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19 February 2018 Photo Archive
Prof Sampie Terreblanche inspired many undergraduate students to become economists
Prof Sampie Terblanche, Prof Philippe Burger, and Prof Tienie Crous
It is with sadness that the executive management of the University of the Free State (UFS) received the news of the recent passing of Prof Sampie Terreblanche of Stellenbosch University.
 
Prof Terreblanche has been advocating social and economic justice for decades. During the 1980s and 1990s, he played an important role in keeping the debate about the need for socio-economic and -political reform in South Africa going. His position was not always popular, particularly among those who had a vested interest in the apartheid regime. After the dawn of democracy, he continued to argue for socio-economic and -political reform, and especially reform that would address the very high levels of inequality in South Africa.
 
Through his testimony before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as his seminal book entitled A history of inequality in South Africa: 1652 to 2002, Prof Terreblanche demonstrated that even though South Africa experienced a political transition towards democracy, it still needed to undergo an economic transition. Once again, he found that his position was not always popular, particularly among those with a stake in the old, but still existing economic order. Admirably, he nevertheless persisted to argue for socio-economic change, even in the last months of his life when he was already very ill.
 
Prof Terreblanche’s career started in 1957 as lecturer at the then University of the Orange Free State, later becoming senior lecturer. In 1965, Prof Terreblanche moved to the University of Stellenbosch as senior lecturer, becoming professor in 1968. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1995.
 
As an academic who taught generations of undergraduate students, he inspired many of them to become economists. In 2005, the UFS conferred an honorary doctorate in Economics on Prof Terreblanche in recognition of his work in Economics and his relentless advocacy for social and economic equality.  

News Archive

Dr Charlotte Boucher and Lindi Heyns examine possible anti-microbial activity in the skin of Western olive toad species
2014-12-22

 

Researchers Lindi Heyns and Dr Charlotte Boucher are working together on an interdisciplinary project between the Departments of Zoology and Entomology and Veterinary Biotechnology at the University of the Free State (UFS). The focus of their research is on the preliminary biochemical description of skin secretions in some South African toads.

The project forms part of an Honours study executed by Dwayne Pike under Heyns’ supervision. He is co-supervised by Dr Boucher who is assisting with the biochemical and microbiological assays.

Dr Boucher said, “Amphibians are characterised by the presence of cutaneous glands spread over the skin. There are two types of glands, namely mucous and granular (poison), located on the inner surface of the epidermis. Mucous glands are widely dispersed over the skin, while granular glands can be grouped and enlarged in specific regions. Mucous glands are generally associated with maintenance of humidity and cutaneous respiration, whereas granular glands function in chemical defence against predators and/or microbial infection. Studies indicate that the compounds produced by the granular glands belong to numerous chemical classes with diverse pharmacological activities.”

The products secreted by granular glands are rich in low molecular weight constituents of varied molecular types, including proteins, peptides and toxins. These secretions make the toad foul-tasting to predators and even toxic to other frog species. In addition, amphibians offer an attractive source of novel antimicrobials. Studies indicate that as a response to inhabiting microorganism-rich environments they synthesise and secrete a diverse array of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as an innate form of defence. Extensive research by various other research groups has been carried out on antimicrobial peptides of the genus Rana; however, hardly any studies have investigated the antimicrobial activity of African frog species.

The focus of this preliminary project is to determine the protein composition of the glandular secretions of the Western olive toad (Amietophrynus poweri), using biochemical tests, such as SDS-PAGE also known as protein gel electrophoresis combined with mass-spectrometry used to identify unknown peptides and proteins. This will give us an overview of the composition of the glandular secretions. Furthermore, we are also looking at microbiological tests, which include assays that test for possible anti-microbial activity against various bacterial and fungal species.

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