AfricanTowardsScholarship

INAUGURATION OF THE CHANCELLOR AND VICE-CHANCELLOR

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL

AfricanTowardsScholarship Contents 1 FOREWORD : professor dasarath chetty 2 ORATION : DR Frene NOSHIR GINWALA

REMAKING THE AFRICAN UNIVERSITY 3 DR FRENE NOSHIR GINWALA 4 oration : professor MALEGAPURU WILLIAM MAKGOBA

THE AFRICAN UNIVERSITY: Meaning, Penalties and Responsibilities 5 PROFESSOR MALEGAPURU WILLIAM MAKGOBA

Editor : Professor Dasarath Chetty Produced by : Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, UKZN, First imprint : 30 September 2005 Design : AFROSPiCE ISBN : 0-620-35196-9

TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP Foreword

The Installation of both the first Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor Similarly, Professor M.W. Makgoba’s basic premise is that of the University of KwaZulu-Natal represents a historic and knowledge production is intimately related to historical, cultural significant event in the history of the University and the and geographical circumstances; that knowledge is produced community in which it is located. The significance of the as a result of a complex and dynamic interplay of societal, installation is clearly evident from the inaugural addresses political, historical and economics pressures. presented herein, providing a visionary trajectory for the University and higher education more generally. In posing the critical question of what does it mean to be an African University, Professor Makgoba follows the Chinua Dr. Frene Ginwala reflects on the broader transformation of Achebe injunction that African identity has a meaning, a penalty South African society over the past eleven years, and the role and a responsibility. It is the penalties of Colonial history, the of parliament in particular, showing how the transformation moral, intellectual and social responsibility of being an African of the University is really a microcosm of what has and is still University, and the need to locate ourselves contextually that being achieved at a societal level. In inheriting many foreign pose the immediate challenge - defining African identity in a traditions the task at hand is to determine which of these are manner that it becomes a constructive, unifying and enabling appropriate and ought to be continued in a new democratic force directed at the amelioration of the African and global ethos with values dramatically opposed to those dominant in condition. The Vice-Chancellor’s address also depicts how the the past. merger process has presented the opportunity for us to build the African University; it impels the University community to The Chancellor, encouraged by the University of KwaZulu- use the vision of the University of KwaZulu-Natal as its guiding Natal vision to be the Premier University of African Scholarship, compass; it reflects on the institutional achievements to date believes that the University needs to assist in locating us on that have laid the foundation stones of the African university, and of the African continent and that the University community and concludes with the concrete, critical challenges facing the needs to engage critically in debates with policy makers and institution in its quest to be the Premier University of African the broader public so as to contribute towards actively shaping Scholarship.. our common future; and not limit our role to post-event analyses especially because we are a publicly funded institution. Professor Dasarath Chetty She challenges the University community to redefine notions Executive Director of academic freedom, independence, interference and Public Affairs and Corporate Communications accountability in the quest to be responsive to societal imperatives.

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Oration on the occasion of the Installation of the Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Frene Noshir Ginwala

Chairman of Council, Dr Vincent Maphai, members of the decency such as treating people equally and with dignity were University Council, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Executive the principles which inspired and drove Dr Ginwala during the Management, Deans, members of staff, students of the University liberation battle and subsequently informed the many decisions of KwaZulu-Natal, both past and present and distinguished guests, that the Parliament she led, made. I have the honour to present Frene Noshir Ginwala to be installed as the first Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu- Under her leadership a previously cloistered institution has Natal. transformed to realise the constitutional ideal of participatory democracy. The colonial and décor, trappings and art The struggle for liberation was fought on many fronts, including of Parliament were jettisoned in favour of expression that the liberation of the mind. An entrenched and ossified repressive celebrates the diversity of the South African milieu. The expertise system of governance like apartheid could only have been that she brought to bear in her role as speaker of two successive defeated if visionaries dreamed about its demise and worked, terms in parliament was shaped by a lifetime of contribution to irrespective of the costs, toward the realisation of that dream. the liberation struggle. The young Frene, after obtaining an LLB This, in most instances, took immense strength of character, deep in England, returned to to assist in arranging for and profound courage and self sacrifice. Frene Noshir Ginwala ANC’s deputy president, , to leave South Africa had all of these qualities in abundance. Her commitment to the illegally to establish a base in a friendly African country. This was liberation struggle was absolute and unwavering. The liberated done in anticipation of the ANC being banned by the government South African nation, in acknowledgment of her contribution, of the time. requested her to be the speaker of the first democratically elected parliament. Under her stewardship, the first two After the Sharpville massacre and while making the necessary parliaments passed the Republic of South Africa Constitution arrangements with the Tanganyikan African National Union, she Act 108 of 1996 and some 800 pieces of legislation designed was requested by the ANC leadership to leave the country to deal with the legacy of colonialism and apartheid and to immediately. She left South Africa on March 22nd, 1960 and fundamentally restructure the society so as to improve the from Salisbury in Rhodesia, organised the escape of Oliver Tambo quality of life and free the potential of all persons within its and . borders. Thus universally acknowledged minimum norms of

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The banning of the ANC in 1960, resulted in her remaining in by Frene Noshir Ginwala. Her work in the area of Human Rights exile for 31 years. Exile deprives one of the warmth and company was recognised the world over when she earned amongst others of community and of the bond with the land of one’s choice, the Order of Luthuli Award and in the Global Award for but it does allow, largely out of necessity for the development outstanding contribution for the Promotion of Human Rights of new skills and expertise. Dr Ginwala is a person who fearlessly and Democracy. speaks her mind and challenges authority if the need exists and these qualities led her to expose injustices such as forced Chairman of Council, Dr Vincent Maphai, and the honoured marriages in , appalling prison conditions in and assembly, I present Dr Frene Noshir Ginwala for installation as atrocities in Sudan. For her, the liberation of the South African the first Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. society, in all its manifestations, was tied to the liberation of Africa as a whole. Professor Suria Govender Associate Professor Her skills in communications as a lawyer, editor, freelance journalist School of Languages, Literature and Linguistics for the BBC and spokesperson for the ANC in the United Kingdom were further honed when she completed her doctorate in philosophy at the and she remains an International Honorary Fellow of Oxford today.

She returned to Africa to work full time as head of the research unit in President Tambo’s office. She was highly respected for her research on nuclear weapons programmes, sanctions, and the arms and oil embargoes.

More than thirty years later, Dr Ginwala returned to South Africa after the unbanning of the ANC. As speaker of Parliament, she conceived and initiated the joint committee on the quality of life and the status of women which was vested with the power to consider and report on the impact on women of all legislation introduced in Parliament and monitor all international and domestic commitments made by the South African Government. As a founder member and first national convenor of the women’s national coalition and the leader of the parliamentary delegation to the Beijing Women’s Conference, she made a material contribution to the improvement of the status and protection of women in international law. She continues to dedicate herself to the attainment of substantive equality for women in this country and other parts of the world.

Dr Ginwala contributed directly to the production of knowledge by her writings.

