New vice-chancellor, a beacon of hope
This column tries to pontificate about matters of the political economy and attempts to point out gaps and, humbly, suggest workable solutions. But every now and then, it will deviate from this mandate to celebrate South Africans who are doing well.
So, bear with your columnist as he dedicates this space to acknowledging the well-deserved elevation of Tshilidzi Marwala to the post of vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Marwala, whose 30-page curriculum vitae reads like an obituary of a 90-year old, takes over in January from Ihron Rensburg.
His promotion, after nearly a decade of service to the university, represents one of the best, but rare, examples of succession-planning for one of the most strategically significant posts in our country. This is when the system works.
It’s hard to celebrate Marwala’s enormous achievements without recalling painful episodes in our past, especially those regarding the higher education sector. Two come to mind. First, there is Malegapuru Makgoba, and then there’s the case of Samuel Nolutshungu.
Makgoba came within a heartbeat of becoming the University of the Witwatersrand’s first African vice-chancellor in the 1990s. His march to the high office was scuttled by reactionary forces in the university.
Nolutshungu accepted the job, only to turn it down a few months later due to ill-health, before dying months later of cancer.
In a positive turn of events, Makgoba was later appointed vice-chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he served two successful terms before becoming the inaugural national health ombudsman.
But we are digressing. This is about Marwala who is, without doubt, supremely qualified for the job.
In so many ways, Marwala, a mechanical engineer who has published 10 books on artificial intelligence, is fortunate. He takes over a new university that was one of the most successful mergers resulting from Kader Asmal’s restructuring of the tertiary education sector.
UJ is a product of the merger of Vista and Rand Afrikaans universities and Wits Technikon.
While talking about Marwala’s appointment, a friend observed that UJ’s major achievements include it becoming a university of choice among students, benefiting handsomely from the association with the internationally recognisable name, Johannesburg. It’s trendy and is attracting good teaching and research talent.
In 2016, at the height of the #FeesMustFall turbulence, UJ was curiously an island of stability in the sea of chaos and violence that engulfed neighbouring Wits, where students fought running battles with the police daily.
In part, this was due to the management’s response, which was a combination of stringent security and low-key but robust engagement with the issues.
Apart from the self-contained nature of UJ, which enabled security arrangements to be enforced with ease, the character and temperament of the leadership was another factor that contributed to the peace the university enjoyed.
The absence of a co-ordinated national strategy to deal with the fees crisis also helped UJ to deal with the protests.
Out of the glare of headlines, UJ, which has a significant property portfolio to house its growing student population, has made considerable progress in extending financial assistance to needy academically deserving students.
Still, at a national level, the fees issue remains unresolved and is festering.
Typically, the government has kept it in abeyance, sending it to a commission of inquiry and implementing a Band-Aid measure of a 0% fees increase and a plan for the so-called missing middle —those students whose parents earn too much for them to be assisted by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, but are too poor to pay the fees themselves.
This crisis may yet explode again come February, when students return for the new academic year, as the government doesn’t seem to have a long-term plan. Besides, time has run out to implement whatever recommendations will be made by the judicial commission of inquiry on fees.
How UJ deals with the fees crisis will be one of the key tests of Marwala’s leadership. His direct reports speak fondly of his leadership style; they say he gives space and support to his team.
Having bedded down the merger and positioned UJ, the challenge for the university under Marwala will be to build it into a truly South African international university.
One of the opportunities in the higher education sector is a high-quality business school. Establishing a UJ business school could be one of Marwala’s legacy projects.
The appointment of Marwala is also a test of whether there is space in the leadership ranks for genuinely decent people to succeed, or whether it’s only mean psychopaths who brutalise their charges who make it.
HOW UJ DEALS WITH THE FEES CRISIS WILL BE ONE OF THE KEY TESTS OF MARWALA’S LEADERSHIP. REPORTS SPEAK FONDLY OF HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE