University of Cape Town (UCT)
Researchers at UCT’s Drug Discovery and Development Centre H3D, in collaboration with Medicines for Malaria Venture, have discovered and biologically profiled a new anti-malaria drug that has the potential to cure the disease with a single dose. According to the Science Translational Medicine journal, the drug MMV390048 is a compound that is effective against the parasite throughout its entire life cycle, as well as resistant strains of malaria, and could mean being one step closer to wiping out the disease.
According to the World Health Organisation, Africa carries a high malaria burden compared to the rest of the world, with over 90% of malaria deaths occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa.
University of Johannesburg (UJ)
On 1 May, Professor Mongane Wally Serote, a liberation struggle poet and novelist, was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by UJ.
The conferral took place at UJ’s Auckland Park Kingsway Campus. During the conferral the University acknowledged the great contributions made by Prof. Serote in the fields of South African poetry, philosophy and literature.
Prof. Serote has lectured at universities abroad and currently leads UJ’s postgraduate students in documenting indigenous knowledge systems. During his high school years he joined the Black Consciousness movement, influencing his poetry which speaks about black identity, revolt and resistance. Prof. Serote received the Fulbright Scholarship and graduated with an MA in Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1979. In 2004, he received the Pablo Neruda award from the Chilean government.
Durban University of Technology (DUT)
Fees Must Fall student leader, Bonginkosi Khanyile, will graduate cum laude with a National Diploma in Public Management and Economics from DUT, after writing his exams in prison.
The 26-year-old was arrested in September 2016 after participating in protests at DUT.
After spending six months in Durban’s Westville Prison and making several appearances in court, the Constitutional Court ordered his release on bail in March. “With [the] Constitution, one judge can send you to prison, while another one can set you free. The Constitution depends on who is reading that Constitution,” Chief Justice Mogoeng said. According to Mail & Guardian, Khanyile wrote to prison management requesting to move to isolation so that he could focus on his studies. “You can either choose to play soccer in prison, smoke woonga and dagga, or you can choose to say: ‘I’m also in prison, but this is not my final end. When I come out of here, I want to become better than I was yesterday,’” Khanyile said.
Former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, congratulated him on graduating, tweeting,
“Congratulations Bonginkosi Khanyile. What a great example to set. As Madiba said. Education is the most effective liberation tool”. Khanyile confirmed to Times Live that he was currently enrolled for his post-graduate course in the same subject. He will graduate on 9 May.
Compiled by Ditebogo Tshaka
