inauguration of Professor L V Mazwi-Tanga as Vice-Chancellor of the Cape
Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town
19 May 2006
Dr Rev Louw
Distinguished gests
Professor Tanga, I am delighted to say a few words at your inauguration.
The word inauguration is ancient Greek in origin and derives from the Greek
words âaugurs/auguriesâ. When you were installing someone to high office, it
was important to make sure that all was well in the natural world and the
alignment of the stars was propitious for such an important event. You had to
check that all âauguredâ well.
I checked the signs before coming here this evening and found that all was
well.
Your choice as Vice-Chancellor has been the result of an inclusive and
democratic process involving all the stakeholders: students, staff, council and
community. Currently you make up the second of a brace of women to hold this
high office in our country and as such you will be a role model to many women
in our country. Your elevation is also a sign that more and more young women
see a career in science and technology. Your inauguration as Vice-Chancellor is
a recognition of the importance of technikon education, which was previously
accorded a lower status in our elitist education hierarchy.
There is now little doubt that technology, the applied science of
innovation, is changing our lives faster than at any other time in history.
Science and Technology can improve our lives and does improve our lives.
It will be your task, Professor Tanga, to be a missionary for technology in
our country, to show to our people just how innovative we are. And we are
innovative. We do not tell people, unless we fly into space or make a film
using a cell phone. They are thousands of innovators in our country who are
making lives easier for others and making careers for themselves.
You will also need to be a missionary for redress. Because the legacies of
inequality in our education system are, as I have said before, like a crocodile
skin, hard to penetrate and hard to change.
We have the largest number of scientists and technologists in Africa, but
only one out of every five of them is black. Decades of Bantu Education have
deprived our children of trained teachers in the natural sciences and
mathematics in our schools and hence of students seeking to pursue these
subjects at tertiary level.
The task you have assumed, Professor Tanga, is huge. I know you have the
ability and the confidence to make a good fist of it. I congratulate you on
your appointment.
Issued by: Department of Education
19 May 2006
