Student Representative Council leaders Ntethelelo Ngema, Ozayo Ntshulana, Siphiwe Vilakazi, Hlanganani Shange and Robert Thema celebrate their graduation at the Durban University of Technology yesterday. Student Representative Council leaders Ntethelelo Ngema, Ozayo Ntshulana, Siphiwe Vilakazi, Hlanganani Shange and Robert Thema celebrate their graduation at the Durban University of Technology yesterday.
Durban - South Africans must prepare themselves for a new generation of student leaders who are committed to taking the country forward, said some members of the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT) Student Representative Council (SRC) who graduated on Wednesday.
They wanted to dispel any perception that student leaders were not committed to finishing their qualifications on time.
“There is this perception that student leaders don’t graduate or finish their courses, but we are living among a new generation of leaders,” said DUT Pietermaritzburg SRC deputy president Siphiwe “Wele” Vilakazi.
“Student leadership is not a place where you should sit for five or more years. You must serve and you must get your qualification,” he said.
Vilakazi, who graduated with a BTech in public management, said he wanted to use the opportunity to applaud student leaders at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“Six members of the SRC at UKZN graduated on Tuesday. It is important to lead by example.”
DUT’s SRC were celebrating a record graduation as eight of their leaders graduated during the autumn graduation ceremonies which kicked off yesterday in Pietermaritzburg.
Alan Khan, DUT spokesperson, said: “The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor, made a clarion call on Twitter for student leaders to complete their studies in record time, and the DUT SRC has responded emphatically to the minister’s call.”
He was referring to Pandor urging SRC leaders to “leave their institutions of learning in the minimum years of their studies” and to lead by example, graduate and “go back to implement the change within society, and contribute to the economy”.
Robert Thema, the Pietermaritzburg SRC education and transformation officer, obtained 17 distinctions out of 20 modules. He graduated yesterday with a National Diploma in Ecotourism.
“I think there’s a new culture among the youth. We are determined to take our country forward,” he said.