Programme Director;
Vice-Chancellor and Principal;
Chairperson of Council;
Members of Council and Senate;
Members of the Institutional Forum;
UNIVEN alumni;
Sponsors;
Esteemed Guests;
University staff and students;
Graduandi;
Parents;
Ladies and gentlemen:
I wish to thank all of you for gracing this occasion and making it all the more meaningful for our graduandi.
The graduation ceremony is the highlight of a university's academic life and by extension that of the broader society.
It is therefore always more than an honour to preside over this graduation ceremony of the University of Venda.
Indeed I am pleased to share this moment with the class of 2012, particularly during this year which marks the 30th Anniversary of the University of Venda.
Over the years the work of this university has contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of not only the region but the entire nation, producing alumni that today occupy significant positions in both the public and private sector.
Education remains the critical tool to kit people out with the intellectual and cognitive wherewithal, enabling them to understand their world and their social experiences in order to change them for the better.
I am therefore confident that this achievement you are celebrating today will go a long way towards eradicating the challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment that still plague our society.
Contributing to the success of our nation, and helping others in your families and communities, is the most fitting way to thank your parents, families, and sponsors for having sacrificed so much to get you here.
You bear in your hands both the torch and the flag of a great university.
We hope too that today is only the beginning of things to come, because collectively education and academic advancement is the greatest gift one can give to a nation.
Indeed education is a lifelong commitment and as long as someone is willing to teach, someone else ought also to be willing to learn.
In all 1 700 students are graduating from the University of Venda in this ceremony. These include graduates from Schools of Agriculture, Social Sciences, Law, Environmental Sciences, Management Sciences, Health Sciences, Education as well as Mathematics and Natural Sciences. All these schools provide the necessary research output and produce graduates needed for the development of our nation.
Whether building our infrastructure, addressing our basic education needs, creating skills base in the areas of science and technology or preserving our environment, among others, all these schools that are graduating students over these two days are as indispensable to our country as the air we breathe.
We wish you the best for the future. Make the University proud by being hard working, innovative, committed, and ethical in your future roles in the workplace and leadership.
By hard work, commitment and innovation in whatever institutions you will be attached to, you will be enhancing the prestige of the University of Venda from where you have graduated.
Lastly, I would also like to pay tribute to the academics, administrative as well as support staff for providing the necessary support during your stay at the University of Venda. They have indeed played an extremely instrumental role towards your progress as future leaders.
I once again wish to congratulate you on your achievements, confident that you will go into the real world to make us proud and to fashion South Africa as a winning nation.
I thank you.
