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#YouthMonth: Celebrating youth empowerment (Akani Baloyi)

26 June 2023 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS) is celebrating Youth Month by showcasing the positive influence of the institution on career development. As part of this initiative, we are sharing the stories of UFS alumni who are now working at the university.

Akani Baloyi, Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) Intern in the Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC), shares her UFS journey:

Q: Year of graduation from the UFS:

A: 2016, 2018, and 2023.

Q: Qualification obtained from the UFS:

A: My first qualification was a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Human Societal Dynamics, my second qualification was a Postgraduate Diploma in Disaster Management, and my third qualification was a Master of Disaster Management.

Q: Date of joining the UFS as a staff member:

A: I have had the opportunity of holding multiple positions at the UFS during my postgraduate studies. The first role I took on was in 2019 when I was a Contact Session Assistant in DiMTEC.

Q: Initial job title and current job title:

A: During my master’s studies, I had the opportunity to take on some roles that helped prepare me for the professional world. I worked as a Contact Session Assistant in DiMTEC during the postgraduate diploma and master’s contact sessions, as an Assistant Officer in Student Academic Services, and as a Research Assistant in the Centre for Environmental Management. I am currently employed as a PYEI Intern at UFS-DiMTEC.

Q: How did the UFS prepare you for the professional world?

A: The roles that I took on during my postgraduate studies at the UFS have contributed so much to my personal and professional development. In the role of Contact Session Assistant, I acquired a diverse set of skills, such as strong communication, interacting with the students, understanding their needs, and conveying information clearly. I also learned to listen actively so that I comprehend the students’ concerns, questions, and feedback in order to respond appropriately. I also developed empathy and emotional intelligence, as it is important to understand and respond to the students’ emotions and needs, to ensure that they feel supported and heard. Another important skill that I developed is organisational and time management skills, which are important for managing and handling administrative tasks, and problem-solving skills that have enabled me to address challenges that arose during the sessions.

In my role as an Assistant Officer, I developed strong communication and interpersonal skills through interactions with students and colleagues, and my customer service skills were cultivated by providing support and information to students. I also learned to pay attention to detail and confidentiality, as these skills are important when handling student records.

in the role of Research Assistant, I worked with a diverse group of people on the Summer School Project, a collaboration between the UFS, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and the Technical University of Dresden (Germany). I had the opportunity to be part of a great team of individuals who successfully organised and hosted an online Summer School in 2022 with the theme ‘Monitoring Surface Water Quality: General Framework, Tools and Implementing Disaster Management Aspects in Urban Areas’.

Being a student at the UFS has equipped me with specialised knowledge, critical thinking abilities, and problem-solving skills. By managing multiple responsibilities, I have learned valuable skills such as time management and organisational skills. It also provided me with networking opportunities, which have allowed me the opportunity to build connections with professionals in my field. Being a student at the UFS has facilitated my personal development, as I am now confident in myself and can easily adapt to the everyday challenges of the professional world.

Q: What are your thoughts on transitioning from a UFS alumnus to a staff member?

A: Transitioning from student to staff has been a journey filled with so many feelings. Initially, it was both exciting and scary, as I was uncertain about my new responsibilities and capabilities. However, the familiarity and comfort of the UFS brought ease to this transition. I appreciate the opportunity to continue learning and growing.

News Archive

Research on cactus pear grabs attention of food, cosmetic and medical industry

2015-02-18

Cactus pear
Photo: Charl Devenish

The dedicated research and development programme at the UFS on spineless cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) – also known as prickly pear – has grown steadily in both vision and dimension during the past 15 years. Formal cactus pear research at the UFS started with the formation of the Prickly Pear Working Group (PPWG) in June 2002. It has since gone from strength to strength with several MSc dissertations and a PhD thesis as well as popular and scientific publications flowing from this initiative.

According to Prof Wijnand Swart from the Department of Plant Sciences, the UFS is today recognised as a leading institution in the world conducting multi-disciplinary research on spineless cactus pear.

Cactus pear for animal feed

Increasing demands on already scarce water resources in South Africa require alternative sources of animal feed – specifically crops that are more efficient users of water. One alternative with the potential for widespread production is spineless cactus pear. It is 1.14 x more efficient in its use of water than Old man saltbush, 2.8 x more efficient than wheat, 3.75 x more efficient than lucerne and 7.5 x more efficient than rangeland vegetation.

“Studies on the use of sun-dried cactus pear cladodes suggest that it has the potential to provide some 25% of the basic feed resources required by South Africa’s commercial ruminant feed manufacturing sector,” says Prof HO de Waal of the Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS.

Until recently, research has focused extensively on the use of cactus pear as drought fodder. However, this is now beginning to shift, with growing interest in the intensive production of spineless cactus pear for other types of animal feed. One example is the spineless cactus pear fruit, produced seasonal, yielding large quantities of fruit in a relatively short period of a few months in summer. Unless kept in cold storage, the fruit cannot be stored for a long period. Therefore, a procedure was developed to combine large volumes of mashed cactus pear fruit with dry hay and straw and preserve it for longer periods as high moisture livestock feed, kuilmoes – a high water content livestock feed similar to silage.

Cactus pear and Pineapple juice
Photo: Charl Devenish

Cactus pear for human consumption

“In addition to its use as a livestock feed, cactus pear is increasingly being cultivated for human consumption. Although the plant can be consumed fresh as a juice or vegetable, significant value can be added through processing. This potential is considerable: the plant can be pickled; preserved as a jam or marmalade; or dried and milled to produce baking flour. It can also serve as a replacement of egg and fat in mayonnaise,” said Dr Maryna de Wit from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.

The extraction of mucilage from fresh cladodes can form a gelling, emulsifier, and fat-replacing agent commonly found in food products such as mayonnaise and candy. During an information session to the media Dr De Wit and her team conducted a food demonstration to showcase the use of the cladodes in a juice, chicken stir-fry, biscuits and a salad.

The extrusion of cactus pear seed oil provides a further lucrative niche product to the array of uses. These include high-value organic oil for the cosmetic sector, such as soap, hair gel and sun screens.

The cladodes and the fruit also have medicinal uses. It has anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, pain killing and anti-diabetic agents. It is also high in fibre and can lower cholesterol. The fruit also prevents proliferation of cells and suppresses tumour growth and can even help to reduce a hangover.

In South Africa the outdated perception of cactus pears as thorny, alien invaders, is rapidly disappearing. Instead, farmers now recognise that cactus pear can play a vital role as a high yielding, water-efficient, multi-use crop, said Prof de Waal and the members of the Cactus Pear Team.

Facebook photo gallery
Dagbreek interview with Dr Maryna de Wit

Research on cactus pear (read the full story)

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za

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