This week, CPUT hosted iNEER’s Joint International Conference on Engineering Education and Research and International Conference on Information and Technology (ICEE/ICIT) over a three days at the Cape Town campus.

A global professional organization formed by the world engineering community to promote mutual progress in teaching and learning through international cooperation, iNEER is a non-profit organisation that seeks to promote development of international partnerships through information sharing.

The conference was devoted to various aspects of future cross-regional collaboration in ICT for education and research and it emphasized the development of international partnerships in education and research. It also served as a forum for establishing new contacts and discussing future projects.

CPUT’s Mourine Achieng presented a paper on the adoption and challenges of Electronic Voting (e-voting) within the South African Context. Achieng said the Independent Electoral Commission was hesitant to introduce e-voting because it needed proof that a voter had voted but welcomed the system for counting the votes as doing so manually is time-consuming.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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On 6 and 7 October 2009 CPUT’s Bellville Campus served as the filming location for a number of television programmes on the theme of student voter education.

The programmes were commissioned by SABC Education in partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET) and Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) as part of a nationwide project that aims to engage students in discussions around the principles of democratic elections.

According to SABC Education Commissioning Editor Surekha Singh, the project came about as a result of a highly successful voter registration campaign for the September 2008 national elections, that included segments filmed at two South African Universities.

With several Universities holding SRC elections during the fourth quarter of 2009, the DoHET and IEC were encouraged to again partner with the SABC produce similar programmes, thereby helping South African universities ensure that their student governance elections are free and fair. CPUT was selected to represent the Western Cape Province.

Among the programmes filmed at CPUT were two live broadcasts of Shift, a daily lunchtime talk show on SABC1 in which young people and special guests discuss topics relevant to the country’s youth. The programme attracts between 800 000 and one million viewers per episode.

“Part of our campaign is to have face-to-face discussions in order to reach a wide audience, so we take Shift along,” said Singh.

The Shift broadcasts provided a forum for discussions on issues around student governance elections, including a conversation about the challenges faced by women in leadership. Discussions on lighter topics and musical inserts were also featured in the broadcast.

The discussion panels included staff and students from CPUT, students from other Western Cape universities, members of the IEC and other special guests.

The outside broadcast project has been endorsed by CPUT Head of Student Affairs Sibusiso Chalufu.

In a communication to staff and students sent prior to filming, Chalufu noted, “As Student Affairs we have welcomed the idea of the OB (outside broadcast) as we felt that it would add value and dovetail with our own SRC Elections Vibrancy Project.”

Having wrapped up filming in the Western Cape, the production team will be continuing the project at universities in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Various pre-recorded documentary programmes, based on footage shot during the outside broadcast project will be broadcast by the SABC in January 2010. 

Written by CPUT News
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Dr Brigalia Bam was honoured for her contribution to the education sphere with an Honourary Doctorate on Tuesday evening.

Bam is best known for her role as the former chairwoman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and is respected for her smooth management of the electoral system in SA under her watch.

Bam was honoured by CPUT with a Doctorate in Education (DEd) and dedicated the honour to the hard-working women of South Africa.

“I accept this humbling honour because I think it represents more than just an honour for an individual but it is a symbolic recognition of all the people who have moulded me into who I am today,” she said.   

“I also take this honour to be a recognition of the strides women have made against all odds and adversities.”

Addressing the crowd during the graduation ceremony Bam encouraged universities to engage with their communities and not be ivory towers.

Bam also warned graduates to defy the lures of self-centredness and tenders, but instead to listen to the cries of their communities and be socially responsive.

She added that such work would ensure that when graduates pass on they would leave behind a legacy and not a vacancy.

More than 500 certificates, diplomas and degrees were awarded during the ceremony including two doctorates.

The Vice-chancellor’s medal was awarded to Carike Kriel, B Ed (HONS), who obtained 35 distinctions out of the 37 subjects with a final aggregate of 82.37% over the five years of study.

Dean’s Medallist Charlton Davids, B Ed, obtained 38 distinctions out of the 40 subjects with a final aggregate of 81.37% over the four years of study.   

Written by Kwanele Butana

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A collaboration between the Journalism Programme and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)’s Western Cape office will be aimed at fostering and researching youth participation in the 2021 local government elections in the province.

CPUT and the IEC have been working together for several years and this year’s collaboration will involve several online activities.

The journalism programme will assist the IEC to curate content to promote participation by South African youths in the elections.

The IEC will provide real-life opportunities for students to develop their skills in electoral news media production.

“The collaboration, especially on our side, is born out of a need to emphasise the importance of our young people and their participation in the electoral process, not only as bystanders, commentators, observers even but as active participants, be it as a voter or even as a candidate”, said Michael Hendrickse, Head of the IEC provincial office.
Journalism lecturer Sisanda Nkoala said while the youth vote is a very important one, apathy among young people when it comes to electoral matters has been widely acknowledged and is something that has puzzled society.
“One of the initiatives that we will be engaged in will be research that looks at why it is that young people in the province are not engaged, or are thinking of not voting and then using those findings to craft messaging in the form of public service announcements etc. that will hopefully prompt young people to see the elections as something that they want to get involved in.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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