by Charlotte Chipangura | Aug 24, 2012 | News
Free circumcisions for men are being carried out countrywide at present, in response to the United Nations report that medical male circumcision (MMC) reduces the risk of HIV infection by 60%.
The UN has called for MMC to be made widely available to all men living in countries which have a high prevalence of HIV infection, such as South Africa. In response, a number of South African NGOs, going under the banner of Brothers for Life, are carrying out the circumcisions at various venues throughout the country.
The first study on the effectiveness of circumcision was carried out by the Centre for HIV and AIDS Prevention Studies (CHAPS) at Orange Farm.
The study enrolled 3 274 men aged 18 to 24 and participants were split into two equal groups. One group was circumcised straight away. The other group, serving as a control, was to be circumcised 21 months later. After 17 months, 20 men from the circumcised group, and 49 in the control group had contracted HIV.
Initially, some critics thought men might gain a false sense of security from being circumcised and then engage in unsafe sex.
Professor Mary Crewe from the Centre of the Study of AIDS said MMC might have some small role to play but it is not clear that it does.
“There is too much uncertainty about the trials and the ways in which the research was done. The real issue is that men even if circumcised still have to use condoms and this is the weak point as too many men refuse to accept this.”
However, Dr Ntlotleng Mabena of CHAPS, in an interview with Health-e, said their study had indicated that there was no change in the men’s behaviour following their circumcision.
“We compared a group of uncircumcised men to circumcised men. Both of them behaved the same. The circumcised men do not assume that the circumcision protects them better or completely.”
A man who spoke to Wits Vuvuzela on condition of anonymity testified that circumcision really worked. While having intercourse with a girlfriend, the condom they were using broke and they decided to continue with the act. Afterwards they went for HIV testing and discovered she was HIV positive, while he was negative. He attributed the fact that he did not get infected to circumcision.
“I feel there is some level of protection because, before I was circumcised, my organ, especially the tip used to be very sensitive to breaking or having some small sores and could easily be infected with rash. Now all that is a thing of the past,” he added.
However, MMC has not come without controversy. There are people who feel the money channelled towards MMC should rather be spent on condoms and medication.
Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni is on record as saying that, instead of preaching about circumcision, health workers should be focusing more on behaviour change. “[Leaders and health workers] are busy spreading confusion of circumcision, instead of concentrating on behaviour change.”
Research has shown that Uganda has had 70% decline in HIV prevalence since the 1990s, linked to a 60% reduction in casual sex.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela 21st edition
charlotte@witsvuvuzela.com
by Charlotte Chipangura | Aug 17, 2012 | News
DJ Du Plessis Building on West Campus has become the centre of a controversy over its state of disrepair – and who is responsible for fixing it.
The building has become the classic example of an apple rotten at the core. Externally the building looks polished but inside, things are falling apart. Last semester, Wits Vuvuzela published a story on the student clubs and societies who were disgruntled about being moved to the building from the Matrix.
Despite the state of the building, clubs have started moving in. Doors have fallen off their hinges and there is graffiti on the white walls. The word “sex” has been spray-painted across one wall in yellow. Some students said used condoms were regularly found on the floors.
The Planet Khamanani Club’s office in room 23 has a collapsed ceiling with several gaping holes in it. Lecture Theatre MPT and Tutorial Room MPB02 have broken down doors. The whiteboard in the tutorial room has holes in it and the room has a musty smell from the dirty carpet. One of the few things in good condition is the PIMD notice instructing people to call them for repairs.
The SRC posted on their Twitter and Facebook accounts allegations that “P.I.M.D fails to maintain buildings in our University. They only react when it’s falling down already. No plan or system to monitor.”
Joe Nembudani from PIMD said it was not their policy to repair unoccupied buildings, since this was a waste of money. He said he had asked SRC Head of Clubs Tokelo Nhlapo for a list of the rooms being used.
“I spoke to Tokelo Nhlapo and he was supposed to give us a list of the things that need attention so that we could give them a quotation before proceeding with repairs. We are still waiting for SRC to get back to us.”
Nhlapo, however, said he had given Nembudani keys to rooms that needed fixing almost two months ago.
