UCT NEWS 2006 ALUMNI MAGAZINE UCT NEWS NEWS UCT ALUMNI MAGAZINE ALUMNI 2006

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PUBLISHED BY COMMUNICATION & MARKETING DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN Climbers going to the top • Architects scoop prizes • Alumni news • Blowback in Beirut 14

UCT 16 NEWS 2006 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

3 Foreword 7 UCT writers bag awards aplenty

23 14 Open Heart – UCT cardiologist Prof Bongani Mayosi 16 Architecture winners 21 Lerato Mbele is a rising star in the SA media 23 Streetwires - business with a twist contents 26 Tristan da Cunha turns 500 30 Cover picture: 30 UCT alumni scale new heights Etienne van Heerden, Mary Watson and Andrew Brown. (Photo by Shawn Benjamin) 34 The Middle East – two perspectives 37 Nonagenarian David Meyerowitz PUBLISHED BY COMMUNICATION & 39 David Goldblatt MARKETING DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN 43 Zapiro draws fire EDITOR MEGAN MORRIS 34 50 Alumni - where are they now? WRITERS PETER ALEX 60 Nadia Davids writes a note from afar SHUMI CHIMOMBE VANESSA HERMAN CHRIS McEVOY MXOLISI MGXASHE MEGAN MORRIS CHWAYITA NQIWA HELEN THÉRON

43 Mission Statement

Our mission is to be an outstanding teaching and research foreword her short story Jungfrau. And on our staff at this juncture of history? We have a university, educating for life and addressing the challenges are even more great writers: like Etienne student body of just over 20 000 and facing our society van Heerden, who added to his already over 90 countries are represented on our substantial collection of accolades this campus, making ours one of the most year, winning his fifth ATKV Prize and diverse campuses on the globe. his third Hofmeyr Prize for his latest An important landmark for UCT was novel, In Stede van die Liefde. the institutional audit by the Higher Edu- Also, 2002 Alan Paton Award-win- cation Quality Committee, the first of its Educating for life means that our • be flexible on access, active in redress, ner Jonathan Kaplan was in Cape Town kind at a public institution, wrapped up educational process must provide: and rigorous on success; this year to launch his new title, Contact earlier this year. It was an exercise that • promote equal opportunity and the full Wounds. required us to put our academic prac- • a foundation of skills, knowledge development of human potential; From books we go to bricks and tice under close, and sometimes painful, and versatility that will last a life-time, • strive for inter-disciplinary and inter- mortar. Our School of Architecture, scrutiny for our self-evaluation report. Planning and Geomatics has produced The result is a very valuable document despite a changing environment; institutional collaboration and synergy; award-winning architects and urban that has given us the tools to ensure our • research-based teaching and learning; and value and promote the contribution designers: Professors Dave Dewar and teaching and learning practices will re- • critical enquiry in the form of the that all our members make to realising Lucien le Grange, who won the 2006 sult in yet more students making their search for new knowledge and better our mission. national award in the category Best Sec- mark on society. understanding; and toral Planning Project at the South Af- UCT’s best export remains you, our • an active developmental role in our To equip people with life-long skills we Dear alumni and friends rican Planning Institute’s international graduate. We are proud of your achieve- cultural, economic, political, scientific must and will: conference. ments and we share your success. In Professor Jo Noero’s design for The these pages we’d like to share some of and social environment. s I write this I am mindful that Red Location Museum of the People’s ours with you. Enjoy the read. Keep in • promote the love of learning, the skill A many of you are scattered across Struggle in Port Elizabeth bagged the touch with your alumni co-ordinators Addressing the challenges facing our of solving problems, and the spirit of the globe, pursuing careers and callings. prestigious Royal Institute of British around the world. Let us know how you society means that we must come to critical enquiry and research; and I hope that this edition of UCT News will Architects Lubetkin Prize for the most are doing. terms with our past, be cognisant of the • take excellence as the bench-mark for bring you a little closer to home. outstanding work of architecture outside present, and plan for the future. all we do. In compiling a publication like UCT the United Kingdom and the European News, we’re aware that the items we fea- Union. And Piet Louw collected the ture barely scratch the surface in show- Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Archi- In this, it is central to our mission that We are committed to academic freedom, casing the successes of our alumni. tecture and Design for his work on the we: critical scholarship, rational and creative But when I browsed through the con- Boulders Beach information centre. thought, and free enquiry. It is part of tents, I was struck again by the rich spread During 2006 we continued our • recognise our location in Africa and our our mission to ensure that these ideals of talent and diversity. We are honoured to successful Alumni Leadership Forum, Vice-Chancellor and Principal historical context; live; this necessarily requires a dynamic have played a significant part in this devel- launched last year as an important means Professor Njabulo S Ndebele • claim our place in the international process of finding the balance between opment. There is no greater investment a of connecting with our alumni. First at university can make than in its people. the podium was Vuyani Ngalwana, who community of scholars; freedom and responsibility, rights and What can you expect from UCT was appointed the country’s Pension • strive to transcend the legacy of obligations, autonomy and accountability, News? You will find articles on the activi- Funds Adjudicator in March 2004. apartheid in South Africa and to transparency and efficiency, and ties and alumni from all UCT faculties, Last year I mentioned that in my sec- overcome all forms of gender and other permanence and transience; and of doing and a few especially noteworthy areas ond term as Vice-Chancellor and Prin- oppressive discrimination; this through consultation and debate. are highlighted as well. cipal I would strive to make this period In our main feature, Winning Writers, of my tenure a time of delivery-orien- we corral other alumni, literary luminar- tated leadership. I remain committed to ies such as Andrew Brown, whose Coldsleep taking UCT forward as a transformed, Lullaby won this year’s Sunday Times Fic- fully representative institution of higher tion prize. MA in creative writing gradu- learning; one that serves the commu- ate and UCT lecturer Mary Watson won nity. the Caine Prize for African Writing for What does the university look like

UCT NEWS 2006 3 intshayelelo voorwoord Bafundi beminyaka edlulileyo nez- kuyibhala ethi In Stede van die Liefde. ephakamileyo elineenguqu, nelinika wonke Die UK se Skool vir Argitekte, Beplan- Dit was ’n oefening wat vereis het dat ons ihlobo ezibekekileyo Kunye noJonathan Kaplan, ow- ubani amathuba; iziko elilukhonzayo ul- ning en Geomatiek het op hul beurt weer die soeklig op ons akademiese praktyke aphumelela ibhaso i-Alan Paton Award untu lwalo. Geagte alumni en vriende bekroonde argitekte en stadsbeplanners werp met die oog op ’n – soms pynlike ngo-2002, ebezile apha eKapa kulo nyaka Ijongeka njani iyunivesithi ngoku? opgelewer: Professors Dave Dewar en – selfevalueringsverslag. Die gevolg is ’n jengokuba ndibhala le ntshayelelo ezokwazisa ngencwadi yakhe entsha ethi Sinabafundi abangaphezulu kancinci nje erwyl ek hierdie woorde skryf, is Lucien le Grange, wat in 2006 die na- besonder waardevolle dokument wat ons Nndiyayiqonda into yokuba uninzi Contact Wounds. kuma-20 000 abaphuma kumazwe anga- Tek terdeë bewus van die feit dat sionale toekenning in die kategorie Beste die nodige middele bied om te verseker lwenu luthe saa emazweni ahlukileyo eh- Sisuke kwiincwadi sibhekise kw- ma-90 ehlabathini liphela, nto leyo esenza baie van u oor die aardbol versprei is, Sektorale Beplanningsprojek by die Suid- dat ons onderrig- en leerpraktyke voort- labathi, nixakekile yimisebenzi eniyenzayo ezokwakha. Icandelo lethu, i-School of ukuba sibe yeyona khampasi iinenkcubeko besig om uiteenlopende loopbane en Afrikaanse Beplanningsinstituut se inter- gaan om studente te lewer wat hul merk nalubizo lwenu. Ndiyathemba ukuba olu Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, liv- ezahlukileyo ehlabathini. roepings te volg. Ek hoop dat hierdie nasionale konferensie verower het. op die gemeenskap kan maak. shicilelo lwe-UCT News luza kunikhum- elise abayili-zakhiwo nabayili beedolophu Isiganeko esibalulekileyo esiqhubeki- uitgawe van UCT News u ’n bietjie Professor Jo Noero se ontwerp vir The Die Universiteit van Kaapstad se be- buza ekhaya. bodidi oluphezulu nabaphumelele ama- leyo e-UCT ibe luphicotho lweziko olwen- nader aan die huis sal laat voel. Red Location Museum of People’s Strug- ste uitvoerproduk bly u, ons gegradueer- Ekuqulunqeni kwethu ushicilelo olufa- bhaso: uNjingalwazi Dave Dewar kunye ziwe yi-Higher Education Quality Com- Tydens die samestelling van ’n publi- gle in Port Elizabeth is met die Konink- des. Ons is trots op u prestasies en ons deel na ne-UCT News, siyayiqonda into yokuba noLucien le Grange, ophumelele ibhaso mittee oluqukunjelweyo apha kulonyaka kasie soos UCT News is ons bewus van die like Instituut van Britse Argitekte se toon- in u sukses. In die bladsye wat volg, wil amanqaku esiwafakayo abetha phezulu nje likazwelonke kwicandelo le-Best Sectoral siwuphetheyo, noluluphicotho lokuqala feit dat die artikels wat ons insluit slegs die aangewende Lubetkin-prys vir die mees ons graag van óns sukses met u ook deel. ekuboniseni impumelelo yabafundi bemin- Planning Project ngo-2006, kwinkomfa lohlobo lwalo ukwenziwa kwiziko likarhu- oortjies van die seekoei is wat die uiteenlo- uitstaande argitektoniese werk buite die Lekker lees. Bly in kontak met u alumni- yaka edlulileyo beli ziko. yamazwe ngamazwe ebiququzelelwe yi- lumente. Lo ibingumsebenzi onzima obu- pende suksesse van ons alumni betref. Verenigde Koninkryk en die Europese koördineerders wêreldwyd. En laat ons Kodwa ndithe ndakujonga kwiziqulatho South African Planning Institute. funa ukuba siziqwalasele nzulu iinkqubo Maar terwyl ek deur die inhoud ge- Unie bekroon. Terwyl Piet Louw die gerus weet hoe dit met u gaan. ndamangazwa kwakhona bubuninzi beetal- Uyilo lukaNjingalwazi Jo Noero lwe- zemfundo zeziko lethu, kwaye bekungalu- blaai het, was ek tog opnuut getref deur Athenaeum-museum vir Argitektuur en ente zenu nokwahluka kwazo. Sibabalwe Red Location Museum of the People’s langa ukuzibhenca, kude kube buhlungu die wye omvang van talent en diversiteit. Ontwerp in Chicago se prys vir sy werk ukuba sibe sidlale indima ebalulekileyo ku- Struggle in Port Elizabeth, luphumelele ngamanye amaxesha, kodwa bekufanele Ons voel geëer dat ons ’n betekenisvolle aan die inligtingsentrum te Boulders- phuhliso lwenu. Ayikho into exabiseke ka- ibhaso elinodumo, i-Royal Institute of Brit- ukuba sikwenze oku ukuze siqulunqe in- rol in hierdie ontwikkeling kon speel. ’n strand ingepalm het. khulu kwiyunivesithi njengabantu bayo. ish Architects Lubetkin Prize, njengowona gxelo yokuzihlola. Isiphumo sale nkqubo Universiteit kan trouens geen groter be- Ons het in 2006 ons suksesvolle Alum- Ningalindela ntoni kwi-UCT News? msebenzi mhle woyilo lwesakhiwo owen- luxwebhu oluluncedo nolubalulekileyo ka- legging as in sy mense maak nie. ni Leierskapsforum, wat verlede jaar as ’n Vise-kanselier en Prinsipaal Niza kufumana amanqaku angezinto ez- ziwe ngaphandle kwi-United Kingdom khulu, olusinikeze izixhobo zokuqinisekisa Wat kan u van UCT News verwag? U belangrike kontakmedium tussen UK en Professor Njabulo S Ndebele iqhubekayo kunye neenkcukacha zabantu ne-European Union. Ukanti noPiet Louw ukuba iinkqubo zethu zokufundisa nezoku- sal artikels oor die bedrywighede en alum- ons alumni begin is, voortgesit. Eerste ababengabafundi kuwo onke amacandelo ufumene ibhaso le-Chicago Athenaeum funda kwabafundi ziza kukhokelela ekube- ni van al die UK se fakulteite daarin vind, agter die podium was Vuyani Ngalwana, ase-UCT kwiminyaka edlulileyo kwaye Museum of Architecture and Design, ni babe baninzi nangaphezulu abafundi terwyl enkele spesifiek noemenswaardige wat in Maart 2004 as Suid-Afrika se Pen- ikwakhona nemiba ebalulekileyo eqaqan- ngomsebenzi wakhe woyilo lweziko lolwazi ababa negalelo elihle eluntwini. areas spesiale aandag geniet. sioenfonds-arbiter aangestel is. jisiweyo. elikwi-Boulders Beach. Esona siqhamo sihle se-UCT isenguwe, In ons hoofartikel, Winning Writers, Ek het verlede jaar genoem dat ek Kwinqaku lethu eliphambili, i-Winning Ngo-2006 siye saqhubeka ne-Alumni wena mntu ufumene isidanga kweli ziko lig ons u in omtrent ander alumni, literêre daarna streef om my tweede termyn as Writers, sinichazela ngabanye abafundi aba- Leadership Forum yethu enempumelelo, lethu. Siyazingca ngawe kwaye sinebhon- ligpunte soos Andrew Brown, wie se Cold- Vise-kanselier as ’n tyd van dienslewer- bebefunda kweli ziko, abantu abaqaqam- ebisungulwe kunyaka ophelileyo, njengen- go ngoko ukuphumezileyo ebomini bakho, sleep Lullaby vanjaar se Sunday Times-fik- ende leierskap te benut. Ek verbind myself bileyo kuluncwadi, abafana no-Andrew dlela ebalulekileyo yokuqhagamshelana sikwavuyisana nawe ngempumelelo yakho. sieprys verower het. Mary Watson, MA opnuut daartoe om die UK vorentoe te lei Brown, obhale incwadi ethi Coldsleep Lullaby, nabafundi bethu beminyaka edlulileyo. Kula maphepha sifuna ukwabelana nawe in skeppende skryfwerk, het die Caine- as ’n getransformeerde, volledig verteen- nethe yaphumelela ibhaso leencwadi zama- Obe ngowokuqala ukukhwela eqongeni ngeyethu impumelelo. Lonwabele olu shi- prys vir Afrika-literatuur vir haar kortver- woordigende instituut vir hoër opvoeding; bali le-Sunday Times kulo nyaka. ibe nguVuyani Ngalwana, owonyulwe cilelo. Uze ungalibali ukumana uqhagam- haal Jungfrau verower. Op ons personeel ’n instituut wat die gemeenskap dien. UMary Watson, onesidanga se-MA njenge-Pension Funds Adjudicator yeli shelana nabaququzeleli babafundi bemin- pryk ook nog ander groot skrywers, soos Hoe sien die universiteit op hierdie in creative writing, uphumelele ibhaso i- lizwe ngoMatshi 2004. yaka edlulileyo abakwiindawo ngeendawo Etienne van Heerden, wat vanjaar sy lit- tydstip van die geskiedenis daar uit? Ons Caine Prize for African Writing, ngebali Kunyaka ophelileyo ndiyikhankanyile ehlabathini. Siyathanda ukuva ukuba erêre segetog voortgesit het deur sy vyfde het ’n studenteliggaam van net oor die 20 lakhe elifutshane alibhalileyo elisihloko salo into yokuba kwixesha elimisiweyo lesi- uqhuba njani na, uzuncede usazise. ATKV-prys en sy derde Hofmeyr-prys vir 000 studente en meer as 90 lande word op sithi Jungfrau. Ukanti nakubasebenzi bethu bini lokuba ndibe kwesi sikhundla njen- sy jongste roman, In Stede van die Liefde, te ons kampus verteenwoordig, wat van UK sinabo ababhali abakhulu: abafana no- goMncedisi weNtloko yeYunivesithi neN- wen. een van die mees verteenwoordigende Etienne van Heerden, owongeze kuma- qununu yale Yunivesithi, ndiza kuzama En wenner van die Alan Paton-prys in kampusse op aarde maak. bhaso akhe amaninzi awafumeneyo kulo ukuba ndenze ukuba eli xesha ibe lixesha 2002, Jonathan Kaplan, was vroeër van- ’n Belangrike mylpaal vir UK was nyaka, ngokuphumelela ibhaso lakhe lesih- lobunkokeli obujolise kuphumezo lwezinto UMncedisi weNtloko yeYunivesithi jaar in Kaapstad om sy nuwe werk, Contact die institusionele oudit deur die Gehalte- lanu le-ATKV Prize nelesithathu lakhe le- ezibalulekileyo. Ndisazimisele ukwenza neNqununu Wounds, bekend te stel. komitee vir Hoër Opvoeding, die eerste in Hofmeyr Prize, ngencwadi yakhe asanda ukuba i-UCT mayibe liziko lemfundo UNjingalwazi Njabulo S Ndebele Van boeke, na bakstene en bouwerk. sy soort, wat vroeër vanjaar afgehandel is.

4 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 5 Interspersed throughout this edition of UCT News is a calendar of highlights, a potpourri of events that showcase achievements at UCT from August 2005 to July 2006. Some of these stories are of an academic nature, others administrative, a few are sporty, many are celebra- tory. Enjoy them with us. A year in the life of a university winning writers It’s been a year of note for writers of fiction from and at August 2005 September 2005 UCT. One look at the line-up at the inaugural Cape Town Book Fair attested to that. UCT staff, students and gradu- Going up: Pass rates for crucial first-year courses improve Remembered: Former ates were out in full force to release new books, speak on steadily over the past four years, and postgraduate enrol- UCT vice-chancellor Dr writing, or pick up sought-after awards. For this edition, ments continue to grow, says UCT’s 2004 Teaching and Mamphela Ramphele Learning Report. delivers the Steve Biko we thought we’d showcase some of our literary winners. Memorial Lecture, her address titled Citizenship Clean sweep: Prof Anu- as Stewardship. suya Chinsamy-Turan wins the Shoprite Check- Dark horse pips heavy- ers/SABC2 Woman of the Year Award and the Lion’s share: With R21.6-million allocated for 2005, UCT weights at literary post Department of Science leads the field for the second year as the major recipient of and Technology’s Dis- THRIP funding, a big driver of technological collaboration be- BY MEGAN MORRIS tinguished Woman in tween tertiary institutions and industry. Science Award. ne can forgive Andrew Brown for feeling a little out of Caring about healthcare: The Faculty of Health Sciences Oplace among the nominees for this year’s Sunday Times Bats: Dr David Jacobs takes learning beyond the medical school when it opens its Fiction Prize, considered by some to be the most prestigious (Small Mammal Re- first “purpose-built” student learning centre in Bonteheuwel. literary award for English writing in the country. search Unit) announces At this R2.8-million facility (plus another R600 000 towards The short list was particularly foreboding - UCT’s Profes- equipment and furnishing), the business end of community the discovery of a new sors JM Coetzee (Slow Man) and André P Brink (Praying Mantis) healthcare, UCT students will receive valuable training in bat species, a small yel- need no introductions, and although Russel Brownlee (Garden low-bellied bat from the their respective fields. “Doctors, physiotherapists, occupa- tional therapists, etc, all need exposure to the community re- of the Plagues) and Consuelo Roland (The Good Cemetery Guide) St Lucia Wetland Park, were first-time novelists, they at least had the right creden- similar to the Scotophilus alities of our country,” says Prof Jimmy Volmink, UCT chair of tials (both completed the master’s course in creative writing at dinganii, or Dingaan’s primary healthcare, at the opening of the centre bats. UCT’s Centre for Creative Writing). Going public: Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, minister of for- Brown trod a different path. eign affairs, hosts the first Imbizo of her department at UCT. He graduated with a law degree from UCT in 1990 – with C’est bon: Prof Jennifer Thomson, author of Genes for Afri- The Imbizo is a Cabinet-approved process of “unmediated some English and Afrikaans and plenty of misadventures. His ca: Genetically Modified Crops in the Developing World, nets engagement” between government and the public. “extra-curricular activities”, mostly off-campus, with groups an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne, recognising her such as the United Democratic Front often kept him out of work on genetically modified organisms. UCT opens Redefining Moments: Five Decades of Protest class. And it almost landed him in prison for three years when at UCT, an exhibition of photographs that showcase student he was arrested in 1987 for throwing stones at police after they Whose idea: The law faculty creates a new chair and re- protest on campus. “The exhibition is an attempt to review moved onto campus and fired at students, injuring many. (Not search unit focusing on intellectual property law, with the po- those moments in our history that have shaped who we are even Professor Dennis Davis, now a Cape High Court judge, tential to boost development in South Africa. as an institution,” says Nazeema Mohamed, transformation speaking on his behalf could sweeten the Wynberg Magistrate’s manager at UCT. Court, even though the sentenced was later reduced.) Fêted: Zoologist Prof Although a keen student of literature, the writing bug never John Field wins the Zoo- Book Smart: Hans Taje beats bit. That would come much later, after he’d set up his law prac- all comers in the regional logical Society of South tice – as a “convicted criminal”, he had to get the green light Africa’s Gold Medal for Shelver of the Year competi- from a few committees before he was even allowed to do his Bar his work on marine eco- tion of the Library and Infor- systems. mation Association of South exams – and started a family. Africa. Taje took just eight min- Brown’s first real literary effort was inspired by a visit he utes and 25 seconds to shelve took to Rwanda back in the 1980s when he was just 19 and 50 books in perfect order. Part-timer: Advocate-slash-police reservist (slash-olive farmer) Andrew Brown fresh from another stint at Pollsmoor (also related to politics). caused an upset this year when his novel Coldsleep Lullaby beat out the likes of This was a few years before the 1994 genocide, but even then, André P Brink and JM Coetzee for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize. (Illustration: Richard Smith, Redzone Visual Communications) he recalls, there was something amiss in the country.

