University Of Durban-Westville Research Articles

A Historical Overview and Description of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Ceremonial and Academic Attire

he University of KwaZulu-Natal was legally constituted in 2004 when the University of Natal was amalgamated with the University of Durban-Westville. In the early 2000s, the South African government sought to decrease the number of higher education institutions in the country from thirty-six to twenty-one through amalgamation. This article describes the process by which the current university developed its ceremonial and academic dress.

Vishnu Padayachee 1952-2021

Vishnu Padayachee 1952-20211 Imraan Valodia (bio) The prominent South African economist Vishnu Padayachee passed away in the early hours of May 29, 2021, following a series of health challenges over the previous two years. Vishnu was a past editor of the journal Transformation, having joined the editorial team, then made up of Bill Freund, Mike Morris, and Gerhard Maré shortly after its launch in 1986. Vishnu's name first appeared on the list of editors for issue 5, published in 1987. He left the editorial board in 1999, whereafter I was invited to join the board, to continue the important work Vishnu had undertaken to develop Transformation as an influential forum for debate about the nature of the economic transition in South Africa, and a voice for alternative economic policy analyses. Vishnu rejoined the editorial board in 2012, and remained an editor until 2016. During the interregnum in the 2012-2016 period and post-2016, Vishnu remained a regular contributor to the journal–as an author, publishing several important pieces on economic policy in South Africa, and as a referee. Transformation was a key part of a multifaceted and deep academic and personal friendship that I enjoyed with Vishnu over a period of some 38 years. I first met Vishnu Padayachee when he walked into my Economics 101 class in 1983 at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW) to lecture on introductory microeconomics. Vishnu immediately made a lasting impression on me, and has since then been my mentor, friend, academic colleague, and comrade until his untimely death. As he began his lecture, I was immediately mesmerised by this handsome, urbane, genial, exceptionally articulate lecturer, his mannerisms more akin to that of an English upper-class gentleman than what was then the norm at UDW, who made Economics 101 not only interesting, but also tinged with radical economic ideas. As a young student growing up in apartheid South [End Page 1] Africa and studying at a university where a number of the lecturers were members of the Broederbond, this was truly extraordinary stuff. I made regular visits to Vishnu's office when he moved to the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at UDW and he 'fed' my curiosity for better understanding South Africa. He introduced me to the work of, among others, Harold Wolpe, Martin Legassick, Rick Turner, the famous speech by Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) general secretary Joe Foster at the FOSATU congress, which outlined the Federation's views on the relationship between the struggle for workers' rights through trades unions, and the struggle for political freedom in South Africa. None of this literature was, of course, a part the Economics curriculum and most of it was, at the time, banned. In those days, people went to jail for distributing this kind of material. Suddenly, Economics was exciting and I began better to understand the world around me. These early years shaped my academic trajectory forever. Over the years, Vishnu had the impact of steering me toward a better understanding of the world, linking up with new exciting research ideas, striving for academic excellence, and enjoying books and leisurely lunches. Remarkably, he had this effect on many, many others. Vishnu was born on the south coast of (then) the province of Natal in the town of Umkomaas on May 31, 1952. His father was a teacher and school principal. In those days, the life of an Indian school principal in Natal involved having to move from one little town to the next. Vishnu's parents lived this life. As a result of this Vishnu was brought up by his relatives in Umkomaas, a well-off and globally connected family with connections in, among other places, Germany. I think this upbringing was instrumental in Vishnu's love for the good things in life–good food, sporty cars, good wine and the best whisky–notwithstanding his lifelong work for a democratic and egalitarian society. Vishnu studied at the University of Durban-Westville, at the time the only place where Indians were able to study, completing a BComm, BComm (Hons) and MComm in Economics, respectively in 1973, 1975 and 1979. He began working as a junior...