“It’s PIMD’s job to routinely fix things that are broken down. I went with Nembudani’s colleague, Marius, to DJ Du Plessis building during the first week of opening, and got a very expensive quotation afterwards, almost R50 000. SRC doesn’t have that kind of money. The university must assist us.”
In response, Nembudani said he had no knowledge of Nhlapo’s problems, since he had not come back to him with a complaint, or to negotiate.
He said the university would fix windows, doors and ceilings but, if a tenant was unhappy with the paint and floor, that was their responsibility.
by Charlotte Chipangura | Aug 17, 2012 | Featured 1, News
On 17 August 1982, Ruth First , an anti-apartheid activist, was killed by a parcel bomb in Mozambique. She was also a former student of the University of the Witwatersrand.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Ruth First Memorial colloquium opened at the Wits Art Museum this morning with panellists Joel Netshitenzhe and Kate Philip joining chair Jayendra Naidoo for a discussion on economic policy.
Joel Netshitenzhe spoke on the opening panel about economic policy. Pic: Zandi Shabalala
The day long program will culminate in a lecture by Justice Dikgang Moseneke at 6pm this evening.
Netshitenzhe, presently a member of the National Planning Commission, stressed that the current political environment was clearly different from to the one that Ruth First found herself in, but even today journalists can still be activists while maintaining objectivity.
He focussed on racial inequality and further outlined how violent crime, teenage pregnancy, poor health and poor education emanated from racial inequality.
Netshitenzhe prescribed some measures to reduce the gap between the rich and poor, which included the absorption of the marginalised into the economic system and the and improvement in the quality of education, which he referred to as “the great liberator”.
“There should also be improvements in the quality of public services and these should be subsidised for the poor,” said Netshitenzhe.
Philip, a development strategist, spoke at length about the structural inequalities of the apartheid era arguing that these inequalities remain in place but have been reinvented in “new and more complex ways”.
She lamented the fact that getting into formal business in South Africa was very difficult for newcomers.
“Engagement of business requires a level of business sophistication, which is not an easy entry point. The bar is too high for new entry.
“Strategies to include the socially marginalised are urgently required but will take time to yield results”, Philip said.
Former first lady Mrs Zanele Mbeki listens to talks at the Ruth First Memorial Colloquim. Pic: Dinesh Balliah.
She pointed out how South Africans are heavily biased towards branded goods as opposed to homemade ones.
“You can make soap at a village level and sell it in India, but here people would rather have branded goods that they feel are of better quality.”
She made reference to India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which provides a legal assurance for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household.
She said this would make a profound difference in the lives of the poor.
Responding to a question to a member of the audience, Lehlohonolo, on her sentiments on the Lonmin strikers who were shot on August 16 by the police, Philip, who used to work for the National Union of Mineworkers said it was “a tragedy, an outrage”.
by Charlotte Chipangura | Aug 8, 2012 | Featured 1, News
JOHANNESBURG came alive with child-like excitement on Tuesday following the unexpected snowfall that many had never seen before in their lives. The homeless, however, were left exposed to the elements yet again.
Wits Vuvuzela visited some teenagers who have made a home for themselves at the corner of Juta and Simmonds Street, Braamfontein, to find out how they were coping with the change of weather.
“I am very happy, if I do not get excited today, who knows when I will ever see snow again in my life?” said Thapelo Mabena from the loft where he lay huddled next to pint-sized Thabo Moloi who nodded in agreement.
Another unkempt head peeked from a tattered and filthy brown blanket from the loft next to Mabena and Moloi’s.
Nkululeko (left) came to Joburg from the Eastern Cape following the death of his parents. He says he has failed to get an identity document and has no hope of getting it as he is of no fixed abode. Photo: Zandi Shabalala
An 18-year-old boy who identified himself only as Nkululeko said that while the snow was exciting, he and his friends would have to go hungry as they could not go about their daily “business” of parking cars and asking for money as the streets were too cold.
“Those who want to give us money will have to stretch their hands from down there and give us while we are here; we are not coming down today,” said Mabena.
“On a bad day we make R10, but on a good day, tjo, we make even R100,” Mabena added with a huge grin on his face as he reached for his plastic bag of glue.
Other homeless people, though, were not as upbeat about the snow.
Many homeless people die in winter as a result of hypothermia.
