Matthews Gallery
17 May 2006
Master of Ceremonies, Professor Martin West
Distinguished guests
It is a privilege to be invited to this special naming ceremony.
I would like to thank the University of Cape Town for choosing to honour my
grandfather, Z.K. Matthews, by naming the atrium after him in the newly named
Hoerikwaggo building.
Naming places is an important activity in a country or a university
undergoing transformation. By giving new names to places or spaces we sign to
our citizens, our students or alumni, that people who were once excluded are
now included. That process is a critically important one in a country such as
ours.
In 1994 we began to build a unified South Africa, which belongs to all, and
reflects the history and life experiences of our people in all their
diversity.
I must confess that I am reluctant to speak about my grandfather. But I will
say a few words. I have been asked to pay tribute to his life. It is difficult
because as a granddaughter, I have little direct knowledge of his life
history.
ZK was a national icon whose life has come to belong to all South
Africans.
Part of ZKâs great legacy to South Africa was his training of a cadre of
students who were to assume pivotal roles in the liberation struggle in South
Africa. Among the many outstanding students who attended Fort Hare during ZKâs
tenure were Govan Mbeki, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Robert Sobukwe, Duma
Nokwe, GM Pitje, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
ZK also influenced students who were to assume leadership positions in the
anti-colonial struggles and independent states of southern and sub-Saharan
Africa. Among these are: Sir Seretse Khama (Botswana), Robert Mugabe
(Zimbabwe), Ntsu Mokhele (Lesotho), EKH Mudenda (Zambia), Charles Njonjo
(Kenya), and Yusuf Lule (Uganda). It was the intellectual activity of these
students in the 1940s that enshrined Fort Hare as the intellectual home of
resistance to colonialism and apartheid.
During his tenure at Fort Hare ZKâs academic reputation spread beyond the
borders of South Africa and in 1936, he was invited to become a member of a
Royal Commission to investigate and report on higher education for Africans in
the Territories of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Sudan. He excelled on the
Commission and a report spoke of the âgreatest respect for his balanced
judgment, and for his breadth of vision.â
ZKâs life epitomises the spirit of his times; that with persistence and
perseverance people can rise above challenges and obstacles and attain their
deepest dreams.
It was people like ZK who remind us that the intelligentsia could play a
crucial role in the day-to-day lives of our people. His life was a clear
demonstration of the fact that the intellectual realm was not to be seen as
something confined to the elites but as something grounded in everyday
life.
He saw no contradiction between intellectual activism and academic freedom.
In 1961 when he was honoured to give one of the first T B Davies lectures here
at UCT, he openly spoke of the role of a university in changing Africa, and the
contribution that South African universities in particular could make in
helping to address the problems that affect the African continent.
Today South Africa continues to face a range of complex challenges and
problems that require the participation of all intellectuals in their
resolution. I am aware that intellectual activism is often viewed sceptically
within academic circles. But a distinction needs to be made between uncritical
agreement with government and meaningful engagement particularly on issues that
affects us all.
ZK Matthews understood this distinction and he lived his life ensuring that
his commitment to the people of South Africa would be shown through enhancing
their access to quality education and through adding intellectual and practical
weight to the struggle for freedom.
Certainly our higher education system needs to redress past inequalities and
continue with the transformation process to ensure that we meet pressing
national needs while at the same time responding to new realities and
opportunities presented by changes in the global economy.
It is our collective responsibility as government and the higher education
sector to work towards developing a higher education system which supports a
democratic ethos and culture of human rights through educational programmes and
practices conducive to critical discourse and creative thinking, cultural
tolerance, and commitment to a humane, non-racial and non-sexist social
order.
I am pleased that our universities have made significant strides in this
regard. However, much still needs to be done to ensure that we accelerate our
responsiveness to the needs of communities that our institutions find in.
The University of Cape Town sees itself as playing a significant role in
providing excellent research and teaching while at the same time making sure
that it remains responsive to the provincial and national development of our
country. It emphasises the importance of an African ethos while at the same
time retaining global competitiveness. In its quest to become a âworld class
African universityâ, it highlights the need to continue to grapple with these
issues in order to forge a complex social and intellectual, national and
international identity, and also address the requirements of that
multidimensional identity.
The question we should always bear in mind as we move forward towards
creating a truly African University is, now that our institutions have
political freedom, academic freedom, and intellectual independence, has there
been a complementary increase in intellectual activism? Are we as intellectuals
following the guidelines and examples of the likes of ZK or W E B du Bois who
committed their lives to studying their people so that they could generate
relevant knowledge that could liberate them from oppression and ignorance?
I believe that we have potential Du Bois and ZKs in our institutions, but
their connection with social change imperatives seems to be far too minimal.
The solutions lie precisely here, at our institutions as custodians and
producers of knowledge. We only need to let their activities be felt, seen and
shared for the purposes of the common good of our people.
Again I thank the University of Cape Town for honouring ZK. I wish this
institution continued success in its role and contribution in the betterment of
the lives of our people.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Education
17 May 2006
