Programme Director
Council Chairperson: Ms Phumla Mnganga
Deputy Chair of Council: Mr Karl Schmidt
Members of UKZN Council
Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Renuka Vithal
Vice-Chancellor of UZ: Professor Fikile Mazibuko
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of WSU: Professor Ngubentombi
Research Director at DUT, Professor Sibusiso Moyo
Members of the Executive Management
Deans and Heads of Schools
Senior Professors and Academics
Members of the Convocation Executive
Members of the SRC
Staff & Students
Donors
Captains of Industry
Good Evening
Thank you for inviting us to the launch of the Transformation Charter of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
The organisers of this event have prudently ensured that in the programme, they place this keynote address just before dinner is served, like all proverbial brevities, if we were to paraphrase the Shakespearean sonnet, let me not to the marriage of true minds, we will most likely try not to interfere between the marriage of intellectual reflection and the wonderful celebrations that should accompany this magnificent occasion.
I must acknowledge that your university young as it is, like many other medieval universities, is entering a scholarly and humanitarian trajectory which defines what universities should contribute to society. In medieval times universities emerged as centres of knowledge and development.
In this regard, you may agree with me that post liberation struggle we require universities that promote education which are generally transformed to ensure that they contribute to the creation of a truly united and a prosperous nation. In the same vein, we acknowledge that the vision for university education as construed by architects of apartheid is one which sought to portray education as an exclusive reserve for a different sector of society, to which the colour of one’s skin and gender determined access.
This is why the ushering of a democratic South Africa meant that, prime amongst the tasks of the democratic government, we must at our very best, transform universities not only as reservoirs for knowledge production, but also as critical apparatuses in nation building. The White Paper on Higher Education Transformation correctly states that, “higher education plays a central role in the societal cultural and economic development of modern societies”.
In this regard, the White Paper was adopted with the view that our country must observe the time-honoured tradition of academic freedom and institutional autonomy. This was done to ensure that politics of the day do not interfere with the duty of the academy to produce relevant knowledge to help us achieve the vision set out in the constitution. But at the same time institutional autonomy must not be used to block transformation or to pursue corrupt activities. It must be balanced against public accountability and good governance.
Chairperson, what therefore should be the true meaning of transformation of our universities, allow me to take you back a little to our Stakeholder Summit on Higher Education and Transformation which we held at Cape Peninsula University of Technology on 22 April 2010. You will recall that at the Summit we acknowledged that we need to move towards defining transformation broadly, beyond overcoming of racial divisions but fundamentally to seek to radically change our society, including our education and training system so that it is able to contribute positively to that radical change.
In order to fulfil that desire, the system itself, therefore, should be designed and developed in such a way that it is able to address the desired radical change. The logic here is simple and it is that we cannot seek to transform society if our own education system and institutions, which is critical in the transformation of the society, is itself not transformed.
I must acknowledge the tremendous achievements your institution has made in the area of transformation. I have been made aware that 64% of total student enrolments in 2012 are African; that 62% of graduates in 2011 were females; 33% of academic leadership was female in 2011. That UKZN’s had 48% of permanent academic staff having PhD as highest qualification compared to 33% of national average. Indeed, my department has for a number of years proved that the higher the number of academics with PhD qualifications, the better the research and graduate output at that institution. It is also encouraging to learn that 47% of academic staff are female compared to the sector average of 44%.
You have also led in the percentage of professors with Doctorates in the country, where 87% of your professors with PHD surpass the national average of 84%. And please, I urge you, maintain quality in professional appointments.
These achievements are not only a reflection of visionary leadership which we have witnessed, they are also an indication that if education is progressively utilised to achieve greater progress, it could be an instrument to achieve greatness as the theme of the launch so says. If our institutions are to excel in many spheres, then they should take seriously the qualifications of their academics, and I cannot resist the temptation to mention that they should also look after their conditions of employment as well. I also hope you will not regard this achievement as a destination and become complacent, but as a build up towards a better institution and continually serving its immediate community.
