The Netherlands share with South Africa the need to involve more women in the fields of science and technology. The University of Utrecht will host the first group of Grade 11 girls from Mitchells Plain to receive the Girl Power mentorship awards. 

Girl Power is a mentorship programme led by the Democratic Alliance's Dr Wilmot James MP - whose constituency is Mitchells Plain - that takes talented Grade 11 girls from Mitchells Plain and exposes them to an overseas experience, mentors them through Grade 12 and a 3 year long university degree in science and technology.

The University of Utrecht together with Dutch National Platform Science & Technology and VHTO (the expertise centre for girls in science & technology education) will host the first cohort of the Democratic Alliance’s Mitchell’s Plain Girl Power initiative.

Our Dutch hosts will put together and fully fund a 7 day programme of visit.  Together with Dutch students the Mitchell’s Plain girls will follow an educational programme and will be introduced into the exciting world of cutting edge science & technology.

The Netherlands share with South Africa the need to involve more women in the fields of science and technology. The Girl Power groups will meet up with woman employed in the field of science, technology and mathematics in the Netherlands.

Girl Power is a mentorship programme led by Dr Wilmot James MP that takes talented Grade 11 girls from Mitchells Plain and exposes them to an overseas experience, mentors them through Grade 12 and a 3 year long university degree in science and technology.

Girl Power will be launched by the DA Leader Helen Zille and Dr Wilmot James MP on 20 May 3pm Colorado Community Centre, Weltevrede Parkway, Mitchells Plain.

Ernst Mayr wrote in 1963 that the concept ‘founder effect’ in genetics refers to an event when a small number of individuals carrying a fraction of their population's genetic variation are the founders of a new society elsewhere. As a result, the new population may be distinctively different in their genes from the parent population. In extreme cases the founder effect may lead to speciation and subsequent evolution of new species. A population bottleneck - caused for example by a catastrophic event like an earthquake or a flood or genocide that kills entire sections of a population - can also cause a founder effect even though it isn't strictly a new population but a small group of survivors of the old. A population bottleneck would reduce genetic variation further. Due to various migrations throughout human history, founder effects are quite common.

Mayr’s definition applies to all living organisms. I recently read a fascinating paper on the phenomenon of founder-effect speciation among the common Myna bird introduced to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and South Africa from India, where the authors concluded that ‘in the evolutionarily short period of 100-120 years, bottlenecks and genetic drift have promoted genetic shifts equal to those between different sub-species of birds.’  Here I want to focus on modern human beings and the effect of colonization events on a select number of founder-effect diseases of the blood: Factor V Leiden, Porphyria and Sickle cell Anemia. I will end my lecture with some remarks on areas of possible collaboration between the South African and Australian medical and science communities.

Read the rest of this lecture by Dr Wlmot James, MP at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

150 years after the publication of Darwin's book ’On the Origin of Species’ the Clipper Stad Amsterdam, by request of the Dutch Broadcaster VPRO, sailed around the world following the route of the Beagle. Stad Amsterdam will be visiting South Africa for VPRO’s Beagle re-enactment voyage, Cape Town is the last harbour of this adventure. A Dutch film crew, guests and scientists will be on board

On April 25th around 11:30 am, the Clipper will be welcomed into Hout Bay with a 6-gun salute from a VOC battery under Chapmans Peak, manned by volunteer gunners in VOC regalia. Upon leaving the bay there will be a second salute. The vessel will then sail to Cape Town where it will be welcomed by a number of vessels and a performance by the famous Cape Minstrels and is due to arrive at Waterfront Jetty 2 on Sunday, April 25th at 4 pm.

On April 26th, from 9am to 5pm, a round table: ‘Stimulating Skills & Excellence in the Educational System’ will take place on board. Guests of this round table are, amongst others, Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape, Naledi Pandor, South African Minister of Science and Technology, Arnold Van Zyl: Professor & Vice Rector Research, University of Stellenbosch, Mike Erskine: SEEDS Programme Manager – University of Stellenbosch and Prof Raj Ramesar, Head of Human Genetics at UCT (who will discussthe unique opportunities to use current technologies to mine the rich history and (genetic) diversity of Africa, and in so doing to excite children about linking the humanities and the sciences.) The event will be moderated by Dr Wilmot James, Member of Parliament, Shadow-Minister of Higher Education and former director of the Africa Genome Education Institute (AGEI).