by
Prof. Bertus Meyer
The first nematologist in South Africa was Willem
van der Linde who obtained his Ph.D. in the U.S.A. in 1935 on a thesis
entitled “Free-living nematodes from South Africa”. On his return
to his fatherland he worked for the next 30 years in Pretoria, mainly on
Meloidogyne.
Juan Heyns departed in (1960) for the U.S.A. (Wisconsin) to study for
his Ph.D. with Gerald Thorne and on his return to Pretoria he succeeded
Willem van der Linde. In 1971 he moved to Johannesburg where he eventually
became Professor at the Rand Afrikaans University. He retired in
1989 after he had published more than 200 papers on taxonomy, specializing
on Xiphinema. His co-workers like Hoffie Koen and J.P. Furstenberg
moved to teaching jobs and the younger generation who all obtained their
Ph.D. under Heyns continued his work in Pretoria. They are Ester
van den Berg, Antoinette Swart, Kent Kleynhans and Mariette Marais.
Nematology at Stellenbosch, the “Second Front” of
Nematology in S.A., was started by Bertus Meyer at the University of Stellenbosch
in 1963. He worked 40 years (until 2002) at the same institution
and trained most of the nematologists from the south of the country.
They are P.C. Smith (deceased) Antoinette Malan, Hans Hugo, Sheila Storey,
Jan Loubser, Jacques van Zyl, Rinus Knoetze and Caroline du Preez.
Meantime three other centers where Nematology is practiced came into
being namely Potchefstroom and Rustenburg in the North West and Nelspruit
in the North East of the country. Especially in Potchefstroom a strong
team developed during the 1990’s and they looked after nematode problems
in maize, groundnuts, tobacco and other subtropical crops.
The Nematological Society of Southern Africa (N.S.S.A.) was formed
in 1971 due to the inspirational leadership of Lindsy Milne and with the
support of more or less a dozen colleagues. The society held its
first symposium in Nelspruit in 1973 and the second at Stellenbosch University
in 1975. In 1983 it started the best paper award in the form of a
medal in honor of Willem van der Linde. The present membership of
the N.S.S.A. is about 100 strong.