by Staff Reporter | Jul 9, 2013 | News
STATEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG ON THE PASSING OF PROFESSOR ISMAIL MOHAMED
The University of the Witwatersrand extends its deepest sympathies to the family, friends, colleagues and loved ones of the late Professor Ismail Mahomed, who passed away at the age of 82, on Saturday, 7 July 2013, following a protracted period of illness.
A memorial service will be held in his honour (details to be confirmed) and his funeral will take place on Saturday at St Andrews Church in Coronationville.
Professor Ismail Mohamed served as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Wits in the 1970s and 1980s, after joining Wits from the University of Roma in Lesotho. He was detained on a number of occasions by the security forces during this period. He served as a member of the first democratically elected parliament in the new government after 1994, and as an ANC parliamentary representative for over two terms.
The Vice-President of the Transvaal branch of the United Democratic Front (UDF), Professor Mahomed campaigned fiercely against the Tricameral Parliament and was vociferously outspoken on human rights violations and the need for the UDF to campaign for democracy. In 1985 he was charged firstly, as part of a group of 16 in what was known as the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial, and then later in the year as one of the accused in the Delmas Treason Trial.
Professor Mohamed made an important contribution to the University, to the struggle against apartheid, and to the freedom of our country – a freedom which would not have been possible without his steadfast commitment and activism.
We offer our deepest condolences to Professor Mohamed’s wife Ellen, his five children and many grandchildren during this difficult time.
Prof. Adam Habib
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
University of the Witwatersrand
9 July 2013
by Nokuthula Manyathi | May 14, 2013 | Featured 1, News
From left to right: WBS Director and Head of School Professor Wendy Ngoma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Vice Chancellor Professor Adam Habib. Photo: Nokuthula Manyathi
By Ray Mahlaka and Nokuthula Manyathi
SOUTH Africa’s Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is trying to find remedies for the country’s socio-economic problem.
He addressed the Wits Business School (WBS) Alumni annual general meeting yesterday.
Motlanthe was joined by the incoming Vice Chancellor Professor Adam Habib and WBS Director and Head of School Professor Wendy Ngoma.
Habib, in his introduction, said Motlanthe was a thoughtful leader who governed with integrity.
“The one [Motlanthe] I would regard as the one with the greatest integrity. Few politicians are as liked and respected and are willing to engage,” added Habib.
In his address Motlanthe wanted to interact with the audience; to find out how South African citizens could heal all aspects of the country for the sake of their future and economy.
Economic dilemma, labour productivity, universities and development ambitions
Motlanthe raised the following questions: “What is the nature of our current economic dilemma, how can our nation improve labour productivity, what role can the universities play in South Africa’s development ambitions, can the private sector do more than it’s currently doing to help South Africa achieve the set goals?”
Unemployment, poverty and inequality were considered by Motlanthe as a “triple challenge” to the government’s development goals.[pullquote]“The Deputy President doesn’t want to lecture, but facilitate a debate and a conversation”[/pullquote]
He also argued that the shadow of apartheid had not fully receded in South Africa.
On the current economic climate, Motlanthe said there was little investment in new production and that South Africa was becoming a consumer economy.
“We are disindustrialising…labour productivity has declined by 42% since 1993,” said Motlanthe.
The decline in labour productivity was a point of concern to Motlanthe because he considered labour production as the fundamental ingredient to economic growth.
Solutions to South Africa’s socio-economic problems
In trying to find effective solutions Motlanthe supported the objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP) and also suggested greater investment into the education system.
“The NDP has been accepted as the roadmap to growth in South Africa and laid out the parameters to contribute to a shared vision,” said Motlanthe.
He also said the long-term solutions to our socio economic problems were based on having a sound education system.
“Universities are well positioned to contribute to South African challenges. Universities must become the core of innovation. We need closer ties between universities and government,” Motlanthe said.
As part of creating effective solutions Motlanthe urged the private sector to be more involved in mentorship and in social development programmes.
“More than any point in our history does the private sector have more to contribute,” he said.
In his closing remarks Motlanthe said continuing conversations between South African citizens and the government were the stepping stones to finding long-term solutions.
Habib said the aim of hosting the WBS forum was to create a free space where members of corporate, [Wits] staff and student community can engage with the Deputy President on the broader issues currently plaguing the country.
“The Deputy President doesn’t want to lecture, but facilitate a debate and a conversation…We will never address problems unless we learn to talk openly beyond institutional boundaries,” said Habib.
by Caro Malherbe | Apr 15, 2013 | Featured 1, News
TWO VC’s SPEAK: Incoming Vice Chancellor Prof Adam Habib and outgoing Vice Chancellor Prof Loyiso Nongxa addressed the media on Monday regarding the spending on the VC’s official residence. Photo: Ray Mahlaka
UNCERTAINTY surrounding the refurbishments of Savernake, the house provided for Wits vice chancellor, was the subject of a news briefing held on Monday by incoming Vice Chancellor Prof Adam Habib.