Obituary: In Memorium: John Daniel

John Daniel, former professor of Political Science at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW), died at his home on 25 July 2014 after a brave struggle with cancer. He will be remembered for the major contribution to political science in South Africa, his activism in the struggle against apartheid, for his inspirational teaching, his work as a progressive editor, and for his important research for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

A South African Classicist In Troubled Times

A South African Classicist In Troubled Times John Hilton Click for larger view View full resolution KENNETH OGILVIE MATIER (13/06/1934 – 26/12/2017) [End Page i] Of all the Classicists of British extraction who have worked in South Africa, Professor Kenneth Ogilvie Matier1 is one who stands out clearly for the degree to which, over the course of his life, he became integrated with his adoptive country. His education began in Scotland at Busby School, Clarkston, and at Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow (1943–1947).2 Like many others, his family joined the wave of emigration from the United Kingdom to South Africa and other British Commonwealth countries in the bleak years of austerity following World War II,3 and his schooling was completed at Wynberg Boys’ High School (1947–1950) in Cape Town. Here, and later as a BA student at UCT (1951–1953),4 he studied Afrikaans [End Page 1] in addition to Latin and English.5 (He was very proud of obtaining an ‘A’ for Afrikaans in matric6 and of later passing the Afrikaans Taalbond exams.) He taught briefly at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, near Grahamstown (1954), and at Rhodes University in Grahamstown (1955–1957), during which time he also completed his BA Honours degree, before taking up a short-lived teaching post in Glasgow (1958–1960). He obtained an MA degree at Aberdeen under Professor William Smith Watt (1961–1963), who was editing the OCT text of Cicero’s letters at the time (1958–1982), and who stimulated K.’s lifelong interest in Cicero.7 Thereafter, K. took up a position as Lecturer in Classics at the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1963–1964), before returning to Rhodes, where he taught for twenty years (1965–1984). During this time (on the 6th of January 1968) he married Rosemary Bach of Wolmaransstad, a town in the erstwhile province of Transvaal, and together they raised and educated two daughters, Jean and Fiona, who still reside in South Africa.8 In 1985 he was appointed as Professor of Classical Languages at the University of Durban-Westville, a position he retained until his retirement in 1998, when the UDW Classics department, together with Theology and Foreign Languages (including Sanskrit and Arabic), was closed down a few years before the merger with the University of Natal. [End Page 2] K. was a whole-hearted supporter of Classics in South Africa. He maintained his membership of the Classical Association of South Africa (CASA) loyally for many years, and served on the executive board of the Association for eight years in all: four as Secretary (1983–1986),9 two as Chairperson (1987–1988), and two as Vice-Chairperson (1989–1990). He served his two years as Vice-Chairperson in order to assist the new incumbent of the chair, Dawie Kriel, in the campaign to retain Latin as a prerequisite for law degrees. K. later looked on his participation in the fight to maintain this requirement, which was led by Kriel and which culminated in their meeting with the then Minister of Justice, Kobie Coetzee, as his ‘finest hour’. It certainly represented a unique example of cooperation between Afrikaans- and English-speaking Classicists in a common cause and deferred the abolition of the Latin requirement for five years. The issue was complicated and has been commented on before,10 but it is well worth revisiting. Briefly, because South African Law has been so deeply influenced by Roman Law, and because many Roman Law texts remain untranslated, clause 3(2)(a)(ii) of the Admision of Advocates Act 74 of 1964 made it a legal requirement for lawyers and advocates to obtain a tertiary qualification in Latin before they could be admitted as legal practitioners. This is turn raised the question of how much Latin was needed at university to comply with the Act and, since most university courses were spread over an entire academic year at this time, a minimum of one year of Latin became established as the norm, although there were disparities at different universities in the interpretation of the rule and in the standard actually achieved. The ripples excited by this controversy were eventually...

