ISSUE 18 | SEPTEMBER 2016
ON CAMPUS
New Convocation President The University of the Western Cape (UWC) Convocation held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June. Songezo Maqula was unanimously elected as the new President of Convocation to replace Mlungisi Noludwe.
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onvocation includes all UWC graduates, academic employees (all those currently employed on a permanent basis or on contract for a period of one year or more), the Rector, Vice-Rectors, Registrar, Executive Directors and the Director of Library Services, as well as two members of Council appointed to the Senate.
President of the South African Tertiary Institutions Choral Association. Until Convocation ceased to have an executive in 2015, he was the project leader of several of its community engagement initiatives, including the Convocation to Cuba project. Maqula expressed his gratitude to the Convocation’s members for their confidence in him. “We all have the responsibility to
protect this institution as a legacy to future generations and to the continent of Africa,” he said after his election. “We must be fearless, not only inside UWC but wherever we go, to fight injustice in whatever form it manifests itself. We must also go out there to project the good image of this institution, and mobilise as many resources as possible to assist our students.” He called on Convocation members to support his presidency. “We must work for the University but we must also defend its principles and integrity. That is all we need to do. If we stick to that then we can all work together.”
Maqula, who works as a Stakeholder Relations Officer at Intercape Bus, completed his BA degree in Public Administration and his Honours in Political Studies degree at UWC. He was the President of the Students’ Representative Council and was appointed by Convocation as its second representative on the University Council for the period December 2014 to 30 November 2017. While he was SRC President he served on a number of governance structures, including the Senate, the Tender Committee and the Joint Appointments Committee of Senate and Council. Maqula was the National Deputy Secretary, Deputy President and
Newly-elected President of UWC’s Convocation Songezo Maqula is congratulated by predecessors Mlungisi Noludwe and Brian Williams.
The fellowship is the flagship programme of US President Barrack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that empowers young people through academic coursework, leadership training and networking. The programme, which started in 2014, provided about 1 000 outstanding young leaders from SubSaharan Africa this year with the opportunity to hone their skills at a higher education institution in the USA, with support for professional development after their return home.
INTERNATIONAL
Brushing up on leadership skills UWC alumna Juanitill Pettus’s passion for community development, particularly youth development, was recognised when she was selected to participate in this year’s Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
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The fellows were between the ages of 25 and 35 years with established records of accomplishment in promoting innovation and positive change in their organisations, institutions, communities and countries. Pettus, who completed her BCom in Economics at UWC in 2009, works at the Pinotage Youth Development Academy, which develops the capacity of talented, historically disadvantaged South Africans aged 18 to 25 years and prepares them for employment. Her leadership journey started at UWC through her participation
in programmes in the Leadership and Social Responsibility Department at the Centre for Student Support Services. “It was there that I started seeing the world outside of myself and my circumstances and where I discovered a passion for community development, and particularly youth development,” she comments. During her fellowship, Pettus completed a six-week programme in civic leadership at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. “I have learned a great deal about the continent of Africa and from the amazing people who are putting shoulder to the wheel to ensure that their respective countries reach their potential,” she comments. She rounded off her journey in Washington where the fellows participating in the Presidential Summit which ended with a town hall event hosted by President Obama. “This was of course the highlight of our trip, which could only have been better if I had managed to shake hands with Michelle Obama!”