Natal University Research Articles

In memory of Judith Masters and Fabien Génin.

In memory of Judith Masters and Fabien Génin.

Soap opera viewing in a communal context

This paper presents some of the findings of an ethnographic audience study of the soapopera viewing patterns and interpretations of Zulu-speaking students living in residencesat a South African university (Natal University’s Durban campus) who watch The Boldand the Beautiful (an American soap opera) and Generations (a South African soapopera). Although the research undertaken covered various aspects of the soap operaviewing experience and the consumption of an international vs a local soap opera, thispaper will focus specifically on the nature of the viewing process and the ways in whichthe respondents relate to both soap operas, and it touches briefly on how the viewingpatterns of the students and their motivations for watching compare with audiencestudies conducted elsewhere in the world.

Ex parte Somers (1927) 48 NPD 1: A story of racial exclusion in the South African legal profession

ABSTRACT The article critically examines the judgment in ex parte Somers (1927) 48 NPD 1 from both a legal and personal perspective. The judgment details the case of an Indian South African who requested the Court to grant his admission as a candidate attorney. The Court refused his application on the basis that he could not complete the set of courses required by the Supreme Court Rules, as his admission to Natal University College had been denied. Without detailing the reasons for the College's refusal, the Court reinforced the College's racial discriminatory policies. The article examines the judgment from two perspectives: courtrooms as a space of protest; and racial exclusion at law schools and the legal profession. Keywords: Racial discrimination, courtroom as a space of protest, law schools, legal profession

The origins of university education in KwaZulu-Natal: The Natal University College 1909–19491

ABSTRACTPublic demand for university facilities in the then Colony of Natal began to gather momentum from the mid-nineteenth century. The Natal University College that was eventually launched in 1909/1910 in Pietermaritzburg and extended to Durban during the 1920s was characterised by three prominent features: First, it was initially affiliated to the University of the Cape of Good Hope and, in 1918, became a constituent college of the University of South Africa before maturing to become the independent University of Natal in March 1949. Second, the College remained an exclusively white institution until 1936 when the ‘Natal Experiment’ was launched in the form of separate classes for so-called ‘Non-Europeans’. Third, competition between Pietermaritzburg and Durban was seemingly resolved in 1928 by mutual acceptance of the principle of duality but a dual campus structure had serious implications with regard to the equitable distribution of limited financial and other resources. Since 1949 the multi-campus concept has been expanded. The present-day University of KwaZulu-Natal, established in January 2004, has a fivecampus structure, with four sites in greater Durban in addition to the original base in Pietermaritzburg. It is also multi-racial and of mixed gender with regard both to its student and staff complement.

The essential importance of experimental research and the use of experimental thermodynamics to the benefit of industry

J. Fernandez (University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain), . Gmehling (University of Oldenburg, Germany), H. Inomata Tohoku University, Japan), J.N. Jaubert (INPL, France), T.W. de oos (Delft University, The Netherlands), J.P. O’Connell (Univerity of Virginia, USA), C. Peters (Delft University, The Netherlands), . Ramjugernath (KwaZulu Natal University, South Africa), F. del io (Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico), G. Scalabrin Padova University, Italy), K. Tochigi (Nihon University, Japan)

Dreaming of a humane society: orature and death in Zakes Mda's Ways of Dying and Phaswane Mpe's Welcome to our Hillbrow

Ways of Dying (1995. Cape Town: OUP) by Zakes Mda and Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001. Pietermaritzburg, Natal University Press) by Phaswane Mpe both construct death as a signifier of traumatic social change, thus anatomising community responses to transformation. Both authors introduce the narrative technique of orature. Mda, however, counterposes orature against death, injecting through it a humane and uplifting principle. In Mpe's novel, orature finds a more causative role, becoming a malicious agency that leads to the death of various characters. I contrast the viewpoints thus projected through orature, Mda projecting a community-based, developmental commitment, while Mpe negates community and nation as principles of social consolidation.

