Professor Marcus Ramogale
Message from the Acting Vice-Chancellor
Today is a different graduation ceremony, one that you will celebrate alone with your families. However, you are not alone; universities across the world have hosted virtual graduation ceremonies for their students in order to comply with regulations imposed by lockdowns and the Coronavirus pandemic.
We postponed your graduation in April hoping that we would have fought the Coronavirus by now. Instead, coronavirus cases are growing day by day. The whole world needs to protect its citizens by limiting gatherings, and we are responding to the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 that has been invoked so that all South Africans could be protected against Covid-19.
This message comes to you a day after June 16 to remind you that the youth of South Africa in 1976 faced a hopeless future when they were being forced to learn everything in Afrikaans. The South African youth of 1976 took it upon themselves to fight apartheid and this fight spread across the country. Our march today was accelerated by the fight that was started by the Class of 1976.
I would like to challenge you as the Class of 2020, receiving your qualifications in a Lockdown. What legacy are you going to carry beyond the Lockdown? Will you be able to look back and say, during this time I used my certificate to get a job? That would be your greatest milestone under these challenging times. However, my challenge to you is to think of yourself as an employer. In that way, you will never go wanting.
As strong proponents of entrepreneurship, the leadership of MUT would like to encourage you to think very strongly about entrepreneurship. Don’t wait for the world to hand out things to you.
The story of Robert Kiyosaki, an American businessman and author, and founder of Rich Dad Company is worth sharing. He has written many books-among them, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Mr Kiyosaki has been preparing the youth to become employers rather than employees. He often asks a challenging question to his readers – who says the purpose in life is to become an employee? Just think about that. God did not bring you into this life to be an employee.
Centuries ago before colonisation, Africans were self-employed, they were self-reliant but had to become employees when the land was taken from them and a system of taxation was introduced. However; in this modern world in our post-apartheid era, there are options. Graduates may now choose to become business owners or investors.
My recommendation to you is that you must choose to become employers. The Coronavirus has created many problems, but has also opened new opportunities. Leverage these opportunities, find solutions to the problems we are faced with. In that way, you will find success. There may be no jobs, but there is plenty of work if you see work as the creation of solutions to existing problems. Do not become a job-seeker; rather be a work-seeker.
Successful entrepreneurs hip requires that you must have:
- Courage
- Perseverance
- Tenacity
- Positive thinking
- Sound human relations
- Willingness to take risks
- Curiosity
- Problem-solving attitude
A problem-solving attitude is what will create for you.
I am heartened that one of the people graduating today; Bright Hlongwane was on uKhozi FM and eTV News on Youth Day advocating youth empowerment. He is already a respected entrepreneur and this is living proof that your past cannot determine your future.
The Lockdown cannot determine your future. You need to rise above the Lockdown and start thinking about various ways on how you could become your own employer, a solver of society’s problems.
Please keep on flying the MUT flag high and always remember that you were not brought in this world to lose but to win. You are all winners and on behalf of all the MUT community; I wish you success and prosperity.
Congratulations on your graduation, and May the good Lord bless all your future endeavour.
Message from the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
Graduating with a university qualification is no small feat. It takes hard work, dedication, discipline, and consistency. Your success is a result of sacrifices by your families, the dedicated work of your lecturers, and the hard work of unsung heroes who keep your lecture theatres, labs, and residences clean.
Your graduation comes at a time when the world, as we know it, is changing. Society will be relying on your skills and expertise to help them navigate this new normal.
As you advance into the next phase of your lives, remember to continue to invest in your personal development. Technology is advancing at an alarming rate, you must advance with it.
Congratulations to you and your families on this achievement.
Professor Babatunde Bakare
Dr Bheka Ntshangase
Message from the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences
Many of you are receiving your first qualifications at this ceremony; we look forward to welcoming you back for your post-diploma qualifications. For those graduating with Advanced Diplomas, we are proud to have been part of your journey and we hope that you will continue to fly your university flag high wherever you go.
Your graduation comes at a time of great hardship for our country. It is no secret that our economy is struggling and desperately needs innovators and entrepreneurs who can create jobs while solving some of the challenges we face as a nation. Our country will be relying on your knowledge and expertise to navigate some of these challenges and to find solutions to take humanity forward. I am confident that you will seize this opportunity and use your qualification not only for yourselves but for public good.
Congratulations to you and your families.
Message from the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences
Covid-19 brought about drastic changes on the mode of teaching and learning at all educational institutions. The mode of interaction was now reliant on technological and social media platforms to ensure continuity of teaching and learning. At MUT, the student population consists of students from impoverished backgrounds, seeking knowledge to gain a brighter future. Many of these students are probably the first graduate in their families, which is an accolade within indigenous rural families. Let alone the struggle to have food on the table, the compounded need for technology during this pandemic forced families to source resources to ensure the child is not left behind.
The 2022 graduation ceremony honours these students, in being the ones that faced changes in the system of the delivery of lectures from face-to-face, then completely online, and followed by a blended mode of interaction. These students had to adapt to frequent change, often overnight, and had to embrace these changes as the norm.
Due to their resilience and willingness to accommodate these changes, I wish all the 2022 graduates from the Faculty of Natural Sciences the best in their future endeavours. You made it to the end of the journey. Enjoy, go out and make that qualification work for you. The Faculty of Nature Sciences at MUT is proud to have had you as one of its students.
Sincerely
Professor Roger Coopoosamy
Acting Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences
Mangosuthu University of Technology
Prof Roger Coopoosamy
Dr Phumzile Masala
Message from the MUT Acting Registrar
On behalf of Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), congratulations on your academic achievement. You worked hard to complete your qualification and qualify to receive a qualification from our institution. We know that this achievement is not just yours alone. Your families, guardians, friends, and generous benefactors all contributed to your success. We wish to congratulate them as well on job well-done.
For those of you who are no longer at MUT, graduation does not mean the end of your connection with your alma mater. The University wants to remain in touch with you and to continue to share in your achievements in your journey through life. During your graduation, be on the lookout for the Alumni Relations information stand/table, where colleagues will engage you on the various ways you can continue to participate in University activities.
Remember to take a moment to locate the photographers at the Seme Sportsgrounds for photographs of you and your family/guests. Besides inspiring others to follow your example, these photographs also serve as institutional memory. They are the first draft of the history of our institution.
We look forward to meeting you and your guests in person.
Dr Phumzile Masala
Acting Registrar
Mangosuthu University of Technology