Public lecture addresses a Minister of higher education’s depressing state of higher UNIZULU visit a resounding success education system in Gcina Nhleko UNIZULU is taking extra precautions Gcina Nhleko UNIZULU has agreed to start as soon and utmost diligence in ensuring compli- as possible to clearly identify the compo- Dr Blade Nzimande, the Minister of ant measures are in place in preparation World-renowned and respected sociol- nents that hinder the success of a uni- Higher Education, Science and Technol- for more students returning to campuses, ogist Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah recently versity idea in Africa. African universities ogy, has applauded the University of amid peak infection rates across the coun- presented a thought-provoking virtual like the idea of a university that repro- Zululand’s (UNIZULU) progressive efforts try. lecture on reconceptualising the African duces and replicates the institutional to salvage and successfully manoeuvre The institution, which has already university at the ’s forms that have been inherited from the 2020 academic year, while ensuring been receiving final-year Nursing Science (UNIZULU) KwaDlangezwa Campus. colonial powers and these standards Covid-19 health and safety protocol is students, will, in the coming weeks, Prof Prah is a prolific author of sev- have been set and maintained from followed at its KwaDlangezwa and Rich- prioritise the return of 30 final-year Man- eral books and many articles on topics outside. We create the theatre of the ards Bay campuses. agement Information Systems students; around Africa’s history and writing on observed by exposing students to foreign Dr Nzimande was speaking during postgraduates in the Faculty of Com- issues affecting the society and education languages that are not used locally e.g. an oversight visit to the KwaDlangezwa merce, Administration and Law; and system. Latin and Greece in African Universities Campus last week, to monitor the imple- postgraduate students who are in the The sociologist’s lecture formed part of said Professor Prah. mentation of safety measures, particularly final phases of their laboratory exper- UNIZULU Vice-Chancellor Professor Mto- “Even in this generation there are in the student residences. iments. se’s ongoing engagement sessions that are lots of people who think that spending The university is among a number “The university wishes to reiterate conceptualised as part of the University’s a stint in an (overseas) institution like of institutions which began receiving that, while it is committed to the return of 60th anniversary celebrations. The lecture Oxford, Harvard etc. gives you a particu- students and employees back to campuses optimal numbers of students to campus, is at the heart of what UNIZULU is trying lar competitive edge over competitors under Level 3 of the lockdown. this process must be guided by prevailing to achieve, being an African university than colleagues who are derived from our “We are likely to finish the aca- Dr Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, has expressed his national guidelines and realities,” said as opposed to being a university based local institutions,” said Professor Prah. demic year around March next year, satisfaction with the University of Zululand’s plans to salvage the 2020 academic year. University of Zululand Vice-Chancellor in Africa. Prof Mtose alluded that in The priority solution is that African and I am very pleased that the univer- Picture: James Thwala Professor Mtose. order to transform our universities, a universities should be appetised by African sity will be in line with this target, or The remaining students will continue shift in mindset is required. She elabo- concerns and interests, and seek to provide even ahead for some students,” said to balance saving lives and sustainable of a Covid-19 task team, the delivery of to receive lectures through various plat- rated that we need to dislocate ourselves proper aligned African solutions. Our Afri- Dr Nzimande. livelihoods, because the academic year is study material to students, as well as forms, including online and hard copies. from the colonial sphere and paradigm can history at the moment is an extension “This shows the university is com- the future livelihood for our graduates,” efforts to monitor the remote participa- Students’ data has been rolled out as well which expects universities located in the of western history and it is not surprising as mitted to saving the academic year. This he added. tion of students undertaking academic to ensure that students have access and continent to be mere clones of those of it was written by colonial powers hence the is a daunting task when you are trying The minister applauded the formation activities. can submit their work material. previous colonial masters. Prof Prah’s lec- distorted version of our society. According ture sought to point out how this should to Prof Prah, creating a centre for African unfold, by identifying the problem and languages, developing a unified Nguni features in order to truly experience and dictionary and forming a consortium of transform our institutions into African universities in order to improve the curric- universities. ulum