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17 September 2019 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Stephen Collett
Dr Khotso Mokhele
Dr Khotso Mokhele, was recently honoured by the National Research Foundation.
Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), received the special 20-Year Recognition Award from the National Research Foundation (NRF) during its annual awards ceremony at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, Western Cape, on 12 September 2019. 
 
Dr Mokhele was recognised for his extraordinary, impactful, and transformative contribution to the advancement of South African science and its positioning globally.

“On behalf of the UFS Rectorate and the university community, I would like to congratulate Dr Mokhele on this fine achievement,” says Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS. 

“With this award, the NRF has accentuated the immense value Dr Mokhele has been bringing to not only science, but also to the many other areas he has been involved with for many years – including the UFS in his capacity as Chancellor,” says Prof Petersen. 
 
On 7 September 2019, Dr Mokhele was also named Honorary Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year during the UFS’s annual Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards. 

Background of Dr Mokhele

Khotso David Kenneth Mokhele was born and bred in Bloemfontein, matriculated from the Moroka High School and obtained a BSc degree in Agriculture from the University of Fort Hare, where he won the Massey-Ferguson award for the best student in his field. He continued his postgraduate studies at the University of California Davis on the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Scholarship Programme, obtaining his MSc (Food Science) and PhD (Microbiology). He was subsequently awarded postdoctoral fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. 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 was approached by Dr Rein Arndt, the then President of the Foundation for Research Development (FRD – the predecessor of the NRF), to join the foundation as one of its vice-presidents. The decision was a difficult one for the young Mokhele. Not only had he just embarked on an academic career, he was uncertain whether it was appropriate for a political activist to join a parastatal organisation under the apartheid government. After much soul searching, he accepted the offer on condition that he was given the freedom to transform the FRD into a funding agency geared to meeting the needs of higher education in South Africa. Shortly after he joined the FRD in June 1992, he made his presence felt as an outstanding organiser and communicator; several new research-funding programmes were initiated, with a strong emphasis on developing people who had previously been excluded. When Dr Arndt retired in 1996, Mokhele was the obvious choice to succeed him as President of the FRD. As President and CEO of the National Research Foundation (NRF) (1999-2006), Dr Mokhele played a central role in providing visionary and strategic direction to the South African science system and to the development agenda of the country. 

He was part of the team that drafted the Green Paper for science and technology, was the founder President of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF), Chairperson of the Economic Advisory Council to the Premier of the Free State (2001-2004), and a member of the Advisory Council on Innovation to the Minister of Science and Technology (2003-2007). His role in securing government and international support for the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) Project is evidence of his dedication to science in South Africa. The success of this project laid the basis for South Africa being selected to host more than 70% of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an international mega-telescope for radio astronomy. He was appointed as member of the first Council on Higher Education and deputy convenor of its task force on the Reconfiguration of Higher Education, and he served on the councils of a number of universities. More recently, he was appointed by the Minister of Science and Technology as a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation, and by the Minister of Labour as chair of the National Skills Board. 

His role in science is recognised internationally. In achieving his vision, he recognised the importance of South Africa’s re-entry into the international science community and has been an ambassador for South African and African science in high-profile international fora. He was elected Vice-President: Scientific Planning and Review of the International Council for Sciencee (ICSU) and as Chairperson of its Committee for Scientific Planning and Review (2005-2008), as well as a member of the Committee on Developing and Transition Economy Countries of the International Social Science Council (2008-2010). He also represented South Africa on the executive board of UNESCO (1997-2001) and served as Chairperson of the Special Committee of this board (1999-2001). Dr Mokhele was part of the UNESCO assignment (2006-2007) to review the science and technology system of the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and giving advice on how to leverage science, technology, and innovation for the development of the Caribbean region. 

Dr Mokhele’s corporate positions included Non-Executive Chairman on the Board of Directors of Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd (Implats), ArcelorMittal South Africa, and Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd; Non-Executive Director of African Oxygen Ltd (Afrox), Zimbabwe Platinum Holdings Ltd (Zimplats), Mapitso Consortium, Kenosi Investment Holdings, and Tiger Brands Ltd. He is the President of the Hans Merensky Foundation (South Africa) and a trustee of SciDev.Net (a web-based scientific magazine based in London, UK) and Start International Inc (a global-change capacity-building initiative based in the USA). He was Chairman of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, and Swaziland (2007–2011) and has served on the South Africa at Large Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for more than 10 years. 

Khotso Mokhele’s contribution to science in South Africa has received wide recognition locally and abroad. He has received six honorary doctorates, the most recent from Rutgers University in the USA. 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 Global Seminar – an institution focused on global change, and subsequently as member of its Council of Senior Fellows. He was the recipient of the Technology Top 100 Lifetime Achievers Award in 2009, and the National Science and Technology Forum Award in 2005. He also received the Science Diplomacy Award from the Minister of Science and Technology in South Africa (2015). 

News Archive

ANC is not a party of the people - Mbeki
2010-08-30

 

 

“The unions in this country do not understand the political economy of South Africa. They think that the ANC is the party of the people. The ANC is the party of the black middle class. The fact that the masses vote for it does not mean they control it. The policies of the ANC favour the black middle class and the established businesses. They do not favour the working class.”

This was said by renowned economic and political commentator Mr Moeletsi Mbeki, brother of former president Thabo Mbeki, during a guest lecture he recently presented to Economics students of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.

“You just have to look at the types of houses that the ANC government builds for ordinary South Africans,” he said.

“If you had a party that was a pro-working class party it would not have built these so-called RDP houses that are being built by the ANC government. The unions have all along been under the illusion that the ANC is the government of the working class and (Zwelinzima) Vavi and them are now beginning to realise that this is not the case.

“The public-sector workers are in a special dilemma. They think the ANC is their ally but at the same time they feel they are not getting any benefits out of this alliance. Therefore you are beginning to get a very acrimonious environment emerging between the public-sector unions and the government.”

Regarding the current issue of the Protection of Information Bill and the proposed media tribunal that have brought the media and the government onto a collision course, Mbeki said the ANC government was trying to muzzle the media because it wanted to safeguard corruption within government.

“The question of freedom of information is very closely linked to the rise in corruption in the government,” he said.

“What the politicians are doing is that they are trying to hide that corruption. The media in this country have been playing a very critical role in exposing cases of corruption. That is why Vavi now has bodyguards.”

He said he recently met Vavi, the General Secretary of Cosatu, surrounded by four bodyguards. He said Vavi told him that he was getting death threats because he was opposing corruption in government.

Mbeki said the economic policies of South Africa were the “worst in the world” because they benefited people who were already rich and militated against the emergence of entrepreneurs.

“In fact, one of the serious downsides of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is that it takes people who should normally be entrepreneurs and who should be creating new companies and new jobs, out of that space and just makes them wealthy. BEE has been a disaster because it created this massive economic inequality; it created this class of idle rich who have tons of money but do nothing,” he added.

He said the under-investment in the economy was having dire consequences in terms of unemployment and poverty. He said this, coupled with the growth of consumption that Black Nationalism was driving, was actually driving down the ability of the economy to absorb labour.

“What really lies at the bottom of our economic problems in South Africa is that we have too much of a one-party dominance of our political system. We need more competition in our political system and until we realise the policies of the ANC are not going to change,” he said.

Mbeki’s guest lecture was on the topic: Architects of Poverty: Why African capitalism needs changing.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison 
Tel:   051 401 2828
Cell:  078 460 3320
E-mail:  radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
30 August 2010

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