The Mail and Guardian quoted Netcare 911’s Jeffrey Wicks as saying it’s hard to track exact numbers because cases of hypothermia are often logged as different conditions.
Many are logged as an “unconscious collapse” because the people calling in can’t actually articulate what has happened – they may describe it based on the symptoms and complain that the patient is having breathing difficulty or abdominal pain.
The Braamfontein boys are grateful that nobody has tried to chase them away from their ‘home’ and the police do not hassle them. “We are good friends with them,” said Mabena.
by Charlotte Chipangura | Aug 2, 2012 | News
AS Wits starts the second semester, a number of excluded students are accusing the university of not being clear on a number of issues surrounding exclusions.
A second year BSc Geology student, who asked not to be named, did not turn up for an exam last year after she discovered, the day before, that her parents were getting divorced. She said she told her course co-ordinator about her situation and that she would not be able to sit for the exam. Then she got excluded.
“I appealed and they accepted my appeal but I was given conditions to pass everything by June.”
In her effort to pass the subject she failed last year, she ended up not paying sufficient attention to her second year courses, which meant she failed another course in the first block. She has now been asked to write a motivation letter explaining why she failed that course.
“Now I’m not even sure where I stand. I just go to class but don’t even know if I have been excluded again or not. I know people that failed the same course as me but didn’t get excluded so I’m not even sure how the system works.
“Maybe I should have put my second year course on hold and concentrated on the first year courses, but I wasn’t sure what to do. No-one tells you things like that at registration,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears.
“You know, the same way they are clear about the fees breakdown is the same way they should be clear about issues surrounding exclusions.”
A second year BA geography student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said she was also excluded after failing some of her first year courses. She then went on to fail two of those courses again.
“I got an email telling me I should come to the faculty. However when I got excluded last year I was not given any conditions so I wasn’t sure of what was expected of me.
“The pressure of studying for first and second year courses is too much, I even got a black-out because of lack of sufficient sleep.”
But SRC officer for Education and Academics Kabelo Ramathesele said that, while exclusions are a painful reality, there was hope. Students need not get too distressed since the university had structures to cater for their needs.
She encouraged excluded students to go to the Counselling and Careers Development Unit for emotional support on how to deal with the trauma of being excluded, as well as to the SRC.
“Above all, students need to have a good relationship with their lecturers and talk to them when they are struggling. If they choose to keep quiet, it will come out at the end of the year when they get excluded.”
Of the students that were excluded last year, 69.7% managed to come back. Ramathesele said there were inconsistencies in the way the university handled exclusions because some students still got turned away even if they came back within the one-year limit stipulated by the university.
“Students should go and do courses that they can be credited for while they are at home, or go and get attached somewhere and get some experience.”
Efforts to get a comment from the registrar’s office were unsuccessful.
by Charlotte Chipangura | Jul 24, 2012 | News
A serious shortage of qualified interpreters and translators has forced medical staff at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital to rely on cleaners, security guards and other unqualified personnel to act as interpreters, according to Dr Kim Wallmach of the Wits Language School.
A speech therapist at the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “It is very difficult when we do not speak the same language. I sometimes use the clerk or the patient’s family members to assist with translation.
“When they are not available, I use the limited vocabulary that I may have in the patient’s language, as well as gestures and pictures.”
Wallmach said many people thought that being multilingual automatically meant one could be an interpreter. She said people actually needed to learn how to be interpreters. “Professional translation is different from translating for family.”
This was echoed by the speech therapist. “When the clerk or family members translate, the message often gets lost and the patient does not attain the proper understanding … Having trained interpreters at the hospital would definitely help.
“It would also help if learning another language, like Zulu, was part of the curriculum at universities …”
Wits recently introduced isiZulu for medical students and there are hopes that students in other professional degrees will also be taught the language.
Wallmach also encouraged Wits students to consider a career in interpreting and translating. “All languages here in South Africa are minority languages, which means there is need for more interpreters in banking, insurance, education, legal and media sectors. If you are an extrovert and like languages, interpreting is the job for you.”
Honours student and English, French, Hebrew, and Dutch interpreter, Sarah Aich said interpreting was a great career to pursue since it had existed since ancient times and served as a bridge to connect people, cultures and nations.
