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A carefully crafted address by former president Thabo Mbeki laid bare the immense role played by the late struggle stalwart Walter Sisulu in the fight for liberation of the oppressed during the Apartheid regime, as well as his participation in the negotiated settlement of 1990.
In what was a hybrid platform, Mbeki narrated during the Walter Siulu Memorial Lecture, on Saturday 26 June, the life and times of the late Walter Sisulu to a small audience consisting of some of WSU’s executive management, members of the Sisulu family, as well as WSU convocants, whilst simultaneously being beamed to a much larger audience via a virtual platform.
“I am also happy to note that I deliver this Lecture on an important day in our history. Today, 66 years ago, the Congress of the People, meeting in Kliptown, Johannesburg, adopted that historic document, The Freedom Charter. This day, June 26th, was and is important because it was marked by the liberation movement since 1950 as Freedom Day,” said Mbeki.
He also noted the incredibly important moment the day represented – a day on which 66 years ago the Congress of the People meeting in Kliptown, Johannesburg, adopted The Freedom Charter, whilst also acknowledging the significance the year 2021 represents – a year which sees he South African constitution in its 25th year of existence since being adopted as the supreme law of the land in 1996.
The lecture, delivered just three days before the first 100 days in office of the university’s Vice-Chancellor and principal, Prof Rushiella Songca, is realised, sought to also cast an acute eye on Sisulu’s endless sacrifices in his and his comrades’ pursuit of liberation.
“I am certain that all of us will recall that the Defence during the Rivonia Trial used Walter Sisulu as in fact its principal witness, a responsibility he discharged with distinction – truly cum laude!”
“This was testimony that in him our liberation movement, led by the ANC, and the people of South Africa, were blessed to have a true revolutionary – who would never betray his comrades, the struggle and the revolution; who was prepared to sacrifice his life for the revolution to succeed; who would go to the gallows singing, to give courage and set an example to future generations never to betray the people,” said Mbeki.
Quite fittingly, Mbeki paused to reflect on current events – the politics of the ANC and the state of the nation, and how these occurrences would square up against dreams and aspirations Sisulu had for his people following his unrelenting fight for emancipation.
He posed a poignant question which sought to interrogate the reasons why, as described by his comrade and current state president during the ANC’s 54th National Conference, the ANC had sunk to the lowest depths.
“A number of negative features within the ANC and the broad democratic movement have emerged during the last three years. One of these negative features is the emergence of careerism within our ranks. Many among our members see their membership of the ANC as a means to advance their personal ambitions to attain positions of power and access to
resources for their own individual gratification,” said Mbeki scathingly.
Quite aptly, he addressed, in some depth, the current trajectory of the South African higher education sector – its trials and tribulations, as well as its promise and potential.
In a sobering account, Mbeki, in his effort to capture and relate the dire situation in the higher education sector, cited some bone-chilling statistics that paint a scary picture.
“It was reported in 2017 that around 60% of young South Africans effectively drop out of school, with no school-leaving qualification to their names, and that out of each 100 learners that begin school in Grade One, half will dropout, 40 will successfully complete the NSC exam, and only 12 will be eligible to pursue higher education.”
“It has also been reported that our universities can accommodate only 18% of our matriculants, and of that 18%, nearly half (47%) will drop out. Earlier this year, DHET reported that in the period 2016-2018, only 9.2% of students who enrolled for the National Certificate Vocational (Level 2) in 2016, completed the qualification within the 3-year expected time frame, which was a far cry from the target of 75% set by the National Development Plan (NDP) for 2030.
In her response, human settlements, water and sanitation minister and daughter to Walter Sisulu, Lindiwe Sisulu, challenged the WSU community to always strive to live by the values of her father.
“To the students of Walter Sisulu University, whose initiative this is and remains. When the family was first approached to give its name to the University, there was a great deal of controversy around naming institutions like this one after people. The then Minister of Higher Education then, Professor Kader Asmal, vehemently opposed this practice.”
“Asmal's contention centred on the notion that it in a historical setting had not proven good practice. He, in addition, remonstrated practices of this nature were bereft of supporting research that it yielded the aspirational results that initially were intended. There were, of course, several other interpretations and arguments. However, what finally prevailed was, this is an institution that predominantly caters for the very people that Walter Sisulu represented,” said Sisulu.
- Thando Cezula
