Chancellor, Honourable Justice Dikgang Moseneke;
Former Chancellor, Justice Richard Goldstone;
Former Vice Chancellors, ProfessorLoyiso Nongxa and Professor Robert Charlton;
Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of Council, Dr Randall Carolissen and Dr Brian Bruce;
Deputy Chairperson of Senate, Professor Helder Marques;
President of Convocation, ProfessorMamokgethi Phakeng;
President of the SRC, Mr Sibulele Mgudlwa;
Honourable Justices;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Vice Chancellors of South African Universities and their representatives;
Vice-Chancellors of the Universities of Lagos, Ibadan, Dar es Salaam, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lupane State University, and Morgan State University;
Members of Senate, Deputy Vice Chancellors, staff, students and alumni of the University of Witwatersrand;
All distinguished guests,
Professor Adam Habib.
Thank you for affording me the incredible privilege of participating in the installation of Professor Adam Habib as Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor of this most prestigious institution, the University of the Witwatersrand which celebrated its 90th anniversary last year.
Professor Habib will walk in the footsteps of his formidable predecessors and, I have no doubt, will create new footprints as he leads Wits into the future. It truly is an honour to address this audience on the occasion of the installation of Professor Habib as the leader of one of South Africa's internationally ranked premier institutions of learning and knowledge creation.
We might ask the question, why do we have such ceremonies, when a simple administrative procedure would do, and in fact has already been done? Why all the pomp and grandeur? The fact of the matter is that rituals and observance of cultural practices, along with respect for tradition are as much part of the way our species exists, as technological advancement is.
This ceremony has all the trappings of a religious rite of passage, preserved over the generations. Above all, ceremonies such as these are a means by which we usher in change and move forward, while reaffirming our links with the past. Growth starts from where we are, however complex and blemished our history, and we are here today to focus our collective attention on this precious truth.
The university itself epitomises this juxtaposition of history and development, of memory and innovation. The university is where we not only preserve the past, but further develop our understanding of it, adding depth and layers and nuances, on the premise that there is always value in having a deeper understanding of where we come from and our place in the world. In this regard South Africa owes a particular debt to Wits.
To mention a few examples, Wits stands out for its outstanding contributions to palaeontology, through which humankind has gained a fuller appreciation of its origins and development.
These contributions go back many decades to the eras of Prof Raymond Dart, and then Prof Phillip Tobias, and have flourished in more recent times through the discovery of a new species in the tree of evolution by Professor Lee Berger and his colleagues, who have done extensive inter-disciplinary work in the Cradle of Humankind, not too many kilometres from this Great Hall.
We now know that two million years ago, this campus was visited by a likely human ancestor of ours named “Australopithecus Sediba". Today Wits University is home to the richest collection of hominid fossils in the world, the richest evidence of our early ancestry has poignant symbolism for an institution of learning and research.
The recently launched Palaeosciences Centre of Excellence will in the words of the Head of the Centre, Professor Bruce Rubidge, “with its diverse palaeontological and archaeological heritage, which includes the earliest evidence of life… establish South Africa as a world leader in this field of research.”
In our more recent past, Prof Peter Delius has helped us to understand the historical and social complexities of land relations, including the fraught realities of land dispossession, while Prof Belinda Bozzoli has authored classic texts depicting the sociological and experiential dimensions of the migrant labour system under apartheid.
As much as it honours the past and deepens our understanding of it, the university is also at the forefront of paving the way to a better and more sustainable future. Last year, South Africa was awarded a starring role, so to speak, in the global Square Kilometre Array radio telescope project.
Wits played a role in our success in winning the highly competitive bid, and we expect it to play an even greater role in the long-term implementation of the SKA. The School of Physics is home to two NRF-funded research chairs of direct relevance to the SKA, namely the SKA Chair in Radio Astronomy and the Research Chair in Theoretical Particle Cosmology. Through the SKA, Wits and other institutions will help extend the frontiers knowledge of a number of disciplines, including cosmology, computational and applied mathematics, and string theory.
Wits is also actively involved in the Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials, through which Dr Shane Durbach and Prof Alex Quandt created an interdisciplinary research initiative called the Materials for Energy Research Group, which is pushing the envelope in such exciting fields as photo-voltaics, solar-thermal energy, and hydrogen production and storage.
The social sciences are as vital as the pure sciences in directing us to a better future. Dr Sam Kariuki has helped us appreciate the challenges of land reform since 1994, and Dr Sarah Mosoetsa has exposed how households adapt their livelihood strategies to a rapidly changing employment environment, in the face of which our technological prowess sometimes seems quite impotent.
Of course, perhaps the most obvious way in which the university helps link the past to the future is in the creation of new generations of educated South Africans. In this respect, a key priority since 1994 has been to redress the long-standing racial inequities in access to higher education. So how have we done?
Student enrolments have almost doubled, from about 470 000 in 1993, to some 940 000 in 2011. In the process, there has been extensive deracialisation of the student body: in 1993 black students constituted 52% of the student body; by 2011 this statistic had changed to over 78% of overall enrolments in higher education institutions. This effectively means that the number of black students enrolled in higher education institutions has increased by a factor of three since the beginning of our non-racial democracy.
