Young Zimbabwean graduating with 90% for her master’s on baboon behaviour
“People would ask me why I was studying baboons,” Locadia Dzingwena recalls. “They would say I should choose something more exciting, like lions or elephants. It was discouraging.”
Yet Locadia proved them all wrong, with her research focused on chacma baboons (Cape baboon) and a final mark of 90 percent, graduating with distinction at Mandela University’s recent graduation on George Campus.
As one of the few Black women in the field of nature conservation, she often felt out of place. Despite the criticism, she stayed true to her purpose. She believed that every species plays an important role in the ecosystem and that baboons deserved attention too.
“Baboons face many problems due to climate change and human-wildlife conflict. If we ignore them, we miss a big part of the story in conservation,” Locadia explains. In addition, the University’s George Campus is home to some 70 baboons.
The journey was lonely at times, but her family kept cheering her on from home. Her supervisors offered guidance, and her colleagues became trusted friends. They reminded her that her work mattered.
All her effort paid off. It was a moment of deep pride for her and for everyone who supported her.
Silencing the nay sayers to achieve
Despite a childhood riddled with physical, mental and emotional abuse, Zolani Nyeka silenced the voices of all his nay sayers and graduated with his BA degree at Nelson Mandela University.
As a boy, Zolani left his Eastern Cape home to flee his abusive father and moved to George to live with his grandmother for the next 10 years.
Later this home environment became equally challenging, when he started experiencing abuse from extended family members.
As an attempt to escape his circumstances, he became a reckless and rebellious teen, indulging in substance abuse and even attempting to take his own life.
He stopped sleeping at home and failed Grade 11. “I didn’t care anymore. I felt like no one loved me and I didn’t deserve to be happy,” said Zolani.
One of his teachers at Thembalethu High School noticed his struggle, advised him to change subjects and cautioned him on his behaviour. This act of being noticed, gave Zolani hope.
Read more: Nelson Mandela University
Mandela University’s Dr Lose wins National Hult Prize for Entrepreneurship Coordinators #R2bP
Nelson Mandela University’s Dr Thobekani Lose was named the winner of the Hult Prize South Africa 2024/25 University Entrepreneurship Coordinators Award at the South African National Showcase for the Hult Prize challenge in Sandton this week.
“I’m shocked and honoured to be recognised and appreciated for the work that I have been doing in entrepreneurial and incubation development over the past 15 years. You do the work you love without knowing people are watching and then you get this recognition, which means so much to me,” says Dr Lose (left), who is the Director of the Mandela University Africa Hub and Head of the institution’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI).
Over the past year, CfERI has incubated 38 small businesses that have created 92 sustained jobs and achieved a turnover of more than R9.28-million.
Dr Lose is a senior researcher and specialist in student entrepreneurship and business incubation development.
He has a PhD in the effective creation of business incubators, and over 50 published internationally peer-reviewed research papers to his name.
Three consecutive qualifications with distinction for Chemistry doctoral student
Clementine Moreku, who is currently studying for her PhD in Chemistry, recently graduated with her third consecutive qualification Cum Laude at Nelson Mandela University.
Her study leader for her master’s degree was Professor Paul Watts, and her research contributes to decreasing drug costs and shortages on the African continent, as currently Africa depends on imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients.
Continuous flow technology also has a positive impact on the environment by using small volumes of solvent, thereby limiting waste. In Clementine’s case, she synthesised lenalidomide, an anti-cancer drug used to treat multiple myeloma cancer.
Lenalidomide is extremely expensive and therefore they are investigating the possibility to synthesise it in higher yields and shorter reaction times.
Clementine, 29, who grew up in Moremela village in Mpumalanga, has a daughter Micaela, now seven years old.
Her dream job is to be a researcher at the CSIR; in fact, her PhD studies are being funded by CSIR IBS.
She completed her MSc, BSc Honours and her Advanced Diploma in Analytical Chemistry Cum Laude.
Her dream recipe for success is “to put God first, believe in yourself, be patient and kind to yourself and take each day as it comes, for each day has its own challenges too.
Emeritus Prof Rossouw von Solms Number One in Information Security and Security Management #R2bP
Professor Rossouw von Solms has been ranked by ScholarGPS as the Number One researcher internationally for 2024 in two specialist areas, namely, Information Security and Security Management.
ScholarGPS, annually analyses research activities and outputs of over 30 million academics from more than 24 000 academic institutions in more than 200 countries.
Various data science techniques are applied to its database of over 200 million publications and 3 billion citations to rank these researchers and academic institutions.
This annual ranking is based on the most productive (number of publications), 2) the impact of the publications (number of citations) and 3) the utmost quality (h-index).
Based on this analysis, the 150 publications authored or co-authored by Prof Von Solms in Information Security and Security Management over his career, has attracted 6 345 citations to date with a current h-index of 38, that has ranked him in the #1 position in these areas.
His accomplishment has also assisted Nelson Mandela University to be ranked as the fourth most prolific institution internationally in these specialist areas.
Biokineticist embraces dark side during mammoth endurance feat
Biokineticist Brandon Gill was forced to overcome some of the darkest moments of his life when he ran 27 consecutive hours for charity on his 27th birthday this past weekend.
Madibaz biokineticist Brandon Gill is joined by children from the Hope4Kids charity in the final stages of his 27-hour endurance run at the Madibaz Stadium last Friday and Saturday.
In a remarkable feat of endurance and compassion, the Mandela University science graduate put his feet where his mouth was to raise funds for the Hope4Kids organisation.
His effort was underscored by a BackaBuddy campaign, under the banner of Run4Soulz.
The raw statistics are impressive. Gill ran a total of 152km in raising R29 700 for his chosen cause.
He started his journey into the unknown at 9am on Friday, his birthday, and finished at noon on Saturday. He surpassed the combined distance of the Comrades and Two Oceans marathons (145km) during this time.
What the numbers do not show is the physical and emotional toll.
“This was easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Gill, who graduated in 2021 and currently works with the Madibaz Netball club, said.
“Everything in my body was hurting and I was constantly at war with myself.”
Doctoral research inspired by Walt Disney
“I have always been captivated by the remarkable realism and relatability of cartoons. While Mickey Mouse and animation are synonymous with Disney, the full story of Walt Disney's career is less widely understood,” says Dr Romisha Singh.
Romisha, 35, recently graduated at Mandela University’s Autumn Graduation with her doctoral degree in industrial psychology, researching the career development of Walt Disney from a psychobiographical perspective. Her supervisor was Professor Roelf van Niekerk.
As someone who is passionate about understanding how careers develop, and intrigued by animation, particularly Disney content, it just made sense for Romisha to study the founder of Disney Studios, the pioneer of animation and the creator of Disneyland – Walter Elias Disney.
Early in his career, Disney was an artist, director, inker, painter, and editor, later focusing on story and character development, a career spanning five decades. While success did not come easy to him, challenges did not deter him from pursuing his aspirations.
Through commitment and tenacity, he finally attained success and recognition at the age of 54 with the creation of Disneyland. Sadly, his joy and career satisfaction were short-lived as he succumbed to lung cancer, 11 years later.