Recently we witnessed a disturbing scene where a student was fighting with his teacher. The teacher was dropped to the ground like a rag doll. Gone are the days when a schoolboy approached the principal’s office with reverential fear.
Our hopes hinge on these future leaders to come up with lasting solutions to the country’s challenges such as the power crisis.
To add salt to the injury, we recently witnessed the fatal shooting of a principal at Kraaifontein.
Laozi’s most well-known contribution to philosophy was the concept of duality.
The idea that there are two of everything. Good and evil, light and darkness. But there is more to it: every pair is connected. In the good, there is some evil, and in some evil, some good.
Shakespeare said: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”
We must acknowledge the reality of the duality principle in our current education system and also acknowledge those who managed this duality in the past with aplomb such as Dr RN Gugushe.
Black communities today, are hard up for role models and academic diamonds such as
Gugushe. Diamonds are made from carbon that has been crystallised under intense pressure and heat. This makes a diamond one of the hardest substances known.
The largest diamond ever found was the Cullinan, a huge gem picked up in South Africa in 1905. Gugushe is South African education’s equivalent of the Cullinan diamond.
Gugushe was the first campus director of Vista University (Soweto Campus) from 1982 to 1990.
His distinctive qualities were that of a visionary, trailblazer and pioneer. A group of Vista University Soweto Campus alumni have named their association Vista Pioneer as a direct honour to this stalwart’s uncompromising quest to open closed doors and tread on uncharted waters. It was during the first Vista University graduation ceremony of 1995 when Gugushe said: “There is [no greater] joy for me to see in this twilight of my life than seeing fellow blacks of all ages blazing the academic trail.”
Gugushe played a pivotal role in the management of the Soweto campus when the country went through a tumultuous period.
The 1980s were characterised by blatant disregard and disrespect of any form of illegitimate authority. Vista University was not hermetically sealed from these ruptures.
The university was closed down in June 1986, and only reopened in January 1987. Many students paid dearly for the disruption. Some were in the final year of study, and some had limited or no financial support or those who were provisional accepted for employment the following year had all their dreams deferred. Others paid the ultimate price with their lives.
As a father, Gugushe sympathised with his “children”.
He paved the way for countless African children to access education. When we matriculated many did not know where to go for tertiary education. We also did not know which careers to follow. Career guidance was overlooked during those dark days. Vista University came in handy for us.
Vista University was a departure from bantustan and bush universities model and not a residential university. It had satellite campuses across urban townships i.e. Mamelodi, Soweto, Gqeberha and Bloemfontein. It was headquartered in Pretoria.
The post-1994 democratic dispensation was marked by mediocrity, stunted growth and backwardness. The reason for this short-sightedness was due to complete disregard of the knowledge, experience and competencies of people such as Gugushe. If you go to the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus, today you won’t find anything named after him.
There is a well-known story that did the runs at Vista University Soweto Campus. The fracas happened in 1985 and was between Gugushe and another lecturer who held a doctorate (PhD).
“I have earned my doctorate, yours is an honorary degree, and it was given to you on silver platter. You can’t tell me anything,” the other fellow thundered at Gugushe.
Gugushe never reciprocated, the story goes since he knew himself to be both emotionally and spiritually intelligent.
• Dr Mabila Mathebula, is a columnist and life coach, while Marumagae Moshe is a co-ordinator of the Vista Pioneer Alumni Association