Land and worship: a reading of paintings by two South African artists of Indian ancestry

This article, drawn from my doctoral study, focuses on the landscape paintings of two South African graduates of the former Indian institution, the University of Durban-Westville. The work is analysed through the lens of Hindu philosophy and Hindu ritualistic practice which views the earth as fundamental for survival and intrinsically linked to the cosmic order. This article presents the Hindu attachment to the land seen in the expansive imagery of Hindu deities located within serene landscapes resplendent in its attention to mythological and symbolic details. This attachment positions Hinduism as a guide to the exploration of the paintings. This article locates the work within the complex historical base of Indians in South Africa, and the impact it had on contemporary artists of Indian ancestry. While their art production addresses their conflating Indian/South Africanness, their paintings can be viewed as a veiled historiography of the Indian presence in South Africa.

EXPLORING ARTICULATION AND PARTNERING OF SOCIAL WORK PROGRAMMES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DURBAN -WESTVILLE (UDW) AND NORTH LONDON (UNL)

As a result of an exploratory visit by Kasiram and Partab to the University of North London to investigate partnering possibilities between the two Universities, it was agreed that a comparative study of the Social Work programmes at both Universities be undertaken. The University of North London had already devised a post hoc student survey as part of the General Social Care Council feedback for quality assurance. The survey was adapted and adopted for use by the University of Durban-Westville, Social Work. The results of the two surveys were compared

Institutional, gender and racial profiles of South African optometrists

This paper sets out to profile optometric gradu-ates in South Africa. The 2008 register of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) was used to identify the number of registered optometrists, their qualifications and institutions where they obtained their primary optometry qualification. The gender and racial profiles of these optometrists were obtained from the institutions where they qualified. A comparison of the profiles ofthe registered practitioners pre-democracy (1930-1994) and post-democracy (1995-2008) was made. Few (28.1%) of the optometrists were trained in the years 1930-1994, while the rest (71.9%) were trained from 1995-2008. During the period of1930-1994, 64.2% of the optometrists were males and 35.8% were females and from 1995 to 2008, the gender profile changed to 66.4% females and 33.6% males. In the pre-democracy period (1930-1994), almost three quarters (74%) of the registered optometrists were White, 15.3% were Indians, 7.9% were Black and 2.8% were Coloured. Many (56.9%) that were registered pre-1994 were trained at the Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR), 17.1% were trained at the University of Durban Westville (UDW), 11.9% at the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), 6.7% at the University of the North (UNIN) and 7.4% had trained in institutions outside South Africa. The percentage of White optometrists post-democracy (1995-2008) decreased to 44.3%, while those of Indians increased to 22%, Blacks increased to 28.9% and Coloured to 4.8%. Almost half (48.2%) of the optometrists in the post-apartheid era (1995-2008) were trained at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), TWR and RAU, 21.5% at UDW and University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), 23.7% at UNIN and the University of Limpopo (UL), 4% at the University of Free State (UFS) and others (2.6%) had trained outside South Africa. As at 2008, the majority (51.7%) of all registered optometrists were White, 22.2% were Black, 21.9% were Indian while 4.2% were Coloured and included 57.8% females and 42.2% males. The results of this study indicate that the number of females in all racial categories has increased post-democracy. Although the number of Black optometrists has increased in the post-democracy era, the increase does not yet reflect the national population distribution. Optometry departments need to improve on the equity targets.(S Afr Optom 2011 70(3) 123-128)

About tarbrushing and feathering: Developing institutional capacity for postgraduate research within a 'historically disadvantaged institution