“Interpreting enables you to understand the unfamiliar, to discover other horizons … A country without enough interpreters is a country that will suffer misunderstandings and divisions, that will not be open to the wide world. It is a country that misses business opportunities.”
charlotte@witsvuvuzela.com
Published in Vuzuzela 16th Edition
by Charlotte Chipangura | May 11, 2012 | News
WITS has provided an environment for many students talents to flourish whether in politics or arts, science or sports. The Wits alumni page has more than 100 names familiar to many South Africans. Wits Vuvuzela dips into some of these.
IN 1977 activist Steve Biko died in detention. Two former Witsies were involved in issues surrounding his death.
DA leader Helen Zille was a journalist with the Rand Daily Mail and exposed the truth behind Biko’s death. Police said he died following a prolonged hunger strike while he actually died from head injuries sustained during torture.
The other Witsie involved was lawyer George Bizos who represented Biko’s family following his death. Bizos was also part of the team that defended Nelson Mandela (a Wits alumnus), Govan Mbeki and Walter Sisulu at the Rivonia trial in 1963 and 1964. Throughout his career Bizos represented many local political leaders and was also instrumental in the acquittal of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on treason charges before the 2002 general elections.
Wits has also encouraged innovation and groundbreaking study. Alumnus, Zulu poet and novelist Benedict Wallet Vilakazi worked in the Wits Bantu studies department in 1936. Vilakazi’s teaching position made him the first black South African to teach white South Africans at university level. Vilakazi is noted for his scholarly work on oral tradition and the Zulu and Xhosa languages which, in 1946, earned him the first PhD awarded to a black South African. Together with fellow Wits scholar C.M Doke he created a Zulu-English dictionary.
Some former Witsies have had success in fields quite different from what they studied at university. Gavin Hood studied law at Wits but went on to do film at the University of California. Hood wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film Tsotsi in 2005. He also directed X-men Origins: Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman.
Another Wits law graduate, Danny Koppel also known as Danny K, was the first South African musician to perform on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
He is quoted on the Wits alumni page as saying: “Wits was an interesting time, because I was torn between academics, song writing and music practice. I would be either at a music studio or at Wits lectures. In any event, I am thrilled I got a degree.”
Johnny Clegg has a social anthropology and political science degree but has excelled in the music industry. In 1988, Michael Jackson had to cancel his show in Lyon, France, as he attracted a smaller audience than Johnny Clegg and Savuka. According to Wikipedia, a newspaper headline in France read: “White man singing black music, outsells black man singing white music.”
A Wits film and drama graduate, Wandile Molebatsi, has been in a number of productions on the small screen and also stars in the movie A Million Colours which is currently showing on the big screen.
Read the inspirational stories of more Wits graduates at http://www.wits.ac.za/alumni/news/3317/achievers.html
by Charlotte Chipangura | May 11, 2012 | News
Charity begins at home but should not end there. VoW FM has taken the adage to heart with its winter project to collect warm clothes for the needy.
The clothes collected will be donated to Wits students in need before being sent anywhere else, said Lucky Mdaweni, VoW marketing manager and coordinator of the project.
Mdaweni said that to protect the identity of the students the clothes would be taken to Wits Volunteering, who would then discreetly distribute them. “If there are students who are not worried about approaching us directly, they are welcome to do so.”
Last year’s collection was sent to Trinity House to be distributed to the homeless.
Mdaweni said they started collecting clothes towards the end of March and would stop at the end of May.
“We meant to stop collecting at the end of April but there was a great demand to supply clothes so we have extended the collection period,” he said.
VoW teamed up with the CCDU, Wits Volunteering and Silly Buggers in their project so that the whole Wits community could be involved.
Asked why the charity project was only carried out in winter when people needed clothing throughout the year, Mdaweni said VoW planned to expand its charity projects, which would see more being done during other seasons.
Remember and Give (Rag) is also collecting clothing, blankets and tinned food.
Urban and regional planning honours student Kwanele Ngwenya said last year Rag donated items to refugees living at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg.
“The conditions there were appalling, so we spent the day cleaning and playing with the kids.”
Rag has not yet decided where this year’s donations will go, but Ngwenya said it was likely that they would go to the Methodist Church again “to keep the relationship going”.
