Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe highlights the importance of education at Monash Leadership Awards

October 2011

At the PVC Ancora Imparo Leadership Awards held at Monash South Africa. Front row from the left Vedhna Lalla, Student/Development Manager, Monash South Africa; South African Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe; Pro Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash South Africa, Prof Tyrone Pretorius. Back row from the left: Recipients of Awards Iyinoluwa Ologe, Nasreen Hassanali, Chido Golowe, Sedilame Ntshingane, Chimwemwe Nkhoma, Edith Nyeye and Roy Rati Paya

At the PVC Ancora Imparo Leadership Awards held at Monash South Africa. Ffom the left Vedhna Lalla, Student/Development manager at Monash South Africa; South African Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe; Pro Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash South Africa, Prof Tyrone Pretorius.

South African Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe, said education is central to human development, when speaking at the PVC ‘Ancora Imparo’ Leadership Awards at Monash South Africa on 14 October 2011.

He said: “Education serves as a great equaliser in that it arms every person with the tools to grasp the laws that govern society and nature, thereby enabling them to harness such knowledge for their own benefit. The aggregate effect of empowering individuals in society is that ultimately societal conditions change.”

Motlanthe commended Monash as a private education institution for the continued valued contribution it is making towards the development of our country.
He said: “This is of critical importance for us in South Africa since we are faced with historical challenges that require more than government intervention to address.”

 “The contribution of educational institutions such as Monash will therefore assist us to tackle developmental challenges by expanding the pool of requisite skills-capacity needed by our economy to realise growth, reconstruction and development.”

 “Realising the daunting scale of challenges that our education system must address, government has been calling for partnerships with stakeholders so that together we can reverse the tide of under-development in this country.”

He added that challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequalities between the rich and the poor need to be addressed urgently as they represent a threat to the unity and diversity we enjoy as a country. He said: “Through working together to mentor, educate and train the youth, we can indeed secure a humane and better-managed world.”

“Education remains the bedrock upon which we can realise our development objectives and secure a better future for all. By investing in educating the youth we are well on our way to reaching our goals of building a prosperous, united and cohesive society, and thus staking a claim in our future. 

“These young leaders’ contributions to humanity and care for others prove that leadership cannot be achieved without the spiritual grounding to want to empathise by standing in solidarity with and eradicating the suffering of others. Without such a spiritual commitment I doubt that anyone would have the infinite strength and tenacity to continue to serve humanity.” 

“I am therefore convinced that with such young individuals emerging out of our universities and schools we can rest easy knowing that our country and continent are in good hands.”

When discussing the Awards, Prof Tyrone Pretorius, Pro Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash South Africa, said that leadership is not a position but rather an attitude, a value and an approach to decision-making.

The PVC Ancora Imparo Leadership Programme is highly selective and is directed to the most promising of Monash students. It is highly demanding and in addition to the normal curricular load, the selected students are expected to attend monthly seminars over the course of a full year.

Pretorius said: “Especially in the African context, it is inevitable that those who have received the benefit of a higher education will become leaders in their communities and places of work in terms of the role that they play. At Monash we are mindful of our responsibility to ensure that our graduates are equipped to play this role.”

“We describe the typical Monash graduate as one who will be equipped to live, learn and work globally. One who will have been inspired by our internationally focused, research-led teaching and wish to use his/her talents to improve the world.”

He reminded students that:  “The world owes us nothing. We are not entitled to anything. Rather we owe it to our community, society and world to do our duty and meet our obligations.”

He encouraged students to: “Make your life count and make a difference in your time”.

The above is summary of the speeches delivered by South African Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe and Prof Tyrone Pretorius, Pro Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash South Africa.  A copy of Mr Mothlante’s speech can be accessed at the following link: http://www.monash.ac.za/news/2011/speech-deputy-president-kgalema-motlanthe.pdf (pdf, 41Kb)