Author Archives: Kwanele Butana

About Kwanele Butana

Kwanele is a Communication Officer in the Marketing and Communication Department. He writes stories about general news, and the faculties of Business and Management Sciences and Education. Tel: +27 21 959 6916 Email: butanak@cput.ac.za

Students donate canned food to orphanage

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A group of Public Management students recently visited Baphumelele Children’s Home in Khayelitsha to donate almost 55 000 non-perishable healthy food items.

Situated in the Litha Park area, the Home takes care of children who have been affected by HIV/Aids through abandonment, abuse or neglect or were orphaned when their parents died from AIDS related complications.

Lecturer Mbuso Tshaka, who co-ordinates the community engagement project, says credit should go to his students who worked tirelessly to make the day a success.

“We just did it for the love of it,” says Tshaka. “When I asked an eight-year-old boy what he’d like to become in life, he said he wants to become a pilot. When I asked on whom does that depend he said firstly God, secondly Jesus and the next person is himself.”

The students were able to collect so many items by requesting donations from retail stores with an official letter from the project manager. “This was aligned to their subject Project Management’s learning outcomes with assessment criteria and method,” explained Tshaka.

The Home’s management and staff thanked CPUT for the donation. “We acknowledge receipt of the donation made to us on the 22nd September 2018 of boxes full of tinned stuff. We very much appreciate your generous contribution. Continue helping us to provide and protect these innocent children,” reads a letter signed by Rosie Mashale, the Home’s Managing Director.

The students said they do not wish to forget what they experienced at the Home as it was beyond anything they had imagined. “The shelter’s caregivers were friendly and helpful, the children were happy and playful,” said student Asanda Mgutsi. “We were given a tour around the premises. We were taken to the children’s rooms which are designed to cater for the various age groups of the children and discovered that the rooms were of a high standard and quality.”

A senior caregiver explained to the students how the Home is run and they enjoyed the whole experience.

“The experience taught me to appreciate what I have as the next person might be less fortunate. There we had young boys and girls who had no family support or structure that we as students take for granted,” said Asanda.

Jetting off to Germany

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The academic excellence of a W&R Seta bursary recipient has seen her jetting off to Germany to study for three months as part of CPUT’s international student exchange programme.

Third-year Retail Business Management student, Mihle Tyala, says knowing she will not have to repay the money spent on her studies pushed her to work harder and get good grades in order to keep the bursary.

“One of the things that I think made me one of the students chosen for the exchange programme is that my academic record spoke for me before I could actually represent myself. The motivation to study and work hard comes from knowing that I am funded and I will get my qualification without a debt from the institution,” says the tenacious 20-year-old.

Mihle is one of three students in the department who were selected into the programme after rigorous interviews.  The other two are Siviwe Majali and Jamie Kaylor. They left for Germany on 27 September and will be back in the country on 20 December 2018.

They are studying International Retail in Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Ravensburg (Ravensberg University of Cooperative Education) in Ravensburg, Germany.

“I was nervous at first because I didn’t know what to expect but now that I am here am enjoying myself – the experience of living with students from different countries and learning their way of doing things which is completely different from my own traditional way,” says Mihle.

“Also the different learning environment and the more knowledge that am gaining about retail is quite a great experience and it’s something that I will always be grateful for.”

The reason she is ecstatic is that Mihle did not always have a bursary. When she enrolled at CPUT as a first year student in 2016 she obtained an NSFAS loan but in 2017 and 2018 she was lucky enough to get a Wholesale & Retail SETA bursary to finance her studies as her police officer father, the family breadwinner, could not afford to pay.

She intends to do her BTech next year and dreams of working in the planning department of a retail company.

Mihle is excited about acquiring more knowledge about the retail world which she enjoys. “I got an opportunity to work at Woolworth for three months. I was in the planning department where we planned what goes to stores and how many products each.”

Student becomes national ice hockey champion

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A CPUT student is in the Western Province Senior Men’s Ice Hockey team which won the interprovincial tournament recently held in Pretoria.

The team was crowned this year’s champions of the South African Ice Hockey Federation, and would not have achieved this milestone without the efforts of its centre forward Bradley Morris, a Masters student in Chemical Engineering.

“It feels good. We played as a team and won as a team. Some games were tough but we pulled through with the victory and that’s all that counts,” says a thrilled Bradley.

To be crowned the tournament’s national champions the team won all its round robin matches against Gauteng A (4 – 1), Gauteng B (7 – 6) and Coastal (18 – 2).

Bradley’s proud lecturer and supervisor Aziz Aziz: “It is quite an achievement for such a hardworking fulltime MEng student busy with research to also have energy to be an amateur ice hockey player at the highest level.”

Bradley adds that a super league for the sport starts in February 2019 and will include teams from around the country. “The ultimate goal for me is to make the South African National Senior Men’s team. So, it’s mostly hard work ahead,” says the tenacious 22-year-old.

