Cecil Seethal adds another accolade to his academic cap
Professor Cecil Seethal, a former teacher at Woodlands High, Raisethorpe Secondary and Dunveria Secondary schools, has had two of his research papers published as chapters in books authored by his peers.
The first, "The State of Languages in South Africa" has been published as part of a book titled Language, Society and the State in a Changing World, while the other, which delves deeply into his experiences in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, as well as his studies abroad, is currently under review at the UKZN Press.
Born in Pietermaritzburg in 1949, Seethal experienced the wrath of apartheid both in his studies and work places. Undaunted, he completed 16-years of post-matriculation studies, graduating with six university degrees, a postgraduate diploma in education and a certificate in proof-reading and copyediting. He completed his BA degree, University Education Diploma and BED degree at the University of South Africa (Unisa) and a BA Honours degree (geography) at the University of Durban-westville (UDW).
Faced with obstacles to enhance his studies in South Africa, Seethal graduated with the MA degree at the University of Newcastle-upon-tyne, England in 1979. In
1986, as a recipient of the University of Iowa’s (UI) tuition scholarship and the United States Agency for International Development’s scholarship, he completed his second MA degree (geography) in 1989 and the PHD degree (political geography) in 1993, both at the UI.
Seethal studied Pietermaritzburg’s political-economy from 1900 to 1991 as a backdrop to the struggle between agency and structure in the city. His studies secured his academic appointments at the Walter Sisulu University, North West University (Mahikeng campus), the University of Zululand (Umlazi campus), his professorships at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) (2002-2014) and Unisa (2015-2016, post-retirement) and an honorary research fellowship at the University of Kwazulu-natal (post-2017).
Seethal said that breaking racial barriers through his research and studies was one of the highlights of his career.
"It was my personal joy to break racial barriers and pre-conceived notations that existed before," he said.
Seethal’s contribution to Southern African geography is enormous. For the National Research Foundation, he evaluated the work of nine professors and two senior lecturers for academic rating purposes. He helped evaluate the geography programmes at three universities, one of them international; reviewed manuscripts for possible publication for eight journals; and participated as academic advisor at seven of Unisa’s postgraduate workshops in Addis Ababa.
He has authored and coauthored 21 refereed journal articles and book chapters in geography, has one book chapter in press (2023), coedited the 2016 book celebrating 100 years of geography teaching at tertiary level in South Africa, authored and coauthored five research reports and authored four papers in geography education.
His publication in the journal, Urban Geography, on the “super-property” tax problem in Pietermaritzburg won the Best Student Paper Award in political geography at the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1993.
Seethal has also presented 33 papers at conferences, including seven at the AAG conventions in Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, San
Francisco, Philadelphia and two in New York City. He also presented papers in Sapporo City (Japan), Dunedin, Addis Ababa, Windhoek, Paris and Marrakesh (Morocco).
Moreover, Seethal supervised 20 Masters and PHD students from South Africa and five Southern African countries and served as external examiner for 40 Masters and PHD students at eight South African and three international universities. Some of the themes they researched included human trafficking, abalone poaching, fracking in the Karoo, environmental politics and women in the citrus industry. In addition, four of his students have had their theses published as books, with him as co-author. At the UFH, Seethal also had three postdoctoral academics from Morocco, France and Cameroon under his guidance. Following his retirement, Seethal has proofread and edited eight students’ theses.
Seethal served as honorary secretary, president, past president and treasurer of the Society of South African Geographers (SSAG).
He is currently in his second term as the SSAG’S ombudsperson. In 2014, Seethal was awarded the SSAG’S Gold Medal award for meritorious contribution to geography in Southern Africa.
Despite being offered two posts in the United States, Seethal declined them both, preferring to invest in the future generation of South Africa's geographers.
"I wanted to come back home to try to develop a young cohort of geographers in Southern Africa," Seethal said.
He added that his objective is to see a new generation of students doing well and his accomplishments gave him a sense of personal satisfaction and achievement.
Seethal’s advice to students is to work hard so that they can compete with anyone in their fields of study, both locally and internationally. "Be critical, challenge what is taught to you, question academics and remember that there are no quick fixes in academia," he said. He also encouraged them to apply for bursaries and scholarships and to go out to experience the world.
He attributed his successes to leading a balanced life.
"I tried to balance my life with sport, travelling and family. Academia is just one dimension of a multi-faceted life. It is critical to work hard and play hard. It is possible to enjoy life while working," he said.