Banoo and Nasserwanjee Sohrabji, raised their daughters, Frene and Korshed, in accordance with the tenets of the Zorastrian religion, which offers a scientific explanation of creation and of all existence and of the human being’s place within this creation. It focuses on one’s duties in life and these were truly lived out

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CHANCELLOR

remakingFrene theNoshir african Ginwala university

I want to express my deep appreciation to the It would be presumptuous for a newcomer to this institution, Council and entire University community for the and even more so for a person who is not an educationist to honour you have bestowed in electing me as pronounce on the way forward. Nonetheless, I want to reflect the first Chancellor of the University of Kwazulu- on and share with you perspectives on transformation acquired Natal. I assume the office today with a mixture in another experience. All South African institutions face specific of emotions: humility in the face of the confidence difficulties in overcoming the legacies of the past, and meeting you have shown, trepidation whether I can live the challenges of the future. But there are some that are inherent up to your expectations, and great excitement in the process of transforming South Africa, in which we are all at becoming part of this institution at a very still engaged. crucial time in its development. It will be a privilege to serve this University and to contribute The national debate that accompanied the celebration of the in some measure to meeting the challenges that first decade of our democracy revealed how much we have lie ahead. achieved and how much more needs to be done: the continued poverty that has yet to be overcome, the need for greater access I thank you for the honour and the opportunity. to education, health facilities, housing, sanitation, water etc. Even though we have been identified by the as one The University is to be applauded for being one of the first to of the few African countries likely to achieve the Millennium have successfully managed the process of merging established Development Goals, the challenge is daunting. However, it is institutions. It cannot have been easy or without pain. Though salutary to reflect, if one can remember, where we were in 1993, much remains to be done, you have successfully surmounted or even more so the decade before that. the first hurdles under the leadership of Council and the Vice- Chancellor, to whom we must express our gratitude. The awards When the new government assumed office, we did not even and plaudits received were well deserved and auger well for the have accurate figures of the size of the population! As we now future. chart and plan for the second decade, we do so on firm foundations and with greater awareness and knowledge of our

5 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP needs, shortcomings and capacity. completed in those first years was purported tradition in the dominant incredible by the standards of most concept of universities, and to start afresh, Unlike the situation in many other post parliaments. With difficulty and some drawing its plans for the way forward on conflict societies, the nature of our liberation hiccups, we also transformed the institution a blank sheet. Few societies or institutions struggle and negotiated settlement, allowed to a degree. That process is still continuing. have such an opportunity. It is heartening us to inherit functioning institutions. For that you have already set as your vision all their shortcomings, they were Parliaments powers are now entrenched becoming the “Premier University of African operational. Our challenge was to maintain in the Constitution; its systems are open Scholarship”. I am encouraged at the way and use them while at the same time we and transparent procedures embedded in which the concept appears to be tried to reshape and transform them for in democracy and serve to strengthen it. interpreted. This University needs to assist our purposes. We sometimes felt we were Many South Africans and the media are us to locate ourselves on and of the African performing mental splits, and often wished apparently unaware of the regard and Continent. we could have started from scratch, until respect that their Parliament has gained of course we saw the problems across in the international community, and the All institutions need to question their some of our borders. extent to which it now leads in some areas inheritance. It is all too easy to follow a and is far in advance of the legislatures of well trodden path, and seek recognition The apartheid Parliament followed many many long established democracies. for following in the footsteps of those who of the rituals and ceremonials of the British preceded us unaware that our destination but the substance Chairperson, I have spoken thus, not simply is different. We need the integrity and and essence of democracy was absent. because I was part of that institution for honesty to say: this is not our tradition, it This was the fount of all the policies of ten years and am very proud of what we does not meet the needs and objectives oppression, exclusion and repression against have created and the contribution we of our society nor conforms to its values; which we fought, and the temptation to made to consolidating democracy; but also and we need the courage and confidence complete the process and to reduce it to because there are parallels to the challenges to take our own initiatives. ruins was great. that face universities. All societies are organised on the basis of Yet, after the democratic elections, when Both institutions carry the baggage and assumptions, values and the roles and this activist entered those premises for the burden of the past, reflected in their relationships within the population. Culture first time and was elected Speaker, my structures, ethos and practices. These are and ideology informs these and practice mandate was dictated by the recognition presented and presumed to be traditions entrenches them. Institutions are created that if we did not enact legislation which and precedents inherent to the nature of on the same foundations and those who enabled the implementation of our policies, the institution and necessary for the operate and manage them are selected we would not progress in achieving our achievement of its objectives. We could on the basis that they will perpetuate the goals. Therefore nothing could be allowed fail to recognise that in reality they are the culture and values, and are rewarded to interfere with the legislative imperative. outcome of evolutionary processes accordingly. Let me illustrate by referring Experimentation, innovative procedures, influenced by the needs, culture, values to patriarchal societies and perhaps more new systems and institutional changes had and ideology of societies very different familiar to the majority of you, the to be subordinated. from our own. organisational basis of apartheid society.

The overwhelming majority of us were It becomes necessary therefore to question The former is based on the allocation of total newcomers to Parliament. No one and examine which values and principles roles and functions in spheres of activity had experience in a democratic parliament. shaped and established these “traditions” (the private and public) to women and Yet from the very first year, we met the and whether we wish to adopt them. This men within a specific hierarchical order, needs of the government, processing and new University now has a unique with rewards and sanctions which improving legislation submitted to us at opportunity to examine and interrogate perpetuate the system. Apartheid society an incredible rate. The number of Bills every assumption, accepted practice and was similarly organised. Specific roles were