Often when seeking out new models of education and training systems, there is a tendency to look to exemplars from outside of one's own immediate environment: in the international context, in the more advantaged and better resourced institutions within the region or country, or even within an itself. Are these choices appropriate and/or relevant to our existing needs and goals, or are they simply politically expedient to buy into the dominant discourse concerning what constitutes good quality education? This article attempts to provide a critical description of a postgraduate research training and development model beyond the context of external models. Instead it draws on the experiences from within the context of an that has not been architectured to serve the goals of a researching institution, in an that is labeled a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI). In the description I will show how strategic development of the postgraduate research sector is being undertaken at the University of Durban-Westville, Faculty of Education. Hopefully this will attempt to counteract the tarbrushing and feathering that accompanies most descriptions of the HDI sector. This article highlights the danger of homogenising all HDI's as fatalistically doomed when meeting the challenges of a fiercely competitive higher education environment in the late 1990's. This article aims to speak also to sectors within and outside the HDI sector who have disparate qualities in postgraduate research training and development, providing a counterpoint to the reports of negative experiences presented by some students from the HDI sector. The home-grown models arising out of the particular experiences of a HDI are perhaps most pertinent to realising the specific realities that confront the South African higher education sector. Rather than casting ourselves within a deficiency syndrome, this article will argue that the HDI sector could provide a key to unlocking the potential of a large majority of future South African researchers. The experiences of the HDI sector could provide the basis for reviewing which exemplars and models are being held up as targets towards which all should aspire.

Additions to the aspidochirotid, molpadid and apodid holothuroids (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) from the east coast of southern Africa, with descriptions of new species

Collections of holothuroid echinoderms received from the Natal and South African Museums, the Universities of Cape Town and Witwatersrand and that present in the former University of Durban-Westville, contain several new species and many others that are new to the fauna of southern Africa, south of the tropic of Capricorn. A paper describing and/or recording several dendrochirotids and a dactylochirotid, from a portion of these materials originating from the east coast of southern Africa, has already been published. The current paper describes and/or reports on several new species and records of aspidochirotid, molpadid and apodid holothuroids, also from the east coast, extending from Inhaca Island, off the coast of Maputo (Mozambique), to the Port St. Johns-East London area (South Africa), the subtropical zoogeographic province. A few other species have been included if they represent juvenile material, or considered extensions of ranges (bathymetric or otherwise) of previously known species, or confirmation of a species previously recorded from a single locality in the region under consideration, or for the provision of taxonomic data that was excluded for some previous published records. Of the 30 species treated, four are new to science and seven are new records for the southern African region. The new species are Holothuria (Lessonothuria) tuberculata, H. (Theelothuria) duoturriforma, H.(T.) longicosta and H. (T.) pseudonotablis, whereas the new records include Stichopus cf. monotuberculatus (Quoy & Gaimard), Actinopyga bannwarthi Panning, A. lecanora (Jaeger), Bohadschia marmorata (Jaeger), H. (Vaneyothuria) integra Koehler & Vaney, Molpadia triforia (Cherbonnier) and Protankyra autopista (Marenzeller).

New species and new records of dendrochirotid and dactylochirotid holothuroids (Echinodermata : Holothuroidea) from off the east coast of South Africa

Numerous unidentified specimens of Holothuroidea received from the Natal and South African Museums or present in the collections of the former University of Durban-Westville, contain several new species and many that are new to the fauna of South Africa. This paper includes descriptions of new species or new records of several dendrochirotid holothuroids and a dactylochirotid from off the east coast of South Africa, extending from Kosi Bay in the north to the Port St Johns-East London area, in the Eastern Cape Province, the latter region represents the transition zone between the southern African subtropical and warm-temperate zoogeographical provinces. A few other species have been added if they represent juvenile material, or considered extensions of ranges (bathymetric or otherwise) of previously known species, or confirmation of a species previously recorded from a single locality in the region under consideration. Of the 16 species here treated, four are new to science, seven new to the fauna of South Africa, whereas the rest are either extension of ranges or additional records. The four new species are Psolidium multipes, P. acorbula, Ekkentropelma groovia and Psolidothuria yasmeena. The following six species are additions to the fauna of South Africa: Thyone avenusta Cherbonnier, 1970; T. comata Cherbonnier, 1988; Selenkiella paradoxa Cherbonnier, 1970; Ohshimella ocula (Cherbonnier, 1988); Plesiocolochirus tessellarus (Cherbonnier, 1970) and Staurothyone rosacea (Semper, 1869). Pseudocolochirus dispar (Lampert, 1889) is new to the fauna of southern Africa, recorded for the first time from Mozambique. The remaining species include Stolus pseudoalbescens Thandar, 2005; Sclerothyone velligera (Ludwig & Heding, 1935); Ohshimella ehrenbergii (Selenka, 1868); Pawsonellus africanus Thandar, 1986 and Trachasina crucifera (Semper, 1869).

