Edwin Cameron (chancellor), Marlene le Roux, Wim de Villiers (vice-chancellor)
Speech by Marlene le Roux, chief executive officer of Artscape, chairperson of the Chrysalis Academy, chairman of the ATKV board of directors, and well-known advocate for Afrikaans, culture, the youth and persons with disabilities, during the acceptance of an honorary doctorate degree in Education (DEd) at Stellenbosch University on 13 December 2021.
(Kliek hier vir die Afrikaanse weergawe)
This year, we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Afrikaans poet PJ Philander. I would like to share the following from his pen:
Kom jy oor die kruin van ʼn Bolandse bergpas, kyk jy af op die skoonste toneel in Suid-Afrika ...
Dis ʼn mosaïek van groen wingerde, boorde, graanlande,
bosse, damme, paaie, dorpe en deftige plaashuise – ʼn wisselende patroon van beskawing en kultuur wat wegdein tot in die vertes by die see.
Kyk lank ...
Yl gespikkeld teen die hellings en tussen die bome, of in skugtere groepies op brakkolle saamgehurk, staan daar ook die huisies van duisende plaaswerkers.
Dis nie hulle by wie jy later sal koffie drink of op die koel
stoep onder die eike sit nie. Dis nie hulle wat daar sal wees om jou ʼn bruin hand te reik en jou welkom te heet nie ...
En tog is hulle daar. Onlosmaaklik.
En elke wingerdstok en vrugteboom, elke grondsooi en elke
plaasdier, elke steen wat op ʼn ander lê, elke duim pad en sloot
en draadheining, elke geringste produk wat hierdie pragwêreld
moontlik gemaak het – is deur daardie selfde hand aangeraak.
Deur die duisende bruin hande van hierdie ryk aarde se stiefkinders.
Daarom is ook hulle lééd ʼn grootse mosaïek met duisenderlei patrone ...
A special word of appreciation in particular to Prof Wim de Villiers at the helm of the University. He has an immense responsibility as leader of the University and in the community, but moreover as a role model for the future leaders of South Africa.
Thank you to Prof Koopman who, in his capacity as the Vice-Rector:
Social Impact, Transformation and Personnel, creates real action through the guidance and support for the development of an inclusive society with equal rights for all.
What a special honour it is that Stellenbosch University deemed me worthy of this award. I accept this on behalf of so many disadvantaged women, persons with disabilities and also people who have no voice in life. I started my life in what can be seen as a cycle where you are born into poverty and would ultimately die in poverty.
Never in my wildest dreams did I, the daughter of Christine (Tietie) and the parents who brought me up, Ouma and Oupa Christina and Frank Abrahams, think that I would stand here. They experienced the hardship of our apartheid past first-hand, but despite this they understood the provision and the importance of education. And for this I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.
Fortunately, I grew up in a loving community in Wellington, where they believed in me and my capabilities. They were a community of hope that never doubted that there is a better life out there if you believe in others and if you are willing to also offer a part of yourself. Today, I stand here thanks to this community; a community who endured the hardship of apartheid and poverty, and who worked together to hold my arms up high. It is through them that I can give back today – it could have turned out very differently.
Even though I was born a labourer's child, who was left disabled after I had polio at the age of three months, it was a great privilege that the people around me believed in education. How privileged was I that I received my education in my mother tongue, Afrikaans. Good education in my foundation phase made a real difference. Education cannot take place without an in-depth comprehension of your community and its needs. Through continuous exposure to books, teachers, the church and community leaders, I grew up influenced by various opinions.
The most important time in our lives is now. Yes, especially now, in the midst of a pandemic. Today, we still live in a marginalised world and the challenge of poverty in our country is just growing greater. These times are a sad reminder and a reality check for the despair of people living in their poverty.
This begs the question: Where do we stand now?
We can't merely speak of hope – we have to take action. We as graduates are unbelievably privileged.
Grant me, as the chief executive officer of Artscape Theatre, a moment to talk about the performing arts. This year, we celebrate the 50th year of existence of the Artscape building. I was privileged to see the transformation unfold in front of my eyes. The building was inaugurated in 1971 as the Nico Malan Theatre, and was initially only for whites. It was opened to all races in 1975. For decades, South Africa also experienced a cultural boycott, among others, and over a period of five decades, this building became a space for talent in all genres and languages. This year, we can look back and smile. Everyone is welcome, but it has been a long journey. Through various projects and youth outreach initiatives, we made a practical and tangible difference by working together. The arts go hand in hand with education, but even more: It feeds the soul and spirit. Therefore, I can attest: The performing arts create hope – words don't mean much, but actions mean a lot.
Hope and words like ubuntu will remain empty if our policies do not speak to a girl from Hawston or Wellington, Kayamandi or Saron. If it can't make a disabled girl's dreams come true, the words are worthless.
The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year, had a philosophical approach aimed at empowering people. To empower people, he suggested problem questions for education. According to Freire, education cannot take place simply through a one-sided presentation from a lecturer. It has to be strengthened through the use of interactive dialogue.
