Dear SASAS Members –
The Northern Branch organised under difficult circumstances this past year. Our first virtual congress was a resounding success with an excellent choice of invited speakers. For those of you who missed it you will be able to access the papers on the SASAS and congress website under the members section. An added bonus to SASAS members. Congratulations to Robyn Joubert and her committee.
The annual student quiz was won by the team from the Free State. Congratulations to the KOVSIES team.
SASAS Veeplaas / Stockfarm Student Quiz winners:
Ofhani Mavhungu, Andries van der Merwe and Carina le Roux
The SASAS Northern Branch congress committee: At the back, from the left, are Jason Reding, Dr Lindeque du Toit, Erin Graham, Enrike Maree and Dr Simon Lashmar. In front from the left are Michelle de Lange, Casey van der Bergh, Karla Hendriks, Amelia du Preez, Robyn Joubert and Deidré Louw
Congress 2022
The 2022 congress will be hosted by the KZN Branch, led by Sibo Gcumisa, from 26 to 28 September 2022 at the Cedara Agricultural College Campus. As things stand this event is planned to be a hybrid congress, with both live attendance and a live feed for those who cannot attend in person.
Council 2022
Following the successful online elections, the council comprises the following members (portfolios in brackets):
Hon President: Prof Edward Nesamvuni
President: Dr Trevor Dugmore (Exec)
Vice-president: Prof Schalk Cloete (Exec)
Ex-officio: Prof Norman Maiwashe
Members:
- Dr Linde du Toit (Publications & Exec)
- Prof Cuthbert Banga (Communications)
- Dr Helet Lambrecht (Education)
- Dr Foch de Witt (Awards)
- Mr Sibo Gcumisa (Branches)
- Ms Natasha Snyman (Prof Development)
Co-opted: Dr Klaas-Jan Leeuw (Livestock Welfare)
Secretariat: Prof Hettie Schönfeldt / Ms Lethea Louw
Prof Norman Maiwashe and the previous council are thanked for taking SASAS forward under difficult and novel circumstances.
Website
The Privacy Policy of SASAS is accessible on the SASAS website.
The webmaster, Hansie Bekker, would like to update the banner photos and requests members to submit photos relevant to the South African livestock industry. Please submit your photos, with details of the photo to: <[email protected]>
Journals
Dr Mike MacNeil is to be congratulated on the excellent performance of the SA J Anim Sci which now boasts an Impact Factor of: 1.055. Unfortunately for us, Dr MacNeil’s contract as editor in chief comes an end next year. Consequently, council is looking for a new editor for SAJAS. Members are asked to nominate suitable candidates (with their approval) for shortlisting for the position. Interested members with suitable qualifications and experience are also asked to submit their CV’s to the secretary. The following criteria are guidelines for the position:
- A good academic/research profile
- Leading author of publications in peer reviewed journals.
- Good standing in the scientific community
- Ideally, a PhD relevant to livestock production
Dr Douglas Nkosi is also acknowledged for his tireless effort as editor of the AAH&RD.
Membership
It’s that time of the year again, your membership must be renewed. After careful consideration and an examination of the budget, it was concluded that our membership fees need to be increased at approximately the inflation rate for next year. Fees for professional members are increasing by R 50 to R 1 000 for 2022. Student and retired membership fees remain the same.
The issue of invoices was raised at the SASAS AGM. We are pleased to announce that individual members will be able to download an Invoice/proof of payment after renewing their membership on the website after receiving a reminder in January. Members whose fees are paid in bulk by their employers are requested to update their membership details on the website with a coupon code issued to your employer on receipt of payment. If you do not update your membership details you will not be considered an active member on the website and have no access to the members section of the website and also receive none of the bulk emails and notifications sent out to members. You will also miss out on animal science/production vacancies advertised through SASAS. A document containing information on the registration process has been uploaded on the website on the page dealing with SASAS membership (SASAS Membership – SASAS) by our webmaster.
It is an unfortunate fact that of the 1100 Professional Animal Scientists registered with SACNASP less than 300 belong to SASAS. If only 50% of animal scientists registered with SACNASP also joined SASAS we could reduce our annual fees by almost 50%. SACNASP is only the legal requirement to practice, SASAS is the promotor of the Science and our profession, which affects all animal scientists, not only the members of SASAS in many ways:
- SASAS is involved in ongoing discussions, through SACNASP, with the veterinary council pertaining to the relationship between animal scientists and our veterinary colleagues.
- SASAS publishes 2 online journals for members, and hosts a website.
- SASAS organise an annual congress to promote the science of animal science and offer post-grad student’s opportunities to present their research to the broader animal science community and thus gain exposure.
- SASAS is involved in discussions pertaining to the relevance of the animal science curricular and also involved in discussions on mentorship programmes for young graduates.
- SASAS awards Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to qualifying members for excellence in the field of animal science, as well as the David Uys Trophy for the best paper in SAJAS by a SASAS member.
- SASAS awards a post graduate student bursary annually based on academic excellence.
- SASAS also presents merit awards to the best animal science final year student at each of our universities.
- SASAS as the responsible Voluntary Association nominate members to sit on the SACNASP Professional Affairs Committee vetting membership applications
- SASAS also allocate and certify the CPD points for relevant scientific events.
- SASAS is represented on the Livestock Welfare Coordinating Committee.
- SASAS represents the interests of animal scientists at SACNASP and other professional bodies or committees.
To this end SASAS are proud to have nominated Prof Este van Marle-Köster to serve on the second Professional Bodies Committee of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) commencing in 2022.
Please consider that as you grow in your profession, it’s what you put back into your profession, rather than only what you get out of your profession, that’s important to maintain a strong unified profession. In the interests of advancing the science of our profession, please encourage other animal scientists to become involved in SASAS.
Seasons Greetings
Council wishes all our animal science colleagues a well-deserved Christmas break and happy festive season and a prosperous New Year.
As Covid cases rise, please stay safe when returning home or going on your well-deserved holiday.
Kind regards
Trevor Dugmore