6 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 7 “I saw what was a beautiful country,” he says, “but you ted, they’re determined, and they work hard,” he says. of publicity, interviews, discussion groups and public atten- just got a sense that there was a tension, that something was There were other spin-offs. His experiences on the force tion, says Brown. The problem for the author, though, is that going to happen.” fed into Coldsleep. he may now have lost his part-timer status. Inyenzi: A Story of Love and Genocide, Brown’s first work of fic- Described as part historical thriller, part modern-day de- “Getting the award was quite stunning, in that I was a bit tion, was about the events that followed later. He wrote it, he tective story, the novel tells the darker side of the origins of stunned by it,” Brown says. “I’ve never thought of myself as a said, because he felt that the South African media, distracted picturesque Stellenbosch, built on the forgotten labour of ill- writer – I’m a lawyer who writes occasionally at home on my by troubles elsewhere, overlooked the horrors in the small cen- used slaves. own, and my wife and my mother like my writing. tral African nation. “I was looking for a place that has two sides to it, a place “I now have to think of myself as a writer, and that’s quite Alas, the subject matter scared off publishers, and Brown that is beautiful and attractive, but also has a dark history,” says a pressurised place to be.” Telling all: Richard E Grant and his The Wah-Wah Diaries at the Cape had to get the book into print himself, which he did in 2000. Brown of his decision to set Coldsleep Lullaby in the picture-post- (It doesn’t help, perhaps, that publishers Zebra Press be- Town Book Fair. Inyenzi was well received by the critics, though, and also did card wine town. “For me, Stellenbosch illustrated that divide lieve that Coldsleep Lullaby is fit for a sequel.) decent business at the cash register, selling out two print runs. very nicely.” To take some of the heat off, Brown plans his follow-up Grant releases autobio- That could well have been the end of his writing, but in the five The judges for the Sunday Times competition certain- to be low-key, perhaps a small book on the police force. Good years between novels, Brown also, after much soul-searching, ly took to the book. They awarded Brown the coveted news, though, is that Zebra also wants to republish Inyenzi. graphical film and book signed up as a reservist with the Mowbray police station. (He’s prize, describing Coldsleep Lullaby as “accomplished, lyr- Brown won’t be giving up on the whole law thing anytime BY MEGAN MORRIS also an olive farmer, but that’s another story.) His work as a ical and textured”. soon, though. “I like the intellectual stimulation,” he says. reservist opened his eyes to a part of the police service, he says, The Cape Times was among the many that also sang the So if there is ever a sequel to Coldsleep Lullaby, it’s going to urn to the opening page of Richard E Grant’s new he had not – understandably - seen or imagined before. author’s praises. “Both writing and genre are a welcome breath be written between family time, court appearances and that Tbook, The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film, and “You’re surrounded by people who get paid appallingly, of fresh air,” said a reviewer. whole olive thing. you’ll see that the first entry is dated October 14, 1999. who work in appalling circumstances, and they’re still commit- The months since the award in July have been a whirlwind Readers and judges are poised. That’s the day he sat down for lunch with a producer and punts the idea of an autobiographical film, something he had been kicking around for years. “A comic drama,” is then you begin to doubt them completely because there are sion production at Bristol University in 2003. how he describes it to the producer over Caesar salad. It Through a child’s eyes some things that she is not saying.” She is currently a lecturer at the UCT Centre for Film would be about Swaziland and a distant empire on its last The chairman of the judging panel for the Caine Prize, Studies, and is working towards completing her first novel. legs. About a 40-year-old man cuckolded by his wife and BY SHUMI CHIMOMBE Nana Wilson-Tagoe, described Jungfrau as “a powerfully writ- Moss is published by Kwela Books, South Africa. left to bring up an 11-year-old son alone. “Purely autobio- ten narrative that works skilfully through a child’s imagination graphical and as true as fiction.” ungfrau, the award-winning short story by UCT lecturer to suggest a world of insights about familial and social relation- It took Grant, a BA (1978) and drama (1979) gradu- JMary Watson, could be described as drifting into sub-con- ships in the new South Africa”. ate from UCT, more than five years to see that project to sciousness and watching a dream unfold, then being startled The award, sometimes dubbed the “African Booker”, is a happy ending. He was in Cape Town this year to attend awake by the revelation. named after the late Sir Michael Caine, who was chairperson the local release of the “semi-autobiographical” Wah-Wah, It certainly impressed the judges in Oxford in the UK, of the Booker Prize for 25 years and who had a deep interest in which also marks his directorial debut. where she was awarded this year’s prestigious Caine Prize for Africa. It has established itself as one of the most distinguished “I had always wanted to write about this experience of African Writing. awards for young African writers. growing up in this last gasp of an empire,” said Grant in The story, narrated from a child’s perspective, is about a Jungfrau is of part of a collection, Moss, written by one interview. “I’d seen White Mischief, I’d seen Out of Africa, young girl and her family in late-apartheid Watson as her thesis for the master’s programme I’d seen Cry Freedom, I’d seen all the things that were either South Africa. in creative writing at UCT, which she completed very romantic about Africa or political. There was nothing It explores the dynamics of what appears in 2001 under the mentorship of famed author that I’d seen that actually dealt with this sort of last minute to be a normal, slightly dysfunctional family – André P Brink. panic, if you’d like, from a personal point of view.” a lonely child with an overactive imagination; Moss comprises interlinking short stories, which Personal point of view is certainly what’s to be found a cold, distant father; and an emotionally una- are all tied together by character and place, and by in The Wah-Wah Diaries, which Grant “launched” at the vailable mother who is committed to her work ideas and themes, with the various characters com- Cape Town Book Fair this year. In Wah-Wah Diaries, taken as a teacher to underprivileged children. ing in and out in different stories. from his actual diaries, Grant recounts the many mishaps Only the narrator’s sensually beautiful Watson uses subtlety and intrigue, dropping – and better moments - he went through to see the film to aunt, whom she describes as having “a cloud clues along the way. Brink says of her work: “I can theatres. of charm twenty centimetres around her honestly say that I have seldom, in South Africa, The obstacles were legion. They included lack of fund- body”, seems to pay her any attention. come across short stories of such suggestive power, ing, actors pulling out, schedule changes, endless rewrites, As the story unfolds, the reader begins to as these. And the deft way in which they are all, in and – the villain of the piece – a French producer who drives detect a disturbing undercurrent in the seem- almost subterranean or submarine manner, related to Grant to distraction with her incompetence and vainglory. ing innocence of the narrator, and question one another creates the possibility of reading the volume, But all’s well that ends well for Grant and his long-cher- marks rise in the mind. not just as a collection of short stories, but perhaps as a redefi- ished film. How can a child be so cynical at that age? And use ominous nition of the form of the novel.” “None of the negatives can ever overwhelm or erase the words like “there is no rest for the wicked”. Watson studied English and drama at UCT and then went 500-carat-gold pleasure of making it, or the ongoing friend- Subtle and subterranean: Writer Mary Watson’s characters know more “I like using incredible characters,” explains Watson. “I on to study for the MA programme in creative writing. than they tell. (Photograph: Shawn Benjamin) ships that have been forged during its creation,” he writes. wanted to explore a character you think you can trust, and She also completed her second master’s in film and televi- “It has quite literally been the journey of my lifetime.”

8 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 9 Van Heerden keeps Readers may wonder how much of Van Heerden’s own Contact medicine are great inequalities and injustices in the world, starting with story – he had a quadruple bypass about five years ago – found the reality of the South Africa in which he lived. its way into his lead, Christian Lemmer, fresh off similar surgery. BY SHUMI CHIMOMBE “When you grow up in apartheid South Africa, you don’t up “lucky” streak “When you write, you cull a little from personal experi- have an understanding of what was going on,” he says. “It was BY MEGAN MORRIS ence,” he says. “But the rest – we have an Afrikaans saying, ‘Jy ow in my final year of school, I was full of unformed necessary for me to leave the country to understand it.” suig dit uit you duim’ (a thumbsuck) – is fabulation.” “Ndesires: to alleviate and redress, to vanquish and save, After graduating from UCT and spending some time as a n the span of just one 20-minute interview, Etienne van As a master of fabulation, Van Heerden is always keen to to travel in places where the currencies of exchange were the house officer in Pietermaritzburg, he fled the country because I Heerden will describe himself as ‘lucky’ about a handful pass on his craft. He lectures on the master’s Atabrin or the gun.” he could not bring himself to serve in the South African De- of times. programme in creative writing in UCT’s Cen- It was with this youthful desire, coupled with the under- fence Force. He was just lucky, he would have you be- tre for Creative Writing, and a generation of standing that one needs skills to realise such lofty ambitions, He instead continued on the surgical career ladder, study- lieve, to have ever gotten a single word into Afrikaans and English writers have cut their that Jonathan Kaplan landed in the “ivy-softened buildings” ing in the UK and the US, specialising as a surgeon. print. It’s also just a matter of chance, he teeth on this course. of UCT in the 1970s to study medicine. In 1991 he accepted an offer to travel to Northern Iraq to will later say, that his books have travelled so These days they can be found nipping at It was the beginning of a dramatic life journey as a war work as a surgeon treating Kurdish fighters during the Kurd- far and so wide, translated into 12 languages, his heels. Take the case of but one, Chanette surgeon that took him to places other people would be content ish uprising. As the only surgeon in the field, he was operating everything from Dutch, French and German Paul, who was named runner-up for this to simply watch on CNN. on the front line, treating the wounded to the sound of gunfire to Russian, Greek and Hebrew. And all those year’s ATKV Prize. And the likes of Sonja These are experiences that he has recounted in two high- and explosions. awards going back, what, 20 or 30 years, right to Loots, Izak de Vries, Tom Dreyer and Jaco ly-acclaimed books, the 2002 Alan Paton Award-winning The Kaplan says that he thought the experience would have a his first published novel, Matoli, in 1978? Just the Botha, all graduates from the programme, are Dressing Station, and Contact Wounds, A War Surgeon’s Education, short-term effect on his career path, but it was probably the world’s longest lucky streak? acclaimed wordsmiths in their own right. published in 2005. most profound experience he ever had. Critics and fans – among which Andrew “It means a lot for a young writer to be Both books give stirring and often shocking accounts of “I found that I was forced to learn new skills and rely on Brown, also featured in this section, numbers him- accompanied by someone who has more ex- Kaplan’s work as a surgeon –“a medical vagabond” as he calls new instincts, and I discovered completely new ways of ap- self – will tell you otherwise. perience,” says Van Heerden. himself - volunteering his services to help civilians caught in plying the skills learnt. Although it was fulfilling, it was also Over a writing career of nearly three decades, There are other also places to build good writers. the crossfire in some of the world’s hottest combat zones. very destabilising because, after that, the idea of going back Van Heerden, the Hofmeyr Professor of Afrikaans Van Heerden is the founder-editor of LitNet, the multicul- There is an underlying thread of instability that is woven to a structured career and hospital hierarchy was no longer and Netherlandic Studies at UCT, has become one of tural online journal that started off, in 1999, as a publishing into his writing, a constant search for place and purpose. As a appealing.” South Africa’s most respected and celebrated novelists and alternative for up-and-coming – and already-there – writers, teenager, he spent some time in a kibbutz in Israel, an experi- Contact Wounds takes us along part of that journey, writers, both here and abroad. His trophy cabinet, if we use especially for those working in Afrikaans. ence he says opened his eyes and made him realise that there peppered with political upheaval, guns and grenades, exotic that measuring stick, will testify to that. He’s bagged the pick of literary accolades on offer in the country – the Hertzog Prize, the CNA Award (twice), the Rapport Prize for Prose, the Perskor Prize for Juvenile Literature (Matoli), the Eugène Marais Prize and the Klein Karoo Festival Award, to name but a few. Now his latest work, In Stede van die Liefde, has won him his fifth ATKV Prize and his third Hofmeyr Prize for Afrikaans literature. Van Heerden tries to remain level-headed about the ac- claim. “I always try to be aware that a committee of four or five people makes an award,” he says. “But I’m always grateful, and the older I get, the more grateful I am.” Modesty aside, Van Heerden remains a South African and international favourite. Already there are those that have hailed the pun-titled In Stede van die Liefde, a multi-stranded fable of love – for cities, music, doves, a woman – as Van Heerden’s finest work yet. The finely crafted novel brims with the writer’s trademark symbolism, and, as usual, has a couple of things to say about South Africa’s past and present. As with all his books, says Van Heerden, his launching pad is a character. “A novel always starts with someone walking into my mind. I don’t always know what’s going to happen to this character, but there’s a picture in my mind, and that picture is of some- Write on: Prof Etienne van Heerden’s new book, In Stede van die Liefde, At the frontline: Jonathan Kaplan treats a wounded soldier who has been shot through the chest, in a hospital close to the front line in Eritrea. has picked up two awards in 2006. (Photograph: Shawn Benjamin) Photography copyright Guy Tillim one in a specific place in a specific time.”

10 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 11 UCT graduate has the diseases and amputations. One can only wonder why Kaplan write stuff insisted on voluntarily immersing him- self in these dangerous situations. BY MEGAN MORRIS “When I left South Africa, I found a need to try and locate my place in raduate Sean O’Toole has been named as the winner the world. I went to many places, some Gof the 2006 HSBC/SA PEN Literary Award, presented familiar, some unfamiliar. You try to by the South African Centre of International PEN (SA PEN) create a universe around you through in partnership with HSBC Bank plc and New Africa Books. your work, and you try to reconstruct a O’Toole’s short story, The Road to Rephile, was selected as the sense of ‘fitting in’, even though it may winning entry by another writer of note with UCT ties - Nobel not be a nine-to-five job, but a combi- laureate JM Coetzee, an emeritus professor here. “It is a posi- nation of chaos, fatigue and the intense demand of working tive contribution (some readers might say too earnestly posi- that I found in a war-zone”. tive) to a new national literature,” said Coetzee of the piece, He elaborates further in Contact Wounds: “I had been under which O’Toole penned while at UCT. O’Toole is now based fire, seen pain and terror and atrocious wounds and, amidst in Johannesburg, where he works as a journalist and writer. the cruelty, acts of human selflessness that transcended any- Currently editor of Art South Africa, he writes a weekly column thing of which a God might be capable. Yet out there, all the on photography for the Sunday Times. He also bagged the 2002 other fears that beset me – doubt about my professional com- SL short fiction award. O’Toole completed his MA in creative mitment, my career, finding a home – vanished in the imme- writing (with distinction) at UCT in 2005, working under the diacy of survival; in the midst of war I’d glimpsed a sort of supervision of acclaimed poet Professor Joan Hambidge. The shelter, an elusive peace.” Road to Rephile was one of the pieces he completed as part of the The difference now is that those same extreme situations, degree, a compilation he initially titled A Gift of Stones. A little which before had been limited to remote parts of the world, tweaking and a renaming later, those stories have now been have now found their way onto the Western world’s doorsteps released by Double Storey Books as The Marquis of Mooikloof. with the September 11 attacks in New York, the train bomb- “It is great to finally sense that there is something in my writ- ings in Madrid in 2004 and the London bombings in 2005. ing that could possibly appeal to a wider audience, and not Kaplan’s craft in acute war surgery is now suddenly in de- just the friends I occasionally asked to read my stories,” says mand, as many in the medical profession have not been ex- O’Toole. The three winning stories of the PEN competition posed to these kinds of desperate situations. and 26 others that were short-listed have also been published “It’s the strangest thing,” he says. “I had been doing work by New Africa Books in the second of a series of three volumes that was haphazard and unstructured, and I travelled to places of new creative writing, titled African Road - New Writing from practising procedures I had never done before, and learnt to Southern Africa 2006. cope in places in social and humanitarian crises and conflict situations. It seemed to be a chaotic lifestyle suited to chaotic events and could never be put together into something resem- bling a career.” And yet, today, that work now has an official name, Con- flict and Catastrophic Medicine. The world has changed. Although he ends his book with a suggestion that he may want to settle down and get a steady job, Kaplan concedes that he has been unable to predict what will happen next. “Everything that has ever happened to me has come as a surprise. I never thought I would write books or shoot film documentaries (or consult for television hospital dramas). I ex- pect to undertake an assignment somewhere, sometime, but I can’t predict where.” The way the world is today, Kaplan can remain certain that his skills will remain very much in demand – somewhere. Contact Wounds is published in South Africa by Pan Macmil- Help for the helpless: Kaplan treating Kurdish refugees in a field hospital on the Turkey/Iraq border, following the failed Kurdish uprising against Saddam Hussein after the first Gulf War. lan South Africa. Photography copyright Ron Haviv On the right road: Sean O’Toole has been named as the winner of the 2006 HSBC/SA PEN Literary Award for his short story The Road to Rephile.

12 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 13 A year in the life of a university October 2005 November 2005

Check mate: Jenine Ellapen Renamed: The Student wins the Jamison Cup and Development and Services Sportsperson of the Year Department building is re- A rising star at UCT, cardiologist Professor Bongani Mayosi honours for her achieve- named the Steve Biko Stu- is writing his own page in history as the first black head of ments in chess. She’s ranked dent Union Building, hon- open heart as a Woman International ouring the iconic father of the Department of Medicine. Master, just one level below the South Africa Students’ International Grandmaster. Organisation and the black consciousness movement BY SHUMI CHIMOMBE Heritage: UCT launches the Heritage Trail, a self-guided in South Africa. walk to 18 sites on campus, taking in the social and political rofessor Bongani Mayosi, a Univer- also believes that as Africans “we need Pioneer: Dr J Craig Venter, sity of KwaZulu-Natal and UCT to create a forward-looking cult of mo- layers of UCT’s past, from Rhodes Memorial to the Cissy P Gool Plaza. founder and president of graduate with a doctorate in genetics dernity”, and that it is high time the the J Craig Venter Institute from Oxford, is breaking ground for the continent became a significant player and the J Craig Venter Sci- Kick-started: Alumnus and generation of young, up-and-coming on the world stage, starting, of course, ence Foundation in the US, IT billionaire Mark Shuttle- academics walking the medical streets with UCT. delivers the second Vice- worth launches the Shuttle- Chancellor’s Open Lecture. of Groote Schuur Hospital. He envisions Cape Town becom- worth Open Source Laborato- In 2005, at the age of 38, he was ing the Oxbridge of Africa, attracting Venter sequenced the first ry, hosted by UCT’s computer genome from a living spe- awarded a National Research Foun- the continent’s brightest medical stu- science department and one cies and led one of two dation President’s Award, or P-rating, dents, armed with scholarships from the of four such facilities around teams that sequenced the for his contributions in three areas of world’s major funders. the country. human genome. heart disease. “Through training these students, P-ratings usually go to gifted young we channel that funding into Cape Rated: Prof George Janelidze (mathematics and applied Partners: The Partnership for Higher Education, designed to support researchers under 35 years of age that Town, and thereafter repatriate it into mathematics) bags a National Research Foundation higher education in Africa, is re-launched in New York. Guest speaker the international community believe will the continent when they take their skills A-rating, cementing his reputation among the world’s top Prof Njabulo S Ndebele attends in his capacity as president of the mature into world leaders in their fields. back home,” says Mayosi. category theorists. Association of African Universities. “If you look at Africa’s 800 million Many students, he says, especially Rising star: P-rated cardiologist Prof Bongani Exceptional: UCT’s three people, heart disease is caused mainly Mayosi is the new head of medicine at UCT. from West Africa, prefer to return home Inspiring: The UCT Fellows by non-ischemic causes,” explains May- rather than leave the continent. Award, conferred by the new National Research university’s senior scholars on Foundation President’s osi. “These are heart diseases of the de- HIV/AIDS and other infectious dis- And Africanisation? Award (P-rated) recipients veloping world, born of poverty, which eases are a primary concern, along with “For 85 years, the department has their younger colleagues, go to Drs Natasha Distiller (English are all women: Dr Eva affect the heart muscle (cardiomyopa- heart disease and cancer. been looking to its origins in Europe for language and literature), Tania Plagányi (maths and applied thy), the heart valves (rheumatic valve Another challenge is the flight of ideas, for its symbols, and its language,” Douglas (human biology) and maths), Assoc Prof Fiona disease), and the sac covering the heart skills from the profession, with qualified says Mayosi. “For example, it is not unu- Justin O’Riain (zoology), as Ross (anthropology) and (pericarditis).” doctors migrating abroad where they sual for Xhosa-speaking patients to have well as Prof Bongani Mayosi Dr Jenni Case (engineering His work is aimed at eradicating are in great demand. no history taken because the doctor (medicine) and Assoc Prof and the built environment). these three conspirators, which have Finally, there has been a dramatic cannot even greet the patients in their Fiona Ross (anthropology). largely been conquered in industrialised decline in clinical research, with South language. We need to discover the lan- Hand picked: Assoc Prof countries. Africa being overtaken by emerging guage of our patients and connect with Star gazing: UCT throws its intellectual weight behind the Kelly Chibale puts UCT on “It’s preventable,” he continues. countries in Eastern Europe and South the soul of Africa.” country’s bid to host the largest post-apartheid science, the world map as his syn- thetic-chemistry laboratory “It’s indicative of neglect and we need America in producing world-class pub- The over-riding characteristic of engineering and technology project, the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope. is selected by the World to educate our doctors, health care staff lications. Mayosi’s outlook is the principle of Health Organisation (WHO) and the general public. These diseases Nevertheless, Mayosi prefers to focus Batho Pele (Sotho for “people first”), fo- to grow the next generation must be eliminated from Africa in our on solutions, and the key to his tenure is an cusing on people development, rather Remembered: Alan Pifer, of drug pioneers, postdoc- lifetime and to do that, we need to be eclectic mix of medicine, economics and than stifling their creativity through too past president of the Carnegie toral students handpicked more ambitious. It’s a question of will.” politics, a three-hander he calls “renewal, much bureaucracy. Connected to that is Corporation of New York, by the Tropical Diseases philanthropic leader and Mayosi considers his new position modernisation and Africanisation”. his guiding principle of non-racism, and Research unit of the WHO. friend of UCT, dies on October as head of the Department of Medi- His aim is to revitalise general medi- making the department a home for all. 31. Pifer established the UCT cine as the “end of the beginning” of cine by creating a pipeline of young “We must become the first genera- Fund, which raises money in Unique: Prof Daya Reddy is accepted into the Suid-Afrikaanse his career. professors committed to pursuing novel tion who see themselves as South Af- the US to support black South Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns, becoming the only scientist on the He has a clear view of the challenges ideas and restoring the department’s ricans, not as blacks, whites, coloureds African students. books of all four of the country’s science academies. faced by South African medicine. contribution to clinical research. He or Indians.”

