Commerce faculty drums it up

Winning ways: Chanelle Appollis, and Gaontebale Nodoba, won the prize for best outfits at the Faculty of Commerce's Africa Day celebration.

The Faculty of Commerce celebrated Africa Day on 25 May in style, when about 100 staff members - from cleaners to professors - donned colourful traditional attire and played drums with verve and energy.

Drummers, led by UCT alumnus Zenze Ngwenya, led the celebration as they guided staffers in singing, dancing and drumming lessons.

The occasion also allowed the faculty to showcase their involvement with the continent through the work of units such as DataFirst, volunteer work by the Department of Information Systems in Addis Ababa, and a co-operative PhD housed in the School of Economics.

For incoming dean Professor Don Ross, the connection with Africa resonates deeply. "The green fields for South African business are in Africa," he said. "At least, they are as long as we take care to understand Africa better than our competitors from other continents. If we focus inward instead, then we're just a small country that's very far from markets."

Staff were encouraged to dress in traditional African attire, and Chanelle Appollis, secretary in the Department of Accounting, won the award for the best outfit.