6 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP allocated to different groups which were and apartheid, there are others, colonial indigenous woods, all our minerals including defined in terms of race ethnicity and in origin, which infect our institutions and gold platinum diamonds and coal, and bead language. Spheres within which each could practices. Sometimes they are specific to work. The golden drum has images of operate were identified (primarily particular professions or institutions, such South Africans of all ages at work and play. economic and also spatial), a hierarchical as for example the judiciary, the press and A plaque with the constitutional principles order was established and a system of many more. Some of the assumptions in all our languages replaces the crown as reward and sanction introduced and used may coincide with our own values and the supreme authority. 43 years after South to maintain the system, with violence when needs, others need to be corrected and Africa became a Republic a democratic necessary. In both cases decision making still others serve no purpose. Parliament removed the crown from its power was reserved for the dominant regalia! group. South African society and all its What purpose or principle requires judges institutions were created in accordance and lawyers to wear wigs and gowns? Women were able to enter parliament in with this pattern. Some Speakers on the African continent large numbers, without an exhaustive and in the Commonwealth still wear spats search for “capable women” being In the new democratic order we began and full wigs. There is no harm in this. I necessary, because of political will arising to install in 1994, we rejected the notion used to feel sympathy for my colleagues from a belief in full democracy. Women of groups with specific allocation of rights, as they battled with the summer heat of have been amongst the best performing spaces, privileges and obligations. Our the tropics. MPs leading many important committees, assumption was and is, that all citizens and providing the majority of the Presiding were equally entitled. The values identified Yet one must question what is the Officers. The numbers grow at each in our constitutional principles and symbolism for an African people? It election and today we are among the throughout the document are the birthright emphasises a colonial heritage and, I would global leaders with greater participation of all South Africans. We created suggest stems from a desire to demonstrate of women than in Britain, the US, Germany, institutions to protect these and ensure that the country was following a British India, France and most other democracies. equitable application, regardless of who legal system. Yet in South Africa we have It is not enough simply to bring women might in future operate or manage the Roman Dutch Law, African Customary into institutions designed for men. One organs of state or a particular institution. Law, English Common Law as well as South needs to ensure that those previously African Law. If the style of dress is intended excluded are able to function in the It is self evident that each of the institutions to inculcate respect for the law, should we organisation. We have tried to change the we inherited need to be assessed and re- not find symbols that are home grown organisational culture of the institution and established according to these new and have meaning for the majority of our some of the architecture. One of our principles and values. The challenge of people? Would those seeking justice not earliest challenges was to convert a number transformation is to identify the have more confidence in someone more of the toilets usable only by men into assumptions, values and objectives on familiar with whom they can identify and unisex ones! which each was based, to interrogate respect? relevance and application to the present, In the former British Colonies, universities and to begin to make the necessary I congratulate this University for its new and academia generally carry their own changes to policy, structures and logo, design of the academic gowns and baggage. In Europe and Asia the organisational culture. This can be a lengthy ceremonial. In the National Assembly, we exploration of knowledge initially was the process, and needs to be completed as a believed that symbols and regalia should domain of priests, sages and monks. (Please priority. The mergers of the institutions of communicate our identity and aspirations. note women, wise or otherwise, did not higher education provide the opportunity The all gold mace with impressions of the feature) Many universities have their origins to do so more fundamentally and speedily Great Trek and landing of the white settlers in monasteries or other religious than might otherwise have been possible. was a gift of the Chamber of Mines and communities. The older colleges of Oxford is now part of the museum collection. and Cambridge, Notre Dame University In addition to the legacies of patriarchy The handle of the new one includes and others are examples.

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They attracted members of the elite as is not enough to say we are dealing with to the expansion of the national knowledge students and equipped them to rule the racism and sexism, and providing greater base through research, teaching and country and later the colonial empires. access for black students. The legacy is professional training, they need also to be The institutions accumulated wealth and more than material and human responsive to and accommodate the needs became affluent with large endowments differentiation and includes the and expectations of broader society, of land. They secured privileges for indoctrination of both privileged and the including adapting to the demands and themselves, including the right not to pay oppressed, as well as objectives based on challenges of globalization. taxes. (I doubt that Minister Manuel or concepts of a different era. Commissioner Gordon will accept this Chairperson, I end by raising a question tradition.) They considered themselves as It becomes necessary for all institutions of recently posed by President Mbeki in a superior to the state funded institutions higher education to engage in an open, challenging discussion document on which were a later development and comprehensive and thorough re- education: He asks: “Do we feel our whose teaching programmes were more examination of their role before and in intellectual energy is being well used and relevant to meeting socio-economic needs post apartheid South Africa, guided by the wisely applied?” The answer must come of the period. They stressed their values and principles of the new from this University amongst others. independence, resisting what they termed constitutional order, to which I have already “interference”, and lived the good life in referred. The examination would need to I thank you. isolation from the rest of society. How consider the ethos and architecture, the much of this culture has been carried into content of education, the composition of our pre-apartheid institutions of higher staff (I find it difficult to distinguish between education? Male dominated, elitist, privileged staff and workers), the students, governance and isolated. As Dennis Davis would say and organisational culture and design. on TV: You be the Judge. The debate cannot be confined to Under apartheid, education was part of a academics. Policy makers and the broader comprehensive plan based on the roles public need to be engaged. Academics and assigned to particular groups. The objective universities need to come out of a self of the educational system and institutions imposed isolation. Do they see themselves was to reproduce and perpetuate as limited to critically analysing political, apartheid ideology and its hierarchy, and social, economic and cultural developments meet its political, social, economic and after the event, or are they prepared to military priorities. The design included the meet the common challenge, join in “education for ignorance” called Bantu debates and so contribute actively to Education, and was carried into tertiary shaping the future. I am happy that some education. White education was included have already begun to do so. But too few, in the plan, schools, the historically white and rarely do universities engage as and advantaged universities, and white institutions. intelligensia. These cannot then set the standard to which we aspire. We need to Immediately relevant to the debate is a redefine our educational needs in terms need have a common understanding of of the democratic order and consider the the difference between “academic role of intellectuals and the Institutions of freedom”, “independence”, “interference” Higher Education. and “accountability”. Education plays a vital role in human, social and economic Transformation requires more than development. As publicly funded institutions, addressing the imbalances of the past. It universities need to accept that in addition

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Oration on the occasion of the Installation of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal Professor Malegapuru William Makgoba

Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, members of the University in the land of his birth, a man deemed inferior in every way to of KwaZulu-Natal community, women and men of this city and the enfranchised minority who controlled the economic, political, region, alumni and current students, support and academic staff, social and professional worlds of the state and much of medical and the many distinguished national and international guests in research and practice in South Africa, the idea that such a person our audience this evening: Welcome all of you to this celebration could actually reach the pinnacle of his chosen profession and of the inauguration of our new Vice-Chancellor. achieve world status as a Human Immunogeneticist, would have seemed impossible. Furthermore, the possibility that he would Malegapuru William Makgoba, affectionately known as Poki, lead a huge Medical Research Council at a time of international tonight formally installed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the newly concentration on an immune- related viral pandemic, the possibility born University of KwaZulu-Natal, began his working life as a that this man could be inaugurated as the Vice-Chancellor of shepherd. not only his alma mater in 2002, but also that he would be installed as the Vice -Chancellor of a newly created University, Could he imagine, as he watched his grazing flocks on the would have seemed well beyond reach. outskirts of his Pedi village in the late 1950s, that he would one day be one of the most respected scientists and educational Yet, in 1979, some 20 years after his shepherding childhood, in leaders in Africa and the globe? Recognized for his work in both the late 1970s, while an award-winning medical student at the areas by the world’s leading science awards (such as election to University of Natal, Professor Makgoba told one of the Dean’s the United States Academy of Sciences), winning gold medals, secretarial staff that he would return to South Africa, and the honorary titles, and fellowships, as well as authoring key reports, University of Natal some day, as the University Vice-Chancellor. articles and books cited across the specialist fields of his expertise? This prescience was echoed in another prediction he made in 1982, when the first cases of HIV/AIDS were being described In 1979, the idea that a man born into the first term of the in scientific journals. Thousands of kilometers from Sekhukhuneland apartheid state, a son of Sekhukhuneland, a descendent of the the now 30 year-old Malegapuru Makgoba told his colleagues Pedi community militarily defeated at the hands of a British and in England his prediction that Human Immuno-Deficiency or Swazi alliance one hundred years before, a man without citizenship Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome “maybe more common

