Africa Day celebrations at CPUT marked the launch of the institution’s Design for Sustainability research focus area.

This focus area is one of seven outlined in the institution’s Research, Technology Innovation (RTI) 10 Year Blueprint.The RTI blueprint, in support of CPUT’s Vision 2020, is designed to provide the institution with “a strategic frame within which it seeks to produce research and innovation which is relevant and which is aligned to the needs of the province, the country, the continent.

CPUT recognises that design and its associated processes across all disciplines, is a powerful catalyst for change that can enable more sustainable ways of living. Central to this is Design Thinking and practice. Individuals who take this approach to design consider the deeper social, cultural, economic, environmental, and technological aspects of any product, system or service development.  Prof Saki Mafundikwa, the Director of the Zimbabwe Institute of Digital Arts, who delivered the keynote address at the event, reflected on sustainable design on the Africa continent. Mafundikwa says design has its roots in Africa and must play a role in its development.Respondents to Mafundikwa’s address, which included CPUT Design Thinkers, Prof Mugendi M’Rithaa, Nigel Tapela and Bruce Snaddon, echoed his sentiments, pointing out that sustainable design is the way forward for the development of South Africa and the continent.

Written by Candes Keating
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Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) efforts at CPUT took another step forward when some of the institution’s research strategic goals, with regard to capacity development, were implemented through the rollout of the first programme for rated and young emerging researchers.

The RTI capacity building programme is coordinated by the office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, Dr Chris Nhlapo, in conjunction with the Learning and Development Department and the Research Directorate.

Dr Nhlapo says the programme is designed to ensure that all capacity development interventions are woven into a comprehensive and sustainable initiative in order to realise the strategic objectives of CPUT’s RTI blueprint.

The first two workshops in the programme covered funding proposals for the NRF’s Competitive Programme for Rated Researchers and the Sabbatical Grants to Complete Doctoral Degrees.

The former is a discipline-based funding instrument which supports basic research as the foundation of knowledge production in Humanities, Social and Natural Sciences while the latter was introduced to improve academic qualifications of staff.

Nhlapo says he is pleased with the enthusiasm of researchers to capacitate themselves as it provides an impetus for him to realise his vision to strengthen research and innovation and thus achieve VISION 2020.

The workshops were presented by Ferdie Van der Walt, a renowned research facilitator.

Van der Walt says these are structured programmes with specific milestones and will incorporate continuous monitoring to ensure successful capacity development outcomes. He says there are already a number of interventions planned for the remainder of 2013 and the entire 2014 academic year.

Prof Shaun Pather, Head of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the DVC, Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships, says to date the approach to capacity building has been uncoordinated and largely reactive.

“We have now incepted a programmatic plan of action which aims to ensure we achieve strategic targets such as the requisite number of staff with PHds, and a bigger cohort of rated researchers,” he says.

“The consolidated RTI capacity development programme is thus in line with our strategic objectives.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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The Client Service Account Manager at advertising agency M&C Saatchi Abel, Sivenathi Jayiya, says the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Award assisted her in completing her Master’s degree in Public Relations Management, “which was the biggest accomplishment of my life”.

“The greatest highlights of my life were being awarded with the VC Prestigious Achievers Award and graduating with a Cum Laude for my Master’s degree,” Jayiya enthuses. The Stutterheim (Eastern Cape)-born Advertising Account Manager embarked on a higher education journey at CPUT in 2013. Jayiya had initially applied for Journalism, which she wanted to study, but my interview letter was delivered a month after the deadline. She then forfeited her spot in the Journalism department. Her name was then forwarded to the Public Relations (PR) Department, and at that point, she had no idea of what PR was.

However, Jayiya enjoyed the course, graduated with her Diploma in 2015, and enrolled for her BTech, which she completed in 2016. In 2018, Jayiya registered for a Master’s Degree in PR to further equip herself in corporate communication, strategic communication and corporate social responsibility with the hope of landing a job in corporate communications. Her Master’s degree took longer than she had expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, “with God’s grace, I managed to complete my Master's Degree in 2021 and graduated with a Cum Laude” with the assistance of the Vice-Chancellor Prestigious Achievers Award.

She says receiving the VC Prestigious Achievers Award motivated her to do her best to get good marks without the stress of academic finances. “Being a recipient of such an award was a great honour and a privilege as I got to study without worrying about my fees or academic expenses. I am [not] where I want to be in my career yet; I am currently an Advertising Account Manager, hoping to become a lecturer one day. It has been a struggle, but graduating for my mater and being a recipient of the VC prestigious achievers award will hopefully open up doors for me and my career.”

Reflecting on her life journey, Jayiya reveals that she comes from a family of four, raised by a single mother who never got a chance to finish high school after she lost her parents at a very young age.

“Growing up on the Cape Flats was never easy; crime was at its peak, young girls were being raped, young boys were getting pulled into drugs etc. One had to decide which route she wanted for herself.

“I grew up telling myself that I would go to school, graduate, get a job and move my family away from that life, but the reality is that life is not as smooth, but we can only do our best to navigate the hardships we go through.”

In her message to the younger generation from a similar background, Jayiya says: “Believe in yourself. Believe in your uniqueness as a person. Ignore the pressures around you, telling you you’re not anybody unless you have this or you have that. Ultimately, you have to affirm yourself and not compare yourself to someone else. Remember, you always have a choice and can always do something to change a situation.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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