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29 May 2018 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Charl Devenish
Africa Day Memorial Lecture explores future of statues
From the left are: Dr Stephanie Cawood, Acting Director of the CGAS; Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities; Prof Prakash Naidoo, Vice-Rector: Operations; and Dr Rahul Rao.
Read Lectures here

Drawing from different international perspectives on the topic of historical statues, the importance of debate surrounding the future of these symbols resounded at the 10th Annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture. 

The lecture was hosted on 23 May 2018 by the newly renamed Centre for Gender and Africa Studies and was presented by Dr Rahul Rao from the SOAS University of London, where he is a senior lecturer in Politics. 

“I am very excited about my trip to South Africa and to be here among you. This is my first trip to South Africa, and it is very exciting and also a little bit emotional for me, particularly because I got my first passport in 1984 when I was six years old, and it said – valid for travel to all countries except the Republic of South Africa. You know why that was the case.”

“I salute all of you for the transformation that has been affected in this country, and I think Africa Day is the perfect occasion to celebrate the transformation.”  

Student activism through #MustFall movements
“I first heard in March 2015 that students from the University of Cape Town have begun demonstrating to take down the statue of Cecil John Rhodes and have it removed from their campus, and a bit later, students from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom followed suit. At first, I felt some guilt having been a Rhodes Scholar from 2001 to 2004, because you must embody the values of Cecil John Rhodes,” Dr Rao said.

“I have watched from afar the events that have taken place here, for example, the #RhodesMustFall Movement, and the reverberation of these events in other places; I mean, the way these events travel,” he said.

Students in Cape Town, Oxford, and Bloemfontein are doing something concrete and collective to dismantle the legacy of colonialism and Apartheid. “I feel connected to these events, even if I am far away.”

International perspective on historical statues
In both SA and the UK, the call for iconography decolonisation was accompanied and soon overtaken by different accounts. It also gives a broader and different perspective on how statues can be used to achieve racial or social dominance. 

One of the many examples he used, was the ambush against Confederate Statues in the American South. These statues are symbols of upholding a white supremacist ideology in the South. The Confederate States of America was the predecessor to the current United States of America.

He also spoke about the temporalities of statues, the decolonisation and recolonisation, as well as the aesthetics of statues, among other things. “Statues don't need permission to thrust itself upon us. They demand attention,” Dr Rao said. This is because statues are placed in the centre of public spaces but are also vulnerable and exposed. 

He left the audience with some questions on what to do with statues that are taken down, and who to erect new statues for.

News Archive

Dr Khotso Mokhele joins ranks of distinguished Chancellors
2010-11-21

Attending the inauguration ceremony are, from the left: Mr Pule Makgoe, MEC for Education in the Free State and member of the UFS Council; Judge Ian van der Merwe, Chairperson of the UFS Council; Dr Khotso Mokhele, newly inaugurated Chancellor of the UFS; and Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.
Photo: Dries Myburgh

Dr Khotso Mokhele joined the ranks of distinguished Chancellors of the University of the Free State (UFS) with his inauguration as the new Chancellor of the institution at a ceremony on Friday, 19 November 2010.

The lustrous ceremony took place on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein and was attended by hundreds of guests from all over South Africa.

Dr Mokhele said in his speech: “I am excited to have been invited by the UFS to join its community at the time when it is attempting to reinvent itself into an institution that will be counted amongst those that will shape the local, regional, national will, and by so doing, contribute to the shaping of an African will.”

Dr Mokhele follows in the footsteps of Dr Franklin Sonn, former Ambassador of South Africa in the United States of America and receiver of many awards, acknowledgements, and honorary doctorates, who retired earlier this year. Dr Sonn was preceded by Ms Winkie Direko, former premier of the Free State.

His acceptance of the role of Chancellor is a great honour for the UFS.

According to Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, it is a proud moment to welcome someone from the Province as the Chancellor of this university. With his strong academic values and deep sense of human compassion, Dr Mokhele is one of but a few uncompromising leaders. He is also an inspiring, determined pioneer and a role model to all our students.

Few have done as much to guide the development of science in South Africa since democracy in 1994 as Dr Mokhele. His vision and actions as a senior science manager have been guided by his deep conviction that for a truly democratic society to emerge in South Africa all people must be empowered to be its architects and must have unhindered access to those careers upon which our economy is built.

Dr Khotso Mokhele was born and raised in Bloemfontein. After matriculating from the Moroka High School he went on to study at Fort Hare, where he graduated with a B.Sc. in Agriculture, winning the Massey-Ferguson award for the best student in that field. As a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Scholarship, he entered the University of California in Davis where he took a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. degree, both in Microbiology. He was awarded post-doctoral fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Dr Mokhele returned to South Africa in 1987, set on becoming a top-class academic and researcher. He held lecturing posts at the Universities of Fort Hare (1987-1989) and Cape Town (1990-1992). In 1992 he joined the Foundation for Research Development (FRD) as one of its Vice-Presidents. He succeeded to its presidency in 1996 and then from 1999 to 2006 became the first President of the National Research Foundation (NRF).  He successfully merged the FRD and the Centre for Science Development of the Human Sciences Research Council. Under his visionary leadership the NRF has come to play a pivotal role in the development agenda of the country. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the South African Academy of Sciences serving as its founder president (1996-1998).

Dr Khotso Mokhele's contribution to science in South Africa has received wide recognition locally and abroad. He has received nine honorary doctorates. He was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the President of France in recognition of his personal efforts in strengthening scientific ties between France and South Africa, and was appointed a director of the Salzburg Seminar, an institution focused on global change, and subsequently a member of its Council of Senior Fellows.

He also serves on the boards of major companies such as Implats, Adcock Ingram and Afrox.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za19 November 2010
 

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