9 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP in Africa than it is currently appreciated” on this continent and his research dry grassy highveld and the steaming lush and that HIV/AIDS would become one of leadership, especially at this time of the lowveld regions of our land will stand on the biggest challenges facing the continent HIV/AIDS pandemic. the same stage facing each other. At the of Africa in the next decade and into the end of this year these same two doctors, future. Malegapuru Makgoba committed And yet, as intimated earlier, his life of scientists and educators, both medical himself to be part of that future and the awards and honours is much more than graduates of the University of Natal, Medical facing of that challenge. the personal story of single-minded School, will stand together on another kind dedication, self confidence, hard work and of stage. This time they will be singularly Friends and esteemed guests, between brilliant talent wrapped up in one person honoured when a book about the great that act of prediction in the early 1980s, facing great odds in growing up in South committed doctors of the world will be during the height of the Apartheid state, Africa, and then as a young man in England, published abroad with chapters on each and this evening, as we sit together under and again as mature man in our decade- of them. the canopy of the southern starry sky, a old democracy. Yes, this inauguration of million acts of hard sweat and mental our new Vice-Chancellor is the culmination Guests and friends, nearly three years have labour, of probing thought and imagination, of what historians call “great man history”, passed since Professor Makgoba’s and of courage and gritty determination, but it is also much more than that. How installation as the Vice-Chancellor of the have led to our celebration of the choice so? University of Natal. In that short time he of this human being as our Vice-Chancellor, has been in the in the public eye, monthly, to lead this new University of KwaZulu- The family and community in which he and at times weekly, insisting on the integrity Natal. was nurtured all shaped and formed our and worthiness of the best of science and new Vice-Chancellor throughout the past humanities: search for truth; allow for Tonight we are all witness to Malegapuru five decades of his life. His story then is diversity in this search; be open to challenge, William Makgoba achieving this personal more than the story of one man. His but defend through argument and prophetic vision. community, at the village and the regional persuasion not authority alone; work with level, also created a dynamic and inspiring your detractors; create solutions; create His accomplishments include major environment for other South African beauty and generate even more questions research and scholarship awards and grants, leaders: teachers; artists; miners; along the way. The contours of African and over one hundred publications—from politicians—both famous and those known South African society, past and present, path-breaking scientific papers, to major only to their kin as stars and leaders— have marked his life, and he in turn has books, to many dozens of articles on from this region have shaped our country’s begun to indelibly carve his own mark aspects of immune functions at the destiny into the future. One outstanding upon our national consciousness. molecular level (all in his capacity as a South African from the same northern scientific leader); and—in his role as a rural region as Professor Makgoba must Today we celebrate your installation, public intellectual—books, chapters and be mentioned here tonight: This person, Professor Makgoba, and we look with you more than fifty articles, reviews and nurtured in the same village life, and by to the great possibilities in the future of published contributions, numerous many of the same ideals, who also shares this new University, to the challenges and addresses and interviews as well as radio parents who were teachers and who also rewards which lie ahead for you and for and television appearances, on all aspects nursed impossible-seeming dreams of life all of us. of political, cultural and educational as an educator and a scientist, Professor transformation in South Africa and Africa Mamphela Ramphele, will soon share a Professor Catherine E Burns at large. He has animated the attention of podium with Professor Makgoba. She will Associate Professor South Africa’s engaged, thinking, reading, be presenting to him an award from the School of Anthropology, Gender debating public on many occasions over Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, a and Historic Studies. the past 10 years, and has become a very special honour. These two children household name for his science, his politics, of the beautiful rural escarpment that his vision for educational transformation forms the natural boundary between the

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VICE-CHANCELLOR Malegapuru William Makgoba

THE AFRICAN UNIVERSITY:

1 Meaning, Penalties and Responsibilities

1980: 6th Floor, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford: would not have figured out the relationship between volume a Nigerian doctoral colleague made the following and weight and assisted the king; he would not have experienced statement: “Eureka” and the Archimedes Principle, which underlies most of our shipping and has taken it to where it is today; “If a Nigerian had written William Wordsworth’s famous poem, The Daffodils, in Nigeria, this • If there were no vineyards in France—the Lille industrialist, Nigerian would have been found guilty by a Emperor Napoleon III and the French agricultural ministry military tribunal. He would have been sentenced would not have consulted Louis Pasteur. Bacteriology and to death or life imprisonment or more kindly hence the pathology of disease, and the wine industry as we he would have been certified mentally ill and know and experience it today, would have evolved differently; sent to a mental asylum for long-term treatment and rehabilitation.” • When one wears a pair of Levis jeans, one feels the spirit of the American cowboy and some even feel like they’re re-living Asked why this severe sentence, he continued: the life of Elvis; after all, “Levis” is just another way of writing “Elvis”; • “Daffodils do not grow in Nigeria and this flower has no meaning—culturally or existentially in the life of a Nigerian.” • When one drives a Mercedes Benz or a Jaguar, one identifies with the best of German or British engineering; Similarly: • When one drinks Whisky, Vodka or Champagne, one identifies • If there were no apple trees where Sir Isaac Newton lived, with Scottish, Russian and French values. where and when would the Laws of Gravity have been discovered? Chancellor, Chair of Council, Members of Council, fellow Vice- Chancellors and Academics, Staff, Students, Parents, Distinguished • If all we had were showers and there were no baths, Archimedes and Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

1 Title derived from a comment made by Chinua Achebe during an interview with Kwame Appiah et al, 1982 11 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP

