The year 2008 started on a high note at CPUT with the appointment of two Deputy Vice-Chancellors and a Dean of Students. The three senior management staff joined the institution at the beginning of February.

Dr Chris Nhlapo, previously with the National Research Foundation (NRF), has taken charge as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Technology Innovation, Partnerships, Community Engagement and Academic Planning.

Mr Jayanthlal Ramkisson Bhana, who has been attached to the Walter Sisulu University as Interim Registrar, assumed the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Operations. His portfolios are Human Resources (including transformation), Finance (including procurement) and Facilities (including safety, security, cleaning and special projects).

Mrs Cora Njoli-Motale has been appointed Dean of Students. She has been Executive Director: Dean of Students at the University of South Africa (Unisa).

Written by CPUT News

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Students and staff members who contend with disabilities can now access a variety of support services at the University’s new Disability Unit.

The Unit, situated at the Bellville Campus IT Centre, not only features cutting-edge facilities, such as computer equipment for those with visual, hearing, motor and learning impairments but also serves as an information centre for anyone who wishes to learn more about how to accommodate disabilities in working or student life.

The Unit was launched at a ceremony on Bellville Campus on 24 October 2008. CPUT Transformation Manager Sam Henkeman served as Programme Director.

Dean of Students Cora Motale opened the proceedings by thanking the individuals who had championed the project, including the members of the Disability Forum and the Coordinator of the Unit, Dr Nina Du Toit. ‘We will never take any decision without consulting people with disabilities,” Motale said.

Diane Bell, of the Faculty of Business, shared her story about how she came to be one of the original motivators for the Unit. She spoke about how, as the mother of a child with hearing loss, she had considered what kind of environment her daughter would face when she entered higher education.

A discussion with a student with a cochlear implant and the atmosphere of change during the period when the Peninsula and Cape Technikons became a University of Technology added further impetus to laying the groundwork for a support facility.

Bell, together with like-minded colleagues formed a Disability Forum. With the University’s support, the ideas raised in the forum were put into a proposal, leading to the creation of a Disability Unit.

Disability Unit Coordinator Dr Du Toit then described some of the services that the Unit offers and called on the CPUT community to help the Unit achieve its aim of providing an outstanding support service.

“We need your understanding of what we try to achieve,” she said, “We need your moral support and we need your active input into our activities.”

Reinette Popplestone, Manager of the University of Cape Town Disability Service, and Andrew Merryweather, General Manager of the Restaurant at Theatre on the Bay, were guest speakers.

Popplestone, who is visually impaired herself, discussed the challenges that typically face the accommodation of disability at universities. Merryweather, who suffers from paralysis as a result of spinal cord injury, discussed his experience working with Prof Simeon Davies at the Human Performance Laboratory. “Under Prof Davies’ guidance I was actively doing something to better my situation,” he said, “This empowered me again and I have being going from strength to strength since.”

Zuko Mbolekwa, Treasurer General of the SRC added further words of motivation. He stressed that the University should improve its representation of disabled students in sporting codes and other student activities.

Two musical interludes during the ceremony demonstrated the talents of young people coping with disability. The Athlone School for the Blind delighted the audience with Marimba rhythms. Visually impaired violinist Morne van der Merwe of Stellenbosch University gave a virtuoso performance, accompanied by Dr Du Toit on piano.

After the ceremony, guests toured an exhibition at the library and explored the Unit's facilities.

The launch of the Disability Unit marks the start of a long-term process of improving the University’s disability support. Dr Du Toit currently visits all campuses regularly in order gather information about, and accommodate, the needs of disabled individuals who work and study there.

The Unit hopes to eventually develop permanent support facilities on all major campuses of the institution.

By Ilana Abratt

Written by CPUT News
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Students used waste material to produce eye-catching garments during the recent Online Green Fashion Show organised by the Greener Campus Initiative (GCI), a  student society advocating for environmental awareness.

 The show saw students creating fashion masterpieces to raise environmental awareness and promote sustainability. GCI chairperson Sisipo Mpemba said the show was intended to raise awareness about recycling using fashion as an outlet, and that it was held online due to the lockdown regulations which prevent mass gatherings owing to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The designers used recycled and upcycled plastic and paper to create colourful dresses and posted their designs on the Department of Student Affairs’ Facebook page. After viewing the creations on the page their fellow students then voted for their favourite designs to be in the top five.

Subsequently, a panel of judges composed of staff members from CPUT and the World Wide Fund for Nature decided on the following winners:

Zandile Vuke came first and walked away with R3 500;

Khanyisa Ngubentombi came second and won R2 500 and;

Phumla Mlamla was third and got R2 000.