14 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 15 architecture

Staff at the School of Architecture havewinners had a good run this year, collecting national and international accolades for their designs in Cape Town and beyond. The school believes that the work done by its academic staff in their private capacity contributes significantly to the creative side of its research, which has increased in recent years.

BY SHUMI CHIMOMBE Struggle museum scoops Lubetkin Prize

he Red Location Museum of the corrugated iron barrack buildings that uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) cell in South T People’s Struggle was awarded the were rusted a deep red colour. The Africa was formed there. prestigious Royal Institute of British Archi- sheds were part of a Boer concentration “It is called a museum of struggle be- tects (RIBA) Lubetkin Prize for the most camp in Uitenhage, and at the end of cause it was a 4 000-year struggle,” says outstanding work of architecture outside the Boer War were moved to Red Loca- Noero. “It included everyone. There the UK and the European Union. tion, where they initially housed a bat- was an equal number of black women UCT’s Professor Jo Noero (architec- talion of British soldiers in 1902 before and children who perished in the Boer ture and planning), founding partner of black families moved in. concentration camps, yet their memory the Cape Town-based firm Noero Wolff It has a powerful history as a site of was obliterated. Architects, is the principal architect of struggle during the apartheid years, with “When we try to collapse history the museum, which is located in New many prominent political and cultural into one narrative, we exclude too much. Brighton, Port Elizabeth. leaders originating from there, includ- With the museum we have tried to allow Designed in industrial form, with a ing Goven Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, as many voices as possible to be heard, saw-tooth roof reminiscent of factory George Pemba and John Kani. and the device we used to achieve this is trade union activity that motivated the From the 1950s, the township be- through the idea of the memory box.” anti-apartheid struggle, the museum came the focus of significant political A series of 12 mute, unmarked rusted houses steel containers that are tipped on mobilisation. The first passive resistance boxes – 6m by 6m in plan and almost 12m end to make individual memory boxes, campaign against the pass laws was tall – were constructed in a wide exhibition presenting curators with a blank canvas in staged outside the railway station at Red space. Each box explores a different theme which to exhibit memories and ideas. Location, and the first underground of the struggle. Describing the museum as an architectural “tour de force”, the judges said: “All museums concern memory and history. It was therefore all the more impressive to encounter one in which particular histories and memories have evoked an extraordinarily powerful architectural idea. The building works as both a metaphor and object – deliberately unglamorous.” Red Location was the first settled urban black township in Port Elizabeth Lived memories: The Red Location Museum’s memory boxes provide a space (now Nelson Mandela Metro). for contemplation and reflection of the past. (Photography by David Southwood) It gets its name from a series of

16 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 17 There is no set route to follow and the Kudos for architect for design on contents of each box are revealed only upon entry, requiring the visitor to make up their Boulders Beach own story and their own interpretation. “It’s an attempt to make the museum iet Louw, architect, urban designer and planner, has been making his mark in the articulate to a diverse range of people. We P Western Cape, picking up national and international awards in the process. wanted to make this a place of disquiet and He recently scooped an award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Ar- reflection where people are puzzled and chitecture and Design for his work on the Boulders Beach information centre and drawn into finding some kind of engage- entrance kiosk to the beach. ment with what the museum is doing.” His work was one of 33 projects around the world selected for the awards, and it The concept of the memory boxes was is the only one from Africa. inspired by the boxes that migrant workers Boulders, famed for its penguin colony, is part of the Table Mountain National used to store their prized possessions from Park and is an international tourist attraction with approximately half a million visi- their rural families. tors annually. “I set out to try and figure out how you Louw designed the two buildings so that they complement the natural surround- can construct a museum that deals with ings of the park, working with the concept of merging and working with the land as the memories of the past in a way that will opposed to against it. be understandable to people in contempo- “The intention was that the structures had to respond to the context, and what rary South Africa, rather than employ an dominates here is the power and strength of the boulders. The design has a laid-back imported Western model.” feel which merges with the environment, and the buildings become part of the con- This concept is particularly relevant text,” says Louw. since many of the township’s residents are The Cape Institute for Architecture has cited that: “The buildings represent a unfamiliar with museums, having previous- worthy contribution to Cape Town’s stature as a major tourist destination. To build ly been barred from such establishments. in a setting of unique scenic beauty is no easy task. Yet, the architect rose to the chal- “It’s an extraordinary building lenge. Not only do the buildings sit comfortably and unobtrusively in their setting, because it is built in the middle of a shack they also speak about the nature of the place.” settlement, and the people who live around The South African Institute of Architecture also cited that the project is impor- it and the things that it explores are all tant in that it occupies an area within the eye of the international public. within their lived memory. Some of them A UCT graduate, Louw went on to lecture in the School of Architecture and BY SHUMI CHIMOMBE are in the old photographs taken in the 80s Planning from 1985 to 1990, and he remains a visiting lecturer and external exam- that we enlarged to display on the panels iner at the school. outside the building, and these people are He is also a partner in the Cape Town-based Piet Louw Architects. still there. They come to the museum and “I consider my work to be of public significance,” he says. “And I appreciate the story-tell among themselves about their opportunity and the privilege given to me by this project to be able to contribute experiences in an impromptu way, and toward the Cape context and its associated tourism.” this is the kind of engagement with local

people that we wanted.” Piet Louw has won international acclaim for his design of the Boulders Beach info centre. The museum beat off stiff competi- tion from two major international Cana- dian museums for the Lubetkin Prize. “And here is our little tsotsi of a building that beat them all because of its uniqueness,” Noero quips. The Red Location Museum has been partnered with the new Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, Swe- den, with joint exhibitions that will be shared between the two cities. Noero concludes: “It is important for South African architecture since the award opens a window onto African ar- chitecture, which has been hidden from the gaze of the developed world.” Piet Louw’s winning design of the entrance kiosk to Boulders Beach.

18 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 19 An urban university

eputy Dean of the Faculty of En- into a more urban university, compared these kinds of activities that we need to D gineering and the Built Environ- to its current suburban model.” showcase.” ment, Professor Dave Dewar, and part- The main feature that will bring Finally, also key to the plan is social time lecturers Piet Louw and Barbara everything together is a great street, which integration – breaking down social and GraduateLerato makes the newsMbele with hit show Southworth won the 2006 national will link the three major campuses. cultural barriers by creating public plac- award for the best sectoral planning The plan has already been set in es for informal meeting and gathering. BY MEGAN MORRIS project for their work on A Long Term motion with the new Graça Machel “The philosophy behind this is that Spatial Development Framework and Women’s Residence under construction integration of people does not hap- erato Mbele believes UCT deserves But Mbele’s time in the UK, where Mbele doesn’t quite know what Urban Design Concept for the Univer- on lower campus that will form the head pen in the classroom,” explains Dewar. L credit for getting her career off on she did a master’s at London Univer- the future holds for her, professionally sity of Cape Town. of the street. “The glue that holds all this together is the right foot. sity, convinced her that the show wasn’t speaking, that is. Corporate commu- The award was presented at the South Lower campus, also viewed as the the integration of public spaces.” In large part, she says, it had to do a fool’s errand. The British experience nications, maybe. Or perhaps her own African Planning Institute International performing arts centre with its music In another scoop, Dewar and Louw, with the formal curriculum. She com- – with the likes of Trevor McDonald’s consultancy on Pan-African issues and Conference, held every four years. and dance schools as well as the Baxter together with fellow alumnus and direc- pleted her social science degree in 1997. current affairs programme, Tonight, on the media. The UCT plan aims to consolidate Theatre Centre, is central to the plan’s tor of the School of Architecture, Asso- But there was also the other stuff, like ITV and David Dimbleby’s shows on Either way, it’s going to be a journey the future development of the university second objective to open up the univer- ciate Professor Lucien Le Grange, won Jammie Steps, the friendships she made BBC - proved that audiences like to get worth tuning in to. into an integrated framework and move sity to the surrounding community by an honourable mention in the Union of – at least a couple of them are still going to the heart of the news, no matter what away from the fragmented approach of sharing its public activities like theatre, International Architects (UIA) Celebra- strong – and the melting pot of cultures the hour. separate campuses. music, dance, exhibitions and art. tion of Cities Award for Planning and and people she found here. “Because I witnessed the phenom- Dewar, a UCT alumnus, explains: A major criticism of UCT presently Design for their work on the Klipfontein “I think UCT was the beginning enon in Europe, I knew that it was do- “It all started with the idea to bring is that it is “in” Cape Town but not “of Corridor project. of what my destiny was meant to be,” able,” she says. “What I didn’t know UCT into the 21st century, and defin- it”, the perception being of a cloistered, The design is for the development of Mbele says. “At UCT, I found the intel- was if I was the right person to do it, ing its role and the spatial implications elite fortress that stands aloof from the a major east-west “corridor” in the Cape lectual stimulation, the kind of learning and if South African audiences would of that role. At the heart of the plan is surrounding population. Flats, anchored by Klipfontein Road. and growth that I was looking for.” be receptive.” changing what is currently seen as four “There is so much extraordinary An urban corridor is defined as a Mbele’s true loves are Pan-African For News @ 10, it turned out to separate campuses, the upper, middle artistic talent buried within UCT that “broad band of vibrant, mixed-use issues and the desire to communicate it be a case of being in the right place at and lower campuses right up to Groote should be exposed to the public,” says activity” on a route carrying public to the world. She initially eyed a career the right time. Pope John Paul II died Schuur and everything in between, and Dewar. “There is no reason why people transport. in the diplomatic corps, but modified on Saturday, April 2, 2005, just two turning it into a single, integrated sys- cannot sit in during some of the rehears- The project also received a merit her plans after being turned down by days before News @ 10 was scheduled tem. This will effectively transform it als, or attend the student exhibitions. It’s award from the Architecture Journal. the department of foreign affairs. to go on air for the first time. On the International relations’ loss was the Monday, Lerato had in the studio media’s gain. with her Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, After time with the South African cross-examining him on hot potatoes Institute of International Affairs, she such as sexual abuse, women priests, joined the South African Broadcasting contraception and AIDS. Corporation for a second stint in 2005, “That one show got everyone’s and landed the anchor seat on News @ curiosity going,” says Mbele. 10. Part wrap-up and analysis of the So successful was News @ 10 that day’s news, it allows Mbele to give topics it’s now led to a second show for Mbele. – and sometimes guests – a thorough On the half-hour long In the Public In- going-over. terest, Mbele still gets to reflect on the The SABC had quite a lot riding news, but also debate the role and per- on the show but, given it’s late starting formance of the media. time, many would rightly have sug- With no formal training in gested that it was a long shot. All the the area, it’s a learning curve for more so because the anchor was such Mbele as well. an unknown quantity. “Firstly, it allows me to “I think the only ones more nerv- be a different kind of pre- ous than I was was the channel,” says senter,” she says. “But it’s Mbele. “It was a huge gamble because also a great challenge who was this little girl who was meant because now I study Integration: UCT’s suburban layout will transform into an urban campus befitting the diversified, to captivate the audience and bring issues in the context contemporary Cape Town society that surrounds it. (Photography by Anthony Allen) them back?” of the media.”

20 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 21 Baxter Almost six years ago, a group of three young idealists launched Streetwires, a project toasted as that set out to create not just fine African wire art, but also jobs. The wire art indus- try may be fickle, but thanks to the busi- one of busiest ness savvy of the UCT graduates at its independent head, Streetwires is still growing strong. theatres in Africa

In 2007, the Baxter Theatre Centre, at the foot Streetwires is art of the University of Cape Town, celebrates 30 years of world-class people’s theatre in the Mother City. with a business twist BY MEGAN MORRIS AND MXOLISI MGXASHE

he Baxter Theatre Centre was Each year well over 500 000 patrons from local and international repertoires. T brought into being in 1977 though attend over 1 500 performances, living Top directors work with a host of well- n November 2005, UCT graduates and entrepreneurs “While two of our core objectives in creating Streetwires the bequest of William Duncan Baxter the Baxter vision that its productions known and respected theatre, television I Patrick Schofield (BBusSci, 1995) and Anton Ressel (BSoc- were to address the social issues of job creation and poverty to the University of Cape Town. An ex- will cater for audiences that reflect all and film actors to ensure a vibrant and Sci, 1993), along with Winston Rangwani, recognised as one alleviation, we felt it would be very difficult to build ourselves as tract from his will reads: South Africans. The artistic programme diverse line-up all year round. of the leading exponents of wire art in South Africa, founded a not-for-profit organisation while competing in a commercial “For all the people of Cape Town includes quality theatre, drama, comedy, Community-focused projects include a small wire art company called Streetwires. The first part of world,” he says. “Hence we registered as a close corporation … utilise this bequest for the purpose musicals and dance, as well as jazz and the Pulpit Youth Theatre Company, the their plan was, on paper anyway, rather straightforward – cre- and defined ourselves as a business with a social mission, of developing and cultivating the Arts. classical music. In addition, community Ikhwezi Community Theatre Festival ate great wire art. creating a hybrid capitalist/socialist model.” This could, I am satisfied, best be done development projects, arts festivals and and Cape Heart. Popular programmes Wire art, as Streetwires’ website (www.streetwires.co.za) will To turn a profit – for many years to come – Streetwires by establishing a Theatre in Cape Town workshops entertain and educate the di- such as Morning Melodies cater for tell you, is as South African as Nelson Mandela. The sculpting required compelling and driving principles, a culture of strict in which plays, operas, ballets, concerts verse communities that visit the centre. senior citizens while Sithi, a teenage and crafting of works of art using wire, beads, tin cans and discipline and organisation, and a set of principles on social and other forms of entertainment can Exhibiting an interesting and unique life-skills-through-theatre course, and other recycled goods as a medium is thought to have originated responsibility that aimed for, among other things, a non- be given.” design aesthetic of the modern theatre music education through Soundhouse with young herdboys who had to fashion their own toys out of exploitative income for its workers. Throughout the years of apartheid, complex (with its distinctively 70s archi- are aimed at youth development. discarded wirehangers, tin cans and whatever else they could “While we have invested heavily in the training and de- the Baxter Theatre Centre’s doors tecture and glowing orange domes), the Through our associations with the lay their hands on. velopment of our artists, we have become remained open to everyone, thriving Baxter will continue to be a vibrant cul- Lilliput Players and Kidz Take Over, These days, it’s an art form and industry in its own right. sustainable through the implementation by drawing on indigenous talent and tural hub producing the finest in South a stimulating and entertaining pro- It is how many “wiremasters”, as they’re now known, support of solid business practices, the creating a uniquely South African African theatre. It lives by its philosophy gramme is assured for the younger (and their families. establishment of good quality theatre while incorporating a wide of creating a dynamic forum for the older) kids. Which is where Streetwires comes in. The three founders, systems, a sound financial base variety of performing arts. celebration of life – the essence of live along with two other artists, wanted to create jobs and oppor- and the nurturing of long-term Firmly rooted as a landmark in the theatre, music and dance. Become part of the next 30 years of this tunities for such wiremasters, but jobs that would also generate relationships with our clients,” student suburb of Rondebosch, it holds At the forefront of performing arts, institution’s success by contacting Di Stafford, a decent, sustainable income. Schofield sums up. development and sales manager, on +27 21 many memories for more than eight both as a popular venue and as a leading 680 3968, email [email protected], Ergo, Streetwires had to make money. Those clients come from near and far. million visitors who have attended shows award-winning producer, it continues to or Fahiem Stellenboom, marketing manager, While Streetwires perhaps shared a philosophy of social When they first started the project, the found- over the years, making it one of the present cutting-edge, contemporary and on +27 21 680 3971, email fstellen@baxter. development with NGOs, Schofield wanted the project to be ers realised that the market for wire art was busiest independent theatres in Africa. classic works, as well as masterpieces uct.ac.za. so much more than that. booming not just in South Africa, but also internation-

22 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 23 A year in the life of a university ally. That’s aided the growth that Streetwires has enjoyed over its six years. December 2005 January 2006 After its humble beginnings of two marketers and two artists, the project now has about 140 staff on its books, and Senior moment: Great-grandmother Lifelong learning: UCT’s evergreen Summer School takes to the on any given day is training more wiremasters. Streetwires and septuagenarian Dr Delys Avni (77) stage. This year about 2 900 people enrolled with audiences of exports its wirework to 15 countries, and supply several large collects her PhD in record time, taking over 300 at many lectures. retailers and established corporate companies domestically, two-and-a-half years to complete her including global giants like Investec and Shell. seminal PhD thesis, Troubles in Irish Top of the world: Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Njabulo S Writing: The influence of politics and It’s also just been accredited as the country’s first wire-and- Ndebele, attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzer- religion. bead art training organisation. land, along with representatives from 24 other top universities. With business flourishing, more work space and artists are needed. In addition to its retail and admin head office in town, Streetwires therefore launched its first Rural Wire Art Red alert: Around 72 red-cloaked doctoral candidates re- Timely: UCT launches a new first-semester course, Tradition, Environment and Science, introduced by social anthropologist Centre in 2005, with support from the Department of Arts ceive their degrees at the December graduations. A total of 4 354 candidates are capped for degrees or diplomas. Dr Lesley Fordred-Green. Much of Fordred-Green’s research is and Culture. About 15 artists are based in this Clanwilliam based on her work with the Palikur Indians in northern Brazil. centre, with plans to bring that number up to 50. The Clanwilliam centre is the handiwork of another UCT Fab four: Honorary degrees are conferred on Albertina alumna, general manager Kim Hawke (MBA, 2005), who also Nontsikelelo Thethiwe-Sisulu, JC (Hans) Porer, Prof Farewell: Prof Rossall Sealy dies on January 9 drew up a strategy for the entire project. Hawke – described Arnold Gordon and Dr Fareed Abdullah at the December graduation ceremonies. after a long illness. A UCT as “Like the best of chocolates: firm on the outside, but with graduate, Sealy specialised a soft centre” – joined the team in 2005, bringing with her a in radiation oncology. His background in fine art plus business skills she picked up at the professional legacy is that Graduate School of Business (GSB). of a “pioneer and founding The project was a perfect fit for her twin interests. father in the field”, an obitu- “I’m very passionate about the arts, and I wanted to see ary read. it succeed in a commercial environment,” she says. “And to manage creative people, you’ve got to understand them and On top: UCT- and Oxford-trained cardiologist Prof Bongani Mayosi how to bring out their talents.” is appointed head of medicine at UCT following Prof Ralph Kirsch’s Streetwires also gives her the opportunity to test-drive a retirement. few fresh business ideas. “Because it’s a young, growing company, it’s extremely Full house: Following the release of the matric results in Decem- satisfying to try out new things and implement them.” ber, the admissions team processes over 13 000 undergraduate Which means there’s more to come for Streetwires. Over applications to UCT. the next 18 months, the project plans to, among other things, train and create permanent employment for 85 new artists; Milestone: Two new women deans are appointed, a first in UCT’s bump up its monthly sales turnover from R400 000 to over history: Profs Kathy Driver (science) and Marian Jacobs (health R900 000; establish an on-going training studio in Cape Town sciences). Both are long servers: Driver, a mathematician, spent and a studio in Johannesburg, as well as two retail outlets in 35 years at Wits; and Jacobs, a paediatrician, notched up 40 years Cape Town. Attention will also be paid to individual artist at UCT. development and a series of outreach initiatives in orphanages, schools and impoverished communities. “While the past five years have seen us getting to grips with how best to design, create and market craft in a commercial world, the next three will see us taking those lessons learnt and applying them, in growing our studios, opening new ones and realising the opportunities in craft retail,” says Schofield. Streetwires has earned its founders many plaudits. Schofield, for instance, won the Cape Times Business Personal- ity of the Year Award (Editors Choice) in 2002, primarily for his work on the project. Greater success appears to be shape of things to come for Extended: Prof Hugh Corder’s deanship in the law faculty is ex- Streetwires. tended to a second term. In his acceptance, Corder notes that 2005 saw the largest LLB group graduate since 1994, including To the wire: Graduates Patrick Schofield (top) and Kim Hawke (bottom) have five cum laudes and one magna cum laude. helped turn a modest wire art project into a pioneering company.

