Check out the News Bites from PDBY‘s Issue 3.
Introducing Tuks Thunee Card Game Society
The card game Thunee, named after the Tamil word for water, “Tani”, is a popular card game that originated in the South African Indian community. UP now boasts its own Thunee card game society, which allows students to play the game during their free time. One of the founders of the group is Nikhil Maharaj, a 4th year Mechanical Engineering student. Maharaj told PDBY that the society currently consists of 21 people, ascertaining that “if anyone is interested in joining, they could simply join the whatsapp group we have created. This group was created from an impulse decision and once we had the word out, people immediately joined out of excitement”.
Maharaj explained that “the cultural significance of Thunee stems back to the Indian community from KZN and the card game brings people of all ages and different cultural backgrounds together, through the competition the game brings as well as through the pure joy of playing the game”.
UP covers tuition fees of a 14-year-old Actuarial Science student
Mongiwa Ntuli, a 14-year-old learner, passed her matric year with 7 distinctions. However, Ntuli found herself battling for funding and was being rejected by bursaries because of her age. Due to these frustrations, she took to social media to state her case expressing that “being turned down by bursaries frustrated me because I believe that I did my part by getting good results and all I needed was financial assistance”.
UP has come to Ntuli’s aid by pledging to fund Ntuli’s tuition fees and study essentials. UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof. Tawana Kupe stated that “Mongiwa fits everything that the university wants to promote”.
UP collaborates with UN for Sustainable Development Goals
The University of Pretoria, together with the United Nations has launched SDSN South Africa. This is a national network for the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). The objective of this collaboration is for the network to mobilize and support South African Universities and leading research institutions in promoting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in South Africa.
The launch took place at the UP Future Africa Campus – the event was a live-streamed moderated panel discussion, with a keynote address by Prof. Labode Popoola – chairperson of SDSN Nigeria and Professor of Forest Economics and Sustainable Development at the University of Ibadan.
Tuks Freshers
On 2 February Tuks Fm took to their social media pages to announce the 2022 Freshers Ball – the first since the pandemic. One of the headliners for the event was the late Ricky Rick, who was subsequently replaced by Nasty C following his passing. Kasozi Phiri, a second-year law student told PDBY that the event was incredible. “I would say that it lived up to the expectations” said Phiri. Phiri went on to mention that he got his moneys’ worth – “the experience that I got there was much more worth than what I spent”. Phiri excitedly indicated that the headlining act, Nasty C, pushed the perfection bar even further “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Everyone went crazy when he finally showed up”.
Thesis award for LLD students in memory of late Prof. Christof Heyns
On 1 March, submissions for the Christof Heyns Memorial Thesis Award officially opened. The award was introduced following the passing of Prof. Christof Heyns to reward doctoral students who have completed their LLD at an African university. According to the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), the award “underlies [Heyn’s] exceptional passion for promoting scholarship and a life devoted to initiating innovative ideas to make the world a better place for all”.
The annual first place prize of R10 000, for the year 2022, will be awarded to a student who completed or will complete their LLD in 2021, and submits their thesis to liesl.hager@up.ac.za before 30 June.
Students can access more information on PULP’s Instagram page @pulplawpress.
Susanna is currently stu(dying) genetics and joined the PDBY team in 2019. She divides her time between writing and playing with plant disease samples. Her contributions span across Science, politics and all things spicy. If you are or were in the SRC, she’s probably spammed you with messages for a story. She’s got a memory like an elephant – so she probably keeps track of student promises. Picture not to scale.
History, Archaeology and Setswana student at the University of Pretoria. An avid reader and lover of news writing and broadcasting. I have a passion for African indigenous languages and history. A prospective world-class journalist and scholar
Leah is a pale ... awkward ... asthmatic ginger.
She used to be Head of Layout (cries) before becoming Digital Manager in an effort to take over PDBY, an effort that has since failed (its all political). She has a keen eye for alignment, an intense love for tequila and chicken nuggets, and occasionally enjoys frollicking in the hills. To end off this bio she leaves this final nugget of wisdom "You just lost the game".