Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair

RDP of the soul: Recentring the church’s role in society

Maybe it is time to dismantle the “traditional pulpit” so that church leaders are right in the centre among the people and not detached from everyday realities and voices. This was one of the thought-provoking messages at a symposium hosted by the Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair during Unisa’s Research and Innovation Week. Read more

Morehouse College Oprah Winfrey Fellows hosted at Unisa

The university's Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair recently hosted Morehouse College Oprah Winfrey Fellows and Unisa students at the Unisa Library for a transformative dialogue on the various forms of global crises and how they affect academic spaces. Read more

Inyathi: Theorising South African Women's Intellectual Legacies

To celebrate African women scholars, activists and artists, and to support and build on women’s collective cultural inheritance, Unisa's Department of Leadership and Transformation recently held a thought-provoking book discussion on Inyathi Ibuzwa Kwabaphambili: Theorising South African Women’s Intellectual Legacies. Read more

New open access book unveils The Faces and Phases of Inkosi Albert Luthuli

Unisa Press has published The Faces and Phases of Inkosi Albert Luthuli, an open-access book edited by Prof Puleng Segalo and Dr Tinyiko Chauke. The book explores Luthuli's legacy and its relevance to today's social and political challenges, urging readers to reflect on ongoing injustices in South Africa. Read more

New essays offer fresh insights into Albert Luthuli’s enduring example of integrity, selflessness

The Faces and Phases of Inkosi Albert Luthuli: Reflections reveals previously untold stories and offers new perspectives on Luthuli’s legacy. Read more

Reliving Luthuli: Reflecting on the past to reimagine the future

Speaking at Unisa's 5th Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair Founders Lecture themed "Pan-Africanism: revisiting (looking back) and reimagining (looking forward)", Prof Puleng Segalo said the chair is deliberate in embarking on projects that attend to the revisiting and retelling of African stories. Read more

Rehab for South Africa’s female inmates focuses on domestic chores – instead of finding good work

Corrections facilities are supposed to help rehabilitate offenders. However, during apartheid, South Africa’s correctional system was a pillar of the repressive, discriminatory laws. It was used to punish those – mainly the black majority – perceived to be a threat to the white minority regime. Read more

The power of needlework: how embroidery is helping South African women tell unspeakable stories

In the first three weeks of that lockdown the Gender Based Violence Command Centre, designed to support victims of gender-based violence (GBV), recorded more than 120,000 victims. Also in its 2019/2020 crimes statistics, the South African Police Services indicated that an average of 116 rape cases were reported each day. Read more

Stimulate discussion, exchange information and encourage research cooperation among African researchers

Africa’s position in the global knowledge production ecosystem needs to change significantly. African knowledge systems, languages, knowledge actors and institutions must take their rightful place in global thought processes. Even more critical is the central place that such repositioning is bound to have in upholding African dignity. In this essay, we argue that the current global ecosystem of knowledge production exhibits multiple layers of injustices and inequities entrenched in its orientations, institutions, policy and legal frameworks and practices. Read more

Unisa @ 150: Historic transformative research charter launched

Speaking at the launch of a new Africa Charter for advancing transformative research collaborations between Africa and the rest of the world, Prof Puleng LenkaBula, Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor, said that the ambitious initiative creates a platform to reframe collaborations in the spirit of mutual respect among and shared aspirations of participants. Read more