Abstract
Highlights: In commemorating 20 years of democracy in South Africa, a discussion was held at the APK Campus Library on April 16. The key speakers were Mr Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Finance; and Professor Steven Friedman, Director: Centre for the Study of Democracy, UJ.
The discussion was facilitated by Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Internationalisation Advancement and Student Affairs, UJ and it was concluded with a vote of thanks by Professor Cheryl Hendricks, Professor in Political Science, UJ. The event was attended by over 200 guests who participated in a very robust interaction.
Mr Gordhan traced the country’s journey from 1990 until 1994 – talking about the build up to the first democratic elec-tions. He spoke of the challenges of conducting the elections and that of forming the first democratic government. Currently, South Africa is firmly embedded in the global environment and is consequently confronted with global challenges and opportunities.
While acknowledging that South Africa has not completely reached its goals, Mr Gordhan said that many positive strides had been made and that we had much to look forward to. He urged nation building and cooperation in all sectors of society to make South Africa a better place.
Prof Friedman acknowledged that there had been a change in South Africa since 1994 – a positive change. However, he used the theory of path dependency to suggest that while things did in fact change, the arrangement of society and its institutions remained the same. The difference is the racial make-up of these institutions. Path dependency suggests that the more things change, the more they remain the same.The evening, which concluded on a positive note, was hosted jointly by the Transformation Unit, the Department of Politics and the Library. The Library in partnership with Higher Education South Africa, recently hosted a breakfast roundtable discussion with Prof John Goddard OBE. His topic ‘The role of universities in national and local development: insights from Europe and the OECD’ attracted a number of academics, who were fortunate to have a very close discussion with the professor.
We also hosted Dr Robert Garris – Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation in NYC, in partnership with the DVC Research and Postgraduate Division. The aim of the visit was to strengthen ties between UJ and the Rockefeller Foundation. Among other things he promoted the Foundation’s Bellagio Centre residency and conference programmes. The Vice Chancellor, Prof Ihron Rensburg also invited Dr Robert Garris to a breakfast meeting with other members of the Executive Leadership Group ( Dr Mandla Msibi: Executive Director, Research and Innovation; Dr Rookaya Bawa: Executive Director, LIC; Prof Tshilidzi Marwala: DVC, Research and Postgraduate Studies).
The Library plans to host more international speakers in line with the university’s mission of global partnerships and excellence.