Unisa online - Prof Makhanya's Investiture celebrates new beginnings

Unisa celebrates as Prof Mandla Makhanya is inaugurated as the eighth Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Unisa

From humble beginnings as a junior lecturer in Unisa’s Department of Sociology in 1989, Unisa’s recently appointed Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mandla Makhanya, is not only a man who is familiar with the struggles of junior staff, he is also a man who is driven and dedicated as indicated by his rise through the academic ranks over the years.

Dr Mathews Phosa, Chairperson of Unisa Council, believes that this, together with the many senior leadership roles that Prof Makhanya has occupied over the years at the university, is testament to his exceptional academic and leadership acumen.   

This was shared last night (16 February 2011) with the Unisa community and other prominent guests as Prof Makhanya was officially inaugurated as the eighth Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Unisa. The celebration of the investiture and inauguration was attended by, among others, Prof Makhanya’s family; former President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, and his wife Zanele Mbeki; as well as numerous Vice-Chancellors from other South African universities.

In his address, Prof Makhanya identified some of the pragmatic, philosophical, academic and policy challenges that Unisa and many African universities face, and which need and ought to be overcome. He said that understanding “our” strengths, capabilities and limitations will help Unisa devise strategies to triumph over the challenges which limit “us”. “It obliges us to envision alternative praxes, philosophies and world outlooks, which cohere with the goals that we at Unisa have set for ourselves for the years 2011 to 2015 and beyond.”

Prof Makhanya also focused on Africanisation and its importance, stating that Africanisation constitutes one of the key ontological expressions of Unisa’s culture. “Over and above Unisa’s more strategic goals, Unisa is simultaneously committed to progressive processes of Africanisation, the aim of being to become a contextually and globally relevant and innovative university in the 21st century.”

He addressed the opportunities, prospects and alternative approaches to higher education, which he contends will be resourceful to the developmental needs of South Africa and the continent.

Prof Makhanya then identified some of the key, pragmatic strategies relevant for higher education in the 21st century and beyond, saying that Unisa will have to engage these strategies if society is to benefit from the university as the premier open and distance learning higher education institution in Africa.
   
In addition to the inauguration and investiture formalities, congratulatory messages were also passed on to Prof Makhanya from the National Students’ Representative Council, Executive Deans, the Institutional Forum, the Academic and Professional Staff Association, the Black Forum, Unisa’s Women’s Forum, Higher Education South Africa, and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa.