Page 23 - Transformation Indaba Report

dAy 1, QUestion And Answer session │ Participant inputs

Part of what I assume is in the university’s interest is its contribution to society, and therefore, I’m missing the use of transformation
to afford opportunities for new entrants such as SMMEs and companies owned by vulnerable groups. (O Mtati)

Odwa is right in his comment. It has been part of the vision for the university’s own economy in relation to vulnerable
of the university - and that is to deploy its own economy to groups which make up the social polity of which we are part.
the benefit of the vulnerable groups. I’m not so sure if we are This is a very crucial element. For instance, if you ask that
getting there, but as we would know, these different sets of question to Stellenbosch University, you will have different
interest that are historically produced make up the mechan- responses from the black community who would feel that
ics of the university, and they’re very difficult to dislodge. they have been totally ignored and actually invisible(-ized)
We have a Working Group that deals with various aspects by the University. One does not want to have the same kind
of the point Odwa raised, but I suspect there’d be another of accusations being levelled at our university in a few years
level of discussion as to what ‘in service of society’ means to come. It is a very crucial point. (A Keet)

We are grappling in another project that we’re working on that the university becomes a better place because of its
about this whole question of the university and its legitimacy, engagement with our struggles, and understanding it better
and who owns it. For me then, it touches on both questions and translating that into mutually generative relationships,
that I’ve been grappling with in my mind. Odwa’s comment which are for me more sustainable because we are talking
presupposes that the university knows that this is the about convergence instead of the university framing what is
relationship that society/community wants to have with it. it that SMMEs or small businesses want. I think what Odwa is
I would rather want to pose it to the communities in which suggesting becomes one of the outcomes of the conversation
we are, as undergirded and informed and framed by a con- in which the university becomes a better place in itself under-
versation of what kind of a relationship and intersections and standing that it could have been if it had just said “we have
conversations we would like to have with the university, so got these intellectual resources, so come along.” (S Muthwa)

Can a university overcome/dilute the skewed social and in- It is therefore critically important to have a representative
tellectual demographics through a compelling institutional Senate, but that would be a multi-decadal or long-term
vision and culture seeking to unite the university around a project. Can we then find other ways to progress more quickly
higher purpose? Is this even doable? Research shows us that towards a transformative, transformational, engaged, and
what centres power and drives the texture of a university engaging institution? (S Muthwa)
is basically an outcome of who has power and who owns it.

I find the argument for a sociology of higher education is Very informative presentations. Thank you. Would it be pos-
very refreshing and timely as we really need a framework to sible to use a recording of these introductory presentations
help us understand the university as an entity! (M Moeng) as a basis to enrich and inform our discussions around the
transformation agenda at the departmental level? (Amanda)

Are we holding onto the idea of a university that is no longer possible under the current global competitive and corporatist
cultures which focuses on numbers and less on academic project that could transform these entities? I find the systemic analysis
useful but also the current global rankings which promote less of transformation. (Babalwa)

NelsoN MaNdela UNiversity • traNsforMatioN iNdaba • 2022 17