Changing history, changing histories: Separations and connections in the lives of South African women

In this paper, I revisit correspondence between Lily Moya, a fifteen-yearold school-girl growing up in the Eastern Cape, Mabel Palmer, a 74-year-old Fabian socialist and head of the 'Non-European' section of Natal University, and Sibusisiswe Makanya, the first Zulu woman to train as a social worker in the USA, which I first edited and published in 1987. Originally subtitled 'the separate worlds of three South African women', Not Either an Experimental Doll explored the divisions and misunderstandings between these three generations of South African women. Challenged by recent events in South Africa, in this paper I argue that the text can also be read as a story of the shared worlds of these three women, of the connections between them wrought by mission education and philanthropy, which in turn have provided some of the conditions of possibility for the country's negotiated settlement. In this narrative, the personal has indeed become the political. At the same time, I also argue that this micro-history prefigures the gendered violence which is so disturbing a part of South Africa's contemporary social landscape.

PLANT SYSTEMATICS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW, 1753–1953

SUMMARY Three clear phases can be discerned in the development of plant systematics in South Africa: (1) The Linnaean Phase in which Carl Linnaeus and C.P. Thunberg, two Swedish university academics, published the first methodically organised accounts of the Cape flora, 1753–1823, their work being based largely on the philosophical principles set out in Linnaeus's Philosophia Botanica (1751). (2) Apart from early attempts to publish locally by C.F. Ecklon and W.H. Harvey, the second phase, which continued throughout the Victorian period and beyond, was entirely dominated by talented, untrained amateurs like H. Bolus, J. Medley Wood and F. Guthrie (Angiosperms) as well as T.R. Sim (Bryophytes and Pteridophytes). Louisa Bolus continued the amateur tradition into the mid 1960s, describing 4¼% of the currently recognised species of Angiosperms in South Africa. Explicit theoretical and philosophical considerations were non-existent during this phase, their aim being to produce practical taxonomies. (3) The modern phase began in the early 20th century with the South African College offering a degree course in Botany containing basic systematics. This led ultimately to the awarding of the first local doctoral degree in plant systematics to M.R. Levyns in 1932 at the University of Cape Town. Formal academic training in systematics proceeded sporadically at other local universities until the mid 1950s when a minor renaissance took place under E.A. Schelpe at the University of Cape Town, leading to the emergence of a new generation of systematists having both theoretical and practical training. Natal University, under Kathleen Gordon-Gray, followed suit in the 1960s.

The Evolution of Admissions and Retention Policies at an Historically White South African University

A brief overview of South Africa's higher education history contextualizes this article's examination of how admissions policies and procedures at the University of Cape Town (UCT), an historically White South African university, have been affected by increasing enrollments of Black students since the passage of the 1983 Universities Amendment Act. This is followed by an institutional profile that delineates the specific changes in admissions policies and procedures related to Black students at UCT from 1983 to 1995. Data are presented by race and gender. The article concludes with a critical analysis of UCT's academic development programs and alternative admissions criteria. INTRODUCTION The origins of higher education in South Africa date back to 1829 and the establishment of the University of the Cape of Good Hope-the present-day University of Cape Town (UCT)-and the University of Stellenbosch, founded in 1874. These early institutions of higher learning were established primarily to prepare White males for further educational training abroad. They were modeled after British institutions; their students were White, and their academic staff came primarily from Britain and other European countries. It was not until early in the 20th century, with the passage of the University Act of 1916, that provisions were made for the establishment of the first university for non-White South Africans. That legislation established the South African Native College, now known as the University of Fort Hare, and the University of South Africa, a correspondence university for the nation's Blacks, or its African, Colored, and Indian/ Asian populations. As this article makes plain, the history of South African higher education is intricately bound to and influenced by political developments. Upon assuming leadership in 1948 until the 1994 democratic elections, the National Party (NP) government of the nation's White minority played a decisive role in the development of higher education. With its doctrine of apartheid, the NP introduced the plethora of legislation that systematically entrenched racial segregation at all levels of society, including the educational system. Within five years of taking power, the NP government passed the Bantu Education Act of 1953, which created separate systems of education for Africans, Coloreds, Indians/ Asians, and Whites. This Act was followed by the Universities Amendment Act of 1959 that prohibited the admission of Blacks to historically White universities and established separate universities for Blacks along racial/ethnic lines. Subsequently, between 1951 and 1968, six South African colleges became full-fledged, independent universities serving Whites only: the University of the Witwatersrand (1922), the University of Pretoria (1930), Natal University (1949), the University of the Orange Free State (1950), Rhodes University (1951), and Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (1951). Two new Whites-only universities were founded during this period: the University of Port Elizabeth in 1965 and Rand Afrikaans University in 1968 (Muller, 1991). Institutional development in South African higher education also reflected the cultural and linguistic duality of the South African settler population. The Afrikaans-language universities of Stellenbosch, Pretoria, Orange Free State, Potchefstroom, and Rand Afrikaans-became the nucleus of Afrikaner (Dutch Boer) nationalism and cultural consciousness (Booysen, 1989; Gwala, 1988; Marcum, 1982). The English-language universitiesCape Town, Witwatersrand, Rhodes, and Natal-have historically been perceived as politically liberal in the South African context for their strong commitment to the ideals of academic freedom and interracial and interethnic relations (Taylor, 1990; Vale, 1987). The Extension of Universities Act, passed in 1959, set forth provisions for ethnically based institutions of higher learning designed to serve South Africa's African, Colored, and Indian/Asian populations. …

