Page 59 - Transformation Indaba Report

ed to him. The second being the ‘Damascus moment’ for 1964 where he demonstrated criticality and eloquently
Mandela when he met the world-acclaimed Xhosa poet, addressed the court and made his speech that was premised
Samuel Mqhayi. Both these moments are seldom engaged on social justice. His fight against Apartheid was fuelled by
within the scholarship in the academy when we interrogate resistance against inequality and oppression. The input went
the character of Mandela. further by problematising the way in which Mandela has been
given his English name. In the South African context, names
Ms Tokwana began by highlighting the importance of one’s have more than just a lexical meaning – they reflect the
name and gave examples of how her own name had been a aspirations, dreams and hopes of the family.
point of inspiration and purpose – “this is the name that my
parents, my family, my ancestors have entrusted me with”. Professor Crain Soudien began his input with a reflection on
This consideration frames the importance of an institution’s the recent survey that had been conducted and briefly spoke
name. Ms Tokwana expressed that based on her isiXhosa about how the responses were made to each of the five key
heritage, she prefers to articulate Mandela’s name as Rolihlahla questions. Since the survey was rolled out at the end of last
– which means ‘causing trouble’ or ‘troublemaker’. Two learn- year, the questionnaire received 939 views – with Prof Soudien
ings around the name are shared: i) To have a positive outlook expressing an interest in those that saw the questionnaire and
in life. Having been given the name ‘troublemaker’, Mandela didn’t respond, and why that might be the case. Over 140
caused ‘trouble’ in a positive way; ii) Education as a stepping- responses were received with only 53 respondents having
stone, with innovation as the key to success. Ms Tokwana completed the survey which had generated hundreds of
shared her experiences around having attained a degree but comments to review.
still not finding ‘success’ through acceptance into a postgrad-
uate course as of yet, also reflecting on the state of the eco- Remarks were also made on the panellists’ contributions, with
nomy, and the joblessness that her generation is facing. She specific reference to Mr Qoto’s input. The University produc-
argues that innovation is the key to success – for example, the ing, in the name of Mandela, ethical agency is what we should
non-profit organisation (focusing on mental health) that she had take out of the University – the capacity for acting ethic-
recently taken part in establishing as the next step in her life. ally. This is what students and graduates ought to be and
promote. Reflections were also made on the self-reflective
Dr Moeng’s input responds to the following questions: What subject and the way in which the kind of agency which ought
does the name Mandela mean to you?; Does the name Man- to come out of the University. In referring to the previous
dela have any implications for your field of study or disci- TIMS workshop, Prof Soudien touched on institutions around
pline? If so, what are they?; and How should the name Man- the world that carry the names of prominent people and how
dela affect teaching and learning at our University? It was few of those institutions were able to articulate this – simply
explained that at first glance, the questions appeared to taking on a stance of being like him, or being like her.
be quite easy. However, when Dr Moeng went deeper and
began connecting Mandela to her field, education, and to Professor Harris thanked the panellists for their insights and
learning and teaching it became apparent that it was in fact contributions to the discussion and handed it back over to
a tall order. Reflecting on her schooling in the late-70s and Dr Levendal as the facilitator of the Transformation Indaba.
being in the midst of education-led protests against the injus- The 2022 year aims to see the import of the Mandela
tices inflicted by Apartheid in the 80s, Dr Moeng expressed Scholarship project into the University at a discipline and fac-
that this exercise was a moment of catharsis as she had ulty level, with several smaller activities being planned for
reflected on Mandela. This was noted so as to situate reflex- deeper interrogation of the name Mandela. Workshops will
ivity within the context of the name Mandela. Without hesi- target staff and students from key departments where deep
tation, for Dr Moeng, the name Mandela means hope, possi- discussions will be held around what the name Mandela means
bility, social justice, criticality, and resistance. All of these can at a personal and systemic level.
be seen throughout Mandela’s life, in particular his trial in

NelsoN MaNdela UNiversity • traNsforMatioN iNdaba • 2022 53