offerings are some of the immediate Six published articles and counting for PhD graduate “The University of Zululand has delib- solutions that are achievable. erately redefined (itself) to be a university The first respondent, Deputy Precious Shamase when student-supervisor relationships exist restructured for relevance. We understood Vice-Chancellor: Research and Inno- and together we have developed a good it this way as ours should be a centre of vations Professor Mashupye Kgaphola, University of Zululand (UNIZULU) working relationship which began when strategic reflection and insight for it to be stated that the Salt Rock discussions that PhD graduate Nkosinathi Dlamini is Dlamini was in master’s, which lead to relevant,” said Professor Mtose. Professor Prah alluded to resulted in the steadily carving his path as a prolific a successful master’s project. Through The lecture was an extension of the publication of the book titled “A UNI- researcher, with an impressive record of his devotion and hardworking nature, he work done by UNIZULU academics in ZULU Conversation: Reconceptualising six published articles and three revised received his MSc in one year and was very March at Salt Rock. The task of the group the African University”. This is an impor- manuscripts under review in accredited close to attaining a distinction and this was to produce a series of thoughts and tant milestone in the context of UNIZU- international journals within a space of achievement for a student is colossal. This ideas with regards to the challenges LU’s 60th anniversary. The preeminent two years. attainment in his career has brought inspi- that UNIZULU and other universities in question, according to Prof Kgaphola, Dr Dlamini completed his PhD under ration for him to pursue his higher studies.” South Africa and all over Africa face, with is how we will reclaim our intellectual the supervision of the legendary Prof In his congratulatory message Prof regards to their mandate, purpose, object sovereignty, 26 years into democracy, Viswanadha Pullabhotla and Prof Alber- Basson said he saw Dr Dlamin’s potential to structure the content of their offerings and look at what has and has not been tus Kotze Basson with a thesis entitled when he was a BSc Honours student in as universities. This is a response to the achieved. Further, UNIZULU looked at “A comparative study between Fe@Cu Microbiology. His motivation and interest fact that post colonialism in Africa and how much effort it puts into what con- core-shell nanoparticles with iron and in research is what struck the academic, post-apartheid in South Africa in 1994 the cerns it, lest it becomes an appendix in copper nanoparticles synthesized using prompting him to take the student under process of dismantling the educational someone else’s agenda- hence the impor- a bioflocculant: characterization, indus- his supervision. “I quickly realised that system and installing a new education tance of the language issue. trial application and biosafety”. UNIZULU PhD graduate Nkosinathi Dlamini has been hard at work in the past two years and has he wants to advance deeper into research system which is more answerable to the The second respondent, Dr Maxwell The objective of the study included, managed to publish six articles in accredited journals, with the help of supervisors Prof Albertus Kotze and that is where I asked Prof Pullabhotla broader sections of the community has Shamase who is the Acting Deputy Dean: among other things, the synthesis of Basson (left) and Prof Viswanadha Pullabhotla (right). Picture: Sphamandla Gumede to get involved and guide Nathi in nano- not been achieved. It is this realisation Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of single and bi-metallic nanoparticles using technology. Nathi finished his MSc in that we face a challenge to ourselves to Arts, spoke of the denial of our identity an environmental friendly approach. Fur- showed that the nanoparticles have of either family, friends or colleagues. He one year (missing a distinction by 2%) be able to fashion an educational system which has resulted in the Western educa- thermore, it unpacked the application remarkable properties, which means expressed his utmost gratitude to Prof and immediately enrolled for PhD and which is substantively meaningful to the tion promulgation. He emphasised that (the use) of these nanoparticles in various they can be used in wastewater treat- Basson and Prof Pullabhotla for seeing finished this also in the record time of lives and upliftment of Africans. colonial ideas cannot continue to reign nanotechnology fields such as wastewa- ment to remove pollutants. They can to it that his PhD study was a success. two years with numerous publications Professor Prah mentioned that in in our language, tradition and song. A ter treatment, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity also be used as antimicrobial agents as In addition, he thanked the Council for in accredited journals,” Prof Basson said. South Africa there has been a habitual university has to be culturally closer to and dye removal. they indicated that are safe to use when Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Born and bred in KwaShoba