A CPUT student has won the Green Ambassador of the Year award during the national Green Campuses Conference held at the University of the Western Cape recently.

The five-day conference, which explored the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on higher education, recognized Xolani Ntshinga for his outstanding contributions to the Green Campus Initiative (GCI) at CPUT as a Green Ambassador. GCI is a student development initiative which is coordinated through Student Development and Student Housing.

Xolani, also CPUT’s Green Campus Initiative (GCI) chairperson, says the award motivates him to do more green work and brings him more responsibilities to attend to.

Student Development Officer Melani-Ann Hara says he has been a member of the GCI since 2017, and has over the years shown great dedication and commitment to the initiative’s mission and vision. “His innovative idea of turning abandoned refrigerators into food gardens at student residences is one of the initiative’s flagship projects,” said Hara.

He has ensured the success of the project and tends the gardens. The fresh produce is utilised to supply students in need who cannot keep up with supermarket prices.

Xolani graduated with a ND: Civil Engineering in 2018 and is currently pursuing a BTech degree in Civil Engineering, specializing in Urban Engineering Studies. His academic research focuses on developing sustainable building material using renewable resources for low cost housing.

“It’s our responsibility as engineers to make sure that we create more sustainable environments using innovative ideas,” he says.

He adds that the food garden project, which GCI started at Freedom Square Residence, has expanded to Sacco Residence and that plans to start other gardens on the Wellington Campus and in the Bellville Campus Student Centre are in the pipeline.

GCI is now focussing efforts on how they as students can contribute and positively influence CPUTs waste management policy ensuring that CPUT promotes sustainability and is a Green University.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Dedicated on their mission to inform and empower women to take responsibility for their health, understand their health options, the Student Affairs Division (DSA) in partnership with the Mina Foundation, ran a Women's Health Awareness drive, creating ‘Menstrual Cup awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness and HIV Health Screening’.

The campaign was held recently at Bellville campus, and the DSA distributed over 100 Mina Cups (a feminine hygiene product that is inserted during menstruation period to those interested after listening to the information session. Melani-Ann Hara, Student Development Officer, said the Mina menstrual cups were donated by the Gift of the Givers through an initiative led by Ayesha Reiners from the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment. Hara said they have a group of students who have been trained by the Mina Foundation to conduct awareness campaigns across campus and students can collect a Mina cup from the campus clinics.

She said the Mina menstrual cups are an alternative option for females, who would like to consider the environment, who are struggling with the costs of sanitary pads/tampons each month and those looking for alternatives due to health reasons. A Mina Cup can be used for up to five years, saving one’s money and being environmentally friendly.

She said over 1000 females will benefit from this initiative and “we are hoping to continue the partnership with Mina Foundation and Gift of the Givers who have sponsored the Mina cups to CPUT”. “[We aim] to provide alternatives to students, as well as ensuring no female student misses out on her education due to menstruation.”

“We are also thankful to all those who attended and especially to those student volunteers who made the initiative a success,” said Hara.

DSA also leads awareness about breast cancer screening and provide information about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI's) as well as prevention measures. Hara and her team provided information about possible symptoms of breast cancer and also advised on how to do monthly self-breast examinations.

To those students or staff members who are interested in using the Mina cup, please educate yourself by getting more information online https://minacup.com and speak to the nurses at the Campus Health Clinics where you can assess them for free (while stocks last).

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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The Division of Student Affairs in partnership with planetUNI and Planetshakers Empower, have donated sanitary items at the Bellville campus for female students in need.

Student Development Officer, Melani-Ann Hara, said for over six years planetUNI and CPUT have enjoyed a fruitful relationship and partnered in many projects, including stress busters, O-Week student socials and many more.

Hara said planetUNI is the young adult university ministry, and Planetshakers Empower is the social justice arm of Planetshakers Church. Their mandate is to ‘Empower Generations to win Generations’. “Going forward, we believe that this partnership will grow even further,” she said. As part of the handover, the various partners met to discuss a memorandum of understanding for future collaborations.

Reflecting on the donation, Hara said: “It means a lot to CPUT Student Affairs when faith-based organisations partner with us to meet the growing needs of our students. No female student should be disadvantaged in performing her academic best by not having access to sanitary pads, she continued.

“planetUNI has seen the need and wanted to assist students who are in need. The donations will be distributed through our Campus Health clinics across the campuses for those students in need.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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CPUT students explored their creative side while promoting recycling and an environmental awareness during the recent Green Campus Initiative Fashion Show.

Students were involved in all aspects of the fashion show including the design, modeling, styling and music and lighting. The brief was for students to create a fashion look made entirely out of recycled materials and the results were breathtaking.

Co-ordinator of the event Melani-Ann Hara says she is immensely proud of the 14 designers and 28 models who participated in the show, most of whom are students in faculties not connected to fashion design.

“It’s been quite a while since we have been able to socialize in this way and this was an ideal opportunity for students to connect and learn about how they can reduce, re-use and recycle.

Nursing student Ferial Galant, 18, says she tried to achieve a classy streetwear look that incorporated recycled material but was still edgy and fashionable.

“I used household items that could be recycled like bottles and plastic bags and it took me four days to complete my look,” she says.

