Dr Bongani Ncube, a researcher at the Centre for Water and Sanitation Research, has recently scooped a 2017 Water Research Commission (WRC) Knowledge Tree Award.

Ncube won the award in the ‘Empowerment of Communities’ Category in recognition of her research projects which focus on smallholder farmers in the Western Cape.

"I feel honoured and privileged to receive such an award. This award means a lot to me personally, the Research Unit and CPUT,” she says.

“It gives me great pleasure that my team have made a difference in the lives of the farmers in such a short period of time. The research has built capacity through MSc students and collaboration with the Breede-Gouritz Catchment Agency."

The awards celebrate men and women who make a major impact in pursuing excellence in the water science domain, and were presented during the third biennial WRC symposium held recently in Ekurhuleni under the theme ‘Adaptation to the new normal’.

Ncube recently completed a project that saw farmers and institutions collaborating to find solutions in accessing water and agriculture knowledge. She previously documented indigenous knowledge strategies for drought management in another project in the same province.

She is grateful to the institutions involved in her research work, the farmers and the team of students who work with her.

The research also further strengthened relations between CPUT and the Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency, who have since 2013 been collaborating through a Memorandum of Agreement with the University of Western Cape.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Four academics in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment have achieved National Research Foundation (NRF) ratings for 2021 - 2026.

The four staff members were Dr Asis Patnaik (Department of Clothing and Textile Technology) who was awarded with a C2 rating, Dr Bongani Ncube (Civil Engineering and Surveying) and Prof Robert Van Zyl (Electrical Electronic and Computer Engineering) both achieved a C3 rating while Dr Velaphi Msomi (Mechanical Engineering) a Y2 rating.

The Faculty’s Dean, Prof Marshall Sheldon, said the NRF rating system is a key driver in the national science system towards global competitiveness. Sheldon added that the ratings are based on a review system through local and international peers of an individual’s research contributions and impact over the last eight years.

“We are proud to have these esteemed researchers as part of our faculty. What an achievement and keep up the good work,” said the ecstatic Dean.

Ncube, a researcher at the Centre for Water and Sanitation Research, said the C rating is awarded to established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in the field, who are recognised by their peers as having:

Produced a body of quality work, the core of which has coherence and attests to ongoing engagement with the field; and

Demonstrated the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods to investigate them.

“A C 3 rating means that most of the reviewers who assessed my application concurred that I am an established researcher,” added Ncube.

This rating allows her to pause and reflect on the direction of her research based on what both the local and international reviewers recommended. “When I came to South Africa about eight years ago I picked on research that was already taking place. I then developed my niche research areas in water and agriculture,” she continued. “So, now I need to decide on a specialisation area that integrates both.”

She perceives her new rating as acknowledgment and confirmation that her research is of good quality and that she is on the right track. She added that for CPUT it means the institution’s status is rising as more researchers get counted among leaders in their research fields.

Msomi’s Y2 rating is a category that is awarded to researchers who are younger than 40 years and have their research output recognised internationally. He has been given this rating for five years, after which there will be a review. The review will look at whether he is growing or not. “If I have achieved more during this five-year period, I will then be put to another category which is higher than Y ratings such as C, B and A. The rating comes with funding,” he explains.

This rating means Msomi is ranked as one of the top researchers in the country. The number of rated researchers in an institution also contributes towards the ranking of the university. This means there will be a fraction of points that CPUT will gain from this rating.  

Msomi still doesn’t believe that he is a rated researcher and this is due to his rural educational background. “So I think it will take maybe a year for me to believe that I am a rated researcher... I believe this rating will encourage other researchers in my Department to give research a different view. I also believe that this rating will encourage my postgraduate students in taking their studies more seriously than before.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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