Message from Nicolette van den Eijkel, Chief Director Facilities Management

In America, it is now the time of year when people celebrate Thanksgiving. A time to reflect on the blessings of the past year and to gather with family and friends and acknowledge these and give gratitude. 2023 has again not been the easiest year for us, as world events and socio-economic issues closer to home are hard to cope with but there are of course lots to give thanks fo​r too. 

We celebrated 25-year service awards for Leon August, Marshall Brown, Deon Esau, Patrick Esterhuizen, Trevor Hoeben, Andre Jacobs, Gideon Lekeur, and John Pietersen at a wonderful function in October. 200 years of service acknowledged. It was good to hear the stories from my colleagues of how things have changed and improved at SU over the years. 

We are very grateful that five colleagues who have been with us for 130 years are healthy and now able to enjoy their much-deserved retirement: Esmerelda Carelse, Frans Jacobs, Lester King, Nikolaas Koopman, and Adri Rossouw.  We thank them for their many years of loyal service and wish them a long and healthy retirement. 

A highlight of the year was the official opening of the BMRI building. How good was it to hear from the keynote speaker at the event, Prof Stefan Kaufmann from Berlin, who acknowledged that the BMRI was the “greatest" facility he had ever visited? He went on to say “The BMRI is not just a physical space but a nucleus for equitable partnerships across the globe, a hub for training and capacitating the next generation of researchers. A symbol of commitment to excellence towards a better world". A very proud but humbling speech for all of us to hear. 

Please know that each one of us at SUFM contributes in some way to providing spaces and places that do allow for training and capacitating students (and staff) so that when they graduate from our great institution, they are each equipped to make a “better world".  Thank you for all your hard work in 2023. Those who are fortunate enough to have a holiday, enjoy it, and rest and those who are staying at work finishing projects, keeping us safe, and keeping the campuses functioning thank you – we appreciate it.