Experiential learning for critical thinking: a viable prospect for distance education in South Africa?

Attacking widespread under‐education with limited resources in the scattered, oppressed adult population of South Africa is a formidable challenge. One way of meeting this challenge could be to develop adults’ critical thinking skills, using their own experience as their main educational resource. Experiential learning technology, facilitated from a distance, could provide a means of achieving this aim. Research carried out at a conference on experiential learning at Natal University, Durban, provided an opportunity to assess the viability, desirability and usefulness of this educational method and aim. Participants’ responses indicate that the method is promising, although further experiment and development are necessary, particularly with different groups. Three issues are discussed in this paper: the nature of the South African educational context, the promotion of critical thinking skills as an adult education aim, and the potential of employing experiential learning technology, facilitated from a distance, as a method of developing critical thinking skills.

Notes and Records

African Journal of EcologyVolume 26, Issue 4 p. 345-346 Notes and Records First record of the melon-headed whale Peponocephala electra (Gray, 1846) for the East African coast V. M. Peddemors, V. M. Peddemors Department of Biology, Natal University, King George V Avenue, Durban 4001, South Africa and Port Elizabeth Museum, PO Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa. *Natal Sharks Board, Private Bag 2, Umhlanga Rocks 4320, South Africa.Search for more papers by this authorG. J. B. Ross, G. J. B. Ross Department of Biology, Natal University, King George V Avenue, Durban 4001, South Africa and Port Elizabeth Museum, PO Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa.Search for more papers by this author V. M. Peddemors, V. M. Peddemors Department of Biology, Natal University, King George V Avenue, Durban 4001, South Africa and Port Elizabeth Museum, PO Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa. *Natal Sharks Board, Private Bag 2, Umhlanga Rocks 4320, South Africa.Search for more papers by this authorG. J. B. Ross, G. J. B. Ross Department of Biology, Natal University, King George V Avenue, Durban 4001, South Africa and Port Elizabeth Museum, PO Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa.Search for more papers by this author First published: December 1988 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1988.tb00988.xCitations: 1 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume26, Issue4December 1988Pages 345-346 RelatedInformation

Seminar on Natal/KwaZulu: The political and social environment of the future, Natal University, 6 June 1985

Seminar on Natal/KwaZulu: The political and social environment of the future, Natal University, 6 June 1985

The origin of endocrine cells from different pancreatic buds: [formula omitted]. Physiology Department, Natal University, P O Box 17039, Congella 4013, South Africa

The origin of endocrine cells from different pancreatic buds: [formula omitted]. Physiology Department, Natal University, P O Box 17039, Congella 4013, South Africa

