Latest news with #UNISA
IOL News
7 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
A critique of the proposal to close public universities and convert them into colleges
Dawie Roodt, an economist, should keep in mind that, universities are not narrowly designed as he would think; to produce immediate job-ready graduates, but to fulfil a broader mandate that includes critical thinking, foundational knowledge, research and public service. says the writer. Dawie Roodt, an economist at the Efficient Group, has advocated that certain state universities in South Africa be closed and converted into colleges, claiming that they are not creating the "right skills" in comparison to private institutions. This concept stems from a worry about the skills mismatch in the South African employment market. However, the plan to close public institutions indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the varied functions within the post-secondary education and training system, and it risks jeopardising public higher education's long-term developmental, democratic, and intellectual missions. Misunderstanding the Role of Universities Roodt should keep in mind that, Universities are not narrowly designed as he would think; to produce immediate job-ready graduates, but to fulfil a broader mandate that includes critical thinking, foundational knowledge, research and public service (CHE 2016, Badat 2010) and according to Manuel Castells, each with their own specific expectations and internal logic. Castells argued (2001:206) that 'universities perform a major role in the generation of new knowledge'. I assume that Roodt would have known that public universities are grounded in the idea of knowledge production, and innovation contributes to national development in ways that are not reducible to short-term market needs. A university graduate and, by his own admission, of UNISA, our land university, would have known this. His reckless claim that Unisa is underperforming was without facts. At least he should be aware that, in the last few years that UNISA, out of its 151-year history, has emerged as one of South Africa's and the African continent's premier scientific research and innovation institutions. As a dispute to his assumption and weird disinformation about UNISA, the institution has identified ten catalytic niche areas (such as Autotmotive Studies, Energy Studies, Space studies and the Square Kilometre Array, Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitization, etc) that will activate and enhance its academic agenda while remaining focused on the institute's vision of building Africa's Intellectual capacity. My view is that the role of public universities goes beyond 'immediate' skills production; their purpose includes fostering critical thinking. The failure of Roodt's argument was to realise that the skills gap cannot be solved by solely changing from public to private and from a public university to a private university.
IOL News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
The future of e-voting in South Africa: Opportunities and challenges
An illustration of an e-voting machine. Image: IOL / Ron AI Although the powers that be are exploring electronic voting (e-voting), its implementation in South Africa cannot be expected anytime soon. E-voting embraces electronic means of casting votes and counting them. University of South Africa (UNISA) distinguished professor at the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Professor Colin Thakur, said a voting machine is a specialised type of computer. Therefore, normal computers and smartphones cannot be used. He said issues regarding an election include vote secrecy, vote security, transparency, ease of voting, speed and efficiency of counting, and effect on voter turnout and equity of access. 'When we press a button, we expect privacy, we expect security, we expect verification, we expect,' Thakur said about e-voting. He said paper was slowly losing its gold standard stature because of the logistics of moving 90 million pieces of paper from the central location to the voting districts and then the reversal logistics. Additionally, instances of 'lost' ballot boxes can cause danger by creating a lingering doubt. Thakur said the other challenge lies with ballot tabulation, which includes undercounting, overvoting, and none of the above (NOTA). 'One thing paper does that machine doesn't do is, you can spoil your ballot paper,' Thakur said. Why e-voting? Thakur said modern devices are becoming more intuitive and they mitigate mobility, illiteracy, people with disabilities (PWDs) challenges and the elderly. E-voting is quicker and more accurate for vote tallying and announcements. You can ask electorate-focused questions or percentage-type questions. 'E-voting machines can be used to decide a national non-political question not affecting the Constitution, or be used to gauge if the government has enough public support to go ahead with a proposed action,' Thakur said. He said e-voting is useful in a fragile, transitional, or a government of national unity democracy. Additionally, national, provincial, and local elections can be held simultaneously and can be cheaper too. Election hacking He said theoretically, things like ransomware, denial of service attacks, latency, 404ed! Page not found and Eskom can happen. However, most hacks happen in the lab and not on-site or during elections. However, he stated that no technology is insulated from misappropriation. Radio signal interception is possible. He said hacking needs sustained access to the e-voting machine. 