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02 August 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Prof Maryke Labuschagne, a successful scientist who is doing great work to enhance food security on the African continent, admires women who have made an impact, often in male-dominated environments.

Maryke Labuschagne, Professor in Plant Breeding at the University of the Free State (UFS), is known to many for her work to enhance food security. 

She holds the National Research Foundation’s South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair on Disease Resistance and Quality in Field Crops, travelling all over Africa to do research on the genetic improvement of staple food crops in communities. Through decades of research and collaboration, she has also contributed to the establishment of a strong network of researchers on the continent.

During an interview in celebration of Women’s Month, Prof Labuschagne talks about her experiences as a young scientist and how she believes young female researchers should be supported and nurtured. 

Is there a woman who inspires you and who you would like to celebrate this Women’s Month, and why?

Besides the scientists she had the opportunity to work with in countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Eswatini, Tunisia, and Ethiopia, she also met women who are working the fields to produce crops for their families, raising their children, and living in difficult conditions. “These women, who make it work against all odds, inspire me,” says Prof Labuschagne.

Other women she admires and who have made an impact – often in male-dominated environments – include role models from the past, such as former UK prime minister, Margaret Thatcher; physicist Marie Curie, who was far ahead of her time; and American geneticist Barbara McClintock, who won a Nobel Prize in 1983. 

What is your response to current challenges faced by women and available platforms for women development?
 
“When I started working in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS in 1989, it was a different world. It was a totally (white) male-dominated environment. The number of women scientists could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and they were often not given the same opportunities as their male counterparts,” she recalls.

Prof Labuschagne continues: “With women having so many opportunities today, it is now totally different.”

She believes women will always have a double burden – being responsible for a family and having to compete on an equal footing with male colleagues in the workplace. There are now, however, many platforms and support systems specifically for women, and she encourages women to make use of every available form of assistance they can get.

I would say you can have it all. Work hard, believe in yourself, follow your dreams, focus on your goals, see the opportunities – not the challenges, and leave a legacy. – Prof Maryke Labuschagne
 
What advice would you give to the 15-year-old you?

“I would say you can have it all. Work hard, believe in yourself, follow your dreams, focus on your goals, see the opportunities – not the challenges, and leave a legacy.”

She is convinced that young women can have a family and a career, even if they believe it is not possible. 
 
What would you say makes women of quality, impact, and care?
 
“I see many women at the UFS making their mark, making an impact in their chosen fields.”

According to Prof Labuschagne, what would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago, such as women serving as deans and in top management positions, is now a reality. 

“I see young female researchers boldly taking on the world, believing in themselves and their abilities, and knowing they will be successful.” She states that each of these women should be supported and nurtured, as they will have a huge influence on the course of the university’s future.

News Archive

Prof Combrink gives 32nd DF Malherbe Memorial Lecture
2014-06-04

Since 2006, Prof HJB Combrink is the project leader of ‘Die Bybel: ’n Direkte Vertaling’. Prof Combrink addressed an audience on the subject of the project at the 32nd DF Malherbe memorial lecture. During the memorial lecture, he quoted DF Malherbe in order to create the context between the recent Direct Translation and the 1933/53 translation which involved Malherbe.

“Some of the younger generation forget that they are standing on the shoulders of workers who served in the muddy ditches of vilification to procure the foundations of a cultural language, and speak belittling and with shrugged shoulders about the first attempts, or show a lack of good comprehension, while judging the verses and tales from the Patriotic period according to aesthetic norms.”

Prof Combrink said that the Direct Translation transpired in a different context than the 1933/53 and the 1983 translations. The direct translation was approached differently and is therefore more inclusive concerning the relevant processes and phases.

“The making of a direct translation was and undoubtedly remains a great challenge,” Prof Combrink said. “It is not always easy to find the correct Afrikaans expression for a Greek or Hebrew idiom or loaded term.”

“It is an ongoing exercise trying to sit in two chairs at the same time. (However), the Bible Society could frankly say that this direct translation is an honest and well-informed attempt to portray all of the communication clues from the Greek and Hebrew source texts in good Afrikaans.”

Prof Combrink was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Wonderboom, Pretoria (1968–1970), lecturer at RAU, UP and SU (New Testament, 1970–2001), and Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Stellenbosch University for two terms (1992-1994 and 1998–2000). 
 

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