“The house belongs to the trust of the Price family and was made available for the use of Wit’s vice chancellor some 40 years ago. The terms of the agreement are that it has to be returned to the Price family should the vice chancellor not live in it,” said a statement from the office of the Vice Chancellor.
Habib, who is not yet residing at Savernake, stressed at the media briefing that the house is not only a home for the VC but a venue that is used to host a number of university functions.
However, Savernake, which is still registered under the Price family trust has “not been adequately maintained and has fallen into serious disrepair over the years.”
The cost of refurbishments to the house
was settled at R12 million, but was later cut down to R9 million after a meeting convened by Habib with the representatives of the unions, the SRC and the senate representatives to Wits Council.
The Star recently published an article that criticised the decision to renovate Savernake by stating “[The] University is prepared to spend at least R9 million on renovating the vice-chancellor’s official residence, [when] desperate students sleep on chairs.”
Habib said that the university is aware that there are students without homes and who have financial problems: “We will do our best within our means to help them but we must abide by public laws of heritage too.”
The reason the cost of refurbishment is so high is because the house is a heritage site and there are certain laws surrounding the renovation procedures of it.
“There are explicit rules of how to renovate it and it can only be repaired by a select group of artisans and service providers,” Habib said.
Tawana Kupe, deputy vice chancellor for finance and operations said that it has been agreed with the Price family trust that the property, worth R30 million, will be transferred to Wits University should the renovations proceed.
“We are not paying the Price family a single rand for the house. We will not buy the house,” Kupe said.
by Akinoluwa Oyedele | Feb 6, 2013 | News
File photo: Jay Caboz
Wits staff unions will resume their dispute over salaries with Wits management on Monday February 11, even though staff received two raises within the last 7 months.
The Academic Staff Association of Wits University (Asawu) suspended the dispute shortly before the start of last year’s final exams “in the interest of students”, and to negotiate with the newly-appointed members of management “in good faith”. Union members went on strike twice last August after negotiations for improved salaries, improved working conditions and more research funding deadlocked. They had demanded a 9% increase for support staff and payment for academics on the 75th percentile, which is the three-quarter mark in the range of salaries in the higher education sector.
[pullquote align=”right”]“Staff are earning significantly less in January 2013 than they were earning in December 2012.”[/pullquote]
The Wits Council granted a 7.55% increase for academics and 6.8% for support staff in June 2012, and an additional 4% increase for all in January 2013. The yearly bargaining cycle was changed from June to January, meaning Wits will give staff their next raise in January 2014.
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Liz Picarra, Asawu vice-president, said management’s latest offer has not matched the costs of working at Wits. Parking and medical aid fees increased this year as they do annually.
“With these increases in medical aid and parking, academic and support staff are earning significantly less in January 2013 than they were earning in December 2012,” Picarra said.
But Yule Banda, Wits’ Human Resource manager, said the medical aid fee increase came with more benefits and was below the national benchmark. He added that while medical aid fees went up for 2013 alone, the salary increases covered an 18-month period.
In a statement, Asawu described the January salary increase as an imposition on its members that was made without consulting itself or support staff union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu).
[pullquote align=”right”]“You have to deal with the problem of renumeration and financial incentives.”[/pullquote]
Unions’ faith in new management team
It welcomed the announcement of Prof Adam Habib as Wits’ next vice-chancellor in December, and hopes he will work to unite the “fractured Wits community”.
Habib said he played a big role in salary negotiations at the University of Johannesburg, where he was a deputy vice-chancellor, in his public address during the appointments process in November. He proposed a “university pact”: an alliance between staff, students and alumni that will investigate how best to manage their demands.
Habib said it is a vice-chancellor’s responsibility to attract and retain top academic talent from competing universities.
“You have to deal with the problem of remuneration and financial incentives. If you bury your head in the sand and say the academy is an equal socialist space, you will never attract the kinds of people you need.”
Wits has commissioned a fact-finding inquiry into last year’s salary negotiation process which will be externally headed by Mark Antrobus, SC. It is expected to recommend ways to improve future negotiations.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela 1st edition, 6th February, 2013.
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by Zandi Shabalala | Feb 6, 2013 | News
The start of a new academic year invariably means the beginning of new chapter for most of us, and for first years, the beginning of a totally different book. Thinking back (very far) to my first year, nothing could match the excitement of not wearing school uniform and being able to chew gum in class. And then when they told me lectures were not compulsory! It was the best of times.