He started playing the sport in 2016 after falling in love with three of its aspects. On his debut match he scored two goals and won Most Valuable Player of the Match.

“The reasons I was attracted to ice hockey – hockey is a team sport, hockey players are warriors and hockey is about pure speed. Everything about this sport is fast-paced – the slap shots, the game pace, the players.”

CHAMPION: Bradley Morris (third from left in back row) is a member of the Western Province Senior Men’s Ice Hockey team.

Residence sports league stars recognised

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South Point Orchards and Park Central Residences earned bragging rights for winning the football and netball sections of this year’s African Pride League, respectively.

The Student Residence Department in collaboration with the Sport and Culture Department recently concluded the three months-long African Pride League with a glamorous awards ceremony held on the Bellville Campus. The revived League targets students residing in the residences in the Bellville area.

Its aim is to cultivate an active and healthy lifestyle amongst students through formal and informal sports participation that ensures equal opportunities to participate and excel in sport. The competition encouraged active recreational football and netball programmes by developing a participation platform that serve as a feeder programme for competitive sports.

South Point Orchards and Park Central Residences walked away with trophies after being crowned the African Pride League’s champions, having accumulating 33 and 46 points respectively. South Point Orchards won on goal difference as they and second-placed MGR2 were level on points.

Despite having a history of winning the League consecutively in the past years before the advent of Fees Must Fall Student protests, MGR2 was awarded silver medals as runners-up.  Sheriff House (25 points) came third and walked away with bronze medals.

On the netball side, Toplin Residence bagged silver medals and Richard Sacco Bronze medals with 42 points apiece.

The organising departments made a commitment that the look and feel of the 2019 African Pride League will be enhanced and next year’s tournament will start earlier than this year.

Six rugby players for Student 7s

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Six rugby players from CPUT were invited to be part of the SA student 7s training camp during the recent Varsity Sports 7s tournament which was held in Johannesburg.

On 5 and 6 October the CPUT men’s rugby 7s team took part in the annual tournament for the first time in their history following their success at this year’s University Sports South Africa 7s tournament.

Lunathi Nxele, Lucan Kirchner, Ryan Solomons, Keanu Maree, Mario Wilson and Randy Brinkhuis were rewarded for their heroic efforts throughout the tournament with call-ups to the national team.

The cherry on the cake was Lucan walking away with the Player of the Tournament accolade at Varsity Sports 7s, having scored the second most tries with 11.

“Having qualified for this tournament through USSA 7s, this was CPUT’s first time taking part in this tournament. It would be safe to say that we were the underdogs and highly favoured to finish bottom of our group with USSA 7s’ 2018 Champs UWC, WSU and NMU,” says Sports Development Officer Bulelani Mlakalaka.

“Nevertheless, the coaching staff and players had the belief that they were there to compete and not to make numbers, and with the added bonus of being shown live on TV the players’ spirits were high.”

During the first game CPUT lost a player due to injury and were forced to play the rest of the Varsity Sports 7s tournament with a squad of 11 players.

By the end of the first day CPUT was top of their group and one of the only two teams that won all their group matches. The next day saw them playing NMU in the quarter-finals.

“Day Two did not go as planned because players showed signs of fatigue which led to lapses in concentration in the knockout stage and we ended up finishing eighth overall,” adds Mlakalaka.

“Overall the guys played well, they represented the institution with distinction. Their blood runs blue.

Varsity Sports 7s results:

Day 1 (1.) CPUT 22 – 15 UWC  (2.) CPUT 47 – 5 WSU  (3.) CPUT 24 -17 NMU

Day 2 (1.) CPUT 19 – 22 NMU  (2.) CPUT 19 – 31 UFS  (3.) CPUT 22 – 24 NMU

Hosting a conference for the first time

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Academics in the Education Faculty say they learnt a lot from organising the 45th Annual International Conference of the Southern African Society for Education (SASE).

Recently hosted by CPUT, the three-day conference saw scores of delegates from universities in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique descend on the Lagoon Beach Hotel.

Prof Lungi Sosibo, chair of the conference’s Local Organising Committee (LOC), said the way the conference unfolded exceeded their expectations. This was Sosibo’s debut as conference LOC chair.

“It was a great learning experience to lead this project and to overcome all the hurdles which came our way. The research papers were of a very good quality and as a result attendance was good throughout the three days of the conference.”

“The delegates were very happy with the organisation and support from the LOC both before and during the conference,” she said. “They praised the students who volunteered to work during the conference. They were in awe of the services rendered by the students.” The volunteers were dressed in T-shirts sponsored by Van Schaik.

Ten papers presented during the conference will be published in a South African journal which is accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training while other papers will be selected for an academic textbook with an accredited publisher.

Sosibo thanked Prof Thobeka Mda, Dean of the Education Faculty, for paying for the accommodation of six CPUT students who were delegates at the conference. She added that the students looked good in their CPUT-branded T-shirts and caps supplied by the university’s Marketing and Communication Department.