According to Freire, dialogue is not only a training technique, but also a necessary aid. Focus on a relevant curriculum is so unbelievably important for critical and – even more importantly – ethical leadership. Through your community, you create reciprocal self-confidence, integrity and respected value systems which in turn strengthen society regardless of race, language, education or economic health.
The arts transcend political borders, bring us as people together, and bind our communities to one another. It speaks to the brutality of the past, as well as the challenges of the present. The arts afford children the opportunity to escape the harsh reality in giving them the opportunity to dream. Even more so, it inspires and develops. When we sing a song of praise in a choir, we hear and experience the harmony of sound. During that time, there is no political agenda.
Now is the time for us to inspire through action. We are, however, still trapped in the ego of our privileged humanity. I plead for equal education and for breaking down our geographical past. Our tertiary institutions have to make training programmes available on which we can build to bring our youth together. It's not enough to merely talk about how – genuine dialogue and interaction have to be promoted.
The youth have to be stimulated with cognitive development and visionary and creative thoughts. Today, new leaders will receive their degrees. There is a huge task placed on their shoulders, because we expect of them to really care, and to create and implement policies which create opportunities for people – opportunities for people to not only fulfil their role in the country, but also to contribute to the economy. And yes, it has to be policies that will create opportunities even for the poorest daughter of a farm worker, one who might even be disabled, to enable her to live her life to the fullest.
Language and culture don't know colour. Hope goes hand in hand with real action, where we make the deliberate decision to move closer to each other and leave our egos behind.
This university is surrounded by farms. On these farms are children of the owners as well as those of the farm workers. All these children deserve to dream dreams and cherish future ideals. This university can empower them. Our communities need committed, well-balanced individuals who can reach out empathetically and charitably, and compassionately embrace families. In doing so, we strengthen one another and the people of our country.
Economic wealth must become the economic health of our society.
The late Prof H Russel Botman, former rector and vice-chancellor of Stellenbosch University, said: “When I was appointed rector and vice-chancellor in 2007, I dedicated my term to the realisation of this commitment to future generations. I proposed the development of a critical pedagogy for Stellenbosch University in connection with the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of hope (Freire, 1970, 1992). His contributions are linked to the idea that education should help to transform the world, specifically by empowering people to become agents of change themselves. It is a critical pedagogy. It is a progressive pedagogy of transformation. It seeks to transform broken realities. Its subject is a very ambitious subject called ‘the world’. For the progressive educator, every educational moment – whether in the search for knowledge or the sharing of knowledge or the application of knowledge – is an opportunity to unveil the hope that we have for future generations. It is hope that seeks action and leads to the transformation of the world.”
Dr Beryl Botman prescribes that “hope should be an educational construct for teacher education in South Africa”. Dr Beryl Botman, in her own Freirean reflections, argues that epistemology and ontology should be inseparable, as they are pivotal to an education system that is transformational.
“Self-reflection and self-critique is vital for educators; we need to understand that we do not have all the answers because we are ever-evolving beings, working on understanding ourselves and the people around us,” Dr Botman says.
"These themes are the eradication of poverty and related conditions, and the promotion of human dignity and health, democracy and human rights, peace and security, as well as a sustainable environment and a competitive industry.”
We can only feel satisfied that there is fair access when the daughter of the farm worker has the same future opportunities as the son of the farmer.
Dr Botman’s point of view emphasises that there remains a definite need for an inclusive exploration of education philosophies and education systems – not only European and Western, but also African and Eastern.
It is therefore important for the university to remain a university of relevance, with ethical leadership and implementers of policies who hold the power to change the life of the farm worker’s child and the child with a disability on an economic level. Such change is indeed possible, as is evident in the example of Paul Siguqa, who is one of the only black wine farm owners in the Franschhoek area. Paul bought the farm Klein Goederust through years of saving and perseverance, thereby defeating the perception that as the son of a farm labourer, this would become his destiny too. Of course, while Paul is regarded as a role model, his continued success and the destiny of his farm would be positively influenced through the availability of active support, and not just words of encouragement, particularly in this challenging era of COVID-19.
A big thank you to my Artscape family, my ATKV family and my Chrysalis Academy family. And then, to my immediate family, Jack Abrahams, Wilfred Abrahams, Patrick Abrahams, Richard Abrahams, Marjorie Jacobs, Ray Kieffer, Edward Abrahams, my beloved and gifted daughter, Aimee George, and my late son, Adam George, who taught me so much about life. Also to my partner, Eduardus van der Borght, who made me realise “môre sal die son weer skyn”. Thank you for the role that you all have played in my growing as a person. I specifically say growing and not growth, because our education as people does not end.
“At the end of life, what really matters
is not what we bought but what we built;
not what we got, but what we shared;
not our competence, but our character;
and not our success, but our significance.
Live a life that matters.
Live a life of love.”
– Author unknown
South Africa is a diverse landscape in so many ways. Let's embrace one other with sincere care and real development for our young people, and work together at a foundation level to pursue economic empowerment and an understanding of "being us", in a humane way. I believe that everyone has a place under the sun in the new South Africa, we just have to come to understand the collective how.
The post Speech by Marlene le Roux during the acceptance of an honorary doctorate degree in Education at Stellenbosch University appeared first on LitNet.