The men were capped by CPUT Chancellor Thandi Modise during the institutions Autumn Graduation ceremony which will see a total of 1572 diplomas, degrees, masters and doctorates conferred.
Goldberg, who was also celebrating his 86th birthday, likened the placing of the hood around his neck as a similar experience to facing the hangman’s noose during the Rivonia Trial.“You face, with your comrades, the possibility of being hanged and white South Africa as a whole wanted to hang you and rejoiced in that possibility, but we are here today with a bond that can never be broken, many of our comrades have passed on now but here we are and we celebrate our victories so far. Aluta Continue, the struggle continues, because there are a lot of people with apartheid ideas in their mind. But when I look at the graduates in this room I see that we are beginning to overcome these struggles.” he says. Goldberg, who received an Honourary Doctorate in Engineering, urged the graduates not to use their qualifications to become part of the ‘social elite’ and to remain embedded in their communities so that they could continue to be of service to those who needed them. “We really need to remain in touch, we have water problems, we have electricity problems, and we’ve got social problems. The future is up to us and I am tremendously excited when I see the list of qualifications being awarded here today,” he said. “Andrew we achieved something you know comrade.”
During his address, Mlangeni who received his Honourary Doctorate in Public Administration, joked about his advancing age robbing him of his sight and hearing.
“The doctors told me its old age but I told them it can’t be because I am 39 and not 93 as they said,” he told the laughing audience.
Mlangeni tackled the thorny topic of corruption head-on and bemoaned the fact that the news agenda was filled with multiple commissions of inquiry as a result.
“Corruption is a deliberate effort which takes a lot of planning. These acts of dishonesty and fraudulent conduct by those in power robs our people of their basic needs,” he said.
The struggle stalwart ended his address with a call for youngsters to vote in the upcoming elections. “If the statistics are anything to go by then half of the youth in this room have not registered to vote. A citizen who does not vote also has no right to complain when political decisions do not go there way.” The ceremony was presided over by CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo who himself was officially installed as the VC a day earlier.