Ferial also encouraged a good friend Wesley Hendricks to model her look and says she was grateful to him for helping her refine and present the look successfully.

Environmental Management student Wakuenda Alex, 25, says he saw the callout for designers and was immediately interested because of the green fashion element.

“I had so much fun exploring fashion in this way, me and my friends spent days on campus coming up with ideas and the type of materials that could be used,” he says.

“It was really fun to participate in-person and interact with people.”

Wesley Hendricks was crowned Mr Green Campus Initiative with first place awarded to Okuhle Lingani.

Written by Lauren Kansley
Tel: +27 21 953 8646
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CPUT hosts an information session about the NDP2030 Hackathon Challenge in collaboration with State Information Technology Agency (SITA) on Friday 27 July. 

The NDP2030 Hackathon Challenge is an ongoing national initiative aimed at encouraged all sectors of society to embrace Information and Communication Technology and adapt it to find solutions to service delivery problems. This year’s theme is “#HackNDP2030 - doing it for the Country”.

The information session takes place at the Student Centre on Bellville Campus between 12.30pm and 2 pm and you can find out more about the three competition categories and prizes. Student Development Officer Melani-Ann Hara said this particular information session is meant to engage students around the NDP 2030 Hackathon which forms part of the National Development Plan.

“I would encourage students to get involved. Being students at a university of technology we should be leading the way in coming up with solutions which use technology to better our society and community.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for students to contribute and give back while using the skills they are gaining at CPUT,” said Hara.

The NDP2030 Hackathon Challenge runs until the end of July and Hara pointed out there is a different hackathon taking place in August aimed at female students.

The 5th Girlcode Hackathon takes place August 4 to 5 at Workshop 17 on the V&A Waterfront.

This year’s Hackathon will require the participants to develop a solution that talks to technology as an enabler to tackle the UN Sustainability goals.

The Girlcode Hackathon is 30 hours of non-stop programming, open to all females who will work collaboratively to create a website, game or mobile app that addresses a selected real-world challenge.

Written by Theresa Smith
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Do you want to surf the waves, save the environment or summit a mountain, then CPUT’s Department of Student Affairs can help you. The department offers a wide range of sporting and cultural activities.

Sports

From athletics to judo and chess, students have access to more than 20 competitive sporting codes, with each boasting an excellent performance record. CPUT students annually participate in national and international events, with some having competed against the world’s top sports people at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. This February CPUT’s rugby team will make their debut in the Varsity Shield.

• To view the list of sporting codes see: http://www.cput.ac.za/student/sport/
• For those who just want to have fun, there are various recreational sport codes offered at CPUT.

For more information contact:

Cape Town Campus
Railien Neilson
Tel: +27 21 460 3844 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wellington Campus
Bulelani Mlakalaka
Tel: +27 21 864 5247/ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bellville Campus
Shela Lekalakala
Tel: +27 21 959 6377/ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Student Development

In addition to academic skills, CPUT is focused on developing well-rounded graduates. To reach this goal, the university offers a range of programmes, events, activities and clubs that are aimed a developing responsible and compassionate citizens who are equipped with important skills such as leadership and teamwork. Some of the activities include:

• Environmental awareness activities
• Community outreach programmes
• Adventure-related experiential learning, e.g. hikes

For more information contact:

Anette Grobler
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Melani-Ann Hara
Tel: +27 21 959 6010 /This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

For an overview of the various activities, see: http://www.cput.ac.za/students/life/development

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

The iconic black Woolworths shopper bag took centre stage at the recent CPUT Green Campus Initiative Fashion Show.

Students used these bags, along with other recycled items like newspaper, plastics, aluminium, steel, cardboard, magazines, books or black bags to create recycled or upcycled fashion pieces for the much anticipated fashion show which happened over the long weekend. The top prize was R5000 for the recycled look and R5000 for the upcycled look.

Co-ordinator of the event Melani-Ann Hara says students were involved in all aspects of arranging the fashion show including the design, modeling, styling and entertainment.

“This was an ideal opportunity for students from a variety of faculties and courses like engineering, nursing and construction management to connect with fellow students outside of their respective departments and actively reduce, re-use and recycle.

Nursing student Che, 19, participated in the event for the second time as a designer and says their own experience as identifying as non-binary inspired their edgy denim look that encouraged inclusivity and looking at clothing in queer ways.

“Denim was a very hard material to work with and one of my pieces incorporated a denim jacket reimagined as a skirt. I wanted to inspire thought about things being different.”

Industrial Engineering student Sifiso Bembe won first place in the recycled category for his unisex designs crafted out of Woolworths shopper bags.

“Everyone knows the Woolworths bag, you can spot it a mile away. I wanted my designs to be unisex but wearable for both male and female. It was really fun to step outside of my comfort zone for this challenge, I enjoyed it very much,” he says.

Congratulations to the following winners.

Recycled Category:

• Faith Jansen (first), Okuhle Lingani (second) and Selina Maswanganyi (third).

Upcycled Category:

• Sifiso Bembe (first), Banele Mbewana (second) and Kgombiso Sekgobe (third).

Mr GCI is Ndumiso Ngcobo and Ms GCI is Tholoana Masitha./p>

Written by Lauren Kansley

Tel: +27 21 953 8646
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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.