Just seven years ago, in 1998, studies of questions, answers will be sought and in warming and environmental destruction, supernovae in distant galaxies showed that many cases, they will be found. In the as witnessed recently in southern America. the universe’s expansion was accelerating. case of the study of astrophysics, new On the other hand, there is the equally For astronomers, the discovery was baffling. knowledge will help us understand more audible threat of global terrorism; a threat Prior to 1998, it was believed that after fully the past, the present and the future made tangible by September 11, the the initial Big Bang had propelled matter of our planetary existence and other bombings in Bali and Madrid and, more outwards, the force of gravity should questions we have about our origins, and recently, the war in Iraq and the attacks gradually have slowed down the universe’s about our destiny. As a community of on London. No matter how one chooses sprawl. What this finding meant was that scholars, as a university, we celebrate and to apportion blame or cause, from New either the theory of gravity was somehow support this quest. York to Indonesia, from London to flawed, or some unknown physical force Baghdad, the result is the same: was driving matter out at ever faster speeds. For many ordinary South Africans the indiscriminate suffering and intimidation American astrophysicists labeled this relevance of astrophysics may be less than of innocent people and widespread unknown force “dark energy” and, since clear -- and is certainly somewhat removed uncertainty about who will be next. then, have spent their time trying to devise from what for many is still a daily struggle Incidents such as these must prompt radical some means to measure it.2 for survival, food, shelter, education and introspection from all of us about the health. As a nation, we face the challenge course humanity is charting. Where will knowledge of this dark energy not only of reconstruction, but of rebirth. lead? 19th century physician Dr Peter Mere We have lived the euphoria of the end of In rapid and intelligent response to the Latham is famous for saying: “There is legislated apartheid and have celebrated September 11 attacks, the late Palestinian nothing so captivating as new knowledge”3, the significant possibilities of the new South intellectual Edward Said made a strong and it is true that there is an intense Africa. We have also enjoyed important case for patience and – importantly for excitement that has surrounded and driven gains. Eleven years on, however, a skeptical our purposes – education as part of the many of the significant discoveries of our international community and an increasingly solution to global terror, as opposed to species over the course of time -- and still demanding electorate still await the true what he called “Demonisation of the does. birth of the African Renaissance, and the Other”4, the dominant discourse that benefits of regional growth and presently propels the so-called “War against These anecdotes – about Wordsworth’s consolidation promised by NEPAD. In a Terror”. poem, Sir Isaac Newton and Archimedes’s bid to meet the basic human needs of our discoveries and the reference to “dark people, we face the challenge of finding a In this context, the complex, but captivating energy” – together speak to several just balance between what we can acquire issues of Knowledge, Identity5 and Diversity, fundamentals of knowledge: its meaning, by way of knowledge and what we can place clear responsibilities on educators. its context, its relevance, its interactiveness, use. As a knowledge institution we cannot its use and its culture-relatedness. Perhaps under-estimate their importance nor fail more critically they all illustrate that As a country we also face the challenge to grapple with the question of how they knowledge always originates, and moves of positioning ourselves on an increasingly intersect. from, the local to the universal. Throughout shrinking global stage. Whilst marked by history, the university as an institution and grave inequalities, this stage has I believe that if we start with knowledge, intellectuals, scholars and academics have simultaneously become a great leveler. we will find our way – directly and indirectly been and still are at the core of trade. The Once we set aside the – to addressing the pressing issues of our recognition and signature of global developed/developing dichotomy, we find time. By knowledge, I refer to both applied knowledge are all blueprinted in its origins- ourselves equal partners to vulnerability. knowledge as well as its so-called “purer” - the world’s demographics i.e. the Africans, or “basic” cousin. The complex and dynamic the Europeans or the Asians etc. On the one hand, there are threats that interactive relationship between these are some parts of the industrialised world are such that applied knowledge or applied As long as human beings are alive to ask exceedingly slow to hear – those of global science and high-quality basic knowledge,

2The Economist, April 27 – May 3, 2002. 4Said, E., September 16, 2001. 5Knowledge, Identity and Curriculum Transformation in Africa. (1997). 12 3Latham, P. Collected Works, 1878. Eds. N. Cloete, J. Muller, M W Makgoba, D.Ekong. Maskew Miller Longman. TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP

or fundamental science impact and exert advance science at the same time as he set of challenges affecting higher education. influence on each other in a non-linear, was able to address some of the practical multi-dimensional, unpredictable and time- challenges of his time, as presented to him I believe that issues of Identity and Diversity independent manner. The links and by a Lille industrialist, the Ministry of are paramount if we as an institution are relationships are more akin to a “rugby Agriculture and Emperor Napoleon III6, - to deepen and extend our transformation. game than to a relay race”6. The University - figures who represented the economic, To this end we must ask ourselves: of KwaZulu-Natal will continue to foster social and political influences of the day. and give space to this paradigm. 1. What does it mean to be an “Pasteur wanted to understand and to African University? In starting with knowledge, we follow a control the micro-biological processes he long history of knowledge development discovered; Keynes wanted to understand In an interview with Kwame Appiah in the which reflects the extent to which and to improve the workings of modern early eighties, Nigerian novelist Chinua knowledge is intimately related to historical, economics; the physicists of the Manhattan Achebe spoke about the difficulties of cultural and geographical circumstances. Project wanted to understand and to defining the “African Identity”. harness nuclear fission; Langmuir wanted The great discoveries of Louis Pasteur, to understand and to exploit the surface “It is of course true,” he said, “that the Langmuir and Albert Einstein, for example, of electronic components; the molecular African Identity is still in the making. There the economic theories of British economist biologists have wanted to understand and isn’t a final identity that is African. But at John Maynard Keynes, the Manhattan to alter the genetic codes in the DNA the same time, there is an identity coming Project that led to the formation of the material”6 with unlimited potential both into existence. And it has a certain context atom bomb -- these were not the isolated, beneficial and harmful. Other intellectuals and a certain meaning… Africa means esoteric and miraculous breakthroughs responded in a similar way. For example, something to some people. Each of these they have been popularised as. They were Lord Kelvin’s physics was inspired by the tags,” says Achebe, “has a meaning, and a also the product of a complex and dynamic industrial needs of the British Empire and penalty and a responsibility...”7 interplay of societal, political, historical and Keynes’s work on economics was economic pressures – pressures which motivated by widespread unemployment A meaning; a penalty; a responsibility. had an impact both on knowledge for and economic depression6. These great understanding and knowledge for use, thinkers – Pasteur, Keynes, the physicists We have to face all three of these difficult commonly referred to as basic and applied of the Manhattan Project and Kelvin - were concepts if we are to reconfigure ourselves knowledge, or science, respectively6. alike in their capacity to respond to a as an African university in an African changing social, political and economic country, rather than – as Nadine Gordimer As Donald Stokes argued in his 1997 book landscape -- to provide new answers for suggested in reference to South Africa – entitled Pasteur’s Quadrant that scientific a changing set of questions but also to as “an Africanised outpost of the West”.8 research does not have to be EITHER show the complementary nature of the basic OR applied. It can (and should often) goals of understanding and use in the We have to face and indeed overcome be both. His concept of “Pasteur’s production of knowledge. the penalties of a colonial history: -- the Quadrant” illustrates the interwoven nature valorization of Western academia, of basic and applied research and applies It has been said that Socrates asked all the insufficient levels of pride and faith in to the use-inspired science of a scientist important questions, but never answered African achievements, a heritage of such as Louis Pasteur, whose interest in any of them. Yet Socrates is revered as one complex racial dynamics, and an unequal micro-organisms, for example, translated of the great thinkers in Western philosophy, distribution of national resources. into a series of practical outcomes: an because there is much merit in being able understanding of the pathology of disease to ask the right questions. As a university But most importantly of all, we have to and its possible treatment, and the I believe we urgently need to re-evaluate face the responsibility of being an African development of alcohol and commercially- the questions we pose to ourselves, university, for it is here that I suspect we viable vinegar. Hence, Pasteur was able to particularly in the context of the current will also find our most honourable identity;

