27 Thirdly, I’m constantly motivating and encouraging staff to publish, while also making a big deal of all publications in the circular I send out regularly. Fourthly, I’ve actively been pushing the AAMP programme. We currently have seven AAMP Mentees in LanCSAL, of which five are being mentored by more senior LanCSAL staff. Fifthly, I encourage staff to apply for promotion, help them with their applications, and put in a lot of effort to properly motivate these applications. I’m please to tell you that all our promotion applications were successful this year, including Dr Jubilee Chikasha to Senior Lecturer, Prof Eleanor Cornelius to Full Professor, and Dr Cindy Ramhurry to Senior Lecturer. Staff members looking to apply for promotion in the near future include Dr Ronnie Ramhurry, Dr Tracey McCormick, Prof Karen de Wet, and Dr Thompson Mabunda. Sixthly, I often share helpful suggestions and advice about how to be successful at publishing as an academic and increase one’s citations. Seventhly, I assist people applying for NRF rating in various ways, from encouragement and advice to proofreading and even editing their submissions. This year, Prof Eleanor Cornelius received a C2 rating. Eighthly, I have created a number of new leadership positions in LanCSAL. For example, I created the position of “Publication, Internationalisation, Decolonisation and 4IR Coordinator” in LanCSAL, a role that Dr Rockie Sibanda currently fulfils. I also created the new leadership role of “Post-graduate Coordinator and Mentor”, taken up by Prof Eleanor Cornelius. This role was introduced to create supervision opportunities for and provide mentorship and guidance to up-and-coming supervisors, which includes most staff members in LanCSAL. Some staff members are enrolling for formal training in supervision. Dr Tracey McCormick, for example, completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Research Supervision with distinction. Ninthly, I actively seek opportunities to place LanCSAL staff on Faculty and University committees. With the help of our Vice-Deans, I have been successful in arranging the placement of Simba Yafele on the Humanities Teaching and Learning Committee, as well as Jubilee Chikasha on the University Timetable Committee. Staff and student achievements Jolyn Phillips received a lot of recognition and praise for her epic poem, Bientang. Most importantly, it earned her the very prestigious Eugène Marais Prize for Poetry. Jolyn was celebrated for Bientang during this year’s Northern Award Ceremony of the South African Academy of Science and Art. She also presented the poem for Zuid-Afrikahuis in the Netherlands. Prof Liz Gunner’s book, Radio Soundings: South Africa and the Black Modern, was included in the longlist for the Sunday Times Book of the Year. Prof Eleanor Cornelius’s monograph, Gewone Taal: ‘n Oorsig (Plain Language: An Overview), published in 2020 by African Sun Media, received the ATKV prize in the category “Dictionaries and Language Manuals/Guides”. Simba Yafele received the Best First-time Presenter Award at the Literacy Association of South Africa (LITASA) conference. Community Engagement In her capacity as council member of the International Federation of Translators (FIT), and the African Representative on FIT in particular, Prof Eleanor Cornelius single-handedly arranged the launch of an African Forum (AF) for professional translators on the African continent. She was the chair of the meeting and facilitated the entire session. Two representatives of the United Nations were also in attendance. 78 participants from 20 African countries participated in the virtual meeting (e.g., Mauritania, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Botswana, Togo, etc.). Jolyn Phillips appeared on DSTV as one of the leading performers in the music-and-poetry stage production, Smeltkroes (“Melting Pot”), which celebrates the rich diversity of South African music, art, and culture. Jolyn also participated in a
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