Nelson Mandela University: Mandela Uni relaunches Raymond Mhlaba Governance Centre with public lecture

Nelson Mandela University will relaunch its Raymond Mhlaba Centre for Governance and Leadership with a public lecture headlined by the institution’s Chancellor, Dr Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.

The lecture, titled “Asinakuthula Umhlaba Ubolile: Amplifying the Call to Action”, has been influenced by the Raymond Mhlaba Centre’s purpose of reinvigorating engagements on good governance, accountability and ethical leadership in the region and beyond, by focusing on the role of struggle heroes and heroines.

Hosted by the Faculty of Humanities, this lecture is a response to the University’s Vision 2030 strategic focus areas on Transformative Engagement, and the Revitalisation of the Humanities.

“Specifically, this year’s address focusses on migration patterns in the continent, and more specifically, the Afrophobia that has gathered pace since the end of apartheid,” says the Acting Director of the Raymond Mhlaba Centre for Governance and Leadership, Professor Luvuyo Ntombana.

“The conversation is based on the lived experiences of struggle icons like Dr Raymond Mhlaba and critical thinkers who have contributed in the discourse on identity, migration and space.

“The Chancellor’s address contends for the protection of citizen’s dignity through the preservation of society’s identity and its wellbeing by using social memory as means to promote conducive space for critical reasoning and crucial debate.

“In the South African context, in particular, where the erosion of dignity took place in recent history, social memory becomes instrumental in informing governance policies and the transformation of society itself.

“In this vein, the lecture explores our collective, yet varied, memory and historical interpretations as a one of the pillars that inform policies in respect of sound governance.”