6Stokes D., 1997. Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science 7Appiah, Athony Kwame et al. "Interview with Chinua 8Gordimer, N. “Five Years Into Freedom” 13 and Technological Innovation. Brookings Institute Press. Achebe" in Times Literary Supplement, 1982. The Sunday Times, 27 June 1999 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP an identity that will also give us a distinctive on the international stage. The African Africa has its own contribution to make brand. These responsibilities are moral, university draws its inspiration from its to the world and we would not be doing intellectual and inspirational and they are environment, as an indigenous tree growing the best service by trying to impose our served by adapting our scholarship to the from a seed that is planted and nurtured own exotic views of culture on you”.13 social structure and the cultural in African soil. environment of Africa. What Yesefu, Lord Ashby, Smuts, and A number of authorities have illustrated others have recognised in different ways Given the history of higher education in in different ways that a University which is that if universities are to be relevant South Africa, there is an immediate need understands its context and its society is and responsive to the needs of their for universities to enter into an honest, both desirable and necessary: people, they must engage with and reflect open and dynamic debate on the dialectical the identity of their people. In Africa, our relationship between education, training, • On the characteristics of an American Universities should be unmistakably culture and development, a debate which university, a former Harvard President African, in the same sense that Harvard, is also appropriate to the changing techno- once said: “A university must grow from Yale and Stanford are unmistakably scientific, socio-political and cultural seed. It cannot be transplanted from American; and in the same way that environment. England or Germany in full leaf and Oxford, Manchester and London are bearing. When the American university English; and in the same way that And we need to be finely-tuned to this appears, it will not be a copy of foreign Edinburgh, St Andrews and Dundee are environment if we are to create a university institutions, but the slow and natural Scottish.12, 13 that has a strong sense of itself and is also growth of American social and political world-class; an institution that will play a habits”.10 Of course, Identity is a fluid concept, and transformational role in the development one that is constantly open to often of South Africa, but also make a meaningful • In 1972, Yesefu wrote: An African dismissive allegations of social contribution to global knowledge. university must not only pursue “constructedness” and essentialism, but it knowledge for its own sake, but also for can also, if used wisely, be a constructive, In 1956, Pan-Africanist leader, the … amelioration of conditions of life unifying and enabling force. Kwame Nkrumah, said: and work of, the ordinary man and woman. It must be fully committed to As scholars in the search for truth, we “We must in the development of our active participation in the social need to fully engage the idea of an African universities bear in mind that once it transformation, economic modernisation, University and what such an institution has been planted in the African soil it and the … upgrading of the total human can offer, not only to the people of Africa, must take root amidst African traditions resources of the nation”.11 but to the world and the global corpus of and cultures”.9 knowledge—just as Harvard, Oxford and In 1925, Lord Ashby, was quoted in a St Andrews as American, English and Nkrumah’s insight was that for an African British White Paper on colonial Scottish Universities have engaged and university to be truly useful to Africans, education, saying that: “Education should made their mark on world 12, 13 and I want to add -- to the world -- it has be adapted to the mentality, aptitudes, knowledge. to be grounded in African communities occupations and traditions of the various and cultures. This does not mean that the peoples, conserving as far as possible all To the people of South Africa, can we say African University is an insular or parochial sound and healthy elements in the fabric that as a community of scholars we are 12 entity. On the contrary, the African of their social life”. effectively helping to address the pressing University is an institution that has the issues of our time? Issues such as HIV/AIDS, consciousness of an African identity from And finally, the need we have to build and retain which it derives and celebrates it strengths academic expertise and skills among our and uses these strengths to its own • At a Fort Hare Graduation ceremony, young scholars -- particularly black and comparative and competitive advantage Jan Smuts told the gathering: “Native female scholars? How is our scholarship

9Nkrumah, K., 1956. Opening Address, University College, Accra • 10Nolutshungu, Sam C. 1996. “Beyond the Gold Standard. The idea of a post-apartheid University. • 11. Yesefu. Creating the African University: Emerging Issues of the 1970s Ibadan, Oxford University Press 1973. • 12.Ashby, E. (1964) African Universities and the Western Tradition. 14 Cambridge: Harvard University Press. • 13.Kerr, Alexander. (1968). Fort Hare 1915-48: The evolution of an African College. London: C. Hurst and Company, pp 217-8. TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP

contributing effectively to the fight against … Which brings me to the second Thus, says Newman, to bring many things hunger, the value of the rand, disease, question I believe we need to ask ourselves: into one, is the “special function” of the crime, poverty and racial division – all of University; and “it learns to do it”, he which threaten to overwhelm the fruits 2. Have we accepted the reality says, “not by rules reducible to writing, of our hard-won democracy? Are we of Diversity as a necessary but by sagacity, wisdom and forbearance, seeking and interpreting knowledge from condition for excellence and acting upon a profound insight into the diverse worldviews – knowledge which is transformation? subject-matter of knowledge, and by a relevant to the aspirations and imperatives vigilant repression of aggression or bigotry of our society? Are we pursuing truth with In his Commencement Address at Bates in any quarter”.16 a purpose and a sense of social College in 1996, Achebe described diversity responsibility? And importantly: are we “not as an abnormality, but as the reality What Newman clearly understood is that being courageous enough in the pursuit of our planet”: the nurturing of a diversity of people, of this truth? cultures, ideas, perspectives, interpretations “The world is big”, he said. “Some people and world-views is what makes a university To the people of Africa and the world, can are unable to comprehend that simple reflect and relate to its society and to we say that we have taken sufficient pride fact. They want the world on their own civilization. Despite the passing of time, in the achievements of Africa and its terms, its peoples just like them and Newman’s appreciation of diversity, his contribution to world knowledge? After their friends, its places like the manicured respect of knowledge and wisdom, and all, the world has much to learn from little patch on which they live. But this his conviction of the need for a “vigilant Africa, but it is often not Africans who are is a foolish and blind wish.”15 repression of bigotry” are themes that are aware of this. It is the Bombay-born today as relevant, if not more relevant than postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha who There is no room for such foolishness or they were at the time he wrote them. reflects on the academic contribution of blindness in a university. Cardinal John South Africans, when he says: Henry Newman knew this in principle Said tells us that our main weapons in the when in 1854 he wrote his now famous struggle for openness and tolerance are “The South African novels of Richard paper on the “Idea of a University” in which today not military but moral. He suggests Rive, Bessie Head, Nadine Gordimer, J all the key elements of a university – that the struggle against apartheid in South M Coetzee, are documents of a society scholarship, truth, tolerance, autonomy, Africa caught the world's imagination divided by the effects of apartheid that and particularly diversity are captured with because the democratic movement was enjoin the international community to understated grace and eloquence. clear about its goals and methods, and meditate on the unequal, asymmetrical stated consistently and unambiguously that worlds that exist elsewhere.14 In Newman’s terms, a university is: their purpose was coexistence and inclusion, and “not exclusivism and a return As South Africans, we need to make our “[P]ledged to admit, without to some idyllic and mythical past”.17 presence felt beyond the boundaries of fear, without prejudice, the nation state and the continent, not in without compromise, all Again, we find that South Africa has much the manner of apologetic assimilation, but comers—(diverse), if they come to teach the world. As we work towards with the confidence of leaders on the in the name of Truth; to adjust a new order, a new discourse about world stage, able to see connections across views, and experiences, and racism and a new discourse for sustainable disciplines, across national boundaries, habits of mind the most and sustained development, we cannot contributing to the global store of independent and dissimilar— afford to remain trapped in the stale knowledge and culture that we have all (diverse); and to give full play dichotomies of old and new, north and inherited. As Africans, we must rise up and to thought and erudition in south, traditional and modern. As an claim this knowledge and assist in making their most original forms, and African University we must become a it grow even further. their most intense expressions, part of new dialogues. We need to play and in their most ample circuit.” a hand in setting the national and global