24 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 25 Tristan remembered Tristan da Cunha is impossibly small in the vast South Atlantic Ocean, a toe-stub halfway between Africa and South America. It was dis- covered 500 hundred years ago by Portuguese captain Tristão da Cunha, swept off course by a storm. This quincentenary year has seen the launch of the island’s first conservation plan, penned by UCT biologist John Cooper. And for alumnus and lecturer Dr Julian Day, the 500th milestone is good reason to reminisce about a place he once called home.

BY HELEN THÉRON Sanctuary and home

he loneliest inhabited archipelago In Day’s memory, Tristan is an ingale, Inaccessible, Middle, Stoltenhoff His mother never worried about sions. The wooden framed, canvas-clad Unfavourable winds stranded fishermen Tisland in the world. That’s Tristan. island of sparcity. There was a single and Gough – was formally annexed by the children. There were no roads, no long boats pushed off from the rocky on Inaccessible for weeks. And far-flung at 2 816km from South Af- wind-stunted tree and a single Massey the British in 1816. It remains a United cars, no strangers. They were left to beaches. Landing anything – building “I came back with vocabulary sec- rica and 3 360km from South America. Ferguson tractor, a single crayfish Kingdom Overseas Territory, a breeding explore, sometimes in ragged sawn-in- materials, people, supplies – was danger- ond to none,” he quips. Back in 1959, when four-year old factory and a single beach. There ground for teeming flocks of seabirds: half metal drums, makeshift boats in the ous. The coastline is exposed around its Now in their eighties, his parents, Julian Day arrived aboard The Shack- were only seven family names on the fourteen types of petrels, Rockhopper shallows. Sometimes as stowaways with 40km circumference and there were no Peter “Bumper” and Annie Day, still leton, there were 300 people living in island: Hagan, Rogers, Glass, Lavarello, Penguins and Wandering Albatross. the fishermen. sheltered landing places. Supply ships have an export business to the island. crofters’ houses on the island’s only Swain, Green and Repetto. When high Life on Tristan was not Utopian, “Sometimes I’d come home and lay off in deep water, transferring their Bumper was the island’s administrator habitable land. Building materials were seas thundered onto the island, pictures Day says dryly. sometimes I didn’t.” cargo to small boats for landing. between 1959 and 1962. Before that, home-grown, strong enough to resist shook against the walls. “Look, it was hard, stressful, living The staple diet was fish and pota- Day recalls a trip to neighbouring he was a district officer in the Colo- gales: New Zealand flax thatching, clods In 1506, Portuguese captain Tristão nearly 3 000km from anywhere. There toes. Behind the hill were the potato Nightingale, 40km off, when he was nial Service in Tanganyika (Tanzania), of earth to secure it, and red sandstone. da Cunha was part of a fleet en route was no escape. Everyone knew what patches, rows of knobbly black stones four. The island was thick with guano where Day was born. In Day’s photographs, the narrow to India when a similar storm dispersed you were going to do. You could tell marking individual boundaries. Each (good for potatoes) and birds: Shearwa- His mother, Annie, learned to be as curve of the settlement is a five- the ships. Da Cunha was driven far who was who from a distance, just by day a string of women worked the fields, ter Petrels, mollyhawks, penguins. Eggs versatile as emergencies and situations kilometre-wide smile below the dark face south, into the Roaring Forties, where the way they walked.” fertile from years of volcanic residue. were gathered for food. required. When the island came down of a looming volcano. In the foreground he came across the isolated islands. He The average was a daily two hours The sea was bountiful. A quarter “It was quite character-building eat- with measles, she prepared buckets of is the benignly-named Queen Mary’s never landed, but left his name. of sunshine. But his childhood was of crayfishing profits went back to the ing a whole penguin egg.” soup to administer to the ailing. She Peak (2 010m). The island group – Tristan, Night- idyllic, says Day. island in royalties for fishing conces- These forays had their own perils. could help out in the operating theatre

26 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 27 and once turned her vacuum cleaner into an New Tristan chapter Petrels,” Cooper elaborates. air pump for the pontoons when there were And though it covers a tiny land area, the island group goods to be brought ashore from ships. hen John Cooper of the Avian Demography Unit (De- supports a wealth of wildlife, much found nowhere else on Annie home-schooled the children until W partment of Statistical Sciences) first visited Tristan in earth. This includes 10 endemic bird species (there’s not one a teacher supplemented the official party of the early 1980s, he didn’t imagine that years later he’d pen endemic species in the whole of metropolitan United King- administrator, doctor and public works staff a conservation ordinance to protect the island’s considerable dom), including the magnificent Tristan Albatross, the criti- and wireless radio operator. natural heritage. cally endangered Spectacled Petrel, and the tiny flightless In- Day recalls one of her diction lessons. His handiwork, the Conservation of Native Organisms accessible Rail. His sister, Hilary, was commanded to “Say and Natural Habitats (Tristan da Cunha) Ordinance 2006, “Tristan islanders are a conservation-minded band, but ‘happel’, ‘illary”. was enacted by Governor Michael Clancey in Jamestown, much of the biodiversity is threatened by external factors,” “When I got to South Africa I had no St Helena, on February 3. (Curiously,Tristan is still a Cooper notes. Long-line fisheries claim hundreds of albatross- idea what the Boer War was, but I knew dependency of St Helena, almost 2 000km away.) es and petrels, and rats and mice, inadvertently introduced by maths and English.” The enactment was part of the island’s quincentenary shipwrecks over the years, are preying on birds. Day remembers his father and a team celebrations. The new ordinance replaces the one drafted by A passionate advocate of albatross conservation, Cooper of islanders grittily carving a road through Sir Martin Holdgate and Dr Nigel Wace and enacted in 1976, has long supported the island’s conservation efforts. He was the diamond-hard lava after the volcano a little long in the tooth for the islands’ growing conservation appointed an honorary conservation officer of Tristan in erupted in 1961. There’d been rumbling for needs. October 1990 (an honour shared by colleague Dr Peter Ryan days but no-one could fathom the origin. “Tristan has since moved to play a role in important inter- of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute). Miraculously, the black volcanic slag skirted national instruments such as the Convention on Biodiversity “I have the power to arrest ships and order them to pro- the outer hem of the settlement, leaking into and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and ceed to the nearest port,” he jokes. the cold sea. But it covered the landing beach Heady stuff for a biologist. and destroyed the first crayfish factory. No expert in legal drafting, Cooper studied previous and Two hundred and sixty eight islanders equivalent documents, borrowed some legalese here and there were evacuated to England. Like fish out and leaned heavily on common sense (he’s edited a scientific of water, many returned two years later journal for the past 25 years and has written scientific papers (the eruption had died down by 1962), once for nearly 40). conditions were deemed safe, to find their The first draft was dispatched in November 2004, and the sheep had been eaten by dogs and the bul- document was thoroughly checked by conservation and legal locks were roaming wild. experts back in South Africa and in the UK. It also needed Day was eight when he returned with comment from the island community and the Island Council. the advance party of 60 islanders, one of “It’s been hugely satisfying to see it go through.” a handful of children. The families would The new ordinance takes a substantially new approach return later. His father received an MBE to the protection of the islands’ flora and fauna, adopting (Member of the British Empire) for resettling “reverse listing”. It states that all native organisms are fully the island, the “second tour”, as they came protected unless listed otherwise. Simple. to call this sojourn. In 1965, a new harbour “This means, for example, that all non-breeding seabirds was built for the re-establishment of the that visit Tristan and Gough territorial waters are fully pro- crayfish industry. tected and may not be killed or disturbed without a permit.” “Back then, the islanders subsisted off The new ordinance also means that Tristan can now ask the island. Things have changed a lot,” he to be included within the United Kingdom’s ratification of the remarks. important Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Today there is an online newspaper, a Petrels, one that is rallying countries around the world to pro- school, hospital, post office, museum and tect this most threatened group. the crayfish-canning factory. Stamps are a Various other initiatives have also been set in motion: All major source of revenue. Some say obscu- seven Rockhopper Penguin colonies on Tristan now become rity has returned to the island. nature reserves in terms of the new ordinance. That may be, but Day would like to Another conservation initiative Cooper plans is the first return, this time with his own children. biological and geomorphological survey of the Queen Mary’s Remarkably, his family has sustained links Peak region on the main island. This information will be used with Tristan and its people for over 45 years. to propose a new nature reserve. He’d like his sons Daniel (16) and Ethan (4) to “The project will produce a management plan to regulate see the island that crowds conversations and adventure tourism, especially ‘peak baggers’, those who’d like colours anecdotes at clan gatherings. to climb Queen Mary’s Peak (2 010m), the highest in the mid- (Pictures courtesy of Dr Julian Day) Atlantic.”

28 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 29 Life and death tussle

BY HELEN THÉRON

hen Amanda Fitschen packed her crampons and ice “Sure to go far” are four words anyone would Waxe for the Pumori massif (7 216m) in Nepal in March, 2006, she became the first South African woman to climb the Mountainwelcome on their testimonial. Three UCT mountain. But she never imagined her quest to summit the climbers - one lecturer and two alumni - did peak would turn into a life and death tussle to bring down just that this year, their marathon treks up three severely injured men – a Swedish climber and two sher- pas – from high altitude, strapped to the aluminium ladders Everest and neighbouring Pumori making used to bridge crevasses. the news. From her computer in the School of Economics where she lectures, Fitschen is calling up pictures – starkly beautiful images of impossibly high mountains in the Himalayan spine, Watershed climb trailing veils of snow. tough washigh the risk involved. The risks are much more severe There are monuments to the dead all over the Khumbu BY MEGAN MORRIS compared to other mountains that I’ve climbed.” Valley below, climbers who have gone up and not returned. And Selamolela had at least two hitches on the climb, both The “classic” 7 000m peak of Nepal, Pumori (Pumo ele Selamolela never did any real grit-and-rope mountain on summit day when temperatures dropped to around -30ºC. meaning girl and Ri meaning mountain in Tibetan), lies in Sclimbing, not until he joined the UCT Mountain & Ski He suffered frostbite to his right hand, and faulty equipment the shadow of Everest, in view of Lhotse and Nupse. In fact, it Club in 2001, his first year of civil engineering studies at UCT. - a blocked oxygen pipe - could easily have proven fatal. On was from this peak that Eric Shipton helped to choose the first Cold boulder: Amanda Fitschen in South America. But the bug bit, and soon he was joining more experienced his way down, he experienced difficulties breath- ascent route on Everest, which Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and members on all manner of expeditions and climbs. ing and walking, and had to be assisted. Sir Edmund Hillary summited in 1953. “How no-one died I don’t know,” Fitschen said. “As my exposure to mountains increased, it sparked a Thankfully, someone cottoned on that At these altitudes the air is so rarefied that lungs burn and Fortunately she was in top condition, a veteran of the desire to do more interesting things,” he says. the problem lay with the pipe and movements become laboured. Simple things take time and the Comrades and Two Oceans marathons. Selamolela stepped things up since then, taking on quickly cleared the blockage. weather is seldom kind. Fitschen wasn’t always a climber. Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru in Tanzania, Mount Cook Selamolela recovered within Pumori dominates the west side of the Khumbu Valley, “The year I turned 40 I wanted to do something for my in New Zealand, and Mount Aconcagua in Peru, seconds. directly across from Everest. But they say it’s more difficult birthday.” among others. The trip, he says thinking to climb: steeper and with more avalanches and crevasses. She scaled a mountain in the Peruvian Andes with the And in May this year, he pushed back, was a watershed in his Climbers must use fixed ropes to make the ascent. Mountain Club of South Africa. the envelope even further when life. On the final morning of the expedition’s summit, the “The bug bit. It’s hard to explain, even to myself. When he and members of the Ev- “I got to learn a lot about group had reached 6 900m before disaster struck. While Tenji I’m on the mountain, I have only myself to worry about. I erest Peace Project, an myself – about pushing Sherpa and Lapka Sherpa had gone up ahead to fix the ropes, know exactly how many mouthfuls of water I can take, my international mountain- boundaries, about surviving, a Swedish climber in a hurry at the front of the pack (Fitschen exact fluid intake, how fast I am walking or climbing, how hot eering organisation that about perseverance.” has harsh words about his lack of co-operation) fell from an or cold I am, what to wear to minimise sweating. All these pulls together people But having climbed 8m-wall pulling on the ropes and taking the sherpas down. things affect success.” from all nationalities Everest at the tender age of Coming from above, the sherpas were catapulted, hitting Fitschen was the only woman on the Pumori expedition of and faiths, reached 26, what new challenges the front of the ice wall and sliding 400m on ice, “skidding like 14, a veritable United Nations of climbers. Fortunately, when the summit of does he have lined up? a Formula One car on an oil slick”, Fitschen recalls. the accident happened, the weather on Pumori was clear. Mount Everest, Nothing much, says Fortunately, they were roped up. The Swede emerged fairly “If we’d had bad weather, it would have cost people’s the world’s high- Selamolela. His family unscathed with a sprained ankle, but Lakpa Sherpa broke a leg lives,” Fitschen said. Another bit of luck was having two fire- est mountain. and girlfriend would below the knee and Tenji Sherpa dislocated a hip and shoulder. men on the expedition, one from New Zealand and another S e l a m o l e l a prefer him to stay off At 250 vertical metres from the summit, it was a bitter from Canada, professionals Fitschen rates very highly. Splints, was just the sev- any mountains for blow. At 09h30 the expedition had to be called off. It became duct tape and morphine had to make do while the injured enth South African now. Terra firma – at a rescue mission. were being brought down. to scale Everest. (And, in a lower altitude – is “On Everest they leave you,” Fitschen said, recalling the At the bottom of the glacial moraine, they created a make- all likelihood, the first from preferable. drama that unfolded on the peak that season. Struggling with shift helipad, using orange juice powder to mark the “H” and the UCT Mountain & Ski high altitude in extreme conditions, they took 39 hours to car- the South African flag as the windsock. Club.) Not too surprisingly, ry the three men down. But like many painful things, the memories soon faded. Everest stands out among “We put them in sleeping bags on mattresses to stop them Fistchen has since returned to Peru to climb. all his climbs. from freezing and dragged them across the ice down to Camp 2. “Every time I go up there [the mountain], I learn new “It was quite tough. There were 16 hours between the accident site and Camp 1 be- tricks of the trade, which I have to try out on the next moun- And I think what made it so low, where there were extra ladders they could use as stretchers. tain surely?”

30 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 31 Tallest order

BY HELEN THÉRON

ersonal glory, spiritual gain. People climb Everest Behind the P for many reasons. Not many are altruistic. When alumnus and businessman Tony van Marken summited last year, he did so with a cause in mind: The Children’s Hospital Trust, the fundraising petticoat arm of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. The hospital hopes to raise R50-million to rebuild and re-equip its aged operating theatres. Van Marken government took the cause to the highest level, reaching the summit 67 days after arriving at Base Camp, jokingly Joan van den Ende, the first woman warden referred to as Club Med. of Baxter Residence, turns 92 this year. On top, he placed the flag and hospital mascot. An experienced climber, Van Marken followed the traditional south route up Everest, the route origi- BY VANESSA HERMAN nally taken by Edmund Hillary. His personal quest is to climb the world’s seven highest summits, one on oan Van den Ende’s journey as warden began in 1958, a each continent. Jyear after the death of her husband, Professor Marinus Van His journey was not without incident. By Day 62 den Ende, former dean of UCT’s medical school. She had he developed an abscess in his lower left molar and four children to take care of, and when a Mrs Emmert from after talking to his dentist via satellite phone, he was UCT knocked on her door to offer her the job as warden of put on a course of antibiotics. Baxter, she took it. On condition, though, that she would not He was fortunate. His tooth improved and so did have to breakfast with the residents and would be allowed, in- the weather, providing perfect conditions to summit. stead, to prepare and see her children off to school. In his journal he wrote: “The winds have been Van den Ende initially suffered a crisis of confidence. On consistently ripping through the Col at between 20 her first day, she remembers, she was “terrified to stand in and 40 knots, not ideal conditions for climbing the Tony van Marken showing his climbing gear to a young kidney transplant patient front of 200 girls”. But she broke the ice when she explained in the E2 ward at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital before he left. highest mountain in the world. However, Lakpa Rita that while she had furnished the residence all on her own, she sherpa, our Sidar, a veteran of 14 Everest expedi- had – horror upon horror – neglected to buy bath mats. Van tions, has a good feeling about the weather. Although den Ende had a few sleepless nights at the start of her tenure. living at the South Col is no different to being in a She agonised about how she would manage responsibility for wind tunnel, he and Dave [Morton, one of the sum- the building, the students and the staff of the residence. She mit party] feel the winds up high will not be so bad remembers lying awake at night worrying about looking after But things were soon running smoothly, and Van den Ende and are optimistic about our summit bid.” other people’s children, thinking what would happen if, say, was building a strong relationship with her students. So much Van Marken, a consultant, entrepreneur and there was a fire. (She contacted the fire department, the chief so that she hosted impromptu “sherry parties” for those first- venture consultant, recently returned to South Africa came to inspect the residence and put her mind at ease.) year students born and raised in the “country” and not accus- after 11 years working abroad in Canada, England In those days things were done very formally, recalls Van tomed to city life. and France. He was the former president and chief den Ende. Dinner time was taken communally and everyone She felt, she says, that they should learn how to drink sensi- executive officer of Architel Systems Corporation and had to wear their black undergrad gowns. bly if they were to “survive” the university social culture. was awarded the Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year No men were allowed in the rooms other than the house Van den Ende still sees a couple of her students; they visit Award and elected to Canada’s Top 40 under-40. committee, and curfew was at midnight unless special permis- and take her out. He’s climbed 16 4 000m European peaks, bag- sion was requested in writing. If the girls wanted to sleep out When asked about her longevity, Van den Ende replies that ging the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc, and was the or go away for the weekend, written permission was also the she believes our lives are planned already and there is no use first South African to ascend Mount Shinn in Antarc- order of the day. worrying. tica. In New Zealand, he did back-to-back ascents of It was also required if a girl wanted to climb the mountain. Every second year, the Faculty of Health Sciences hosts a Mount Cook and Mount Aspiring. In Tibet, he scaled Van den Ende still recalls a girl requesting permission to learn memorial lecture in honour of her husband, Professor Mari-

Oyu, the world’s sixth highest peak at 8 201m. The Children’s Hospital Trust “Lolo” pillow on the summit. to fly an aeroplane. (That must have prompted a few more nus Van den Ende. This year’s lecture was delivered by Profes- nights of tossing and turning.) sor Henk Schmidt of Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