'On voting day, there is no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth, there's no connectivity, the machine is isolated from the world. So, how do you hack a machine that's secure?' Thakur stated that to secure the vote, there are zero-knowledge proofs, homomorphic encryption, mix networks, blockchain, and a voter-verified paper audit trail. He highlighted that e-voting is adopted in a stable, non-violent political climate; fragile or transitional democracy; multi-party democracy with two dominant parties; coalition government; large populations; a level of technical maturity; illiteracy is not seen as a setback; and a mixed economy. E-voting strengths, opportunities, and advantages Thakur said e-voting is fast, accurate, and gives an unemotional count. It also has multilingualism. He said e-voting helps PWDs, the elderly, and illiterate voters through images, audio, graphics, symbols, and speech-to-text touchscreens. It also provides additional voting options. He added that human error is reduced by automated transmission and tabulation of errors. Thakur said electronic transmission is the last thing that happens, and it is important because of denial of service attacks, ransomware, and man-in-the-middle interception. However, blockchain can mediate this challenge. He said if the IEC decides to pilot or trial e-voting, then the legislation process must start, but information dissemination must start immediately. 'E-voting is not about technology - it's about democracy. We must guard against an election becoming a census of those who vote,' Thakur said. [email protected]
Eyewitness News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Thought leaders caution against tensions between states overshadowing G20 priorities
JOHANNESBURG - Thought leaders at the University of South Africa (UNISA) have warned that a lack of global credibility for the G20 grouping could impact the bloc's priorities if tensions between member states overshadow talks. UNISA kicked off the first of a series of town hall discussions to be held across the country in the build-up to the G20 leaders' summit at the end of the year. The increasingly complicated geopolitical landscape is expected to test South Africa's ability to navigate global fault lines. UNISA's Vice-Chancellor, Puleng LenkaBula, said the global system is under tremendous pressure, with the tensions between Washington and Pretoria adding to challenges. 'It's not yet clear if the next country that should take over the G20 Presidency will even attend the summit. That's one of the simple questions.' Political analyst Dirk Kotze said the G20 policy agenda needs to adapt to the changing patterns of power to avoid further clashes in policy priorities. 'And I think this is the issue in G20, and I think it's also the issue in BRICS, that there are new emerging powers. India is a good example, that's not anymore compliant and sees itself as the East or the West or the Global South, they don't want to be themselves. They think Africa is very much moving in that same direction.' ALSO READ: Trump says he won't attend G20 meeting unless SA 'fixes' genocide of white Afrikaners
IOL News
13-05-2025
- IOL News
Gauteng woman arrested for submitting fraudulent teaching qualifications at SACE headquarters
A woman has been arrested for submitting fraudulent teaching qualifications from UNISA. A Gauteng woman was arrested for allegedly submitting fraudulent teaching qualifications from the University of South Africa (UNISA). The woman was arrested on Tuesday while she was allegedly submitting the fake qualifications at the South African Council for Educators (SACE) head office in Centurion, Tshwane. The council said the woman had been teaching with an alleged fake Unisa qualification and a fake SACE letter. SACE has warned people with fake teaching documents or qualifications to stay away from its offices or schools as measures are in place to arrest them on the spot. "The matter was reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) as it involves a qualification. The council requests all applicants with misrepresented documents to stop submitting them to SACE," said SACE. In another similar matter, a 41-year-old Mpumalanga woman, Ntombelanga Pretty Labane, was arrested for allegedly working as a schoolteacher using fake qualifications and earned over R1.2 million. Allegations are that Labane does not have matric, although she holds a Bachelor of Education (B-ED) degree. She allegedly used a fraudulent matric certificate to apply at the Walter Sisulu University, where she obtained her degree.
eNCA
08-05-2025
- eNCA
Teachers slow to report school rape: research
JOHANNESBURG - A recent study highlights delays in reporting rape cases of girls in South African schools. WATCH: Family of 13-year-old-girl allegedly raped by teacher shattered It points to limited policy awareness, cultural influences, and socioeconomic conditions as key contributing factors. Professor Azwihangwisi Mavhandu-Mudzusi from UNISA discussed the research with eNCA.