14Bhabha, H. The Location of Culture, Routledge, 1994. (Accessed at http://prelectur.standford.edu/lecturers/bhabha/location/html.) • 15Achebe, C. Bates College Commencement 15 Address, 27 May, 1996. (Accessed at http://abacus.bates.edu/now/Comm96/address.html.) • 16Newman, Cardinal Henry John, The Idea of a University, 1854. (Accessed at - link broken as of 1 January 2003). • 17Said, E. “Backlash and Backtrack”, Media Monitors Network, 28 September, 2001 (Accessed at http://www.mediamonitors.net/edward39.html.) TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP agendas. We need to find the courage to African university system. e.g. SAPSE and the promotions exercise. claim our place and space as trendsetters on the world stage. • Our university is listed amongst • The new institution is charting a new the top 500 Universities of the identity, a new culture and ethos; it is 3. The merger—its opportunities world and it is a member of initiating a different value system; it is and challenges the Magna Charta18– a body of defining a post-apartheid learning 528 predominantly European environment – in teaching, research This brings me to the third and final issue Universities committed to the and community service. -- an issue that is close to the hearts of fundamental values and rights all of us present this evening—the merged of a university. We are rated • The senate has agreed to interrogate university. This issue is the one that has number three or four regionally and the curriculum relative to the brought the “meaning, penalties and are the second most productive South University’s vision of African responsibilities” of an African University African University in research as Scholarship. into stark reality. The University of measured by the DoE SAPSE All these achievements are the KwaZulu-Natal being a knowledge criteria. achievements of team efforts by dedicated producer and disseminator is in one sense and passionate university staff and at the centre of the world and in another • We have appointed a new and diverse students. In all of these activities we have at the periphery of the world : it is thus leadership—the executive, the deans had the full support of the Department locally inspired but also globally and heads of schools. of Education and the Minister of competitive. In a global community where Education, Honourable Naledi Pandor. there are so many layers and assymetry • We have successfully undergone major in the genesis and authority of knowledge rationalisation and Integration—at the The University faces five critical it is critical for UKZN to interrogate this executive, deanery, faculty and the school challenges: notion of knowledge production. History levels e.g. from 110 ‘Schools’ to 54, with has privileged this province to create a potential cost savings. We have created • Advancing scientific and scholarly blueprint for a new unitary university Schools with synergies and the critical knowledge by engaging freely in through the merger between the mass to compete and engage in fundamental discovery and in criticising Universities of Natal and - research, teaching and outreach in the and extending the traditional boundaries Westville at the beginning of 2004. Twenty- most cost-effective way and views of the world. This is done by one months into the merger, one could “handing down culture” 18 through reasonably ask, “What has been achieved • We have relocated most of our faculties research and teaching (the service of and what are the challenges”? There is a and schools.The DoE has awarded the intellect function) and by educating lot to be proud of and be excited about. UKZN R150m for infrastructural and training people who would enter development in relocating the Science the “learned” professions or fulfil other Institutional Achievements Faculty to the Westville campus. social functions and leadership roles to deal, in an intellectually justified and • We have created a unifying and an • We have established a very supportive disciplined way, with the educational, inspirational vision—a vision that is not and education-focused council. social, political, scientific and economic an answer but that continues to question, challenges of our time (this is the service challenge, to conscientise, to excite and • We have achieved stability and a greater to society function). In this way we shall remind us of ‘who we are’ and the belief in the success of the merger— be able to live up to our vision of being journey we have to travel we are now more united. “the Premier University of African Scholarship – a vision that engages in: • We have created a new University There is a greater focus on and buy-in i) African identity, the translation of organisational structure—the four for improved scholarship and quality cultures, knowledge systems and history, colleges—this is unique in the South (research)—as shown by other indicators ii) The African experience and condition

18.Observatory for Fundamental University Values 16 and Rights. Bononia University Press. Sept 2003 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP

iii) The African consciousness This has to be underpinned by equity the VCs Office for promising young iv) Reclaiming ourselves as contributors as a foundation principle and by an Africans to enter and develop academic to knowledge rather than imitators or enabling and an exciting environment careers increasing these to a total of imposters in which all South Africans can pursue 120 over the lifespan of the programme. v)Unashamedly branding African their scholarship and studies unhampered iii)Through the matching and placing Scholarship globally by social and cultural impediments; to (assimilation process) use the principle create a community of diverse scholars of equity. • We shall do this by continuing to engage operating collegially----in Cardinal holistically in fundamental knowledge Newman’s words, “An institution that is • To establish a “Capital Campaign” fund production and discovery. In this regard pledged to admit, without fear, without to ensure and guarantee freedom of we shall establish the following: a Unit prejudice, without compromise, all thought and support for new, for Knowledge Production under the comers—diverse, if they come in the unconventional, long-term strategic leadership of Prof. Ahmed Bawa; a Centre name of Truth; to adjust views, and ideas and vision-specific projects in for Race and Identity under the experiences, and habits of the mind the knowledge production. Through the leadership of Gerhard Mare; and through most independent and dissimilar— Foundation, we shall raise R500m/5yrs the Vice-Chancellor’s office, a publishing diverse; and to give full play to thought for current projects and R150m/5yrs development project in which the work and erudition in their most original forms, of endowment to lay the foundation of five promising young African writers and their most intense expressions, and and protect the legacy of the vision of would be developed under the in their most ample circuit. UKZN. University’s Press. Thus to bring many things into one, is its special function; and it learns to do To create an institution that is grounded • The identification, integration and it not by rules reducible to writing, but in sound ethics; that respects life and the engagement of the University with by sagacity, wisdom and forbearance, environment and is inspired by the values African society and its realities—for acting upon a profound insight into the of its diverse society using trans-disciplinary example, the isiZulu language and arts, subject-matter of knowledge, and by a approaches to advance our nation’s global African music, culture, world-view and vigilant repression of aggression or competitive edge and the quality of life. ethics. We are the only legitimate bigotry in any quarter”. Briefly, the In doing so we are building systems, institution with both a competitive and nurturing of a diversity of people, setting standards and processes of comparative advantage to preserve and cultures, ideas, perspectives, corporate governance and ethics that develop this rich Zulu knowledge and interpretations and world-views is what have a “zero tolerance” to unethical heritage into the future. We shall do distinguishes a university and it is what conduct and corrupt behaviour by staff this through differentiated forms of makes a university reflect and relate and students. This challenge connects partnerships at the societal, regional, to its society and civilisation. To effect squarely with the socio-economic and provincial and national levels. One can this diversity meaningfully and “not as intellectual imperatives of a renaissance imagine this as a set of an abnormality, but as a reality of our Africa. interdependent,multidimensional planet”, we shall: interacting spheres on a geographical, The new university has the opportunity socio-political, socio-cultural and i) Through a merit and performance- to redefine what knowledge is and the economic basis. We are in the process based process convert 100 academic relationship such knowledge bears to its of refining this model. and 150 support posts from contract context. It will have the opportunity to into permanent establishment for the interrogate the current notions of a • A clear and unambiguous strategy for African staff; university—by taking the challenges our the development of future African ii) Establish 35 Leadership and Equity society faces and weaving its scholarship intellectuals, academics and scholars— Advancement Programme (LEAP) into its fabric and vice-versa. The new the service of the intellect to entrench positions immediately through funding institution will have an opportunity to diversity and promote transformation. from the Carnegie Corporation and strengthen the shift from a discipline-

