The Division of Student Affairs has embarked on a series of campaigns to help address alcohol and substance abuse and the social ills caused by it.

The initiative kicked off with a virtual dialogue held earlier this month, which was attended by 107 students and staff members, according to Student Development Practitioner,  Anette Grobler.

The panel members were Jerry Mboweni, certified life coach on addictions, Motshabi Nkoane, National Department of Social Development, Nonkosi Tyolwana, CPUT Transformation Unit, Chumani Mashwanyela: residence coordinator, Kwena Mapuma, a peer educator and Amajita Men’s Programme representative and Ditebogo Manana, National Department of Social Development.

“The use and abuse of substances have become a national and international health and mental health crisis, including in the higher education setting. We know that alcohol and substance abuse have far-reaching consequences for both users and non-users, as it directly impacts all facets of psychosocial and socioeconomic domains,” said Melanie Marais, Head of the HIV/Aids Unit.

The main objectives of these campaigns are to create awareness of:

• The use/abuse of alcohol and drugs on campuses and residences.
• When the use of alcohol and/or drugs become abuse
• The risks that go along with the use/abuse of substances and when and where to seek assistance.

Students and staff are encouraged to join this campaign titled: #BeWise.

Some of the planned activities include:

• Virtual exhibition 1 to 16 June.
• Slam poetry 1 to 5 June.
• Debate: For or against alcohol on campus? 26 to 29 July.
• Discussion groups 30 to 31 July and 13 to 14 August.
• When is enough, enough?
• When to seek help and more.
• Psycho-education sessions July to September

Should you be struggling with alcohol and/or substance abuse, contact Student Counselling via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or the Higher Health 24hour Mental Health number 0800363636.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Dear Students,

Welcome back to university. I trust that you all had a good vacation and used the time wisely to prepare for the examinations starting today.

The majority of the final assessments will be written at the Wingfield Military Base in Goodwood which is very secure and we are confident that they will go off smoothly. We have increased the security presence at all other venues where assessments will take place and the SAPS and Metro Police will also be assisting us to maintain order. We are more than confident that this time round you will be able to write your exams under peaceful conditions. Rest assured that we will not allow the examinations to be disrupted again.

Just a reminder to those students wishing to improve their CAM marks for those subjects not appearing on the current time table, you will be given the opportunity to do so during the re-assessment period which will commence on 1 February. Additionally any final assessment which is a computer based one can only be completed at the Bellville IT Centre, students who are writing in one of our remote venues like Durban, Johannesburg or the Eastern Cape need to pay special attention to that.

Students are reminded that student cards or ID documents must be produced in order to board buses or gain access to examination venues and to report at the examination venues at least one hour before the commencement of their exam. Specially arranged transport is exclusively for residence students and buses leave the Cape Town and Bellville campuses at 7am from Caledon Street and the Bellville Tennis Courts respectively (this information is also on the CPUT website). Metrorail has assured us that additional train services on the Goodwood line will be made available for those of you using public transport.

It has come to my attention that a number of fraudulent notices purporting to be from myself or CPUT Management have been posted on various social media platforms. The official communication channels remain the CPUT website, your student email account as well as the official CPUT and CPUT Student Affairs Facebook pages. The majority of you already access your information from these places so I urge you to continue to do so. If in doubt contact our call centre 021 959 6767 or your faculty directly.

Finally, everything of the best for the forthcoming examinations.

Your Vice-Chancellor,
Dr Prins Nevhutalu   

Written by CPUT News

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