The development and evaluation of a manualised participatory HIV/AIDS risk reduction programme (Sex and Risk) for tertiary level learners: a pilot study

This paper reports on a pilot study of the development and evaluation (using outcome and process measures) of a manualised participatory risk reduction programme, aimed at reducing high-risk sexual behaviour amongst tertiary level learners, called 'Sex and Risk' (S&R), at the University of Durban-Westville 1 in South Africa. The programme was grounded in a focused ethnographic study of the risk behaviours and life context of tertiary level learners at this institution, as well as informed by literature on successful behavioural risk reduction programmes on Western and African populations. Significantly, the S&R programme was shown to facilitate greater awareness in males of how social influences inform high-risk sexual behaviour. This greater awareness did not, however, translate into greater self-efficacy in relation to negotiating safer sexual relationships for either males or females and was attributed to the dominant social norms, which promote and sustain gender inequity that places the sexual health of young women and men at risk. Given that the S&R programme operates largely at the level of the individual, although it does address the subjective aspects of social influences on behaviour, these findings highlight the need for proximal situation-centred interventions, which promote more egalitarian social norms in sexual relationships, to accompany such curriculum interventions at tertiary institutions.

CARDIOVASCULAR PROPERTIES OF HARPAGOPHYTUM PROCUMBENS DC IM

Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Durban-Westville (Mahomed) Departments of Pharmacology and Human Physiology (Moodley) Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Durban-Westville (Ojewole)

A Suitable Match: Marrying Technology to the Past in the Thomas Baines and the ‘Great Map’ CD-ROM Project

“Thomas Baines and the ‘Great Map’”, a CD-ROM published by Campbell Collections, University of Natal in 2001, is the result of a joint project comprising South African and Australian scholars working on Thomas Baines's “Map of the Gold Fields of South Eastern Africa (1872)”. Baines, the well known artist and explorer who died in Durban, South Africa, in 1875, made two trips to modern day Zimbabwe in search of gold bearing sites for the Natal Land and Colonisation Company. One of the large maps which he drew on this trip is the subject of study for this interdisciplinary team coordinated by Lindy Stiebel (Professor of English Studies, University of Durban-Westville). The other team members are Jane Carruthers (History, University of South Africa), Vivian Forbes (Chief Cartographer, University of Western Australia), Norman Etherington (Professor of History, University of Western Australia) and staff of the Campbell Collections, Durban, South Africa. The CD aims to make Baines's manuscript map of 1872, which...

Geographer, historian and classic French regionalist: The evolution of the writings of Jean Gottmann

The author, Professor Emeritus of Geography, University of Maryland, College Park, holds four degrees from the University of Chicago and is the recipient of the University's Distinguished Alumnus award. A close associate of Jean Gottmann, he co-edited two volumes - Metropolis on the Move and Since Megalopolis with him. Harper's urban interest primarily concerns cities as central places and city networks. He also edited Modern Metropolitan Systems with Charles Christian. He has keen interest in geographic education. He is past president of the National Council for Geographic Education and recipient of their George J. Miller Award. He has written world geography texts for students from elementary school to college. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Manchester, University of Sydney, University of Durban-Westville, and Peking University.