The other two finalists, Zonele Vuke and Yandisa Sogoni, did not go home empty-handed either as they each received R1 000 for their efforts.

Dean of Students, Prem Coopoo said she was very proud of the environmental awareness work done by the GCI over the last couple of years. Coopoo added that Student Development Officer, Melani-Ann Hara who is also one of the coordinators for GCI, had raised the bar by coupling waste management with fashion.

The fashion show’s videos and inspiring designs can be viewed on the Student Affairs Facebook page.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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The third instalment in a series of welcoming ceremonies for the first-year students concluded successfully at the Bellville campus' multipurpose hall on Thursday, 19 January 2012.

Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof Anthony Staak, addressed a full house of students, their parents and guardians by extending a warm welcome to the institution. Members of Executive Management, including the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, Dr Chris Nhlapo and Dean of Students, Cora Motale were also present to welcome the first years.

"For many of you, this is your first experience with tertiary education, which is very different from the high school environment you became accustomed to", he said.

"We hope that in the coming years, you will discover that you made a wise choice to further your education at CPUT and that you'll even consider returning for your postgraduate studies."

"We endeavour to help develop you into mature, well-balanced individuals", he added.

Prof Staak concluded by emphasising a need for students to value the opportunity they have been given, saying: "You as new students carry a huge responsibility to do the best that you can during your time here."

The Orientation programme continues for first-year students until Friday, whilst registration for new and returning students is underway on the main campuses for the remainder of the month.

By: Thando J. Moiloa

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Women in Leadership launched its 2008 programme at a well-attended ceremony on 9 May at the Granger Bay Campus.

The aim of Women in Leadership, an organisation within the Student Development Department, is to equip female students to become good leaders of tomorrow. The launch featured several speakers who elaborated on how this aim could be achieved.

Ms Mastura Jamodien opened the ceremony by discussing the importance of women’s issues in transformation. Ms Cora Motale, Dean of Students, also added her voice to the proceedings. “We are here to grow and that growth must be sustainable – something to take back home to our society,” she said. Dr Piet Louw, head of Student Affairs encouraged female students to develop their potential as young women by asking themselves who they are and what they have to offer.

The launch included a drumming session as well as musical entertainment from Idols star Ezra. An address on the importance of “going back to basics” by psychologist Bernie September closed the ceremony.

Among the events scheduled for the 2008 programme are workshops on self-management, communication skills, diversity management, project management, conflict management and leadership skills. A tour of parliament, intervarsity debating session and outreach programme will also be taking place.

By Ilana Abratt and Gregory Dean-Brown

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The Western Cape Department of Local Government and Housing’s 1 000 Volunteers Campaign got a serious boost recently when more than 200 students from Cape Peninsula University of Technology and their lecturers brought together their various skills to build low-cost houses for the community of Kewtown in Athlone.

Saluting the students and lecturers during their first day on-site, CPUT Dean of Students, Ms Cora Motale, said it gives her “immense gratitude to be there on such an auspicious occasion.” She said partnering and participating in such community ventures was part of the CPUT’s community engagement initiatives.

“Our presence at CPUT today signals our unwavering buy-in. We are proud to be associated with finally reversing the legacy of apartheid where people lived in undignified spaces,” she said. She thanked all those who made the project possible and wished the students and their lecturers a “meaningful engagement” with the project.

While various departments at CPUT will be involved in the project, the greater pool of students has mainly been drawn from the Departments of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Building. They will work on the site for twelve days during which they will be involved in reading plans, setting out foundations, trenching, bricklaying, plumbing and painting among other things.

The CPUT volunteers’ involvement is in line with the institution’s mission of being responsive to community needs by getting involved in community outreach projects.

The project was launched by the MEC for Local Government and Housing, Richard Dyantyi, in February. In its intention to deliver promised volumes of houses to needy families in the Western Cape, the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape (PAWC): Department of Local Government and Housing embarked on this campaign to engage various sectors of society to assist with its People’s Housing Projects in townships such as Wallacedene, Philippi, Kewtown and Athlone. This is a pilot project that will run until June 2008.

Mr Carl October, a lecturer at CPUT’s Department of Civil Engineering, said not only are the students going to contribute towards the provision of houses for the homeless but that they are also going to benefit by getting to apply their learnt skills.

“We are going to have an assessment each day and students will get marks from these assessments,” said Mr October.

By Thami Nkwanyane, Marketing and Communication Department

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