A total of 5 788 diplomas and degrees will be awarded to CPUT graduates during the March Graduation Ceremonies.

At these twelve ceremonies, which will be held on both the Cape Town and Bellville campuses, the institution will also award 56 master degrees and ten doctorate degrees.

Six graduates will be awarded Dean’s Medals for outstanding academic performances, while one graduate will receive the prestigious Vice-Chancellor’s Medal, which recognises the top CPUT graduate of the class of 2008.

This year’s graduation commenced on 23 March 2009 at the Cape Town campus and saw graduates from the Business Faculty take to the stage to receive their academic qualifications.

The Business Faculty is the largest faculty at CPUT and five of the twelve ceremonies have been set aside for this faculty.

The remainder of the ceremonies will be used to confer degrees in the Faculty of Education and Social Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Health and Wellness and the Faculty of Informatics and Design.

Addressing graduates and their family members at the first graduation ceremony, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Prof Anthony Staak said during the next few days the institution will celebrate the success of those graduating.

“We are proud of what you have achieved thus far and sincerely hope that we have helped to place you on a trajectory that will lead you to even greater success in the future,” he said.

Prof Staak said the institution’s mission speaks of creating and applying knowledge that will contribute to economic and social development in South Africa .

He said the graduates, who will go on to become alumni of the institution, must also commit to this mission.

“Many of you will go on to occupy influential positions in commerce, in industry and in the public sector. We sincerely hope that you will not forget the communities from which you come,” he said.

Prof Staak urged graduates to use their “special skills and influence to put something back” into their communities and to help contribute to their development.

He also called on graduates to continue to support CPUT and to further their professional development at the institution.

With the rapid pace of technology, graduates will have to update their skills continuously to ensure that they remain leaders in their fields, said Prof Staak.

Prof Staak said CPUT will continue producing graduates who will be able to contribute to the development all sectors in South Africa .

With funding of close to R300 million from the National Education Department, CPUT is set to increase its undergraduate and postgraduate activities in scarce skill areas.

A portion of the funds is also earmarked for infrastructure development, which includes new academic buildings and residences.

Guest speaker at the first graduation ceremony, Dr Ivan Meyer, a senior lecturer in Public Policy and Local Government at Stellenbosch University, said CPUT is living up to its mission of being at “the heart of technology and innovation in South Africa.”

He said CPUT academics, students and graduates are making an impact in various fields in South Africa.

“CPUT is delivering on its mandate of producing a new generation of leaders,” he said.

Dr Meyer urged graduates to do their best in the working world and be ambassadors of CPUT.

Photo: Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga and Chair of the CPUT Council, Dr Rev Lionel Louw, congratulates Marketing Doctoral graduate Darlington Onojaefe.

By Candes Keating

Published online: 24/03/2009

Written by CPUT News
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Former Education Faculty Dean, Prof Thobeka Mda, will not let retirement divorce her from her age-old passion – teaching.

Mda, who retired from CPUT’s employ at the end of June, is planning to render services in educational environments and projects when normal life resumes in the country after lockdown.

“I had informed some NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) people before retirement that, after I retire, I would gladly join them in the projects they are doing,” she says. “My passion has always been teaching, and so, if an opportunity to teach becomes available, that is what I’ll be doing.”

Currently the education fundi is still enjoying her new freedom. “I love that I can sleep in every day, I can drive to the seaside just to feel the sea breeze on any day of the week and at any time of the day, because I do not have work engagements.”

She recently discovered in her study some “leisure books” she had not read, so on sunny days she sits outside her house and reads a book.

Mda joined CPUT as the faculty’s Dean in the middle of 2012 from a five-year stint at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).  She had spent the previous 13 years at the University of South Africa where she started as a Senior Lecturer in 1994 and rose to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Education between the years 2000 and 2004. All in all, the former high school teacher has spent 33 years in the higher education sector. 

During her reign, the Faculty enjoyed the following highlights and achievements:

• While in 2012 only 18 staff members had doctoral degrees, in 2019, however, 47 staff members were qualified doctors;
• In terms of research outputs, the Faculty had 10.2 units in 2012 but a whopping 37.98 in 2019 (for 2018);
• The launch of the Centre for International Teacher Education, linked to the appointment of the National Research Fund’s first SARChI Chair for Teacher Education, Prof Yusuf Sayed. “The event was a grand occasion, attended by all the who’s who in Higher Education and the research community in South Africa, testifying to the stature of Prof Sayed,” says Mda.
• For the first time two honorary doctorates were awarded in the Faculty to Dr Brigalia Bam and Dr Marlene le Roux. “Both candidates are such highly esteemed persons, that it is an honour for the Faculty to count them as part of the Faculty alumni,” she adds.
• The Faculty is currently hosting four Research Chairs, the highest number hosted in a single Faculty at CPUT, namely:
  • Prof Yusuf Sayed appointed the NRF SARChI Research Chair (2014-2018; 2019-2024) in Teacher Education.
  • Prof Rajendra Chetty was appointed the CPUT Research Chair in Literacy Development (2016-2021). Prof Chetty resigned in 2018 and was replaced by Prof. Janet Condy, to compete the term up to 2021.
  • Prof Chris Winberg – NRF Chair in WIL (write out)– 2016 - 2021;
  • Prof Joyce Nduna appointed SETA Research Chair in WIL in TVET Colleges 2015-2018; 2020)
• The Faculty held their first Faculty Day on 31 August 2019 and showcased the great work done by staff and students as well as the commitment of the staff. The Language Lab was also officially opened on the same day.

 Mda says she will miss the university’s graduation ceremonies, especially those at which she officiated.

“Graduation ceremonies are joyous occasions for everyone. The joy, pride and sense of achievement shared by the graduands, their families, the academic staff, postgraduate supervisors, Faculty support staff, Assessment and Graduation Centre, Marketing and Communication Department, technicians, and university management, fill the hall, during each ceremony,” she continues. “All these stakeholders celebrate the culmination of all the hard work that has led to this moment.”

https://youtu.be/eJ-pFLpO4h0

Written by Kwanele Butana
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