By Lehlohonolo Mofokeng The brutal killing of a black man by the police force in the United States of America evoked in me what Chabani Manganyi noted in his seminal book Being Black in the World. In this book, Manganyi argues that there are two interwoven existential realities of being black—one positive and the other […]
Mandela Rhodes Scholars
Mandela Rhodes Scholars who feature on this page are all recipients of The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship, awarded by The Mandela Rhodes Foundation, and are members of The Mandela Rhodes Community.
The Mandela Rhodes Community was started by recipients of the scholarship, and is a growing network of young African leaders in different sectors. The Mandela Rhodes Community is comprised of students and professionals from various backgrounds, fields of study and areas of interest. Their commonality is the set of guiding principles instilled through The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship program: education, leadership, reconciliation, and social entrepreneurship.
All members of The Mandela Rhodes Community have displayed some form of involvement in each of these domains.
The Community has the purpose of mobilising its members and partners to collaborate in establishing a growing network of engaged and active leaders through dialogue and project support
[The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship is open to all African students and allows for postgraduate studies at any institution in South Africa. See The Mandela Rhodes Foundation for further details.]
Posted inEquality, Health, Lifestyle
How vandalism in public schools widens educational imbalances
By Lehlohonolo Mofokeng The number of vandalised schools in South Africa during the lockdown period stood at 1 577 as at 19 May 2020, according to the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga. Barely 24 hours later, Kwazulu-Natal MEC of Education, Kwazi Mshengu, shared with his social media followers how Covid-19 essential goods were stolen […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is Angie Motshekga reducing teachers’ and learners’ lives to nothing?
If the DBE cannot assure children that their lives will not be compromised, how do you expect effective teaching and learning to happen? Have effective teaching and learning ever triumphed where fear reigned?
Posted inEquality, Health
Too little too late for schools facing multiple deprivation during lockdown
By Lehlohonolo Mofokeng When President Ramaphosa proactively announced a country-wide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and to allow hospitals to gear up for the inevitable onslaught, vulnerabilities that exist in our schools facing multiple deprivation (rural and township schools) were exposed. As the rest of the world has been brought to a […]
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Metrics in Project SAA: What you measure matters
By Dale van der Lingen Inspired by the recent movie Ford vs. Ferrari, which retells Ford Racing’s overthrow of the ever-dominant Ferrari in the 1960s at Le Mans, and the Springbok’s epic turnaround to win last year’s Rugby World Cup, I’ve written this series of pieces to show that not all is lost with our […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics, Tech
Can SAA attract the “one percenters”?
By Dale van der Lingen My previous piece here centred on lessons for South African Airways (SAA) from Ford’s upending of Ferrari’s decades long dominance at Le Mans in the 1960s and our very own Springboks’ miraculous turnaround from a place where, to paraphrase Mike Tindell’s post-match analysis, they couldn’t win a raffle 18 months […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Fixing SAA: State-owned does not have to mean state-run
By Dale van der Lingen I love going to the movies, enjoying the popcorn, and switching off my phone for the duration of the movie. The cinemas, along with flying, are two of the last escapes we have from the bombardment of life in the smartphone age. This last weekend I sat down to watch […]
Posted inEnvironment, Equality
Ideas for tackling land reform in South Africa
By Kelebone Lekunya We have heard numerous shouts from South African politicians, business community (mostly white Afrikaner farmers) and ordinary citizens about the prospects and constraints of the radical land reform question in South Africa. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), since its launch in 2013, has made it its business to champion expropriation of land […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Equality, General, Lifestyle, Tech
A new world awaits: Who is brave enough to imagine it?
By Anton I. Botha As J.K. Rowling once noted, we do not need magic to change the world, we already have the power to imagine a better one. And so, as humanity finds itself faced with unprecedented global challenges the question remains, do we have the power to imagine something better or will we let […]
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, General, Media
Dear Western critics, your fake outrage about Botswana’s elephants is a colonial longing
By Lorato Palesa Modongo “Come Kitty. We want to empower you. No, your mother cannot do this. Your government cannot do this. Time cannot do this… We will teach you how to commune with nature, grow ecologically friendly crops, trade fairly with eco-tourists and receive visitors from United Nations who will clap when you dance.” […]
Posted inEquality, Health, Lifestyle
What parents can do to make up for gaps in our basic education?
By Lehlohonolo Mofokeng Here is a reality many of us do not want to talk about: our basic education encourages surface learning than deep learning. One of the reasons I encourage my learners to enter for Accounting Olympiads is to show them that our content is weak; by consequence, disadvantages them when they enrol at […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Election day in my new ‘home’: A migrant’s reluctant vote for integration
By Zdena Mtetwa-Middernacht It is Election Day in Belgium. I am not voting but I’ve taken the walk to the polling station. The polling station is a school a few hundred meters from our home, in a little Flemish town on the outskirts of Brussels. I’m at the playground with the kids while my husband […]