Ngwenya said Rag planned to have charity events often and encouraged Witsies not to wait for drives but to always be prepared to give to the needy whenever they could.
by Charlotte Chipangura | May 11, 2012 | News
MYTH still plays an important role in how people in some townships understand the spread of HIV/Aids according to research conducted by a Wits sociology professor.
Prof David Dickinson has written up his findings about myths in a paper titled Hunting Myths, Finding Theories: Folk and Lay Understandings of Aids in South African Townships.
Dickinson worked with peer educators in Mpumalanga to try and understand Aids myths and how and why they persist.
The research found they could group explanations for the pandemic into three areas: scientific, folk theories and “popular core ideas drawn from common sense and observation”.
The study identifies eighty myths or “myth variations”. Some interviewees believed there was a racial conspiracy targeted at controlling the black population. Others believed white doctors injected black patients with HIV and some people thought HIV was placed in condoms’ lubricant.
For some people the ultimate explanation for HIV infection was witchcraft and the role of ancestors, which had seen people having faith in herbal remedies and traditional healers. Dickinson said the belief in witchcraft shifted personal responsibility from individuals and “externalised it to personal enemies”.
Some individuals holding traditional beliefs believed that taboo sexual contact, for instance with a widow who has not been cleansed, could result in their getting infected.
“Some Christians think that HIV is a result of sex outside marriage, a disease of the last days, and that God can cure Aids,” said Dickinson. Sex outside marriage was also believed to result in HIV infection, while some people thought their faith in God could stop them from being infected even if they did not use condoms.
Examples of common sense thinking appeared in partner selection. People with characteristics such as beauty, youth, fat, old, educated, trusted or “healthy-looking” people were not likely to have HIV. Similarly people who were not sex workers and did not have blood on their genitals were not likely to have HIV. Others believed that sex with an old woman and shallow penetration was safe.
Dickinson said his research was not statistically valid.
“The research was qualitative in nature. It is not statistically valid, nor can we say that it is representative of SA townships in general. There are a number of reasons as to why it is not possible to collect data on Aids myths that could be considered statistically reliable. This is a reflection on the bluntness of instruments, such as questionnaires, that could be used to collect large data samples.”
Wits Vuvuzela asked some Witsies what they thought of myths surrounding Aids.
“The problem on our continent is people are conservative and want to hold on to their beliefs. Medical facts and science are not trusted because they are said to be from whites. And medical facts would require that you are responsible for your own health, which people don’t want to do,” said Robin Mdluli, 2nd year law.
Kagiso Magoele, BSc quantity surveying 2nd year, said the media had a big influence on people’s lives and there were supposed to be more educational programmes on how HIV/Aids is contracted.
Dickinson has published a book that touches on Aids myths, Changing the Course of AIDS: Peer Education in South Africa and its Lessons for the Global Crisis. In 2011 it was estimated there were 5.38-million South Africans with HIV.
by Charlotte Chipangura | May 4, 2012 | News
The tables were turned recently when jobs came looking for Wits students.
Two events were held in Senate House – one for IT and Engineering students, the other organised by the Chem Society. A number of companies came to Wits to increase brand awareness and encourage students to apply for winter internships.
Former Witsie Hazel Bomba, a chemistry graduate and 2010 Chem Society chairperson, attended the event as a representative for her company. She said students should start thinking about securing employment while studying, to avoid panicking when they eventually completed their studies and found themselves jobless.
“I actually got my job because of career day. I was helping the guy who is now my boss with logistics for a career day and he asked me to send my CV and I got a job!” Bomba now conducts research into mining explosives for AEL Mining Services.
Bomba advised Witsies not to be satisfied with just their undergraduate qualifications. “A postgraduate degree gets you ahead faster. When there is a career guidance fair, take pamphlets and get in touch with the companies; volunteer even. Jobs don’t come knocking on your door. Well, mine did, but that doesn’t happen every day.”
Chairperson of the Chem Society, honours student Amy Rudenberg said most students thought chemistry was all about research because they did not know about other career options.
This was the reason the Chem Society decided to take their future into their own hands by inviting potential employers. She said the fair also linked Witsies with potential bursary sponsors and vacation jobs.