A Reply to Vilakazi's Comment on "Toward a Sociology of Africa"

persons born and bred, at least fully settled town, as distinct from migrants, and according to Reader, they constitute 14 percent (excluding children under 15) of East London's African population. percentages would be higher Johannesburg, Capetown, Durbain and some other African cities. Insofar as the Indians are concerned, I should have thought that we also have enough documentary evidence to show that they, like the other groups, cannot be said to have, and to share, a common set of values. As Dr. Cooppan12 has pointed out and Professor Hilda Kuper13 has amply documented, they are a society undergoing very rapid social change, and all the forces operating the South African situation have been strongest on this group to conform to the Western patterns, as the Uplift clause of the 1927 Capetown Agreement between India and South Africa will show. As a single, but by no means isolated, example of this pressure to conform, caste status is practically a dead letter South Africa; and individual merit and achievement are now the basis for the achievement of status. I suggest that Smith's14 negative reactions against the loose usage of pluralism as a concept are order, and his suggestions that the word be restricted to societies that contain incompatible institutions, coupled with Braithwaite's definition of the word in terms of diversity of values, would appear to be the most fruitful frame of reference for research. 12 S. Cooppan, The Education of the Indian Natal-1860 to 1947, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Capetown University, 1949. 13 Hilda Kuper, Indian People Natal (Natal University Press, 1960). 14 Op. Cit.

"African music", a lecture given at Natal University

The music of Africa is so different from our own music that we are unable to appreciate it until we know where that difference lies and therefore what to listen for. It is no use listening for the harmonies based upon the triads of the major and minor scales when listening to African music. Similarities there are, particularly in the melodic aspect of music. Neither European nor African music is characterised by a high development of melody, such as we find in the rich melodic ornamentation of Indian music. The Indian scale is arranged into a large number of modes (as against our two modes, major and minor) and the octave is divided into 24 quarter-tones (as against our 12 semi-tones), and this gives full scope to the flair for ornamentation to be found not only in the music of India, but also in the wonderful weaving and in other aspects of culture. The intricate patterns of a carpet are analogous to the melodic embellishments of a song; and think of the dome of a Hindu temple.

A Zulu Manual for Beginners. By D. McK. Malcolm. Natal University; Longmans, Green and Co., 1949. Pp. 169.

A Zulu Manual for Beginners. By D. McK. Malcolm. Natal University; Longmans, Green and Co., 1949. Pp. 169.

Gift for Natal University

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A Bibliography of Chemical Research in South Africa, 1910–1939

THE author of this slender volume explains that the lack of bibliographical tools is a real handicap to research workers in South Africa, since the proceedings of the learned societies there have no cumulative indexes. Many of the papers listed, however, have been published in European or American journals, and chemical research is perhaps one of the best abstracted fields of work. The information given can, therefore, be of special interest only to those chemists who wish to know which publications were by South African authors. Full titles of the papers are given and the references to the publications. The classification is according to subjects in decimal order based on the general principle of increasing specialization. In each section, the order is according to year of publication. Dr. Coblans is himself a chemist, and the accuracy of the book may, therefore, be taken for granted. His position as librarian of Natal University College vouches for his bibliographical ability. It is clear from the contents of the book that chemists in South Africa are making notable contributions to research in their subject, as was, in fact, generally realized before its publication.

“PLAN FOR RECONSTRUCTION”.1

South African Journal of EconomicsVolume 12, Issue 1 p. 1-12 “PLAN FOR RECONSTRUCTION”.1 A REVIEW ARTICLE H. R. BURROWS., Natal University College. Durban.Search for more papers by this author H. R. BURROWS., Natal University College. Durban.Search for more papers by this author First published: March 1944 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.1944.tb01382.x 1 Plan for Reconstruction, by W. H. Hutt. Began, Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1943, 328 pp. 18s. nett. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume12, Issue1March 1944Pages 1-12 RelatedInformation

A CRITICISM

South African Journal of EconomicsVolume 8, Issue 3 p. 272-278 A CRITICISM R. Hsmith, R. Hsmith Natal University College, DurbanSearch for more papers by this author R. Hsmith, R. Hsmith Natal University College, DurbanSearch for more papers by this author First published: September 1940 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.1940.tb02262.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume8, Issue3September 1940Pages 272-278 RelatedInformation