MUT executive and senior management; organized labour, and the Student Representative Council attended a lekgotla on 6-7 March 2023, off campus. The first day was set aside for team building. This was followed by hard talk the following day. During the hard talk, all stakeholders had to go through self-reflexivity on where MUT was in the past, where it is now, and where it wants to go in the future. To say that the delegates want to move MUT to a better future is an understatement. Delegates’ posture, discourse, and responses showed that they are ready to be a part of the future of positivity.
“It is not an easy journey to choose life versus death, which is a Biblical analogy from the Book of Deuteronomy” said Dr Mark Hay, a well-known academic, former DHET official/consultant with great humility. He used this analogy as a lifesaver for the University community to remind them that, “the future of the University rests on your shoulders. You are the leadership, and you have an obligation to oversee that the main business of the University continues by being ethical, going an extra mile and being committed to the University.” All this is achievable, and the University already has its value-system in place identifiable through AIRE – Accountability, Integrity, Respect, Excellence. No matter who joins the University or leaves the University, the University must still have its own culture intact underpinned by these values, summing this all up by a Zulu expression: Izandla ziyagezana – take care of each other by becoming more caring and not let each other to die.