32 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 33 mates Hezbollah’s capacity has been reduced by one half. The Blowback in Beirut a damage was certainly not inconsiderable. The problem is that it came at a great cost. Over a hundred personal diary of the soldiers killed in battle. More importantly, the Israeli Defence Force was unable to curb the rocket attacks, sometimes in excess Lebanese disaster of two hundred a day. The north of Israel came to a standstill, including Haifa, the third largest city. This has posed serious BY SHAFIQ MORTON questions for Israel’s defence establishment. On the positive side, Hezbollah’s long range rockets were less successful: by all ho started the war? Who really fired the first shot? And, Shafiq Morton accompanied the Gift of the Gift Givers Foundation on its recent accounts most of their launchers were knocked out early in the can military success be measured by the deaths of 1 220 mission to deliver aid to strife-torn Lebanon. Morton graduated from UCT – as conflict and others had a short lifespan once fired. W Stephen Morton, before his conversion to Islam some 20 years ago – with a BA Professor Milton Shain is director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies people (mostly civilians), 5 000 injured (mostly civilians) and degree in 1977 and an HDE (PG) Sec in 1978. A longer version of this article and Research at the University of Cape Town. Shain completed a Secondary Israel can take some solace from UN Resolution 1701 the biggest population displacement since the 1948 Nakba, of appeared in the September edition of Muslim Views. (Picture courtesy of The Teachers Diploma at UCT in 1974, and also holds a PhD (1990) from here. that put an end to the hostilities. It calls for the disarm- Voice of the Cape.) An Afrikaans version of this article appeared in Die Burger on August 18. one-and-a-quarter million people (all civilians)? ing of Hezbollah and for the Lebanese army to assume full Can its success be measured by Hizballah humiliating the control of the south. In this sense Israel has won a diplo- Israeli Defence Force and winning what analysts are euphe- matic victory. Importantly, moderate Arab states and Russia mistically calling the “war of perception” – a war in which supported the Resolution. At one stage it looked as though Israel is no longer seen as invincible as everybody thought she the outcome of the French-USA negotiations would be less was, and the sudden surge of pride in the Arab heart? favourable. Having just returned from the conflict and with the sounds But the Resolution is vague in many respects and this is of Israeli shells still ringing in my ears, I’m not sure whether rapidly becoming apparent. The Lebanese state is weak and a I have the answers. I was accompanying a humanitarian bullish Hezbollah is in no mood to disarm. This may, however, mission, but the unspeakable reality of war confronted me Current Affairs: be posturing. There are indications that the Iranians – at every turn. As I write this, my shoes are still covered with notwithstanding Ahmadinejad’s extravagant claims, including Beirut bomb dust. the help of God – are furious with the damage to Hezbollah’s So, when were plans for this catastrophic conflict hatched? military capacity, including their long range rockets. We will There are many views. shortly witness a rush for influence over the Lebanese state. Some say Hizballah had been preparing since 2000. Iran will do its best to replace Syria in the region. She needs Others say that Israel, ever eager to capitalise on Bush’s “war theThe events in Lebanon overMi recent months dhave dtriggeredl eglobal debateEast that is likely, along with Hezbollah to serve as a deterrent to Israel whom she assesses on terror”, had been itching for an opportunity to obliterate the conflict in the Middle East, to continue for decades. As discussion and debate is the lifeblood as the only power determined to challenge her nuclear Hizballah and to steal water for her illegal West Bank ambitions. of a university, we also asked two UCT graduates, Professor Milton Shain and Shafiq Morton, to settlements from the Litani River. At this stage it is more likely that President Bush will take I’ve even heard from analysts (or was it conspiracy share their thoughts on what happened and what lies ahead for the region. advantage of a recalcitrant Hezbollah and use the opportu- theorists?) that Israel’s attack on Lebanon had been planned nity to drag Hezbollah’s masters in Tehran into a war. The well in advance, people even claiming that Israeli officials had the Givers should be taking bombs, and not aid, to Lebanon. Israelis would welcome this. Ahmadinejad’s desire to eradicate given a PowerPoint presentation of the Hizballah battle plan In Amman, already bursting at the seams with a million Iraqi Post Mortem the Jewish state is not taken lightly. But all of this is still down to Washington bureaucrats last year. refugees, there was much of the same. BY PROF MILTON SHAIN the road. For now, all eyes are focused on the political fallout A letter writer to Cairo’s Al-Ahram newspaper noted that Our first reality check came from South Africa’s ambassa- in Israel. when Hizballah captured two Israeli soldiers in July, it was for dor to Syria, Muhammad Dangor. The original plan was that ithin forty-eight hours of the cessation (at least for now) Already there are indications that Olmert is in politi- a prisoner swap and not a war. This perception was definitely he would receive Gift of the Givers in Beirut. Heavy shelling Wof hostilities in southern Lebanon, the Israeli prime cal trouble. Although his coalition is relatively strong, the not shared by Tel Aviv. “Hizballah is in flagrant disregard of had put paid to that plan. Tyre was being hammered, aid con- minister, Ehud Olmert; the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Has- performance of his defence minister, Amir Peretz, has been Resolution 1559 (to disarm),” asserted an Israeli spokesman as voys from Damascus had been bombed and there had been a san Nasrallah; and the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, had widely criticised. If the former trade unionist is dumped, he Hizballah’s rockets began to punish Haifa, Israel’s industrial massacre at Qa’na near the Syrian border. all presented their views on the conflict. It is only in Israel, how- may attempt to withdraw Labour from the coalition, opening heartland. “All the bridges are down and Lebanon has become an ever - the only democracy in the region - that the analysis will be the way for elections. ‘Bibbi’ Netanyahu would welcome this. Instead of inciting Lebanese Christians, Druze and Sunnis island cut off on all sides,” said the sombre ambassador who rigorous, scrutinised and open for challenge. His first post-war speech in the Knesset was measured and to rise against Hizballah, as the Israeli generals had hoped described the situation as “a humanitarian disaster requiring Even during the fighting, Israeli commentators of all politi- statesmanlike. Likud could well be on the road to recovery, for, the heavy-handed Zionist entity destroyed Lebanon’s the (urgent) attention of the international community”. cal persuasions were sharpening their pens in an attempt to building upon a general sense of disillusionment. Much the infrastructure and only succeeded in creating a reverse Of course, Dangor had not banked on the irrepressible Dr assess whether Olmert had misled the nation, or if the Israeli same happened after the Yom Kippur war. Olmert’s ratings Frankenstein – an unprecedented unity amongst the Lebanese Imtiaz Sooliman, Gift of the Givers CEO, who would only Defence Force had misjudged the tenacity, skill and weaponry of have plummeted from around 80 percent at the start of the people supported wholeheartedly by the Arab world. see this as a challenge. Suffice to say that after kicking our Hezbollah and had used the wrong military tactics. war to below 50 percent. This much was evident when we passed through Cairo on heels in Amman, we found ourselves flying by cargo plane into Debate is raging in Israel. Viewpoints are being vigorously Besides Netanyahu on the right, the left is calling for the our way to Beirut. Its crowded streets were abuzz with talk of Beirut. contested. This will continue for months, if not years. What opening of dialogue in the region. Yossi Beilin says it is time for the war. “Shaikh Hasan Nasrullah! Masha-Allah! Good man!” Driving to our hotel, Beirut was deserted. This was not the does not seem in doubt, however, is that Israel’s objective of a new ‘Madrid’, in reference to the 1991 international peace shouted our taxi driver, a hard-core Egyptian Sunni. bustling city I’d visited in 2001. Or, as Wajib Bizri, the South demolishing Hezbollah has not been achieved. Just how much conference that preceded the Oslo accords. Beilin argues that On our flight from Cairo, a passenger told me that Gift of African Consul General, said: “One day there was a wedding, damage she wrought remains to be seen. Shimon Peres esti- conditions are more propitious for Israel today than in 1991: (continued on page 36...) (continued on page 36...)

34 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 35 (Blowback in Beirut continued.) and the next there was a funeral.” Paying a visit to the Rafiek Hariri Hospital, we met 68-year According to him, the issue was the fast-growing Lebanese old Layla Akhdar from Tyre who said she had nothing to do Nonagenarian advocate is just too old to retire economy, an economy that had become a major threat to Israel with the conflict. She measured Israeli brutality by the fact struggling under the yoke of the Intifadah. that they even bombed her cows. Advocate David Meyerowitz is approach- But fate did play a role. That night, Benjamin Netanyahu was interviewed by the She told me that she woke up one night to find her house ing a century of life celebration. A legend The great depression of the 1930s denied him a chance to BBC. Describing any talk of a ceasefire as “an aspirin for can- on top of her. Her husband, who lost his legs in the blast, died complete articles with a law firm. Instead, he joined the civil cer”, he denied that Israel destroyed infrastructure, accused shortly afterwards. There are still 10 members of her family in his own lifetime, this Cape Town legal service. Hizballah of “criminal ideology” and rated Olmert’s military under the rubble. expert is still going strong. After refusing a position in the patents office in Pretoria offensive as “restrained”, adding that Lebanon’s cities had not I went to the Sanaye Municipal Park in Central Beirut – “I was courting my wife Eva,” he reflects with a wistful sigh yet been razed to the ground. where 1 500 refugees have taken shelter. They were angry, BY PETER ALEX – his degree helped him to acquire a position in the Cape By dawn, I’d been woken up by a series of blasts. The frightened. There were no tents, and when I asked why, aid Town Masters’ Office. Israelis were shelling southern Beirut – again. workers said that they were scared of being mistaken for n 1937, Hitler and his lebensraum obsession stood poised After what he remembers as extreme boredom, sorting A day later, we’d run the gauntlet south to embattled Sidon military. I to annex all Europe, the airship Hindenburg crashed in papers and ministering to lawyers’ enquiries, he was promoted where the city of 100 000 has doubled in size due to an influx As I took pictures, a pamphlet bomb detonated above us. flames, the Spanish civil war raged, to a department handling accounts of refugees. As we visited the mayor, we heard an explosion The children screamed, their terror educated by previous ex- the Japanese invaded Manchuria. and the administration of deceased followed by a shower of pamphlets, most of which fell into periences. False alarm, Nasrullah was under another paper King George VI and Queen estates. the sea. onslaught. Elizabeth were crowned, strike chaos It was to prove a decisive move. The pamphlet accused Nasrullah of hiding his battle On my last full day in Beirut, we were in the dusty streets disrupted Paris. Howard Hughes flew He had discovered his niche. fatalities, and provided a list of 40 names. I saw the Lebanese of the Dahiye, Beirut’s bomb-ravaged southern suburbs. It in record time from New York to the From that day on, his opinions, falling about, laughing. I was told that some of Nasrullah’s was only 24 hours before the ceasefire, but in the past 24 it had West Coast, legendary woman pilot often on appeal, became legendary. “casualties” had died of old age, or in car accidents over five been Israeli shock and awe. I clambered up pancaked slabs of Amelia Earhart disappeared. Snow He is highly respected by his peers. years ago. concrete to the rim of a smoking crater. It exuded an acrid White and the Seven Dwarfs was a Walt In 1946 he was called to the Bar Sidon was bombed that night. Southern Beirut got blasted stench, like burning rubbish – or was it flesh? Disney cinematography triumph. (his flat feet precluding him from (again) and our electricity went off, the hotel generator throb- The Israeli bombs have been confusing doctors and emer- In South Africa, Sir Patrick active service in the war, although bing into action. gency crews for some time. Bodies have come out of the build- Duncan became the sixth gover- he did try to enlist) after five years Like everything else in the country, fuel is running out. The ings totally burnt, the skin blackened without any shrapnel nor-general and the Aliens Act was of articles with Syfret, Godlonton Israeli blockade, a flagrant violation of the Geneva Accord, is wounds. Not only that, many have been armless and legless. passed – a sombre preview of things & Low, and after the customary six biting hard. Suddenly, we were told to leave the area. Our driver whis- to come. Artist Gregoire Boonzaier months was admitted as an advocate. We visited Lebanon’s finance minister, Sami Haddad, who pered that three Israeli spies have been posing as journalists. returned to the republic and, oh He took silk (senior counsel) in 1963. said that Lebanon – already stricken by debt – has lost three He said they were dropping CD’s, or homing devices, in the yes, Salt River resident and former Moreover, almost 56 years billion US dollars in direct damage. Dahiye to guide Israeli bombers. SACS schoolboy David Meyerowitz ago Meyerowitz and two other I spoke to an interpreter for one of our TV crews. He relat- I never did get to the bottom of that story, but no soon- graduated LLB from the University established legal authors, Aubrey ed a story of an Israeli commando unit landing in Baalbek and er had we arrived back at the hotel than 18 blasts shook of Cape Town. Silk and Erwin Spiro, began and capturing Hasan Nasrullah – right name, but wrong man! the city. Rushing to the TV, LBC was already broadcasting Now 90, still hard at work as an edited The Taxpayer. Today it is Later that day the Israelis fed the fish again with a shower the footage. advocate, Meyerowitz is the old- regarded as a category bible. of pamphlets. “Leave us with a good smell,” it exhorted, in- Right where we had been standing was a plume of est active member of the Bar. His And academic icing came sulting Hizballah leader Nasrullah in a most puerile fashion. black smoke. chuckle betrays his sense of humour, much later. his reluctance to be interviewed, his On December 14, 1990, he modesty. He drives to work daily, a dynamo, with a brain as was honoured when UCT awarded him an honorary (Post Mortem continued) internal and Khaled Mashaal’s Damascus-based external sharp as a barrister’s tongue. degree of Doctor of Laws. the vast majority of Israelis are reconciled to a Palestinian wing. Much depends on how these leaders have read the Family man, estates and tax expert (his definitive work Few others can boast a true “lifetime of work”, but for state. This was not the case in 1991. In turn Peretz believes it war. In the meantime Palestinians – especially those in Gaza on estate administration published in 1949 is a legal umbili- David Meyerowitz, 90 going on 50, there’s still much to do. is necessary to talk to the Syrians. - are facing the heavy hand of the Israeli military. Insurgents cal cord for the profession), he is one of a long line of distin- “I’ve seen a plethora of major changes; many I did not On the other hand, with radical Islamists swearing the de- and civilians are being killed on a daily basis. Put simply, the guished UCT alumni who have made their mark. think would become reality in my lifetime; all for the best struction of the Jewish State, there will be many in Israel in- neighbourhood remains deeply troubled. But, it’s one thing to catch the subject at the water hole. of this great nation. South Africa’s youth have inherited clined towards fortress politics. Olmert’s unilateral withdrawal “I’m not to keen to talk about myself or my family. I have a wonderful integrity from a judiciary unafraid to speak its from most of the West Bank will certainly be put on hold. (Picture Courtesy The Voice Of The Cape.) a son in Cape Town and two daughters in Israel, but family mind and remaining aloof from the petty strictures of invasive This means that the news is not good for the Palestinians life is personal,” he insists. Our telephone conversation steers bureaucracy. in the short term. Since Hamas came to power in January, the from that course. “It is vital that institutions such as UCT continue to produce ‘Palestinian question’ has been on hold. Gaza remains unset- Obviously, in almost 70 years at the Bar, there are countless lawyers of the highest order, with ethics, honesty and excellence tled and there are no signs that Hamas has changed its stance memories, but while Meyerowitz certainly remembers, he is in profession remaining the watchwords worldwide.” with regard to recognising Israel or abiding by the Palestinian reluctant to recount. Authority’s previous agreements. “Nothing spectacular happened; I never sought the Time constraints precluded the writer and Advocate Meyerowitz from meeting face Some cracks may appear between Ismael Haniyeh’s limelight, avoided it in fact.” to face, but the subject concurs with the writer’s comments.

36 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 37 A year in the life of a university February 2006 March 2006

Lights out: Ongoing power out- Listen up: Extinct San languages recoded on wax cylinders ages in the Western Cape cause by ethnographers Dorothea Bleek and historian and musicolo- Let there be light chaos, hampering teaching at gist Percival Kirby in the early 1900s are digitally captured, UCT as students flock to alterna- thanks to National Lotteries funding and help from British Li- In his 50-plus years of professional work, ing the values of South African society. tive venues. UCT electricity de- braries National Sound Archive specialist Will Prentice. In a recent interview with UCT News in Cape Town, livery expert Prof Trevor Gaunt photographer David Goldblatt has received Goldblatt says that right at the blossoming of his work in the warns the situation will get worse his share of praise and accolades. The latest is early 1960s, he divided his life into two water-tight photography before it gets better. Prophetic At risk: Prof Alan Flisher wins the 2005 Alan Pifer Award for his research on risk behaviour among adolescents, highlight- the 2006 Hasselblad Foundation International components: his “broad variety” of assignments with magazines, words. corporations and institutions in South Africa and abroad; and ing a neglected group. Flisher holds what must be a record Award in Photography. seven degrees from UCT. The Pifer award honours scholars his own personal work in which he looked at South African whose work helps disadvantaged communities. society in its different aspects with a critical eye. Master’s medal: String theorist BY MXOLISI MGXASHE and postgraduate student An- “There was a time in this country,” he recalls, “if I was asked tony Millner bags the prestigious Wordsmiths: Keith by a corporation to do some work for them, I would first have to S2A3 Bronze Medal from the Welman and Zola n his celebrated piece, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, educate them, in a polite way, about what they might want to do South African Association for the Wababa of PRAESA’s I English poet Alfred Noyes talks of how many talented and with these photographs, because they simply had no concept of Advancement of Science. Terminology Devel- creative folk are “born to blush unseen” and to waste their how photography worked.” opment Unit develop “sweetness in the desert air”. Then there was the personal stuff. Upwardly mobile: The Graduate School of Business’s full- new maths and sci- The same can certainly not be said of the humble, modest “I photographed the 1960s, looked at some Afrikaner time MBA programme climbs 16 spots to 66th place in the ence dictionaries in and creative photography icon, David Goldblatt, the 75-year- people and at the dying gold mines around Witwatersrand in isiXhosa, kick-starting Financial Times’ 2005 survey, the only South African busi- old son of Eli Goldblatt and Olga Light, Johannesburg. I have looked at the transport of workers from ness school ranked in the top 100. mother-tongue-based education in these both of whom came to South Africa the resettlement camps of Kwa-Ndebele to Pretoria, people fields. with their parents to escape the having to wake up at two in the morning, catch buses to go to persecution of the Lithuanian work, and get home at ten at night, because of apartheid.” Jewish communities in the He has – before and after the demise of apartheid - also 1890’s. looked at the South African structures, the culture, politics, the Goldblatt’s long and im- economic life, and its people’s bodies - sometimes in their naked pressive CV cites a catalogue of forms – as an expression of those values. achievements, including no less It was as a result of all his photographic achievements that than eleven books on photogra- the University of Cape Town awarded him with an honorary phy and a host of exhibitions. doctorate degree in fine arts in 2001, which he says was a “great The books include On the privilege and honour”. Mines with Nadine Gordimer, “I was very grateful.” Some Afrikaners Photographed, He adds that the doctorate degree and, specifically, the “Dr” In Boksburg, South Africa: that can now precede his name is, nonetheless, a title he feels the Structure of Things only “at the back of my mind”. Then, and David “I am much more comfortable when people do not use it. I Goldblatt: Fifty-One hate when they prefix my name with the title, ‘Dr’, and I hope Years. you are not going to use that title in your story. It embarrasses Second wind: Former dean of Students Dr Loveness Kaun- Goldblatt’s interest in me. I am just pleased by the recognition.” da returns to UCT as director of the International Academic photography started in And lest we forget, even more recognition was forthcoming Programmes Office. 1948 while a student at this year when Goldblatt was named the 2006 winner of the Krugersdorp High School Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography. Big occasion: Iconic institution the Little Theatre celebrates in the then Transvaal prov- “David Goldblatt’s work is a lifelong observation of the its 75th anniversary with a performance of Anton Chekov’s ince. His initial ambition social and political developments within South African society,” The Seagull, the same play it opened with in 1931. Every mountain: UCT’s Mountain & Ski Club stalwarts, 11 was to become a magazine said the foundation in its citation. “He has been concerned to climbers in all, scale lesser frequented Cerro Trés Picos and photographer, something explore the relationship between individual subjects and the Mount Tronador in Andean Patagonia. Interface: A first in the country, he says was almost un- structures within which they live. His interest in the violent Prof Sean Kaliski’s book Psy- known in South Africa history of his country, and his awareness of the symbolic cholegal Assessment in South Sliding: The Graduate School of Business’ Global Entrepre- Africa, is an essential handbook neurship Monitor says South Africa dropped from 20th posi- at that time. But it was not significance of architecture, form an extraordinary statement for psycholegal practitioners in tion out of 34 countries in entrepreneurship rankings in 2004, (Illustration by Richard Smith) until September 1963 that he was able both personal and socio-political. the country. to 25th out of 35 in 2005. to devote all his time, energy and focus “The reason why Goldblatt has been chosen for the to professional photography, portray- Hasselblad Award is because his photographs are acute in

38 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 39 historical and political perception. They provide a sense of that give birth to events, and these are the conditions I have been the texture of daily life, and an important piece of missing looking at for a long time. I think there’s a pursuit of wealth in information regarding life under apartheid in South Africa.” South Africa today that I find quite mad. It cuts across blacks, That work is continuing. For the past six to seven years, whites and everybody. You can see it in some of the suburbs in Goldblatt has been traveling around South Africa shooting Johannesburg in particular, in Clifton, Bantry Bay, and other aspects of post-apartheid South Africa, and exploring the use areas in Cape Town. of colour photography – a more recent touch - in his personal “It’s understandable, I suppose. The pendulum is taking work. extreme swings because it had been held for a very long time “His recent shift to colour photography has only served to in restrictions.” enhance the photographer’s revealing portraits of apartheid’s David Goldblatt has also been looking at the AIDS ribbon as aftermath,” observed one commentator. the feature of “our urban landscape”, and the way it disappears. Intersections, an exhibition of that work, opened at the “We no longer see it,” he says, “a clear manifestation of our Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, in June 2005, and went on to wish to forget about AIDS and the fight against it.” Camera Austria in Graz. A book of the same title was published He is, at the end of the day, quite upbeat, however, about by Prestel, Munich, in June 2005. the strides that have been made in photography in South Part of Goldblatt’s post-apartheid work has been to look at Africa over the years, and the recognition photographers have the very successful property developments in the country, which received since the advent of the new dispensation. It came a “in my mind are a metaphor for the greed and acquisitiveness little belatedly, perhaps. that’s sweeping South Africa”. “This is ironic because if that recognition had come during the “As a photographer I am more interested in the conditions years of apartheid, it could have been more meaningful.”

