Rhodes Scholars-elect
2007
South Africa-at-Large
JANET JOBSON (22) from Grahamstown was selected in the Freestate and Eastern Cape region. The daughter of Drs Michael Roy and Marjorie Jobson, she matriculated at Pretoria High School for Girls in 2002, before graduating with a BA in Political Studies and History ( cum laude ) in 2005 at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, where she is currently enrolled for a BA Honours in History. A current Mandela Rhodes Scholar, Janet has been national youth coordinator of Amnesty International South Africa, co-founder of the Pretoria Theatre Company, chair of Rhodes University debating society and a delegate to several high-level United Nations events. This included the General Assembly special session on children in New York in 2002, where she presented on HIV/Aids and gender based violence in South African schools. She has also authored two plays. Janet will pursue the MPhil in Development Studies at Oxford.
TUMI MAKGETLA (23) was selected in the Gauteng, North-West, Northern Province and Mpumalanga region and is the daughter of Zeph and Neva Makgetla of Observatory, Johannesburg. Tumi graduated with a Bachelors of the Arts in social studies ( cum laude ) from Harvard in 2005, having completed her thesis on the political economy of trade policy in the South African clothing sector. She now works as a journalist at the Mail & Guardian in Johannesburg. Tumi was a deck-hand on the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise in 2001, helped facilitate workshops on legislative strengthening in Pakistan, and worked both in Aids awareness and as a research assistant at Harvard. She has a brown belt in karate, has done cycling trips through France and Italy, and will pursue the MPhil in Politics at Oxford to sharpen her understanding of state and public policy before returning to South Africa.
SEÁN MFUNDZA MULLER (23), selected in the Western and Northern Cape region, is the son of Ruth and Mike Muller of Linksfield Ridge in Johannesburg. He worked for a year at the National Department of Transport as a Public Policy Partnership Fellow; contributed a chapter on the South African black middle class to a recently published book; presented at a 2006 conference in Rome on the Foundations and Applications of Utility, Risk and Decision Theory; and has had articles published in South African newspapers on issues such as the fiscal impact of anti-retroviral treatment for HIV patients and the unwitting role of the media in promoting terrorism. He has exhibited his own photographs, lectured economics as a volunteer at TSIBA University in Cape Town, studied French, and cycled alone from Nairobi in Kenya to Beira in Mozambique, where he was born. Amongst his other interests are fencing, hiking and birdwatching. Seán graduated with a BBusSc (Economics) from the University of Cape Town in 2003, is currently enrolled there for a MCom in Applied Economics, and will read for the MPhil in Economics at Oxford.
KATE ORKIN (22) lives in Rondebosch and was selected in the Western and Northern Cape region. The daughter of Dr Mark Orkin and Ms Jennifer Glennie of Parkview, Johannesburg, she matriculated with six distinctions from Parktown Girls' High School and earned a Bachelors in the Social Sciences ( cum laude ) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2005. Currently enrolled for an honours on Economics at UCT, Kate was education sector president for the Students Health and Welfare Centres Organisation (SHAWCO), which runs clinics and education centres on the Cape Flats, and won grants totalling R450,000 for projects in Khayelitsha and Kensington. She was co-founder of the Township Debating League, which she coordinated for three years at 22 township schools. Kate is a multiple olympiad champion in English in History, octo-finalist at the Worlds Universities Debating Championships in 2003 and 2005, and a talented hockey and tennis player. At Oxford, she will read for the MPhil in Development Studies .
YUSUF RANDERA-REES (23) is co-founder of OHR International, a financial services company seeking to increase foreign direct investment in Africa by facilitating joint ventures between African companies and their counterparts abroad. The son of Prof Vera Helen Rees and Dr Mohamed Fazel Randera of Parktown-West, Johannesburg, he matriculated from Crawford College in Sandton in 2000 with seven distinctions and graduated from Harvard College in the USA (2006) with a Bachelors (AB) degree in Economics, achieving a magna cum laude in the Harvard Economics Department Honours Examination. Yusuf has worked as a derivatives marketer and trader in New York and Zürich, and was co-founder of both the Summit of Africa's Young Business Leaders (SAYBL) and Unite Against Aids (UAA), a very successful Aids activism movement in the USA. He is a former junior mayor of Johannesburg, plays soccer, and does kickboxing. Selected in the Gauteng, North-West, Northern Province and Mpumalanga region, Yusuf will pursue a Masters in Financial Economics and in African Studies at Oxford.
