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10YOUR MONTHLY CAMPUS NEWSPAPER • VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 9 • SEPTEMBER 2012Workshop on managing obstetricemergencies in rural communitiesLUNGA MEMELAOCTORS, nurses andmidwives working in theDrural health districts ofKwaZulu-Natal were taught theessential steps in managingobstetric emergencies (ESMOE)during a three-day workshop heldat Howard College campus.Made possible by fundingawarded to UKZN’s EnhancingCare Initiative Unit through a fiveyeargrant from the MedicalEducation Partnership Initiative(MEPI), the ESMOE programmewas formulated with the goal beingto assist and supervise interns andcommunity service officers at ruralhealth facilities.A national priority - saving thelives of mothers, babies andchildren – remains a challenge forhealth practitioners in SouthAfrica, especially those working inunfavourable circumstances inrural areas.ESMOE was one of theprogrammes designed by UKZN’sMEPI group to retain an effectiveand competent workforce to servicethe health needs of mothers andbabies in rural parts of theprovince.Dr Mergan Naidoo of UKZN’sMEPI group said it was alarmingSouth Africa as a middle incomecountry was less successful thansome lower income countries inreducing the mortality rates formothers, babies and children.The workshop focused on HIV,maternal and neonatalresuscitation, miscarriage,obstetric emergencies andhaemorrhage, pre-eclampsia andassisted delivery. It also equippedHealthcare workers from the ruralhealth districts of KwaZulu-Natalgot hands-on experience at aUKZN workshop.participants with the necessarysurgical skills in managingobstetric emergencies.‘We want to have a trainer atevery hospital in the province.Almost every hospital in theprovince has been reached duringthe past two years,’ said Naidoo.Mineworkers and compoundsexamined at seminarMELISSA MUNGROOMINEWORKERS and the demise ofcompounds in South Africa wereexamined in research completed bythe University of Pretoria’sProfessor Andries Bezuidenhoutwho outlined his findings at aforum hosted by the School ofSocial Sciences at UKZN recently.Bezuidenhout together withcolleagues conducted extensiveresearch both in the miningindustry and with the NationalUnion of Mineworkers (NUM). Histalk also touched on some of theissues involved in the Marikanamine tragedy.He explained that at the core ofcolonial and apartheid socialengineering was a spatial strategybased on institutions andinfrastructure linking togetherrural homesteads and villages, andmining centres and towns.‘In the case of the miningindustry, single-sex compoundswere set up as the foundation of theinfrastructure of control over blacklabour. In our research endeavourswe examined how various forms ofcontrol operated. We located ourcontribution within the labourgeography literature,’ he said.Bezuidenhout argued that it wasnot only state institutions andmajor corporations that shapedlandscapes of control. In thisregard he highlighted the centralityof workers agencies, specificallyProfessor Andries Bezuidenhoutwho presented a seminar at UKZNon mineworkers and compounds.the way in which the NationalUnion of Mineworkers ‘captured’the compounds and subverted thelogic of employer control.‘The fragmentation of thespatial order of apartheid and theintroduction of choice leads to newforms of exclusion and the erosionof solidarities of old. Forms ofagency that are effective in anhistorical moment may recede, evenerode, on a changed landscape evenif it is one that worker agencieshelped bring about. This is theparadox of worker agency undercapitalism.’‘However, the union’s successesas well as the advent of democracyhave resulted in profound changes,thus presenting the union with newchallenges.’Naidoo said the workshopcontributed to the public sector andhelped the University meet itssocial responsibility commitments.The workshop placed emphasison experiential learning and‘helping participants to work morelaterally so they can handleSITHEMBILE SHABANGUUKZN Libraries officially launchedthe Westville Campus LibraryResearch Commons (RC) which isaimed at enhancing research outputat the University.The RC is intended to serve seniorpostgraduate students, academicsand researchers of UKZN, especiallythe emerging researchers who maynot have the space for researchproduction.Guest speaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, ProfessorNelson Ijumba, had the honour ofcutting the ribbon. In his address hesaid the importance of the ResearchCommons was that postgraduatestudents now had a quiet space in thelibrary where they could do theirresearch.In her welcome address, Head ofInformation Services at the WestvilleLibrary, Ms Noni Makhathini said:‘The opening of the ResearchCommons shows how serious thelibrary is in supporting UKZN’sstrategic priority of becoming aresearch-led institution and toincrease knowledge production.’Director of Libraries, Dr NoraBuchanan, highlighted the concept ofthe research commons. ‘The conceptof the Research Commons is a logicalextension of the InformationCommons idea which has had manysuccessful implementations inuniversity libraries in the UnitedStates and in South Africa (the firstwas at the University of Cape Townin 2000).’problems more comprehensively’.Ms Iolanthe Moore, a paramedicin advanced life support and aLecturer at UKZN, said feedbackfrom health practitioners workingin community healthcare centresand clinics in rural areas indicatedthat a lack of facilities, qualifiedShe added this is a “truly SouthAfrican idea” which brings togetherhigh-end technology, access toextensive online informationresources and well-trained staff withthe skills to support researchers in adedicated physical space.‘We are therefore grateful toProfessor Ijumba for making fundsavailable to build and equip a newResearch Commons at Westville andwe know it is going to be well used,’she added.Subject Librarian, Dr RichardBeharilal, thanked all staff memberswho were involved in putting thelaunch together and for the supportthey had received from everyonestaff and delays in transportingpatients in need, presented hugechallenges in managing obstetricemergencies.Poor infrastructure and the lackof necessary equipment in dealingwith emergencies added to theproblem.Westville Library Research CommonsDeputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Professor Nelson Ijumba cuts theribbon at the launch of the Westville Campus Library Research Commons.involved.There are 30 allocated computerworkstations and a laptop area whereusers can use their own laptops andthe facility has wireless connectivity.The RC features a seminar room witha projector and a whiteboard wall forsenior postgraduates to holdpresentations and seminars. Tablesand chairs in the seminar room canbe re-configured to suit the needs ofthe users and can reflect either a‘classroom style’ or ‘seminar style’arrangement.The RC is located on Level 9 of theWestville Main Library (B-Block).Operating hours are similar to theLibrary hours.