In pictures: David Goldblatt has been recording South African lives for more than 50 years. (Photographs courtesy of the Goodman Gallery)

40 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 41 A year in the life of a university April 2006 May 2006

Arrival: The new repetitive transcranial magnetic stimula- Fat of the land: Dr Rachel Wynberg joins the team to in- Shapiro’s pencil tion machine (rTMS) will throw light on the role of pathways vestigate benefit-sharing agreements between the San and in the brain in trauma and resilience. This is part of a major commercial developers of the Hoodia plant, a venture with UCT signature theme, the Brain Behaviour Initiative, involv- international precedents. For centuries the San used Hoodia ing a top team of multidisciplinary scientists. to prevent hunger and thirst. Today it’s hailed as a miracle cure for obesity. sharper than the sword Upgrade: Two new data centres worth R3.3-million are BY CHRIS MCEVOY rolled out, part of UCT’s supaTsela ICT Renewal Project. From the pen: Honorary re- These centres will house UCT’s critical ICT services and search associate in the English t can’t be easy being Jonathan Shapiro. In the 1980s he was systems. literature department Prof Peter forced into hiding and detained without trial by the apart- Knox-Shaw, wins the 2006 UCT I heid government and, this year, he’s being sued for R15-mil- Swing it: UCT women tennis play- Book Award for Jane Austen lion by a hero of the struggle. ers sweep all before them in the and the Enlightenment. WP women’s premier league after It seems ironic, but it isn’t really. Shapiro, as Zapiro, promotion in 2005, the first UCT Acute thinker: Dist Emer Prof of Complex Systems George didn’t earn his reputation as one of the world’s best political team to do so in years. Player/ Ellis nets the Order of Mapungubwe for his contributions to cartoonists by pandering to sacred cows, fallen heroes or coach Jackie Booth is instrumen- science and for putting South Africa on the world stage. draconian authority figures. tal in the success. Never afraid to court controversy, his work is often regarded Versatile: A 25-year labour by as scathing and acerbic, but this edginess comes from a Launched: A new R5-million scholarship programme, botanist and mathematician commitment to honesty, rather than a desire announced by former vice-chancellor Dr Mamphela Dr Peter Bruyns yields a to personally attack his subjects. Ramphele, is named to honour black consciousness hero two-volume monograph on He tells a story about his inter- Steve Biko. The development of leadership in Africa is a Stapeliads, the first complete rogation during his 11 days of de- “damaged his reputation”. key criterion. work on these lesser known tention in 1988: “The first ques- Quick to respond, Shapiro fired off a fourth cartoon de- plants since 1937. tion they asked me was: ‘Why do picting himself saying to Zuma: “Would that be your reputa- Happy returns: The International you draw us as pigs?’ I replied, ‘I tion as a disgraced, chauvinistic demagogue who can’t control Academics Programmes Office draw what I see.’” his sexual urges and who thinks a shower prevents AIDS?” (IAPO) celebrates its 10th birth- It’s this unflinching attitude Clearly, Shapiro remains unintimidated. day. There are 4 000 international students at UCT, a whopping 20% to his work that lands Shapiro “In a way, there’s something positive in all this,” he says of the student body. At the birth- in hot water more often than he lightly. “I think it’s good that they take so much notice. It day function, VC and Principal would like, the latest being his means I’m hitting the mark.” Prof Njabulo S Ndebele met with clash with former Deputy Presi- But he’s serious about the lawsuit’s potential implications. US consul-general Moosa Valli. dent Jacob Zuma, who is “Suing someone for expressing their opinions is ridiculous and suing Shapiro for wrong. If it goes through it could start a dangerous trend.” Curtain call: UCT mourns the death of slain actor Brett three cartoons But Shapiro is not at all worried that the lawsuit will be Goldin. Goldin studied in the drama department from 1997 that he successful, and is prepared to fight his case all the way to the to 2000, tackling a diversity of roles “with chameleon-like c l a i m s Constitutional Court if necessary. “He won’t get a red cent out transformations”. of me,” he declares. Far more problematic for Shapiro is the ostracisation he experiences because of his vocal opposition to Israel’s occupa- tion of Palestine. “I’m in favour of Palestinian rights because I’m in favour Unveiled: Minister of Education Naledi Pandor opens the ZK of human rights,” he explains, “and it’s obvious to me that Matthews Gallery in the Hoerikwaggo Building (old chemical Israel has an apartheid-like state.” engineering building), home to the Centre for Higher Educa- His views have made him the target of vitriolic attacks, tion Development (CHED) and named after the intellectual activist and struggle icon Zachariah Keodirelang Matthews. and he admits that he is persona non grata in certain Jewish circles. “That’s the most difficult thing for me about this job,” he Young blood: Landscape ecologist Prof Graeme Cumming says gravely. “It’s harder being a Jew in the new South Africa Reigning men: The UCT water polo team takes the South is appointed to the new Pasvolsky Chair of Conservation African university championships title in 2005 and wins the in- Biology at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African tervarsity against the Maties in April 2006. The women’s team Ornithology. Quick on the draw: As Zapiro, Jonathan Shapiro has earned himself a reputation as one of the world’s finest political cartoonists, as well as a also blows Maties out of the water. few enemies.

42 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 43 A year in the life of a university than it ever was being a white South African Oxford man: Vice-Chancellor under apartheid, because in those days there June 2006 and Principal, Prof Njabulo S was at least a greater acceptance by other Ndebele, receives an honorary doctorate in law from his alma whites.” Bidding: UCT’s Institute of In- Controversial or not, Shapiro’s career is mater Cambridge University. fectious Disease and Molecular Ndebele first went to on an upward spiral. After graduating from Medicine bids to host the third Cambridge in 1973 as part of UCT in 1982, he started producing count- and African component of the a foreign student programme. less drawings and designs for the United International Centre for Genetic He completed his honours and Democratic Front (UDF) and the End Con- Engineering and Biotechnology master’s degrees there. scription Campaign (ECC) and becoming (ICGEB). The ICGEB is commit- the editorial cartoonist for the weekly South. ted to research and training in biotechnology and genetic engi- In 1988 he won a Fulbright Scholarship neering with a focus on the needs July 2006 and studied under renowned cartoonists of the developing world. like Art Spiegelman and Will Eisner at the School of Visual Arts in New York. After his return he produced educational com- ics and in 1994 he was snapped up by the Chill pad: The Ikhaya Student Day House is launched, a Mail & Guardian and shortly afterwards by place for students not living in residence to hang out and the Sowetan. seek cultural and social interaction. It’s hoped that the facility He now produces a prolific five new car- will draw day students into university life, and particularly toons every week: one for the Sunday Times, student governance. one for the Mail & Guardian and three for Laurels: Prof Tim Noakes (sports the Independent Group. A new collection science), Dr Tania Douglas (hu- of his newspaper cartoons has been pub- man biology) and Assoc Prof lished every year since 1996. He’s already Candy Lang (mechanical engi- had two exhibitions this year, and his work is neering) bag “Science Oscars” at currently showing in Amsterdam, New York the National Science and Tech- and Paris. nology Awards. He has been invited to participate in events all around the world, including the World Economic Forum in Switzerland where, in Bedding down: The new R87-million Graça Machel Women’s Residence on the old Protem site will offer 382 2003, he was the only African representative. new beds. It’s scheduled to open at the beginning of the new Somehow, he still manages to find the time to academic year. The surrounding area will be redeveloped to speak at schools and universities. include a state-of-the-art gym. “I used to say yes to every invite,” he High profile: Bill and Melinda Gates visit UCT’s TB Vaccine Initia- says, “But it’s not so easy anymore. I just Light beacon: Iconic institution the Red Cross War Me- tive Laboratories, part of the Institute of Infectious Disease and don’t have the time.” morial Children’s Hospital celebrates its 50th anniversary. Molecular Medicine. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation do- The institution launches a fundraising campaign to raise nates millions of dollars each year to the Global Fund to Fight At least it’s not a thankless job. Awards AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. and certificates compete for space in Sha- R50-million to rebuild and re-equip its ageing operating piro’s cluttered studio, among them an theatres. Among the hospital’s many firsts is the first open-heart surgery on children in South Africa. Honoured: Prof Margaret Hewett (law) receives the Orde van honorary doctorate from the University of Oranje-Nassau (officier), a civil award for services to the Dutch Transkei, several Mondi awards, including Wordsmiths: The shortlist for the Sunday Times Fiction State, for her two-volume translation of Jacobus Voorda’s timeless the 2006 Mondi South African Journalist Prize is named, and UCT makes a clean sweep. Nominees Dictata ad Ius Hodiernum. of the Year Award, and an honorary Sunday JM Coetzee, André P Brink, Andrew Brown (the eventual Times Alan Paton Literary Award. winner), Consuelo Roland and Russel Brownlee all, in one Turnaround: SHAWCO’s Varkey The biggest award of his career, however, is way or the other, hail from UCT. George is named runner-up in in an impressive-looking gift box, which Shapiro South Africa’s 2006 Social Entre- retrieves from somewhere under a trestle table. Back in town: John Kani and Winston Ntshona revive the preneur of the Year competition for It’s the 2005 Principle Prince Claus Award, South African classic Sizwe Banzi is Dead, staging a run at turning around SHAWCO’s finan- cial fortunes. Under George, the from the Prince Claus fund in the Netherlands the Baxter. The two first performed the play back in 1975. organisation launched SHAWCO – a prize worth 100 000 Euros (almost R800 Enterprises, earning them much- Muscling in: Staffer Jeffrey Johnstone, 52, wins a gold 000). needed revenue. “I’ve just been in the right place at the medal at the National Powerlifting Championships, his first right time,” he says modestly. “I’ve been very appearance at the competition. UCT student Euraima To- bias also lifts gold in the 100kg junior section. lucky.”

44 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 45 alumni reunion roundup alumni reunion round-

Photo Album 3 Over the past 12 months, alumni have gathered in London and Jerusalem, Auckland and Johannesburg, and “at home” on campus. Some of the events were captured on camera. Alumni roundup 1 2 From the Desk of Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo

and Steve Biko Memorial Lectures, and – and some of you for the first time in 4 over 30 inaugurals. To this we added an a long time - and this is reflected in the active programme of dance, music and expanded Where Are They Now? sec- Send in the Clowns@The Baxter Prof Paula Ensor, dean of Humanities, invited alumni to join the School of Dance and the South drama at the Baxter Theatre Centre tion of this magazine. African College of Music for gluhwein after the student performance of Send in the Clowns at the and at the Hiddingh campus. Other developments in 2006 were Baxter Theatre Centre. Photographed here are: For years our medics have organised the appointment of Tina Barsby to 1. (From left) Ali Lund (neé Aldridge), Peter Oscroft, Jo Lund and Jacke Oscroft (neé Girdwood), successful reunions, and I’m pleased to work with the UCT Fund in New York all alumni who graduated in the late 1960s. 2. (From left) Vulani Mdekazi (student), Lungelwa Mdekazi and Sinawe Pezi (2005), Maxwell Rani report that the Law Reunion weekend on alumni affairs, and, similarly, the (lecturer) and Tebogo Ramathopo (student). every October is gathering momentum. appointment of Angela Ross to work 3. Carol Sensky (neé Pachter) and R Pachter. The engineering and the built envi- with Sibylla Tindale of the UCT Trust 4. Simon Sephton (1978) and Juliette Peires (1949). ronment faculty has followed suit. The in London. New Zealand has changed mechanical engineering graduates of their status to a fundraising trust, headed 1960 to1965 attended the final-year by Raymond Howard, and our conven- open day last November. Following the ors in Jerusalem took on the challenge 006 has seen both innovation and Smuts and Fuller Hall 75th celebra- of organising an informal meet around 2consolidation in UCT’s relationship tions, University House is planning a a visiting academic. Here at home, Dr with its alumni. gathering for March next year. Jim McNamara moved from his posi- With 60% of our graduates living in It is on the communication front, tion as deputy registrar to head up the Cape Town, it is usually “on campus” though, that 2006 has seen the most Development and Alumni Department that there is most on offer. The UCT innovation. Recently launched newslet- in May this year. Already, his passion for Alumni Leadership Forums, introduced ters include the Humanities Update and an all things “alumni” is making itself felt in 2005, have continued to attract EBE Update, which join a suite of other (see pg 55). graduates back to campus, with a list of publications such as Cathartic (health sci- We do welcome your input on UCT speakers as diverse as renowned sports ences), Contact (science) and Law Review. News and on all our efforts to take alum- scientist Professor Tim Noakes and Pen- The second UCT News Update for North ni relations to a new level. I look forward sion Fund Adjudicator, Vuyani Ngalwa- America was dispatched last month. to meeting more of you over the coming na. In October this year, microbiologist The commerce faculty plans an inaugu- months and if you visit campus, please Professor Jennifer Thomson took to the ral newsletter to coincide with the ap- pop in for a cup of tea and a muffin. A podium. pointment of a new dean in 2007. listing of dates to diarise and people to Other lecturers also proved to be These endeavours are all part of contact follows. drawing cards: Athol Fugard read his bringing to life the Vice-Chancellor’s vi- Law Reunions version of Jason, and visiting Nobel sion of a strong UCT community, and Prize-winning chemist Professor Robert as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor respon- With best wishes The third weekend in October is reunion Grubbs delivered the Vice-Chancellor’s sible for alumni, I have found it excit- time. Pictured last year at a dinner in Open Lecture. (His lecture was titled ing to be part of these renewed efforts Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo Smuts Hall with the 1965 to 1968 group were Greg McClune, Clive Grossman and Green Chemistry, Catalysis and to reach out to you, our alumni. One Deputy Vice-Chancellor Medic reunions Bhadra Ranchod (foreground). Fundamental Chemistry.) These were of the results is that many of you have If it’s November/December, to Groote Schuur alumni come! A few pictures are featured here, but to augmented by the annual TB Davie been in touch with us for the first time view the full 2005 set, visit www.health.uct.ac/alumni.

46 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 47 alumni reunion roundup alumni reunion roundup alumni reunion roundup alumni reunion round-

Alumni Affairs Newsflash: Calling all Western Cape alumni. To be included on the list for announcements about pub- lic lectures please send your email Engineering reunions Breakfast in Gauteng Alumni Robert Caldwell and Alan Campbell with (From left) Andile Nikani (2000), Michelle address to [email protected]. student Roger de Smidt (centre) at the reun- Morrison and Daryl Dingley (both 1998) ion of the 1960-1965 mechanical engineering after listening to US competition lawyer Prof Reunion Dates for 2007 classes, which took place in November 2005. Eleanor Fox.

LAW Class of 1952 To stay in touch, update your details on www.uct.ac.za/alumni/update_details.php 27 Feb-1 March or post/fax the form below. Reunion weekend You may also contact your nearest alumni representative: 19-20 October New Zealand AGM Australia: Sydney: Mike du Plessis, [email protected], Melbourne: Tim Contact [email protected] Alumni gathered at Old Government House on the Auckland University campus in March to adopt a new constitution and incorporate themselves into a charitable body. The new body will have tax-exempt legal status to engage in fundraising and to organise alumni business on a national basis. A draft and Christine Lansberg, [email protected], constitution, drawn up by a steering committee, was accepted unanimously. The elected officers are Ray Howard, (president), Linda Phillips (secretary/ Canada: Henry Blumberg, [email protected], MEDICS treasurer), Judy Klosser, Peter Merry and David Ryan. Bob Molloy, alumni convenor for the past two decades, and alumni treasurer, Brian Brooke, did Israel: Julia Hadar, [email protected], Class of 1992 not stand for election. Also at the function were Martin Abert, Muir and Penny Barry, Theo and Yasmin Blaauw, Pierre Chemaly, Peter de Jager, Terence New Zealand: Raymond Howard, [email protected], 23-25 November Delaney, Jude Earles, Michelle and Sandy Foster, John Gardener, Dane Gerneke, Peter Hassell, Carl and Barbara Herbst, Paul Johnson, Mariann Port Elizabeth: Daryl Burman, [email protected], Class of 1967 Judge, Angelo and Eileen Lavranos, Shearene Lombard, Ian Martin, Riccardo Masari, Cathy Miller, Keri Molloy, Keith Phillips, Martin Putterill, Etienne South Africa: Cape Town, [email protected], 30 November-2 December Ryan, Allan and Angela Silberstein, Wanley Simpson, Michele van Schalkwyk and Geoff Wales. United Kingdom: Angela Ross, [email protected], Class of 1957 United States: Tina Barsby, [email protected] 7-9 December 1 To: Development and Alumni Department, UCT, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, Class of 1982 or fax (27) (21) 650 4667 14-16 December Contact [email protected]

Name: Physiotherapy 50th anniversary 6-7 July Degree: Yr of grad: Contact [email protected]

News update: University House 1958-1965 8-11 March Contact Jerry Wood at [email protected] or Will Crews at [email protected]

To arrange Reunions 2 Summer School Alumni make up a large contingent of Summer School attendees every The Faculties of Commerce and Hu- January. manities, or Halls of Residence and Photographed at the alumni lecture are: Clubs, contact [email protected]. 1. Dr Stuart Saunders (left) and Alumni Leadership Forums Prof Cyril O’Connor (right) chat to a Started in 2005, the Alumni Leadership Fo- The Faculties of Engineering & the Summer School alumnus. rums have become regular features on the 2. Dr Butch Hulley (1962) and Medee UCT calendar. Photographed here are two Built Environment and Science con- Rall (1982). recent speakers, Vuyani Ngalwana and Prof tact [email protected] Tim Noakes.

48 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 49 alumni roundup alumni roundup alumni roundup alumni roundup alumni roundup alum where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they