Explaining the low rate of HIV prevalence at RAU

Abstract This article is based on research undertaken on the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) campus between 15 and 19 October 2001, where, by means of bar coding, anonymous tests of HIV status were linked to a questionnaire survey. Of the 1,188 respondents, which comprised 8.1% of the university's ordinary post-graduate and undergraduate students (students studying on a contact basis only), 1.1% (n=l3) were found to be HIV positive. This figure is much lower than was expected on the basis of the University of Durban Westville (UDW) study and the South African Universities'Vice Chancellor Association's (SAUVCA) analysis of HIV within the university sector, as well as upon extrapolations from the Gauteng model, which was used to predict prevalence. This article attempts to account for this discrepancy between the expected and actual prevalence of respondents, by challenging the Gauteng model and drawing on reported sexual behaviour of students, particularly the level and nature of sexual activity, condom use, levels of sexually transmitted infections, knowledge of HIV/AIDS and peer pressure. Overall, these factors assist in explaining the actual prevalence found in the RAU study. The article, further, identifies additional social factors that should be considered in understanding infection rates for university students and provides some recommendations for future research.

A Perspective of South African Practice: The University of Durban-Westville

A Perspective of South African Practice: The University of Durban-Westville

Mode 2 knowledge and institutional life: taking Gibbons on a walk through a South African university

This paper examines the response of a blackuniversity in South Africa to the challengesposed by the mode 2 knowledge thesis of MichaelGibbon. The case material is based on theFaculty of Engineering at the University ofDurban Westville, which in the period 1999–2000grappled with the implications of Gibbon’sthesis for knowledge, inquiry and professionalidentity in a proposed university-industrypartnership. The author argues that entrenchedinstitutional rules and behaviours threaten toundermine any attempt to rethink the researchand practice of engineering education even whensuch restructuring appears to work in the bestinterest of students.

Accounting for change: the micropolitics of university restructuring. Part three: global pressures, local responses

In this third and final article on "the micropolitics of university restructuring", the links are drawn between globalization pressures on the third world state and the ways in which higher education institutions are affected in the same ways by the state and globalization, given the very different histories, capacities and ideologies of universities even within the same country. But the case study of the University of Durban Westville (UDW) also demonstrates that the quality of organizational leadership is a critical variable not only in shaping institutional micropolitics but in affecting the capacity of universities to respond to the relentless demands of the state under conditions of globalization. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15(3) 2001: 32-38

Crisis in mathematics education. Student failure: challenges and possibilities

The mathematics education community has recently submitted a proposal to the Council of Education Ministers about the crisis in Mathematics Education in South Africa. The purpose of the submission was to both outline and define the crisis and to make suggestions regarding the role of both National and Provincial governments in addressing the crisis (Amesa News 2000). This article suggests that there is a similar crisis at the tertiary level where students are failing mathematics. For example, in UDW - this article is about WHY students are failing Mathematics Education one in the School of Educational Studies at the University of Durban-Westville. The article also provides a rationale of the study, the method used in collecting and analysing the data, some of the main findings and recommendations for teacher education institutions in South Africa. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15(3) 2001: 66-73

Accounting for change: the micropolitics of university restructuring.

This second article in a three-part series published in the South African Journal of Higher Education, describes the various ways in which academic informed the politics and shaped the outcomes of at the University of Durban Westville (UDW) in the late 1990s. The authors argue that while appears to be a process concerned with organisational and programmatic changes within the university, the effects of such reorganisation is to challenge established identities. At UDW the restructuring process generate an intense micropolitics across the campus because it had the effect of recasting ethnic identities (the case of the Indian languages), disciplinary identities (the case of political science, philosophy, and public administration), and professional identities (the case of the engineering faculty). The authors conclude that without grasping the underlying shifts in identity that inevitably accompany restructuring, university leaders and administrators run the risk of alienating the very constituencies from which they seek buy-in for radical change proposals. And without taking account of the politics of identity, attempts to theorise institutional change might falter by mistaking formal or superficial reorganisation for substantive or deep change. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15(1) 2001: 40-46