Joe Welte, Corporate Quality Manager at Nestlé, encouraged students to take advantage of graduate trainee programmes offered by companies, adding that his company ensured trainees got exposure to the entire business by rotating them between different divisions of the company.
“Companies want experienced people, but students need to start somewhere, which is where graduate trainee programmes come in.”
Rudenberg said she was thrilled the fair was a success and had benefited students from other faculties as well. Some companies said they welcomed applications from science, human resources, law, and engineering.
Rudenberg said the Chem Society also organised colloquia for post-graduate chemistry students to talk about their research topics, and offered an award for the best research. The Chem Society is student-run and has been in existence for several years. After a few dormant years, it was resuscitated in 2010.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela, 12th edition, 2nd May 2012.
by Charlotte Chipangura | Apr 23, 2012 | News
The SRC held a public meeting at the Matrix to give quarterly feedback on its achievements so far and to hear student grievances on Tuesday.
A number of issues including exclusions, residences, the humanitarian fund and school councils were addressed. SRC president Tebogo Thothela said they had worked hard to ensure that not too many students were excluded for financial reasons and that 152 students had already been helped by the humanitarian fund.
Thothela said this year’s Freshers’ Ball had been a huge success despite the security flaws because about R200 000 had been raised and this would be channelled to the humanitarian fund. He said R15 500 was raised through flea market stalls and, for the first time ever, education campus also had these stalls.
Feziwe Ndwayana, former SRC President, spoke emotionally against the use of the tag “humanitarian” in the fund that assists students in need as she felt it was demeaning. She suggested that it be changed to at least “development” fund.
She also asked what the SRC had planned to celebrate Wits’ 90th birthday. Thothela responded that lectures and a golf day were on the cards and musician Sibongile Khumalo was scheduled to perform. Proceeds from the golf day and concert would go to the humanitarian fund.
Students said the absence of an ATM on West Campus means they have to walk all the way to East Campus in order to get cash.
Yusuf Peer, SRC Constitutional and Legal Affairs officer, promised disgruntled students from West campus that the student body would fight “tooth and nail” to ensure that an ATM machine was installed there as well.
“We have slept in the dean of students’ and the chancellor’s offices to see a problem is addressed and we will sleep there again until our grievances are heard.”
There were also concerns from students concerning recent muggings on campus. SRC vice president said: “We are paying a lot of money here, Campus Control is being paid and we are told we are not safe here?” Vuvuzela published a story on one of the muggings on March 16.
Time for change: SRC president, Tebogo Thothela, addresses students in the Matrix on Tuesday regarding varsity issues.
by Charlotte Chipangura | Mar 6, 2012 | News
An environmental consultant has encouraged Wits to take the lead in plans to save the planet.
Lindsay Wayman, from Oricol Environmental Services, said South Africa falls in the top 20 greenhouse gas emitters in the world.
The harmful effects of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere are widely documented and include global warming, ozone depletion and adverse effects on biodiversity.
Wayman said the campus looks clean and has litter bins. But she called on the university to improve its waste management because litter was destined for landfill.
This results in waste not breaking up properly thus producing methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times worse for the environment than carbon monoxide.
She said graduates who leave the institution should have something to offer to the world in terms of reducing their carbon footprint.
“Wits’ aim shouldn’t be about intellectual standards only but sustainability as well.
“It starts here. The skills students get here are what they will take into the world.”
Wayman also called on the university to have a recycling website, recycling maps and even recycling events, such as a green week.
Wits’ grounds and waste management manager, Andries Norval, said awareness campaigns have been lined up for everyone at Wits, including the cleaning staff.
“We are trying to get permission from senior management to do recycling presentations in lectures and we are committed to see Wits leading all tertiary institutions in South Africa as far as recycling is concerned,” Norval said.
Universities around the world, such as the University of Sussex, have vibrant recycling initiatives which one can easily access on their website.
A group of Wits students has started their own branch of a non-governmental organisation, Generation Earth, which will be launched this weekend.
“Recycling should be a key part of Wits admin and the university should lead the students by example by having a greener mindset; a lot of people want to live green lifestyles but they just don’t know how,” said Generation Earth Wits president Michael Constantinides.
Wits has a recycling centre behind the DJ Du Plessis Building, West Campus and students are welcome to send their electrical gadgets there for recycling.
