advanced computer technology skills in a fully-secured environment.

The centre has approximately 1000 workstations in laboratories, giving students access to the Internet, printing and e-mail facilities that are all connected to the university’s main network.

About 1 500 students use the fully air-conditioned labs on a daily basis and enjoy the support of lab technicians and assistants at all times.

Certain labs have discipline-specific computer software programmes to cater for the requirements of the students.

The centre, which is used for online assessments, has smart boards which display important notices.

The wheelchair-friendly triple-storey building is conveniently accessible to students and staff with mobility disabilities.

In addition to security personnel and turnstiles that control access to the building 24 hours and seven days-a-week, there are surveillance cameras in every lab.

A modern kiosk which allows students to buy and load printing and data credits is located on the ground floor near the entrance.

On all other campuses students have access to world-class computer labs.

At the Cape Town Campus these facilities are located in the E-Learning building.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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