KwaZulu-Natal
CRAIG KESSON (22) from Durban is this year's Rhodes Scholar from KwaZulu-Natal. The son of Mrs Josee Kesson and the late Mr. Nigel Kesson from Morningside, Durban, Craig will read for the MPhil in Medical History at Oxford. He aims to study the social history of blood in South Africa, examining the tensions between biomedical and cultural constructions of blood. Craig has won acclaim for his work as human rights activist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), receiving commendations from the State President and National Parliament, and is currently enrolled in a history honours programme after graduating with a Bachelor of Social Science (summa cum laude) in History and Political Science earlier this year. As chair of Amnesty International at UKZN he grew membership of the organisation, facilitated amnesty applications for Eritrean students, worked with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on HIV/Aids awareness and advocated for Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights. He is also a celebrated debater and has debated for South Africa and also represented the country in Public Speaking. He also enjoys golf and squash.
Paul Roos Gymnasium
HEINRICH MÖLLER (22), Rhodes Scholar from Paul Roos Gymnasium, was among the top three students each year while pursuing his Bachelors of Accounting at the University of Stellenbosch ( cum laude , 2005). The son of Louis and Sybel Möller of Stellenbosch, he has learnt winemaking, won accolades at school for golf and academic excellence, captained his rugby team, completed the Two Oceans Half Marathon twice, and taught mathematics after hours to high school pupils in the township of Kayamandi. Thanks to Heinrich's initiative, accounting was added to the syllabus at Kayamandi, where he was subject coordinator. In 2004, Heinrich was selected for the PriceWaterhouseCoopers International Leadership Summit in Portugal, and attended the Brightest Young Minds student conference in 2005. He is currently enrolled for a BAcc Honours at Stellenbosch and is preparing to sit the first board exam of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) in March 2007. At Oxford, he will pursue the MSc in Financial Economics.
St Andrew's
NIKKI PALMER (23), the St Andrew's Rhodes Scholar, matriculated from the Diocesan School for Girls in Grahamstown in 2000. The daughter of Dr AR and Prof CG Palmer, she graduated from Rhodes University as the top student in the Commerce Faculty with a BCom in Economics and Law (2005) and completed a BCom Honours with distinction (2006). During her Honours year, Nikki undertook a semester at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, where one of her principle research papers was a comparative analysis of terrorism legislation in the UK today, with terrorism legislation in the Apartheid state in the 70's and 80's. Avidly involved in mooting, Nikki was the principle speakers for the University of Leicester at the National Finals of the International Jessup Law Moot Competition this year. She is currently employed by the United Nations as a Legal Assistant at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) having worked at the Tribunal as a volunteer prior to this appointment. Nikki played hockey for Eastern Province, won a bronze medal in the Two Oceans Half Marathon in 2005, and was an active member of Amnesty International while working abroad in Australia, focusing, amongst others, on the human rights implications of terrorism legislation. At Oxford, she will read for a Master of Studies (MSt) in Law (Research).
Diocesan College
JOSEPH RAIMONDO (24) from Cape Town is this year's Scholar-elect for Diocesan College (Bishops) in Rondebosch. The son of Dr Frank and Mrs Ida Raimondo of Bishopscourt, Joseph will pursue a Masters in Neuroscience at Oxford, following the completion of his MB ChB at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and an additional two years' studies in philosophy, physics and mathematics at UCT and Unisa. Over the past six years he has been organising, running and participating in SHAWCO Health's township clinics. He has backpacked through Bolivia and Peru, combated water borne diseases by securing funding and overseeing the construction of a rainwater catchment system in the Eastern Cape village of Tshwelini near Port St. Johns and taught students in Khayelitsha and Nyanga in Cape Town. Joseph is also an avid spear fisherman and amateur photographer, and has completed 17 consecutive Argus cycle tours.