CLASS OF 2005 Terry Russell (BCom), is working CLASS OF 2000 CLASS OF 1997 Aspect Capital Limited, a hedge fund CLASS OF 1991 for JP Morgan in London. which operates in the management fu- James Bradley (BSc), is a singer/ Laura Bird (BBusSci), has been work- Z de Beer (MMed, public health), is tures sector. Bev Bird (LLB), is a litigation attorney dancer in the international production CLASS OF 2002 ing for the past five years as an ac- now a public health physician, and he and is presently the director of the UCT of We Will Rock You proving that you count manager at Ogilvy & Mather in is also involved in the field of public CLASS OF 1995 Law Clinic. can be both artistic and scientific. Alex Fraser (BSc), is working at Cape London. health postgraduate education and re- Laurel Bowden (BSc, electrical Adam Francke-Matthecka Biotech Trust as a cluster facilitation search, healthcare and management Adele Erasmus (LLB), is practicing at engineering), is currently a partner at a (BBusSci, Econ), spent four months manager. She was recently involved CLASS OF 1999 development. the Cape Bar and teaching part-time leading venture capital fund where she in Aspen Colorado and he is currently in the UCT science faculty’s outreach Michele Denti (MSc, Eng), spent a for UCT on the international criminal has worked for six years. working for UBS investment bank in programme, together with Cape Bio- Sherryn Allwright (BSc), is working year working in Italy before moving to law course. Robert Bridger (PhD), is head of London. tech. as a speech and language therapist at the UK and studying for an MSc in rail Tracy Gutuza (LLB), completed the human factors department with the Bonga Mkhwanazi (BSc Eng, Michael Marconi (BSc), is an IT a school for profoundly deaf children systems at the University of Sheffiels. her articles and worked as a legal ad- Royal Navy, and is currently working electrical), is a graduate electrical en- consultant working in New York and while studying part-time for an MSc in She is currently project engineer and visor before joining UCT in 2001 as a on the 3rd edition of his textbook Intro- gineer at Unilever Foods SA (Pty) Ltd London. He is currently employed human communication. manager for Tube Lines, the principal lecturer in the Faculty of Law. duction to Ergonomics. in Kwazulu Natal. by Standard Bank London as an IT Darren Hemphill (BSc, computer constructor for London Underground Paula Cardoso (MSc, geochem- Timothy Stone (MA SocSci), is stream leader for the development of science), has been working for various Limited. CLASS OF 1994 istry), joined the UCT Environmental currently doing the PgDip Journ at an energy trading system. advertising agencies in the UK. He is Peter J Golda (MSc, Eng) is a soft- Evaluation Unit (EEU) to be part of the Rhodes and also freelances for Gro- Unathi Nombakuse (BSc Eng, now settled in Cambridge and working ware manager for Open Fuel, a South Gareth Bird (BSocSci), is working in- research programme that focuses on cott’s Mail. electrical), is a field service engineer for the company Lastminute.com. He African company in the field of sub- dependently as a scriptwriter and mov- the socio-economic profiles of artisanal Jessica Wright (BBusSci, market- for Eskom Distribution at Brackenfell in plans to return to South Africa in 2007. surface radar related information and ie producer in Cape Town. fishers. ing), is currently working as an Intelli- the Western Cape. Aaniyah Omardien (BSc honours, communication technologies. Michael Morris (BARCH), is the fi- gent Planner for an advertising agency Joanna Simon (LLB), is currently marine biology), works as a marine Gaye Griffiths (née Willoughby) nancial director of Aquacore Property CLASS OF 1990 in London. studying for an LLM in criminal and conservation programme manager for (BSc, OT), did postgraduate training Developers. public international law at the London the Worldwide Fund for Nature SA, in sensory integration and lives with Tim Bellairs (LLB), is currently with CLASS OF 2004 School of Economics. Sanlam Marine Programme her husband, Timothy, and their baby CLASS OF 1993 Rosmead Investment Consultants in Janet Trisk (MSocSci), is teaching Andrew Prince (BSc Eng) has daughter in Borehamwood, Hertford- Cape Town. Elliot Dale (BCom), is living in the Brit- at the Anglican College of Transfigura- lived in the UK since graduating from shire, UK. Shalin Bhangwan (BSc, actuarial sci- John Gribble (MA, archaeology), ish Virgin Islands and working for an tion in Grahamstown. She completed UCT. He is currently working as a con- Daniella J Klein (LLB), is currently ence) is currently an investment con- is currently working as a consultant offshore hedge fund company. her MSocSci in religious studies at sultant to the global fertilizer industry. undertaking her LLM at the London sultant with Mercer Investment Con- with a prestigious archaeological con- Rene Knight (BCom), is working UCT in 2002, and is presently regis- School of Economics, doing research sulting in London. sultancy in Salisbury. for Cisco Systems as a Commercial tered for a PhD. CLASS OF 1998 in international law, and also freelanc- Amanda Graham (PG Dip, man- Liora Lazarus (BA, African econ Account Manager. ing for a human rights organisation. agement), is with Zoom Retail Market- history), obtained a first-class degree Dr Ntokozo Mthembu (PhD, me- CLASS OF 2001 Dr Nichole Burge (MBChB), moved Andrew Parris (BCom) has been ing and Advertising Solutions. in law at the London School of Eco- chanical engineering), works for the to the UK in 2001 and works as a GP. in the UK since 1999. He worked for Chris Hart (BEd), is the principal of nomics, and then worked as a consult- Innovation and Technology Unit at the Robert Burton (BCom), is head of glo- She is married to a surgeon and lives Pricewaterhouse Coopers and is now Wynberg Boys Junior School in Cape ant on the effects of political transition Industrial Development Corporation bal application support for Shell Gas in Worcester. financial controller of National Grid Town. on the South African economy. She (IDC) within the Risk Capital Facility (LPG). Amanda Foster (BBusSci, fi- Wireless. Emma Jacobs (PG Dip Man), is has been at Oxford University since Strategic Business Unit. Sanjeevee Chinasamy (BSc), nance), is now with the executive running Westville bed-and-breakfast 1998, where she gained her doctorate, Anita Morar (BCom, info systems), spent two years in Mauritius after grad- search firm, Russell Reynolds Associ- CLASS OF 1996 lodge and is currently in the law faculty. She is living in Windsor and working as a uating before moving to the UK. He is ates, after 10 years investment banking Vusumzi Sontkaba (BSocSci), is recently authored the White Paper on marketing executive for a software currently working for a pharmaceutical with NM Rothschild & Sons in London Dr Eileen Brown (MBChB), is current- the division head of offender admin- Oxford University Governance. company. company close to London. and South East Asia. ly working as paediatrician in North- istration in the Department of Correc- Rob Purves (BCom honours), did Geran Smith (BBusSci, ACT APP), Sam Cook (LLB), completed her Beverley Gibson (BA), is currently ampton. tional Services. his PhD in insurance law at Cambridge is the latest participant in the exchange LLM at Columbia in 2005, and is cur- working in the marketing department of Mike Brown (BSc, chem eng), is Jasper Zeelenberg (BBusSci, in 2000. He is now the chief council of programme between the Desmond rently running a project with a col- Sky Television in London. working for the engineering company marketing), has worked in South Af- insurance in the Financial Services Au- Tutu Peace Centre and ARC-Aid in league at the UN office of an interna- Annalize Goodwin is marketing AMEC. rica, London, Kuwait and Amsterdam. thority, UK. Norway. He was head tutor of the aca- tional women’s peace organisation. manager at Property Intelligence Lim- Tracy Eastman (MBA), spent six He is currently in Germany, working for Deborah Shafer (LLB), practiced demic programme at UCT for first-year Chawada Dioka (BEd), is a deputy ited in the UK. years as hospital manager at Groote Adidas as a retail director. as an attorney for 14 years of which statistics students. principal and teaching service man- Dr Mark Hewat (MBChB), is a Schuur, and is currently director of seven were for her own account. In Au- Stuart Tudor-Owen (MBA), is living agement. surgical registrar at UCT. He is mar- product strategy at GE Healthcare in CLASS OF 1992 gust 2002 she was elected City Coun- and working in London as a consultant Sharon Manzini (PGDM, tour- ried to Tanya Doherty, a UCT gradu- London. cil for Ward 62 (Constantia / Wynberg for a strategic marketing consultancy. ism/leisure), worked for KPMG South ate (BNursing and MSc). Mark Forbes (MBChB), served his Karen Liebenberg (LLB Law), quali- / Bishopscourt), a position she still Africa and local government. She is Judy Irving (MSc, EGS), has been internship in Durban and moved to the fied as an intellectual property lawyer holds. CLASS OF 2003 now technical officer with the City of working in a special recruiting agency UK in 2003. He is currently living and in London. She then worked for Mayer Graham Thomas (PGDA), is ex- London planning and transportation for publishing since 2004. She lives in working in Exeter as a specialist in glo- Brown Rowe & Maw for two years and ecutive director of Goldman Sachs Ebrahim Zulayga (LLB, LLM), has department. Oxford. bal positioning systems. is now at Vodacom, responsible for and managing director of Deutsche been in the UK since 2005, working in Camilla Rose (LLB), is a partner Dr Priya Patel (MBChB), lives in Andrew Lee-Thorp (MSc), is a mobile content such as music, movies Bank. He is also founding partner of various large City law firms. She recent- at Chennells Albertyn Attorneys in Ob- Los Angeles, US, and is currently a provider of digital content solutions for and games. MidOcean Partners, a vehicle for man- ly moved to the Channel Islands where servatory, Cape Town. radiology resident at the University of the television industry, and is studying Vuyisile Mdoda (BA SocSci), is a agement buy-out with Deutsche Bank’s she is specializing in corporate law. Thomas Rhiannon (LLB), is a doc- Southern California. She and her hus- part-time for an MSc in information se- media relations officer for Golden Ar- private equity business. Paula Erasmus (MSocSci) is a toral candidate in the Department of band plan to move back to Cape Town curity. row Bus Services. Carl Wesselink (LLB), is a direc- senior manager in the Ernest & Young Private Law at UCT. in the near future. Ralph Mupita (BSc Eng, civil engi- Iain Murphie (LLB), qualified and tor of South Consulting, a governance tax department in Cape Town. Maliza van Eeden (LLB, cum Tessa Philp (BSocSci & PG Dip mar- neering), completed an MBA at UCT’s practiced as a barrister in the UK, and and social development consultancy in Jacqueline Ohas (BCom, info sys- laude), practised as an attorney for keting), has been living and working in Graduate School of Business in 2001. is currently head of share scheme Kenya. tems), has just completed an MA in one-and-half years, and is now work- London for seven years. She worked In 2004 he was appointed the manag- service for a UK company. information systems management at ing for the United Nations Environment for KPMG marketing and sales before ing director of Old Mutual Unit Trust. Geoff Rudman (MBA), did his CLASS OF 1989 Bournemouth University. She is cur- Programme in Geneva, Switzerland, moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers as Neil Taylor (LLB), worked as an at- MBA part-time at the GSB from 1991 rently working as a claims advisor. since August 2005. a business development manager. torney for two US law firms, and is now to 1992, and now practices as an at- Catherine Goodwin (BA), is with Con- employed as an in-house council at torney in Hout Bay. tiki (South Africa) Ltd, and is now mar-

50 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 51 alumni roundup alumni roundup alumni roundup alumni roundup alumni roundup alum where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they

keting manager for the mother compa- / SABC2 Woman of the Year awards. Dr Elizabeth Robinson (MBChB), general practitioner in Pietermaritz- CLASS OF 1969 having served in the City of Cape Town ny The Travel Corporation. became a GP in 1985 in the UK, and is burg, and is married to Peter Myles. since December 1965. He started Tanya Modlinne (LLB), is currently CLASS OF 1982 currently living in London running her Her hobbies include hiking, music (jazz Pauline Alexander (nee Osterberg) (BA), working four days before graduation, a bid resource specialist at Amdocs. own NHS practice. and classical), woodwork and art. has recently returned from Zimbabwe, for which he was given a half day off! She obtained an LLM in 1983 at the Alvin Scott (BSc Eng, electrical), is Dr Geoff Waters (MBChB), is a and is back at her alma mater working in Robert Caldwell (BSc Eng, me- Hebrew University of Jerusalem. the Managing Executive of Vodacom CLASS OF 1978 consultant histopathologist at Norfolk development & marketing at the Faculty chanical), moved to Cape Town in Alexander Schuilenburg (MSc, SA in the Western Region. and Norwich University Hospital. He is 1998 where he is involved in Rickard computer science), went to the UK in Andrew Beck (BBusSci), now prac- married with two children and enjoys of Law. Air Diffusion (Pty) Ltd and Industrial Air 1989, and initially worked for a small CLASS OF 1981 tices as a barrister in New Zealand. tennis, photography, travel, kayaking Michael Oettle (BA), is a journalist in Johannesburg. software company before moving to Dr Trevor Currer (MBChB), prac- and sailing. (sub-editor) for Eastern Cape (Pty) Ltd, Alan Campbell (BSc Eng, me- Cambridge to work as project and Dr Geoff Braatvedt (MBChB), is an tices as a surgeon at the Sydney Ad- Star. chanical), has worked for himself for engineering manager for a large US- endocrinologist/physician from Auck- ventist Hospital in Australia, where his CLASS OF 1975 the past 14 years and has no intention based company. She is a co-founder land, New Zealand. He is associate main interests are oncological, gas- CLASS OF 1967 of retiring. and managing director of eCosCentric, professor of medicine at the University trointestinal surgery and laparoscopic Geoff Budlender (LLB), recently Robin Chaplin (BSc Eng, mechan- which specialises in open source soft- of Auckland’s Department of Medicine. procedures. joined the Cape Bar. He previously Nick Boydell (BA/LLB), is general ical), has recently taken up the position ware. Dr Robin Fainsinger (MBChB), is worked at the Legal Resource Centre counsel at Esso, UK. of chair in the Department of Chemical Kirsten Stansfeld (PG Dip HRM), professor and director of the Division CLASS OF 1977 of Land Affairs. In 2005 he was elected Chris Burger (PhD, mechanical Engineering at the University of New did some travelling and took various of Palliative Care Medicine, Depart- chairperson of the UCT Council. engineering), is a professor emeritus Brunswick. human resource roles before settling ment of Oncology, at the University of Davis Clegg (BCom, honours), is na- Michael Chronis (LLB), did a mas- in mechanical engineering and past di- Roy Clark (BSc Eng, mechani- as a commercial manager for an em- Alberta. tional technical director of the Ernst ters at University College in London in rector of the Institute for Innovation and cal), has been involved in recruitment ployee assistance company. Dr David Gale (MBChB), is an or- & Young SA tax practice, and author/ 1983. He returned to South Africa in Design in Engineering at Texas A & M for the past 34 years. There are still a thopedic consultant from Lincoln, UK. editor of a number of tax publications 1984, and currently specialises in in- University. few ideas he wants to try out so will not CLASS OF 1988 He works at the Lincoln County Hos- (Lexus Nexus). surance litigation. Bhadra Ranchod (LLB), was re- likely be retiring for a while. pital. Terry Marsh (MSc, mathematics), Dr Preston Moorcroft (MBChB), cently appointed one of 10 founding Antony Dalrymple (BSc Eng, me- Victor de Melo (MBA), is the director Henry Joubert (Dip Edu, adult), is is the executive director of strategic is a member of the Royal Australasian members of Child Rights International, chanical), worked in the steel industry of the consumer business unit for An- a semi-retired researcher for the Aus- development at the University of Fort College of Surgeons and is an ortho- and he lectures at the University of for 15 years before joining the electro- chor Yeast (Johannesburg). tralian Bureau of Statistics. Hare. His main responsibility is the de- paedic surgeon in active practice in Stellenbosch and the Western Cape. lytic manganese industry for 10 years, Dr Tony Keene (MBChB), is a velopment of a full-scale city campus in Rotorua, New Zealand. after which he was retrenched, and CLASS OF 1985 cardiac and thoracic anaesthetist at East London. TJ Ypma (BSc honours), is chair of CLASS OF 1966 has been involved in the construction the Olivedale Clinic. He is married to James Murray (MBA), is currently the Applied Math Search Committee, industry building houses in the Lowveld Phumlani Moholi (BSc Eng, electrical Penny, a haematologist. They have CEO of Metropolitan Advisory & Retail Department of Mathematics, Western Dr Jonathan Clain (MBChB), from area. and electronic), is the chief technical three children and live in Bryanston, Services. Washington University, Bellingham. Rochester, Minnesota, US, is a clinical Emanuel Derman (BSc honours, officer with MTN South Africa and is Gauteng. Prof Michael Pravetz (PhD), is re- gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic. physics), is a professor at Columbia married to Pinky Xaba Dr Peter Kraus (MBChB), works in search analyst with the Department of CLASS OF 1972 He is married to Lorraine (née Zabow) University and director of the pro- Alasdair Sholto-Douglas (LLB) the Department of Radiation Oncology Public Health in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- (MBChB, 1967) with three children. gramme in financial engineering, and has been a member of the Cape Bar at Groote Schuur Hospital. He is mar- vania, US. After his doctorate at UCT, Colin Bird (MBA), has for many Clive Grossman (LLB), is a is also the head of risk at Prisma Capi- since 1989. ried with three children and enjoys jog- he obtained an MBChB at Wits in 1982, years been managing his own prop- Queen’s Council practicing at the Bar tal Partners. Eleonore van der Horst (LLB), ging and golf. and was awarded an LLB with distinc- erty development company in Cape in Hong Kong where he has been for Hannes Fehrsen (BSc Eng, me- practised as an advocate and member Dr Stuart Patterson (MBChB), is tion from UNISA in May 2006. Town. 20 years. chanical), was involved in the auto- of the Cape Bar. She is currently on an orthopaedic surgeon, specialising Rob Verkroost (BSc Eng, electri- Tyrrel Fairhead (BCom honours, Dr Steve Higgs (MBChB), is a con- motive industry and took early retire- sabbatical, doing an MPhil in sustain- in hand and upper extremity surgery cal), is a software development man- CTA), runs the BMW building in the sultant paediatrician, clinical tutor and ment in 2003. Much of his retirement able development planning and man- in a private practice community hospi- ager for Cisco Systems. Waterfront, Cape Town. medical director at St Bernards Hospi- is spent in active involvement in the agement. tal, and lives in Winter Haven, Florida, Dr Jim Muller (MBChB), is head tal, Gibraltar. He has been married to development of camp facilities at the USA. CLASS OF 1976 of the metropolitan Department Karin for 40 years and they have four farm Wortelgat in Hermanus. CLASS OF 1984 Pamela Wernich (BA honours), is of Medicine in Pietermaritzburg, children. James Fulton (BSc Eng, mechani- a copywriter for Exclusive Gateways. Dr David Broide (MBChB), is profes- KwaZulu-Natal. He is married with Dr John Latham (MBChB), is a cal), retired in 2001 and lives in the UK. Dr Jeanette Carlisle (MBChB), is an sor of medicine at the University of Cal- two children. semi-retired consultant radiologist from He was fortunate to have managed a ophthalmologist in a private practice in CLASS OF 1980 ifornia in San Diego, US. He is listed Norwich in the UK. He was appointed number of power projects during his Durban. She has been married to Mat in Best Doctors in America, the book CLASS OF 1971 assistant professor of radiology at the career, including in Indonesia, Malay- for twenty years and they have two Rodney Benn (BSc Eng, electrical), is containing a list of the top 3% of doc- University of Granada. sia, China, Thailand and Egypt. daughters. Her hobbies include music, the senior key accounts director for Af- tors in the US. Michael Tselentis (LLB), started a Rosalind Romem (née Abrahams) Paul Gottlieb (BSc Eng, mechani- reading and gym. rica at Instelsat Corporation. Dr Michael Hart (MBChB), is a practice at the London Bar in 1996, (MBChB), from Jerusalem, Israel, re- cal), took up an offer of a 6-month con- Keith Hoffman (MSc Eng) works Amanda Chorn (LLB), was a non- diagnostic radiologist from Auckland, where he specialises in international tired from the Clalit Health Services in tract as site mechanical engineer for at the Queensland University of Tech- practicing attorney of the High Court of New Zealand. Married to Val (née commercial litigation. He was appoint- October 2005. She is married to Meir, a high-tech multi-storey office block in nology in the School of Electrical and South Africa. She completed her LLM Long), they have two children and his ed QC in 2003. a retired ambassador. They have four Luanda at the end of 2004. Electronic Systems Engineering. at the London School of Economics in hobbies include conchology (shell col- children and she enjoys painting, quilt- Geoff Kingma (BSc Eng, mechani- Nombulelo Moholi (nee Xaba) 1987 and is now in private banking. lecting), diving and travel. CLASS OF 1970 ing and gardening. cal), worked for Texas Instruments as (BSc Eng, electrical), was recently ap- Dorian Paver (BA LLB), is with Dr Jeffrey Melmed (MBChB), is a a manufacturing engineer in their con- pointed director of group strategy, mar- the National Prosecuting Authority in general practitioner in Claremont and Antonis Andriotis (BSc, physics) is CLASS OF 1965 trol products division factory just out- keting and corporate affairs at Ned- Pietermaritzburg. Athlone in Cape Town. He lives in Con- the research director at the Institute of side Toronto in Canada, and retired in bank. stantia and has two children. His hob- Electronic Structure and Laser at the Richard Ball (BSc Eng, mechanical 2000. CLASS OF 1979 bies include badminton, cycling and Foundation of Research and Technol- engineering), worked in Windhoek until Albie Koeslag (BSc Eng, mechan- CLASS OF 1983 dancing. ogy – Hellas in Crete, Greece. 1969, and then completed an MBA at ical), is retired and lives in Hermanus. Charles Jillings (CTA, commerce), is Dr Nigel Perry (MBChB), is a gen- Rob Fulton (LLB), has specialised UCT. He started his own business in He worked for Sasol and KPMG before Valerie Mizrahi (PhD, mathematics an associate of Ingot Capital Manage- eral practitioner from Sevenoaks, Kent, in corporate and contractual joint ven- 1972, which he sold in 1984. He has heading up an international Christian and chemistry), is a research professor ment (Pty) Limited. UK. He is married to Rosemary with tures, both transnationally (Canada) since worked in the fishing and pack- mission organisation. in the School of Pathology at Wits. In Richard Von Hoesslin (MBA), runs three children and enjoys organ build- and with multilateral agents. He chairs aging business. Stan Reynolds (BSc Eng, mechan- 2006 she won the science and technol- the firm Western Cape Agricultural & ing, baroque music and wild life. the Board of Governors of Athabasca David Bradley (BSc Eng, mechan- ical), started the company Retractaline ogy category of the Shoprite Checkers Tourism Consultants. Dr Rène Stewart (MBChB), is a University. ical), retired at the end of May 2005 in 1985. He has since kind of “evolved”

52 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 53 alumni roundup alumni roundup alumni rou where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now? where are they now?