However for many first years the excitement of making it into Wits is short-lived as the woes of trying to find accommodation set in. The sad reality is that Wits simply does not have the capacity to accommodate every student. The accommodation office has repeatedly said that they are doing the best they can with what they have. But is it enough?
Surely an institution as world class as Wits University should be able to deal with this recurring problem. Wits Vuvuzela has religiously reported on accommodation problems at the beginning of each year. Could the elusive solution be as simple as building more residences? But the university did build another residence: Wits Junction in Parktown.
Unfortunately, this newly erected residence fast became known as a place for the elite where few students could afford the residence’s high annual fees ranging from R45000- R50000. Is it any wonder that in its first year of operating Junction only managed to fill only 30% of the spaces available?
The queues outside the accommodations office every year are filled with desperate students and parents and this is testament that we are doing things wrong. Students are then forced into the private accommodation system in Braamfontein that has its own long arm of problems.
On Page 1 we report on students from Central Johannesburg College who were unceremoniously kicked out of their residence in an Aengus Property building in Braamfontein because their financial aid was too little to cover them for the year. The students’ beds were thrown out of the building, while the students sang resistance songs and scuffled with the muscled bouncers. The scene resembled something out of the forced removals of the 1950s.
The new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adam Habib, has said while Wits is a world class institution it must service our country by becoming a symbol of hope for aspiring poor students. “We must be able to send a symbolic message that we believe in this country and we are prepared to address the challenges of all of our people, poor and rich,” said Habib.
It is a great sentiment, however, when we present Wits as the land of milk and honey, a place where you can change your life through quality education and still cannot provide our students with a roof over their heads, we do the country a great disservice. And as Professor Habib puts it, when the poor have no hope the society will burn.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela 1st edition, 6th February 2013
by Zandi Shabalala | Feb 6, 2013 | News
THE NEW vice chancellor of Wits, Professor Adam Habib, said Witsies are in for “one hell of a ride” when he officially takes up the university’s top job in June 2013.
Habib was offered the position in December of last year and takes over from Professor Loyiso Nongxa, who is ending a 10-year tenure.
Growing up in Pietermaritzburg, Kwa- Zulu Natal, Habib was imprisoned for his political activism in the labour movement in the 1980s. He said he had not lost his activist roots just because he was now in a nice office in management.
“I see management as part of my activism,” said Habib.
Habib outlined his vital goals as transforming Wits to create critical citizens that are both African and cosmopolitan, achieving cutting-edge research and providing a way out of poverty for the country’s brightest students.
“Those are for me activist goals, they’re not managerial and administrative goals,” said Habib.
Habib is currently the deputy vice-chancellor for research, postgraduate studies and the library at the University of Johannesburg. Often appearing in the media commenting on a range of issues, Habib has become a recognisable face in South Africa.
During the selection process for Wits vice chancellor, Habib became a favourite among the three short-listed candidates with various media predicting his triumph.
Last year the Mail & Guardian reported that a source close to the process said the delegation was leaning towards Habib because the university needed “a new lease on life” and had faith that he could bring change to the university.
Habib emphasised that for change to happen he needs the help of the whole Wits community. He said Wits is a great institution that has the capacity to go world-class but he could not single-handedly make the necessary changes to achieve this goal.
Habib arrives at Wits after numerous showdowns between management, staff and students that culminated in many strikes in the last couple of years. Habib said he was aware of some of the “huge tensions” at Wits. He plans to prioritise meetings in the Wits community so he can get a better understanding of the issues.
Speaking at Wits in November, Habib said he wanted to focus on increasing incentives in order for Wits to retain its staff and to make Wits into an institution that was “global but not foreign”.
Habib emphasised the need for a “university pact” that can encourage “a shared vision and sacrifice but for shared gains”.
The Chairperson of Wits Council, Sakumzi Macozoma, who also chaired the selection committee, said in a press release: “We believe [Habib] has the capacity, professionalism, and credentials to lead Wits into the future.”
After a three month transitional period that starts in March 2013, Habib will take over formally from Nongxa, who was the university’s first black vice-chancellor, in June 2013.
Nongxa said he believed Habib’s goals were in line with the goals that Wits has outlined in the 2020 vision and that he believes he will be a great leader for the university.
A colleague of Habib’s from UJ, Professor Angina Parekh, said she wished him well and affirmed Habib had an ingrained activism.
Parekh said although Habib had a caring side he was a “tough debator” and those in discussions with him would have to stand their ground.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela 1st edition, 6th February 2013
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