Let’s celebrate with Fort Hare

THIS week’s guest writer for In Touch is former Rep reporter

In 1949, a young man arrived at the University of Fort Hare in the small town of Alice, in the Eastern Cape, to pursue a degree in history and English.

The scholarship he had been granted could not cover all the university fees, which placed his dream to study in jeopardy. He was Robert Mugabe, the current President of Zimbabwe.

Indeed, few universities on the African continent can claim to have produced five African presidents – Seretse Khama, Kenneth Kaunda, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere and Mugabe. All these great leaders are Fort Hare alumni, as are many great men and women such as ANC stalwarts Oliver Tambo and Govan Mbeki.

As we celebrate 100 years of Fort Hare’s existence, we call on all South Africans and Africans to tell their stories and remember how this university has shaped black education over the years.

Fort Hare remains a leader in higher education among the former black institutions. It produced graduates who challenged the unjust system of apartheid that was founded on principles of discrimination and segregation.

We must ensure that these institutions hold their rightful place in history and continue to produce graduates who will move the country forward.

The centenary celebration gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the role University of Fort Hare has played in the fight against apartheid and in educating black South Africans and Africans. We owe our freedom to institutions like Fort Hare who produced leaders who would shape the course of our history.

Thanks to the foundation created by institutions like Fort Hare, in our country in 1994, we had leaders who began a journey that said together we must work to eradicate all forms of discrimination based on racism, gender, sexual orientation, religion, culture, language, ethnicity and disability.

Today, we continue to underscore the message that higher education institutions can and must do more to break down the artificial barriers of culture, race or religion that still divide us.