Women now constitute almost 60% of students in public higher education institutions, redressing a historical bias in favour of men. Recent developments include the refurbishment of many of the Further Education and Training colleges, and the decision to establish two new universities, with construction due to start in September this year.
Despite our many challenges, these are achievements to celebrate as we approach the 20th anniversary of democracy in South Africa.
Nonetheless, we know that we still have many challenges ahead. As Prof Njabulo Ndebele reflects in a recent report from the Council on Higher Education, "...although South Africa has ... witnessed a significant growth in enrolment in both the schooling and higher education sectors, graduate output has not kept pace with the country's needs. High attrition and low graduation rates have largely neutralised important gains in access."
The challenge of inducting young minds into new disciplines was never an easy thing. As Phillip Tobias once reflected:
"'Never lose your sense of wonderment I have repeatedly said [to my students]. How sad I have felt, and how sympathetic, when I have been confronted, happily not often, with a student who is blasé, uninterested, beset with a closed mind. The retention of my personal sense of wonderment and of enthusiasm has played a big part throughout my life."
None of us would dispute that inducting young minds successfully into new disciplines, and preparing them for meaningful careers in the public sector, the corporate world and in civil society is a major task of our universities. The Council on Higher Educationtask team on the Undergraduate Curriculum Structure has outlined the complex challenges that this poses to the university and to students.
Thus the Council has called for curriculum reforms for undergraduate studies in particular. We do know that one of the reasons for low graduation rates is the expense of higher education. This is why, under Minister Nzimande's leadership, government-supported bursaries for study at Further Education and Training Colleges and universities effectively doubled between 2010 and 2013, from R2,5 billion benefitting 211 000 students, to R5,7 billion targeting 433 000 students.
Wits is part of these exciting changes, and, under the leadership of Professor Habib, will be expected to actively continue and nurture that sense of wonderment and enthusiasm for discovery in the university’s faculties and its students.
Before closing, I would like to turn your attention to the question of academic culture, and the links between the university and everyday life. A government document published in 1997 noted that South Africa was "confronted with the challenge of reconstructing domestic social and economic relations to eradicate and redress the inequitable patterns of ownership, wealth and social and economic practices that were shaped by segregation and apartheid."
This is not an especially remarkable statement, except for the fact that the document in question was the White Paper on Higher Education, and the point of course was that higher education cannot be only an "academic pursuit", in the ivory tower sense of that expression.
Obviously, these challenges are still very much with us, and the role of fundamental research may run the risk of being overshadowed by the demand for solutions to immediate pressing problems. However, neglecting fundamental research would mean that we would never have contemplated hosting the Square Kilometre Array, which relies on fundamental and deep knowledge in the fields of mathematics, physics and astronomy in order to probe the origins of the universe.
Neglecting fundamental research would mean that we would not have the tools to find the solutions to the burden of diseases that afflict our country, particularly HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Fundamental and applied research is two sides of the coin of new knowledge, the generation of which is the primary role of the university. Indeed, he genesis of all innovation and development is the ability to ask a fundamental question: Why?
I would like to recognise our friend and colleague, Prof Loyiso Nongxa. We are in awe of the contribution that you have made in taking this University forward. During your tenure, the culture of research flourished. Wits now boasts over 220 NRF-rated researchers, of whom 16 are A-rated, as well as seven research institutes; 20 research units; 20 SARCHi Chairs; and six centres of excellence. Congratulations!
This brings me back to Professor Adam Habib. While there is no doubt that Professor Habib has the academic stature and leadership qualities to lead a major university such as Wits, he has been selected to lead the university in confronting challenging social and economic realities, at the same time ensuring that the work of the university is grounded in making sense of these realities.
During Professor Habib's brief time here, he has already dealt decisively with sexual predators, and in a direct and refreshing manner invited the Wits community to acknowledge some of the problems associated with employment outsourcing.
The passing of the academic gown to a new Vice Chancellor is significant because it raises the possibility of new directions and added vigour to an institution which already holds pride of place among our leading universities - a university with a reputation of research and academic excellence that commits itself to “changing tomorrow.”
Of course, the incumbent is just a human being like all of us, and he will wear this mantle only for a short time. But it comes with the responsibility to add to the 90 years of achievement, to promote creativity and critical thinking, to explore new ideas and innovations.
I believe that Professor Habib will lead Wits to confront our common social and economic realities in new and direct ways, contributing to a brighter future for our country and helping us realize the vision in the National Development Plan, which opens with the following words.
“South Africa belongs to all its people and the future of our country is our collective future. Making is work is our collective responsibility. All South African seek a better future for themselves and their children. The National Development Plan is a plan for the country to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030 through uniting South African, unleashing the energies of its citizens, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capability of the state and leaders working together to solve complex problems”
I believe Professor Habib has all the requisite qualities for the new mantle he carries - insight, courage, humility, tenacity and more. I look forward to working with you and watching you lead Wits into a new era, and wish you great success.
Thank you!