17 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP based, esoteric-focus to a solution-based, near future, rely upon to continue the pressing problems of our time, and they highly relevant focus. It will give us the important task of building the future of recognize simply that none of us alone can opportunity to ask how we can use the this country, this continent and this world. achieve what all of us can – together. combined knowledge of Ethics, Biology These are the young people who and Government Policy to address the tomorrow must have the skills – not only We must take pride in the opportunity impact and implications of HIV/AIDS, the to hold down a job, but to create jobs; we have been given; an opportunity, in social impact of the Human Genome, to create an even better South Africa; a the words of Emperor Frederick Corporate Governance or Sustainable competitive South Africa; a South Africa Barbarossa, “to illuminate the world and Development. whose quality of life of its citizens is to bring social order”20. We must draw envied throughout the world. The new strength from ourselves, our people, and The new institution draws profoundly on institution will grow a cohort of scholars our diversity. As Achebe remarked, the the commendable gains already made by imbued with values of the new South human world will not “seek our several distinguished academics and Africa and who will possess the skills permission to celebrate itself in the theleadership position it holds in many needed to run effective governments, magnificence of its endless varieties. areas of research such as HIV/AIDS, manage ethical businesses, formulate and Civility is a sensible attribute in this kind Forestry, Water, Invertebrates and administer equitable health and successful of world we have; narrowness of heart Economic Development. This leadership education systems. and mind is not.”21 is evident in such multimillion projects as the Centre for the AIDS Programme of This is not a task for the faint-hearted. The journey of creating an African Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) The consolidation of a new institution university, like all journeys, starts with consortium and the Africa Centre for needs patience, it needs team effort and small steps. It is my belief that the UKZN Health and Population Studies, partnerships engagement -- from all sectors in society, has already taken a few of these steps. which conducts cutting-edge research to and above all, it needs courage, integrity inform HIV prevention and treatment, and vision. I have every confidence that I leave you tonight with the final verse builds research infrastructure and provides the University of KwaZulu-Natal will play of Maya Angelou’s inspirational Inaugural training for South African researchers in its role fearlessly with integrity, dignity Poem written in 1993 for the Presidential HIV/AIDS. and respect. Inauguration of former U.S president Bill Clinton. It speaks with simple eloquence Other important University initiatives are But we cannot be so arrogant as to assume of the courage required for change and the Centre for African Literary Studies-a that we will not need help in this historic I think it captures the essence of our unique collection of African literature in endeavour. For us to succeed, collaboration own challenges here in KwaZulu-Natal the world--, the Centre for Civil Society, must become more of a reality and less of and in South Africa. the Centre for Entrepreneurship, the a buzzword. In many parts of the world, be Do not be wedded forever Centre for Smart materials, EcoBio – the it Greece, Italy, France, Canada, Russia, Austria, To fear, yoked eternally Biotechnology Innovation Centre and the New Zealand or the UK, universities are To brutishness African Centre for Crop Improvement. forming smart partnership with governments, The horizon leans forward There is also the Unilever Centre for Ethics, with local communities and with businesses. the Leadership Centre – all of which are Such partnerships recognize not only the role Offering you space to place new steps of presently anchored in fundamental that a university can play in revitalizing local change knowledge, knowledge for use, relevance, and national economies and job provision quality and transdisciplinarity. but also “the value of the university in terms Here, on the pulse of this fine day of culture, knowledge, know-how and You may have the courage We are therefore in a strong position to economics”19. Furthermore, these partnerships To look up and out upon me, the work towards the formation of a new recognize that a diversity of opinions and Rock, the River, the Tree, your country… regional institution, one that will nurture worldviews is a crucial if we are to achieve the young people we will, in the very a credible and informed response to the Thank you for your attention.

19.Mayor Giorgio Guazzoloca, quoted in THES, 20.University of Bologna Inauguration, 1155 21.Achebe, C. , 1996 18 Oct 11, 2002 TOWARDS AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP

Disclaimer: This is an Installation address. 13. Nolutshungu, Sam C. 1996. “Beyond the Gold Standard. The Acknowledgements: I wish to thank Ms Sharon Dell and Makgoadi idea of a post-apartheid University. An address at the University Makgoba for assistance in the preparation of this address. of the Witwatersrand.

REFERENCES: 14. Observatory for Fundamental University Values and Rights. (September 2003). Bononia University Press. 1. Achebe, C. Bates College Commencement Address, May 27, 1996. (Accessed at 15. Said, E. “Islam and the West are Inadequate Banners”, The http://abacus.bates.edu/now/Comm96/address.html.) Observor, September 16, 2001.

2. Appiah, Athony Kwame, Ryle, J. and Jones, D. "Interview with 16. Said, E. “Representations of the Intellectual”: The 1993 Reith Chinua Achebe", in Times Literary Supplement, February 26, Lectures, Random House, 1996. 1982. 17. Said, E. “Backlash and Backtrack”, in Media Monitors Network, 3. Ashby, E. (1964). African Universities and the Western Tradition. September 28, 2001. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 18. Stokes D. (1997). Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and 4. Bhabha, H. (1994). The Location of Culture, Routledge. Technological Innovation. Brookings Institute Press. (Accessed at http://prelectur.standford.edu/lecturers/bhabha/location/html.) 19. The Economist, April 27 – May 3, 2002.

5. Gordimer, N. “Five Years into Freedom”, The Sunday Times, 20. Yesefu. (1973). Creating the African University: Emerging June 27, 1999. Issues of the 1970s. Ibadan, Oxford University Press.

6. Guazzoloca, Mayor Giorgio., Quoted in Times Higher Education Supplement: October 11, 2002.

7. Kerr, Alexander. (1968). Fort Hare 1915-48: The evolution of an African College. London: C. Hurst and Company, pp 217-8.

8. Knowledge, Identity and Curriculum Transformation in Africa. (1997). Eds. N. Cloete, J. Muller, M W Makgoba, D. Ekong. Maskew Miller Longman.

9. Latham, P.M. (1878). The Collected Works, Vol I. London.

10. Makgoba, M W. (1998). “Black Perspectives on Tertiary Institutional Transformation”. Ed. Sipho Seepe. Florida Hills: Vivlia.

11. Newman, Cardinal Henry John. (1854). The Idea of a University. (Accessed at http:///www.newmanreader.org/works/idea.

12. Nkrumah, K. (1956). Opening Address: University College, Accra.

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