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10 June 2020 | Story Nitha Ramnath | Photo UFS Photo Archive
Prof Anthony Turton.
History was made in South Africa this week when a commercial laboratory became the first to extract COVID-19 RNA from various sewage samples in the country. This was done as a proof of concept, after the Dutch research agency KWR entered into an agreement with the SA Business Water Chamber on 9 April this year.

It was KWR that first demonstrated the potential of wastewater surveillance to identify the total viral load in a defined population in the Netherlands. This technology breakthrough has opened a new chapter in wastewater epidemiology on a global scale.
 
Prof Anthony Turton from the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) says it is now possible to monitor the total viral load in each of the 824 wastewater treatment works in South Africa. Once the population size within the catchment area of the works is known, a calculation of the total viral load is possible, with a reasonable degree of accuracy. This accuracy will improve over time as the technology becomes more robust. 


Rapid deployment of technology
Prof Turton says this proof of concept is significant, because it took just eight weeks after reaching the agreement with KWR to find a laboratory with the necessary capabilities and to conduct the first tests. This is a rapid deployment of technology necessitated by the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic. The source of funding for this demonstration was the private sector, so no taxpayer money was used. The proof of concept was deliberately designed to achieve two specific objectives. The main objective was to determine whether the Dutch methodology could be replicated in South Africa without major investment into training and procurement of laboratory equipment. The secondary objective was to understand the logistical complexities of sampling at multiple sewage works in one province, and then safely transporting those samples to the laboratory in another province. This emulates what will be needed if this methodology is adopted by government and rolled out across all provinces as required. 

Taking samples
Samples were taken over a 24-hour period using an automatic bulk sampler provided by a service provider at risk. A number of sewage works were sampled to emulate the complexity of a national operation should rapid implementation be required. The first samples were taken on Thursday 4 June. These were prepared according to a precise protocol and were shipped to the laboratory hundreds of kilometres away. The samples were prepared according to the stringent requirements of the protocol, and COVID-19 RNA was successfully extracted on Monday 8 June. Lessons learned in the first trial are being fed back to the team in preparation for the second sampling run that will take place shortly. 

Prof Turton, who serves in a facilitating role and in different capacities with each of the critical components of the overall value chain, is the man in the middle tying this whole process together. This is also a demonstration of the value of a university working in close collaboration with both government and private sector partners towards a common objective.  It is part of the Public Private Growth Initiative (PPGI), where the private sector works closely with the state to deliver core services needed to create employment opportunities as a matter of growing urgency.

Determining if the total viral load is increasing or decreasing
The second sampling run, which is about to be launched, will be a refinement of the first. Lessons learned during the logistical exercise will be applied to streamline the operation and generate an accurate costing of the service. By comparing the data for each sampling sequence, it will be possible to determine with a considerable degree of accuracy whether the total viral load in a given population is increasing or decreasing. When applied to multiple sewage works, it will be possible to identify hotspots for appropriate government intervention. This technical capability will provide robust information to both government and private sector decision-makers as they navigate their way through the complexity of a shutdown and phased re-opening of the national economy. Rapid upskilling of suitably qualified personnel will be needed, and the UFS will be playing a role in that process. 

News Archive

Alcinda Honwana: Youth Protests Main Mechanism against Regime
2015-05-25

Prof Alcinda Honwana

"Enough is Enough!": Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa (speech) 

The Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS hosted an interdisciplinary project on the Bloemfontein Campus from 20-22 May 2015.

The project, entitled Contemporary Modes of Othering: Its Perpetuation and Resistance, looked at different perspectives, representations, and art forms of otherness, how it is perceived, and how it is resisted.

The annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture was held on Thursday evening 21 May 2015 at the CR Swart Auditorium. Guest speaker Prof Alcinda Honwana addressed the subject of ‘Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa’.

“Youth now seem able to display what they don’t want, rather than what they do want,” Honwana said in her opening remarks. “Thus, we see the young driven to the streets to protest against regimes.”
 
Honwana shed some light on recent examples of youth protests in Africa that have enjoyed global attention. Looking at the protests in Tunisia (2010), Egypt (2011), Senegal (2012), and Burkina Faso (2014), it is clear that these events in northern and western Africa have inspired others globally. Yet, Honwana stated that, despite these protests, no social economic change has been seen, and has left dissatisfaction with new governments as well.

“Once regimes fall… young activists find themselves more divided, it seems…

“Which leaves the question: Will street protests remain young people’s main mechanism to avert those in power?”

Background on Prof Alcinda Honwana:

Alcinda Honwana is currently Visiting Professor of Anthropology and International Development at the Open University (UK). She was chair in International Development at the Open University, and taught Anthropology at the University Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and the New School for Social Research in New York. She was programme director at the Social Science Research Council in New York, and worked for the United Nations Office for Children and Armed Conflict. Honwana has written extensively on the links between political conflict and culture, and on the impact of violent conflict on children and youth, conducting research in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Colombia, and Sri Lanka. Her latest work has been on youth and social change in Africa, focusing on Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.

Honwana’s latest books include:

• Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (2013); 
• Time of Youth: Work, Social Change, and Politics in Africa (2012);
• Child Soldiers in Africa (2006);
• Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa (2005, co-edited).

Honwana was awarded the prestigious Prince Claus Chair for Development and Equity in the Netherlands in 2007.

 

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