area in way of looking at a crisis from a historical the society in which it operates and be Through this research, Dr Dlamini cytotoxicity was investigated. for its financial support. Pongola, Dr Dlamini is the first to obtain perspective of advantaged-and-disadvan- intellectually linked to the wider schol- was able to establish that nanoparticles Reminiscing, Dr Dlamini acknowl- On his experience with working with a PhD in his family. He said obtaining taged institutions lens. We have to realise arly values of the world of learning. He can be successfully synthesised using edged that his achievements in the past Dr Dlamini Prof Pullabhotla said: “Super- his PhD required setting career goals and that this is not a realistic way of looking concluded that universities must take an a pure bioflocculant and the findings two years were a result of the contributions visors can offer assistance more effectively working hard in order to reach them. at a crisis because all institutions are born active part in the social revolution that is from colonial experience. promoting African consciousness. UNIZULU at forefront of boosting number of academic doctors in SA universities Naledi Hlefane University of Johannesburg, University institutions to jointly supervise a team of Zululand as partner institution 1 and of doctoral candidates. Based on collab- The University of Zululand’s (UNIZULU) Glasgow University as partner institution orative principles the model moves away Faculty of Commerce, Administration 2 was submitted… The project (collabo- from “supervisor as expert” and moves and Law (FCAL), in collaboration with ration grant) is to support activities for towards a shared, collaborative approach the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the development of joint partnership to the studies. the University of Glasgow (UoG), has programmes in support of doctoral train- Moreover, the programme is extend- been awarded a grant set to increase the ing for academics at South African public ing the collaborative approach to devel- percentage of academics with PhD qual- higher education institutions. The grant oping our future professors at South ifications in South African universities. higher education (including enhancing was awarded in December 2019 and is African institutions where both experi- The grant has been awarded as part the infrastructure and resources for PhD active effectively from 2020.” enced and novice supervisors at partner of the United Kingdom- South Africa and master’s supervision). Phase 2 of the Following a rigorous selection process, institutions work in supervisory teams University Staff Doctoral Programme, USDP is intended to increase the number ten candidates who are full-time academ- to guide the candidates. The UNIZULU the second phase of the University Staff of permanent academic and professional ics in six South African universities were supervisory team involves Prof Greyling Doctoral Programme (USDP) which was staff at South African universities with selected to participate in this programme. and Dr Makhosazana Vezi-Magigaba and launched by the Department of Higher doctoral degrees while also building Of the ten candidates, three are from Dr Nokukhanya Jili, while Prof Irrshad Education and Training (DHET) in July supervisory capacity in postgraduate UNIZULU, three from Tshwane Univer- Kaseeram serves as a coordinator. 2018. programmes. sity of Technology, while the University For the duration of their study, the The USDP initiative falls under DHET’s To support this drive, the British of Venda, University of Mpumalanga doctoral candidates will attend a series of broader University Capacity Develop- Council partnered with DHET and issued and University of Technology Learning Academies. These will allow the ment Programme which focuses on stu- a call in 2019 for a collaboration devel- are each represented by single candidates. participants to hone and develop their dent development, staff development and opment grant. The doctoral programme officially research skills while meeting academics programme or curriculum development. Prof Lorraine Greyling, FCAL Dean commenced in June with candidates from across participating universities. The Among the objectives of the USDP is and one of the UNIZULU supervisors coming together to consider the foun- academies will also offer an important From Left: Professor Mashupye Kgaphola, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation; Professor promoting collaborations that seek to of the USDP, explained: “In 2019, a HEI dations of PhD study. The model of super- space for the candidates to engage in Xoliswa Mtose, UNIZULU Vice-Chancellor; Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah, renowned sociologist and guest increase the number of academics with (higher education institutions) consor- vision that has been established offers peer support during what can be a lonely speaker during the recent public lecture at UNIZULU; and Dr Maxwell Shamase, Acting Deputy Dean: PhDs in South African institutions of tia collaboration grant application with an opportunity for staff from the three journey of study. Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Arts. Picture: James Thwala