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LOCKDOWN GRADUATION
MUT caps 2 539 students at its ‘virtual’ graduation
ceremonies
Saturday, 27 June 2020, was just another day for many across South Africa. But for
2 539 MUT students graduating at the University’s 2020 graduation, it was a day they
were going to make history. They were the first graduates to be capped at MUT’s first
‘virtual’ graduation in line with the country’s social distancing and lockdown regulations.
The Faculty of Engineering graduated 809 students,
while the Faculty of Management Sciences graduated
1 279 students. The Faculty of Natural Sciences
graduated a smaller number of 451 students, but this
included three Master’s students – an extra cause for
celebration.
The three ceremonies were available for viewing on
the MUT virtual graduation microsite from 10h00 on
the graduation Saturday. The ceremonies started with
the constitution of the congregation and introductory
remarks by MUT Chancellor and Minister of Human
Settlements, Water & Sanitation, the Honourable
Lindiwe Sisulu (MP), who was the first to send in her
recorded message. Sisulu’s introduction was followed
by an address by the Acting Vice-Chancellor &
Principal, Professor Marcus Ramogale. The conferral
of qualifications followed immediately after Professor
Ramogale’s address. Sandile Dlamini, President of
MUT Convocation, then welcomed graduates to the
Convocation of MUT before Sisulu dissolved the
congregation.
Opening the ceremonies as she would during face-
to-face graduation, Honourable Minister Sisulu
expressed her disappointment at not being able to join
the University’s graduates in person. “As you know,
the MUT graduation is very close to my heart,” said
Sisulu. “There is a sense of uniqueness to the MUT
graduation which makes me appreciate how far we
have come as a country to bring access to education
to people from all walks of life.”
Sisulu further reminded graduates that they needed
to find ways to soldier on with their lives as the
coronavirus would be part of them until a vaccine was
discovered and distributed.