PRINCE Mangosuthu Buthelezi has been honoured for his contribution and founding of the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT).
On Monday, 8 August, the institution dedicated the entire graduation ceremony to him.
Buthelezi said: “I am humbled by the decision to honour my founding of the university in this way. I want to thank the Vice-Chancellor and principal, as well as the convocation and the faculty of engineering. I also want to thank someone I consider my daughter, the honourable Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who has served with such excellence as chancellor of this institution.
“Although I was a loyal comrade in the ANC and worked with leaders like Mr Walter Sisulu, inkosi Albert Luthuli and Mr Oliver Tambo, I took an entirely different view on this matter of education. It was not easy, because young pupils had been killed during the Soweto uprising.
“I felt that pain as strongly as my leadership. But I knew education would provide the tool to leverage freedom. Moreover, we would need educated and skilled individuals to take over the administration of our country once freedom was achieved. I, therefore, urged our youth not to destroy their institutions of learning, but to value their education. I made a different call. I said, ‘education for liberation’.”
About the university’s history, he said: “Year after year, I heard a growing murmur of complaint. As graduates received their certificates, they mumbled, ‘What good is a piece of paper, when there are no jobs? The painful truth was they were right. There were very few job opportunities, even for university graduates during apartheid. Jobs were reserved for the minority and the glass ceiling at that time was made of steel.
“It became clear that unless our youth were equipped with vocation skills that could immediately translate to work; the reality of joblessness would simply continue.”
Congratulating ther graduates, Buthelezi said: “That you are sitting here today, preparing to receive your degrees and diplomas, is testimony to your character in the face of adversity. It is by no means easy to accomplish completing your studies. I salute every one of you, recognising in you the persevering spirit our country so desperately needs.
“If anyone understands the imperative of sacrifice for the sake of attaining something of value, it is the young people in this room. I want to encourage you today to feel proud of yourselves and hopeful for the future.”