I am sure you are aware that the Soudien report indicated that our higher education system remains untransformed. The report advised me to establish a national oversight committee on transformation. I am happy to announce that after many considerations I have decided to establish an oversight committee on transformation. Some of the objectives of the Oversight Committee will be to:
- Conduct annual audits on transformation activities within universities, including but not limited to, participation of stakeholder bodies, participative governance and accountable management structures, hierarchy and salaries, student fees, access and success, curriculum, check against racism, sexism, the promotion of cultures, languages, ethnicity, conscience, social strata, sexual orientation, gender, disability and student accommodation.
- Monitor the efficiencies, effectiveness and where necessary, facilitate capacity building for governance structures so as to optimise their performance as defined in the Higher Education Act.
- Ensure that all university councils develop transformation frameworks, including transformation indicators with set targets. The targets should form the basis of performance contracts and measure for the Vice-Chancellors.
- Monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of quality assurance bodies to inform transformation on academic architecture of institutions, particularly on issues of curricular and languages, contextual relevance and access as these are solidly grounded on social justice imperatives.
- Monitor and report any suppression of change agencies by dominant interest groups within institutions and across the sector in general, including the influence of alumni and cooperate sponsors among others.
- Identify best practices and challenges in the area of equity, for both academic and professional staff so as to promote fairness and openness.
- Identify and report any breach of the Constitution and advise the Minister on an appropriate course of action.
At the risk of being misunderstood Chairperson, allow me to indicate that we are not prone to a policing exercise of institutions, we aim to work closely with institutions to achieve the transformation goals of the White Paper. The reality is that incidents such as the Reitz residence saga which led to the investigation of the sector and the release of the Soudien report; the death of a student at North West University during the orientation period; reported initiation practices at some of the university residences, are part of the indication that we must escalate our effort to transform the university system.
I am actually encouraged to note that your institution is a leading example of the transformation project. For instance, I was impressed to learn that apart from the UKZN Charter, you have also created the UKZN PACT which seeks to promote mutual respect, responsibility, and excellence in teaching and learning. Equally, the provisions of the transformation charter are quite fitting. The charter’s objectives include a commitment to a culture of research, teaching and learning and scholarship. I must emphasise my delight in noting that this university links transformation to erudition and excellence. This is a reflection of the maturity in thinking of both the student leadership, the faculty and institutional leadership. This country deserves and desperately needs to produce scholars of note.
We will all agree that the Charter becomes a yardstick by which all of us should abide. Allow me to posit that, Charters may be created, but without true commitment of members of staff and students of this universities, this Charter can only become an empty policy and just a piece of paper.
The Soudien Report elaborates on the question of institutional culture as a major determinant of how an institution is transformed. The student to lecture relations, the decision-making processes, student to student relations, academic staff and non-academic staff relations, support for junior staff who are positioned to pursue higher qualifications, social cohesion and other aspects which reflect the institutional culture are central to the successful implementation of the Charter.
I note with excitement in the report from the management that this charter is not a ploy by management to embellish themselves, but a product of the entire institution. It will therefore assist us that as constituencies of the university we truly embrace it and ensure that in the everyday life of the institution, it becomes our code of practice.
Chairperson, you will agree with me that universities primarily exist to develop society, the only major principle I noted that what the charter does not address is that of transforming the university as an agent for community development. The university prides itself as a premier African University; indeed UKZN is a premier institution not only in South Africa but also a university in KwaZulu-Natal. I would hope that this principle of community development could be explored by the universities. But nothing stops you from community deployment of students while they are studying.
My department is currently exploring the idea of introduction of compulsory community serve for those who have completed their studies in our universities.
In conclusion, let me express my sincere appreciation of the university in having developed this charter, I hope the Charter will become a living document that will enable the institution to continue along this promising path.
Thank you.