She also thanked CPUT Vice-Chancellor, Dr Chris Nhlapo, for sponsoring a successful gala dinner at the hotel.

LOC member Mvemve Mdingi said they worked as a team motivated by the goal of making the conference a success.

“When you look behind and realise what great work we did with my colleagues both from Mowbray and Wellington Campuses, you become very proud,” he said. “What I enjoyed more was the fact that the conference provided us with a platform to receive education in Africa without borders. It was a great learning curve.”

Van Schaik donates exam packs to students

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Students in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences received a lucky charm ahead of the current final examinations from Van Schaik Bookshop in the form of goodie bags.

The examination packs were handed over to about 50 selected students who excel academically and exhibit the university’s values. The event was held on the District Six campus.

Rifaat Smith, Van Schaik’s Branch Manager at the Campus, said the exam packs consisted of three pens, two carded packs of highlighters, a lead pencil, a clutch pencil, a pad of sticky notes and two exam pads.

“It’s (the donation) something we’ve been doing for years. We all have goals, and we want to motivate them to continue working hard so that they can achieve theirs,” said Smith.

Business and Information Administration Lecturer Belinda Berman and Student Development Officer Anette Grobler selected the 50 deserving students on the campus.“We looked at their academic performance including major subjects and class attendance. The successful students are decent people who practise ubuntu,” said Berman.

First-year Business and Information Administration student, Nomvuyiseko Mlamla, said being recognised for their efforts in this gesture motivated them.

“It brings out of us that inner thing to want to do more. We’re gonna keep working hard to keep our lecturers happy,” said Nomvuyiseko.

Inaugural Scholars Run a success

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To encourage healthy lifestyles and raise awareness on issues facing tertiary students and society at large, the Retail Business Management’s community engagement committee teamed up with the City of Cape Town to hold a 10km Fun Run.

The Scholars Run, which recently started and finished on the Bellville Campus, saw school pupils, students and local residents sweating it out to cross the finishing line.

Oscar Coetzee of Itheko Athletics Club came first in 31 min 11 sec followed by Ricardo Blauw of Boxer Western Cape Athletics Club (second) and CPUT second-year Accountancy student Siphelele Vellem (third).

Siphelele said in order to prepare for the race he ran 10 km around Khayelitsha both before and after school.

The first woman to cross the finishing line was ballroom dancer Esethu Mehlomakhulu in 1hr 5 min. She was closely followed by BTech in Information Technology student, Nwabisa Nokwe (2nd) and Operations Management third-year student Petunia Phalatse.

Event coordinator Andiswa Mrasi, Manager: Wholesale & Retail Academy, said they wanted to make the Scholars Run an annual event.

Actor Andile Nebulane, who plays Jonga on Igazi & Pele on Generations the Legacy, said the event was meant to unite families because running was fun for people of all ages.  Nebulane added that it promotes healthy bodies and responsible lifestyles including responsible partying.

Zibonele FM’s DJ Amanda “Happy Girl” Raraza did live crossover broadcasts at the event. On the decks was the one and only DJ Kaunda Muzical keeping the crowd at the Bellville Campus Stadium dancing to their favourite tunes while Internationally-acclaimed poet Anele Kose entertained the crowd with his renditions of isiXhosa slam poetry.

The event was proudly supported by the Retail Business Management Department, City of Cape Town, MTN, A-Square, OLS Holdings, Manzomthombo High School and the Jiva Responsible Initiative.

Van Schaik donates textbooks to diligent student

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BTech Project Management student Zinziswa Zilwa is the happy recipient of textbooks from Van Schaik valued at R3 500.

“We were simply blown away by her academic attributes and attitude towards achieving her goals.  Imagine, she has been working diligently and successfully without these crucial tools that happen to be the right of every student,” said Jasmine Dollie, a representative of Van Schaik on the District Six Campus.

“It gave us immense satisfaction to make a difference in her life by presenting her with the books and we hope she will continue to grow from strength to strength.”

Zinzi said she was eternally grateful for the generous gift from Van Schaik at this critical juncture in her life. “I am the only black female in my area in Khayelitsha who has embarked on a tertiary career and I see it as my responsibility to give back to my community.  All the late nights and sacrifices towards achieving my goals and contributing meaningfully to society will all be worth it in the end.”

“Zinziswa has decided to give the set of books to a deserving student next year with the proviso that the recipient does the same thing when their time to pass has come,” says Fazloen Zouity, the faculty staffer who asked Van Schaik for the donation. “By paying forward, the legacy of humanity and inspiration will continue and hopefully also continue to make a significant impact in the lives of other students.”

Zinzi assisted in the Business and Management Sciences Faculty Office during the registration period earlier this year and what really stood out for Zouity was her positive attitude and everyday glow regardless of the circumstances.

Zouity has assisted other students before and sees it as a holistic approach to her functionality as a CPUT staff member to ensure that, where possible, the students do not suffer needlessly.