or “devolved” into an inventor, which he peal in Lesotho after retiring as judge practitioner who still continues with an finds low-stress and very exciting. of the Supreme Court of Appeal and is outreach programme for unemployed Alan Simpson (BSc Eng, mechan- a former chairperson of the Electoral patients once a week. His wife, Moi- ical), worked in the auto industry in the Court in South Africa. reen (née Raw), is also a graduate UK before retiring in 2000. He has since from UCT (BSocSci, 1948). been playing with his toys (a 70 ft motor CLASS OF 1956 McNamara heads yacht in Mallorca) and built a house in CLASS OF 1948 Llandudno, Cape Town. Dr Ivanhoe Becker (MBChB), is a Fel- Brian Townsend (BSc Eng, me- low of the Canadian Society of Clinical Dr Peter Maytom (MBChB), was na- chanical), has been running a guest Hypnosis and lives in London, Ontario, tional president of the South African house in Gordon’s Bay since retiring Canada, with his wife, Mildred. He is Society of Anaesthesiologists in 1975, development and in 1998, and he has started project retired from family medicine and en- and national president of the Medical managing the construction of homes joys fishing and gardening – especially Association of South Africa from 1994 against the mountainside. He is also roses. to 1995. He lives in Durban. busy with deep-sea fishing charters. Dr Israel Bruk (MBChB), is an an- Dr William Rothman (MBChB), Peter Villet (BSc Eng, mechani- aesthesiologist at Boca Raton Com- went to the United Kingdom in 1960 alumni matters cal), works at GM/Delta in vehicle line munity Hospital in Florida, US. He was from the then Southern Rhodesia (now planning, mainly involved in project associate professor of anaesthesia at Zimbabwe), where he was a consult- planning and control for Isuzu and im- the University of Miami from 1976 to ant Radiologist. He lives in Sevenoaks, n May, Dr Jim McNamara took over ported vehicles. 1979. Kent. Ias executive director of the Develop- Mike Wittenberg (BSc Eng, me- Dr Willem Marais (MBChB), is an ment and Alumni Department (DAD) chanical), took advantage of an early obstetrician gynaecologist in Parow, CLASS OF 1947 at UCT. In many ways, it’s a return to retirement package in 1999 after 21 Cape Town. He has four married years of teaching maths, physics, daughters, 11 grandchildren, and his Mary White (BSc), has recently estab- old stomping grounds for McNamara. drawing, air-conditioning and refrigera- hobbies include reading, history, cabi- lished a Gondwana rainforest sanctu- Before serving as director of the In- tion, and went to Australia for six years net making and painting. ary on her newly acquired property in tegrated Student Information System where he is in semi-retirement. He is Nicky Quekett (PG PTC), taught New South Wales, Australia. (ISIS) project and deputy registrar at planning to return to South Africa. English in a remote corner of South West China in Gxangxi Province. On CLASS OF 1943 UCT, he was the equivalent of deputy CLASS OF 1964 her return to Australia she wrote a book director of alumni affairs at the Uni- Letters from China. Prof Ben Aronson (MBChB), is a versity of California, Santa Barbara, a Maureen De Beer (BA honours, LLB), Richard Shave (LLB), together former president of the Israel Society position he held for 10 years. At UCT, took early retirement some 17 years with his sons has been developing of Anaesthesiologists, as well as pro- ago after working as head of classical small- and medium-sized business in fessor and head of anaesthesia at Ha- McNamara will pay special attention studies at St Mary’s College, Twicken- the paint, chemical and property sector dassah University Hospital in Jerusa- to building meaningful relationships ham, and is involved in local and na- of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng for the lem, Israel. with alumni, regardless of back- tional politics. past 25 years. ground. “The true mark of a success- CLASS OF 1942 CLASS OF 1961 CLASS OF 1955 ful alumni relationship programme is Prof Justin Van Selm (MBChB), that alumni of any age can find within Dr Pietie Du Toit (MBChB), is a gen- Dr Roger Hindle (MBChB), is a mem- worked as an ophthalmologist in pri- it an activity or an interest area to suit eral practitioner in Oudtshoorn. He was ber and Fellow of the Royal Australian vate practice in Cape Town before president of the Outeniqua branch of College of Physicians. He retired as moving to Plettenberg Bay and estab- them,” he says. the Medical Association of South Africa a paediatrician in 1996, and lives in lishing a clinic for the poor. He retired (MASA), as well as president of MASA Whangarei, New Zealand, with his wife at the age of 82. Building relations: Dr Jim McNamara (second from right) with students, from left, Neressa Motilal, in 1989. Patricia, who is also a UCT graduate Magmuda Karriem and Gairiyah Samsodien. (BArts, BEd 1955). CLASS OF 1941 CLASS OF 1958 Hyman Marks (BCom), retired after working for 12 years at George Dr Ferdinand Stern (MBChB), is a Dr Hein de Haan (MBChB), is a family Wellman Publications. widowed medical practitioner from physician who is still in active practice in Durban North. He has three children students, and it is for this cause that many academic initiatives. Cambellford, Ontario, Canada, where CLASS OF 1954 and enjoys walking in the mountains, he lives with his wife, Anne. They have trout fishing and reading. individual alumni make annual or once- Will you join the UCT community seven children, one of whom (Sebas- Associate Prof Malcolm Bowie UCT off donations and bequests. Our major of donors? Development and Alumni tian) graduated with an MBChB from (MBChB), was the first resident doc- foundation, corporate and individual Department director Jim McNamara UCT in 2002. tor appointed to the Red Cross War donors generously support the sort of invites confidential enquiries to explore Anne Page (BA), is employed as Memorial Children’s Hospital when it DON’T BE A the University of Fort Hare’s special opened in 1956. He has retired to Kny- research at UCT that makes a difference ways in which your generosity can translate representative in the UK. sna with his wife, Elaine. STRANGER... News in the lives of Africa’s people. They also into real benefits for the university and our gift to UCT makes a difference. fund major capital projects to maintain its students. Our communication with CLASS OF 1957 CLASS OF 1952 In an era of ever-decreasing levels and enhance our renowned campus. you about your donations will highlight LET US KNOW WHAT Y Naomi Hethey (LLB), did not have the Dr Maurice Luntz (MBChB), is a clini- of state support and practical limits on As UCT’s endowment is small both UCT’s institutional goals and needs opportunity to practice but despite this, cal professor at Mount Sinai School YOU ARE UP TO. tuition fee increases, UCT increasingly compared to its university peers in that are supported by the gifts, and the she has enjoyed using her legal train- of Medicine, and professor of clinical FILL IN AND SEND US looks to its many supporters to help the other parts of the world, we seek to beneficial effects such donations have on ing in a wide range of spheres in South ophthalmology at New York Universi- Africa, the UK and now Australia. ty’s medical school. THE FORM ON PAGE 49. institution pursue its mission and goals. grow this endowment, both to ensure the lives of individual students on financial Johan Smalberger (LLB), now pre- Dr Barry Stacey (MBChB), from Always high on the list of priorities is our continued financial stability and aid as well as other recipients. Your gift sides as the judge of the court of ap- Durban North, is a retired medical the provision of financial aid for needy to fund the Vice Chancellor’s strategic will really make a difference!

54 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 200 6 55 alumni in the news alumni in the news alumni in the news alumni in the news alumni

Zackie Achmat, the enigmatic but very public head Fred Abrahamse has nearly 70 productions under his Mark Bayly is a born-and-bred Capetonian. After school, he travelled to America Joan Louwrens (MBChB, of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), had a busy 2006. belt, from the Buddy Holly Show to Shakespeare and Joe Barber. as an exchange student, enrolling at UCT upon his return. After some soul searching, 1975) showed she had the right stuff That included many highs, like the national meeting to develop He studied drama at UCT (1980). he opted for a career in the entertainment world. He is now the host of M-Net’s when she won the women’s section a prevention advocacy strategy, attended by some 200 activists. Survivor South Africa: Panama. of the 2006 Tour d’Afrique, held There the group discussed issues such as mother-to-child HIV from January to May. This was the prevention and the economic independence of women from fourth staging of a cycling race that men and families. Later there was a public meeting, attended takes riders from Cairo to Cape Town by about 2 000 people, at the Cape Town Centre, addressed by Dr Lindy Abromowitz’s production, Stepping Out, has in – wait for it – 96 stages and some the deputy director and chief scientific adviser of UNAIDS, as its theme tap dancing, combining her twin passions of A few months ago, SABC1’s newest face, Tessa van Duuren, was an ordinary, 120 days, including 96 riding days. “I and a march by 5 000 in favour of microbicides (a female alter- medicine and the theatre. She enrolled for a diploma in opera outgoing student at UCT who enjoyed sport. Then the 23-year old was chosen as have a deep love of Africa and a long- native to condoms) from the Centre to the International Con- at UCT, but soon switched faculties as she had always wanted one of six presenters to be the face and voice of SABC 1. Van Duuren did a BA standing desire to travel its length,” ference Centre. That was followed by a mass march on June to do medicine. Every so often she heads to the UK or Cape in film and media production at UCT, and during that period worked as a news- said Louwrens before the race. She 15 at Bisho, near East London, where Nearly 10 000 learners, Town to do medical locums, mostly in psychiatry, which she reader at the campus radio station. She has started learning African languages and was the seventh rider – and the first teachers, parents and members of the SA Democratic Teach- enjoys the most. she enrolled for a Zulu course to help her communicate better. After a break from woman, of course - to break the tape, ers Union demanded from the government changes in a sexual performing on local stages, UCT trained actor Wilson Dunster was back at the finishing the race in 81 hours, 33 min- and reproductive health education policy in schools, as well as Baxter Theatre Centre this year. He starred with his wife, Elize Cawood, in a quasi– utes and 47 seconds. That included condom distribution in high schools. Another highlight was the romantic comedy, Art of Charf (Lady Lonely Hearts), written especially for the pair by icy nights in Egypt, 45-degree heat in Cape Town meeting hosted by Achmat’s colleague Nomfundo renowned playwright Paul Slabolepszy, another UCT graduate. Dunster trained at the Sudan, and two weeks of constant Eland, the TAC’s national treatment literacy co-ordinator, a Award winning poet Gabeba Baderoon was a fea- UCT’s drama department. rain in Tanzania and Malawi. Many gathering attended by advocates from 22 African states on the tured poet at international poetry festivals and held the Nordic fell out along the way. What kept Lou- need to re-think the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. Africa Institutes Guest Writer Fellowship in 2005. She holds a wrens going? Each day, she says, she Finally, the united front and backing for the TAC’s demands PhD from UCT and writes on representations of Islam, race would “look for my point of wonder”. to President Thabo Mbeki from UCT student societies gave and art. She is also the author of three collections of poetry: Some days it would be a woman with Achmat great hope for 2007. “For next year, our main areas The Dream in the Next Body, The Museum of Ordinary Life and A Robert Griffiths is the MD of Sweet Orr, a clothing production company. He an enormous basket on her head, or will be the expansion of treatment literacy work to ensure the Hundred Silences. The latter was selected for Homebru 2006, a holds a BA, BSocSc, and MBA from UCT. His management style, he says, is setting children playing. Or a beautiful rain- prevention plan is fully in place, and to see South Africa united collection that pays tribute to South African writers. clear goals, giving employees a lot of autonomy and measuring results closely. bow. “You need to look at things that on a policy to deal with the HIV/AIDS African pandemic, will lift you up,” she says. Joan has long and led in this respect by President Mbeki and his Deputy- been involved in palliative care, ie the President,” Achmat says. Achmat, a UWC graduate, received care of people with terminal illnesses, an honorary masters in law from UCT in 2002. specifically those with HIV/AIDS. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Ingram) In 2000, Prof Valerie Mizrahi received the This involvement coincided with the UNESCO Women in Science Award for Africa for her philosophy of the Tour d’Afrique, research on tuberculosis and HIV. In 2005, she was which is to promote sustainable trans- named South Africa’s Woman of the Year in science port for health workers in Africa. and technology. Now she’s received the Distinguished Thanks to the race, Louwrens helped Woman Scientist Award. Mizrahi was the first woman raise R260 000 for St Luke’s Hospice. to head a unit of the Medical Research Council (MRC) In 2008, she plans to ride the ‘silk when she was appointed director of the Molecular My- route’ from Istanbul to Beijing. cobacteriology Research Unit, a joint project between the National health Laboratory Service, the University of the Witwatersrand and the MRC. The laboratory focuses on developing and applying molecular genetic tools for identifying, validating and characterising new drug targets for tuberculosis.

Samuel Allerton is a local sculptor who spends most of his time in Cape Town. He won the Men’s Health Look of the Year competition in 2005. He also appeared on a ‘celebrity Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, chief executive of the secretariat of The New models’ edition of quiz show The Weakest Link. Allerton Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), was appointed independent, non- studied art at UCT and he has won the national painting executive director of the Kagiso Trust investment board. He holds an honorary doc- competition at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. torate for his contributions to education, business and development. He was also He was one of the competitors of the new M-Net show, president of the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants. Survivor South Africa: Panama.

56 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 57 alumni in the news alumni in the news alumni in the news alumni in the news alumni

Vusi Mahlangu, one of the Kate O’Regan is currently the only white female Constitutional Court Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool trained at UCT Adele Muzik (neé Théron) (BBusSci honours in info youngest CEOs on the Johannesburg judge. O’Regan grew up and studied in Cape Town, obtaining her LLB degree and began his career as a teacher. This was interrupted in systems) was part of the top IS honours project in 1999 that Stock Exchange (JSE), made it onto the cum laude from UCT. She worked for a few years for the law firm Bowman and 1985 when he joined the United Democratic Front and be- formed start-up company Southeaster. She later headed Mail&Guardian’s list of the “100 Young Gilfillan, first as an article clerk then as a professional assistant. She practiced came more permanently active in the political struggle. In software development at Crusader Systems, Stellenbosch, South Africans You Must Take to Lunch”. mainly in the fields of labour law and land rights. She was then employed as 1994, he was the ANC minister of health and welfare for the before she took a two-year contract in London as project For good reason. After graduating from a senior researcher by the Labour Law Unit at UCT and she also lectured on Government of Unity in the Western Cape, and thereafter manager in software development. Muzik is married to UCT with a BSc (honours) in chemical topics relating to gender and labour law, and mediated in labour disputes. In was appointed minister of finance and economic develop- Bruce. She is deputy chair of South African Women in engineering, Mahlangu went on to receive 1990, she joined the law faculty as a senior lecturer and began a course titled ment. He was appointed the premier of the Western Cape in Dialogue (United Kingdom chapter), launched in April at his MBA from Harvard Business School. Women in the Legal Systems. She was promoted to associate professor two May 2004. South Africa House to support the empowerment of rural He worked for African Oxygen Limited years later. In 1994, she was appointed Constitutional Judge and has played a women in SA from the UK. She is also the architect of the (Afrox) for four years, starting as process major role in a number of Constitutional Court cases. Solidarity November Festival 05 in London, for which the engineer designing gas separation plants beneficiary is the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. Why a music concert? I was motivated by a self-expres- East London-born actor Ashley Taylor completed an sion and leadership course that encouraged us to run a education diploma at UCT. After 13 years as an actor, Taylor community project. As the course began, the LIVE8 con- is well known in the business. Apart from Isidingo: The Need, cert concluded in Hyde Park. I was stunned that a massive he appeared in the movie Stander, and he also presented M- event “for Africa” didn’t target the key community of 1.2- Net’s reality show The Block. He has created and performed in million South Africans in London. They had only a hand- a number of advertisements. He also published the book The ful of African musicians. My husband was a successful mu- Love Letter. sic producer in SA. I thought: Let’s do a small version of LIVE8, featuring South Africans with some real African edge. It started off small and evolved into a month-long festival with 10 performers, 4 000 people and musicians who flew over from SA: Arno Carstens, Pieter Smith, Riku Latti, Robin Auld. The best was watching people jump up and down and eat boerewors rolls. Where are you now? In London. I have always been before moving up to production manager interested in what more is possible for human beings be- for Afrox’s then biggest air-separation yond the ordinary. Essentially, I work for myself and have plant. Career path well and truly altered, he several software clients. I do product marketing manage- joined Investec Bank, where he set up and ment, business analysis, software project management and headed its public-sector finance division. client training. I am working with another consultant to He left Investec early in 2005 to, eventually, automate these services in some e-businesses, so watch this head up Makalani Holdings, a mezzanine space! financing company for Black Economic What do you miss about SA? Cape Town, the sea, Empowerment (BEE) transactions and Retired choreographer Veronica Paeper attended the UCT Ballet black South Africans, the guys who shout “Mowbray! investments, such as infrastructure and School at the age of 15, joining the professional company three years later. Cape Town!”, the smell after it rains, sunsets, Tassenberg, affordable housing, requiring funding of Paeper was back in Johannesburg this year to put the final touches to Drie Diere UCT alumnus Gareth Tjasink qualified as a medical the Stellenbosch wine route, the people, the people, the between R25- and R375-million. Mez- for the University of Johannesburg premiere. She has 22 full-length ballets to doctor. He is now a medical intern at Baragwanath Hospital. people! zanine funding is unsecured and relatively her name and about 30 one-act pieces. The contemporary ballet Drie Diere was But Tjasink has other interests, and even appeared on the M- The most valuable thing UCT gave you? Enquir- high-risk lending. Listed on the JSE on created in 1980 and is being revived for the centenary of the birth of poet and Net series Egoli. He is now making headlines as one of the 14 ing about everything. Not leaving stones unturned. The May 18 last year, Makalani is the only listed dramatist NP van Wyk Louw. people chosen from thousands of hopefuls to be part of the thorough, methodical and highly competitive environment mezzanine debt funding vehicle in South first showing of Survivor South Africa: Panama. allows people to thrive. The practical business exposure Africa. A brainchild of Rand Merchant was really awesome. IS honours prepped me brilliantly for Bank, the company was formed last year everything I’m doing. as a result of the Financial Sector Charter, Immediate plans? A two-week motorcycle trip through which requires the financial services industry Tebogo Phume was born in Molapo but grew up in Sharpeville. His India in February (http://www.enduroindia.com/endu- to invest R123.5-billion in BEE and targeted music-loving family led him to the music industry. He studied at UCT and roindia/home.htm) to raise money for the Rainbow Chil- investments by 2008. Some of the BEE has worked and toured with other well-established artists such as Mailula and dren’s Trust, the WWF, the Wildlife Conservation Society. firms that have been funded by Makalani recorded with Geoff Mapaya on his new album Black Maria. Phume founded In a year’s time to move to the US, live there for a year or include Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda the band Mestwalle in Cape Town, and has travelled to Dubai and Singapore. two and then come home to Cape Town, start a family and deal with gold producer Gold Fields, and He describes Black Maria as South African in general, as it contains elements make a difference. Cyril Ramaphosa’s deal with paper firm of South African traditional music, namely Bapedi traditional music, southern Mondi. Sotho influences and Mbaqanga (traditional music). COMPILED BY CHWAYITA NQIWA, PETER ALEX, HELEN THÉRON AND SHUMI CHIMOMBE

58 UCT NEWS 2006 UCT NEWS 2006 59 NotesBY NADIA DAVIDS from afar plastic packet moves across the stage, its hollow centre A filled by a rush of air, its lifeless form temporarily ani- mated in a Pick ‘n Pay branded dance. It is held by the deli- cate fingers of an actor, so focused on her object she almost disappears. Anyone who has spent enough time in Cape Town to feel the seasons shift and the wind work its way down the mountain and tunnel through the city streets knows the truth of this image. The packet wrapped around a telephone pole, slapping itself up against a dirt bin, impaling itself on the thin branches of a tree, or moving with ghostly sure-footedness through the emptiness of District Six. It was this image, this moment, of the plastic bag on stage that gripped me whole and held me while I watched the Mag- net Theatre’s production of Onnest’Bo (a play about the expe- rience of apartheid forced removals) three years ago. And it was in this instance that perhaps the most central aspect of It is an exercise of re-telling and it can be arduous work, truth in South African theatre unfolded for me - that perform- because the artist has to battle the contested area between fact, ance is the space that contains conceivably the most perfect fantasy and fabrication. The theatre-maker must find a mo- dimensions for the evocation of memory. It is the place where ment, an instance in the archive, a tear in the tightly knitted archive, history, memory, fiction and fact can experience a fabric of history and she must peer through it and try to see meeting that is sometimes violent, sometimes reconciliatory, the human story hiding behind the facts and figures. She must but almost always restitutive. page through books and understand that the presentation of Serious South African theatre has never been about just history is not necessarily a presentation of truth and she must entertainment. And today, it is not just a medium in which recite like a mantra Nietzche’s words, “There are no facts in emerging national identities can be catalogued, or pastiche themselves. For fact to exist we must first introduce meaning”. retrospectives on the past can be indulged. It is a genuine cul- And then finally she must create a story and stage a truth tural vehicle in which history can be revisited. which documented chronology might not always support, and The intellectual task at hand for theatre-makers today is she must hold fast to the belief that the work is an artefact of to narrate the past, arrange and present its factual skeleton its own truth and it represents a freedom of telling. and attend to the demands for its meanings. This, in a sense, is The world of theatre is the world of memories. The actor an ethical responsibility and one that has been taken up with stands in a space and breathes life into the words of Khoi man, energy and intelligence by a range of artists. Theatre that who hundreds of years ago met with puzzlement a man sailing concerns itself with questions about our national heritage, the in from a distant land. Another actor fits the clothes of a jazz ways in which the past shapes our present, the connectivity singer from the fifties, feels her lung fill with forgotten songs between now and then, this is the work that is making work and remembers as if by magic the soft light of the Back of the of history. It is part of a larger national project to unearth the Moon in Sophiatown. Another actor takes two empty plastic untold stories, and insist, gently or forcibly, on a reckoning. bags, feels their almost nothing weight, moves them effortlessly across the stage, and in one movement, a whole history of life, loss and dispossession is remembered.

Nadia Davids graduated from UCT with a BA in 1998 and a BA (hon- ours) in 2000. She received wide acclaim in 2002 when, while still working on her PhD in drama, she wrote At Her Feet, a one-woman play on Muslim identity in South Africa. The Cape Times listed it as one of its top 10 plays for the year. Davids is living temporarily in New York City, where she is a visiting scholar and lecturing at New York University.

60 UCT NEWS 2006