Vice-Chancellor celebrates staff excellence

Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo, recently hosted the Vice-Chancellor's Excellence and Leadership Awards at Bellville Campus, celebrating the remarkable staff and students who continuously strive to exceed expectations and inspire ongoing improvement for everyone.

In recognition of their exceptional dedication, Nhlapo commends remarkable individuals each year. These awards are established to recognise those who embody the true spirit of being proudly CPUT, actively contributing to positive change beyond their duties. These awards aim to highlight the exceptional achievements of outstanding staff and students across the following categories:

• Vice-Chancellor Award for Service Excellence delivered by Administrative and Support Staff: This award aims to acknowledge staff members for exceptional service in areas such as administrative tasks, maintenance services, ensuring the safety of staff, students, and CPUT buildings, providing student services, and enhancing the university's image.
• Vice-Chancellor Award for Student Excellence: This award is available to any registered CPUT student, on any of our campuses, who excels academically, displays leadership skills, and commits to community service.

In her welcome address, the Executive Director in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Driekie Hay-Swemmer, said the vision and the dream have always been to celebrate the contributions and the performance of staff, “specifically in the administrative, non-academic side of the university and students who have done exceptionally well”.

In his keynote address, Nhlapo passionately expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the invaluable support of the staff. “This year’s event is sweeter as we celebrate our 20 years of excellence in education… Today, we celebrate excellence as we grow from greats. Excellence is a choice and a process, and you have to trust that process.”

Nhlapo continued: “[This is] a place where we pause to acknowledge the unsung heroes and heroines.”

The guest speaker, Bulelwa Limba, the winner of the VC Exceptional Student Leadership Award 2024, said: “When I received the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award in 2024, I thought the award itself was the big moment. But little did I know… it was only the beginning. From that award, new doors, new rooms, and new tables opened for me. I was blessed to be nominated to represent CPUT on a national platform, and out of nominees from 20 public universities, I was selected as one of the Top 5 Siyaphumelela Scholarship recipients.”

Limba continued: “To tonight’s nominees: If you walk away with an award, celebrate it. Honour it. But please, do not think it is the end. It is the seed. What you do next how you carry yourself after tonight, how you continue to lead, how you continue to serve that is what creates impact, and even if you don’t walk away with an award tonight, don’t be discouraged.

The winners in the Support Staff category were as follows: Gold Winner - Athenkosi Bucwa, Silver Winner - Sonja Swanich, and Bronze Winner - Shamiel Abrahams, along with his team in Wellington. In the student category, the Gold Winner was Keanan Gerschwin Fisher, while the Silver Winners were Ntando Fakela and Jorja Mehl.

This was followed by the handover of the Quality Awards by Dr Siyanda Makaula, Director: Quality Management Directorate.

In his congratulatory message, Msulwa Daca, Executive Director: Finance, said: “These awards recognise the extraordinary contributions made by yourselves as dedicated staff members and outstanding students who have demonstrated commitment to service excellence, professionalism, and exemplary leadership. Your commitment to going above and beyond reflects the core values of CPUT and significantly contributes to a positive, supportive, and effective culture. I would also want, on the same breath, to extend my appreciation to the people who run the systems and sub-systems that have allowed you to perform at this outstanding level.

“These are the systems that will ensure that we come back every year to celebrate outstanding achievements for both staff and students as they are able to replicate production of achievers, year in and year out.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: BoyceAp@cput.ac.za