Wits can lead way for global South to meet challenges of 21st century
Itake office amid a global pandemic, in an era plagued by inequality, economic instability, climate change, food insecurity, social division and health-care inequities. Our world is polarising and some of the pillars of our democracy are under siege. We face challenges, exacerbated by the pandemic. Yet, in times of disruption, we need our public institutions, including Wits University, to remain steadfast. We remained strong during apartheid and in the transition to democracy. We will remain strong today.
John F Kennedy made a bold statement in 1961 that man would walk on the moon before the end of that decade. He said we must choose to do some things not because they were easy but because they were hard and because they must be done to overcome the tribulations of our time.
Despite our many challenges, we are presented with an opportunity to hit the reset button and to envision the society that we want to build for the good of all, and universities, including Wits, have a critical role to play.
Universities are troves of knowledge that need to be protected. As we saw in Cape Town, this knowledge can go in a flash. It can also erode over time if not carefully valued, guarded and strengthened.
Universities must continue to celebrate the diversity of people and ideas, and provide a space for scholars and students from different backgrounds to engage robustly and respectfully and develop active global citizens equipped to deal with the complexities of our world.
These are citizens who will break out of their narrow enclaves, who will inspire their communities, and become beacons of what is possible. We need to graduate brave, principled, formidable individuals, guided by reason, factfulness and deep thought, and grounded in the principles of strong ethics and civic responsibility.
The funding of higher education, the changing world of work, the digital disparity, and the ageing professoriate impact higher education.
These challenges should drive us to aspire for a better future and new heights. Higher education is changing rapidly and we need to move with the times but remain true to our core academic business of nurturing the next generation of leaders. We need to adapt and embrace change to stay ahead. We must develop excellent graduates who leave their mark on society, continue to conduct world-class research and foster innovation and entrepreneurship, and use our location in the economic heartland of Africa to lead from the global South.
Technological accelerators have had a transformational impact on how we live, work and learn, and we have to think about the future skills and knowledge systems to manage these exponentials. We must be at the forefront of developing graduates who will find solutions to the problems of the 21st century.
This will require us to further promote integration across disciplines and support learning through online courses and flexible models. This is an opportunity to harness digital transformation, but we must also overcome the digital divides of our society.
We must develop the African academy of the future and provide Nobel prize-winning research on which work starts now. Africa needs to produce scholars who understand and leverage the local context to contribute original knowledge to the global academy. We must create our own academic pipeline so that we develop the next generation of scholars.
Wits is intellectually elite but not elitist. We will continue to attract the brightest students from all backgrounds who are determined to succeed. We must see Wits as a beacon of inclusivity and diversity, and our graduates must be equipped with the hard knowledge and soft skills required to make them globally competitive.
We are recognised as one of the premier centres of intellectualism on the continent and we have the chance to lead from the global South. We must also harness our local and global connections to conduct research that produces innovation that impacts society.
We cannot do it alone. Wits has plans to reinvigorate Braamfontein and Johannesburg to develop an ecosystem of knowledge generation, innovation, entrepreneurship and an innovation hub that could spawn Africa’s own tech companies. We must create an environment to harness the great ideas that will take this continent into an era of innovation, change and growth.
Like many, I was shaped by Wits and would not be where I am today without the knowledge and values that it instilled in me. As a child in 1981, growing up in a township east of Johannesburg, I watched the space shuttle Columbia take off. This child was inspired to reach for the stars and transcend the limits that apartheid imposed on him.
During that period great and controversial ideas were allowed to flourish. This child found himself representing his country and continent at the
CERN (European organisation for nuclear research) laboratories in Geneva in what was the largest scientific experiment of its time. It is this child who, 40 years later, takes the helm as the 16th vicechancellor and principal of the University of the Witwatersrand. It is now my duty and privilege to lead this great institution as it approaches its centennial in 2022, to build on the past and to catapult Wits into the future.
Our mission at Wits should be to instil hope in young people and serve as the place where thousands of talented young individuals from all backgrounds can strive for excellence and emerge as leaders who will positively influence society.
It is this opportunity, combined with academic excellence, in pursuit of social justice and advancing the public good, ensconced in an enabling environment, that will ultimately transform our young scholars into active global citizens and future leaders, across all spheres.
Wits will allow the flourishing of ideas that will lead this continent into the era of innovation, of growth and a future brighter than a thousand suns.
For this to be realised, we need to think big and push beyond our imaginary frontiers in our quest to achieve this great transcendence.