College of College of Graduate Studies

Diplomat wife honoured at Unisa's graduations in Ethiopia

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Prof Lindiwe Zungu and Mrs Dvumisile Senzosenkosi Hlophe-Sikhondze

A whopping 71 Unisa students graduated in Addis Ababa on Saturday 7 December 2019. Of these students, 61 received doctoral degrees, six master’s degrees, one an honours degree and three bachelor degrees. This is the highest number of doctoral students per year that Unisa has ever produced in the 13 years ]of its partnership with Ethiopia.

Unisa’s Ethiopian Regional Learning Centre was established in 2006, as part of the university’s commitment to support NEPAD and capacity building in various African countries.

To date, Unisa has awarded 286 doctorates, 340 master’s degrees, 75 honours degrees and postgraduate diplomas and 50 bachelor degrees to students in Ethiopia. Unisa has thus yielded a total of 751 highly qualified experts to many fields to add value to the knowledge, economy and business in general in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.


Do not be defined by your circumstances, but instead define your tomorrow

Among the 70 qualifications conferred during the 2019 Ethiopia graduation ceremony was an LLM degree in Human Rights, awarded to diplomatic spouse Mrs Dvumisile Senzosenkosi Hlophe-Sikhondze from the Kingdom of eSwatini.

Diplomatic spouses are expected to follow their partners around the world, and many have accepted the role of supporting their spouses while their own careers come to a standstill. As a result, spouses - the overwhelming majority of whom are women - tend to accept their fate of being unable to follow their own careers and instead become incorporated into and identified with their partner's work and way of life.

The presence of Unisa in Ethiopia changed this "norm" for many diplomats in the spousal domains, one such is Mrs Dvumisile Senzosenkosi Hlophe-Sikhondze, wife of Major-General Bhekithemba Mbokodvo Sikhondze, who obtained an LLM degree in Human Rights. The title of her dissertation was "A critical analysis of the Rome Statute in context of the proposed criminal court chamber of the African Court of Justice and Human and People’s Rights".

Sikhondze said: "Congratulations to my lovely wife for this milestone, as a family we owe thanks to Prof Zodwa Motsa, for her unwavering encouragement and practical support from beginning to end of this journey. Most importantly, we give our thanks to God who made it all possible."

* By Gugu Masinga, Marketing and Communication Specialist, Department of Leadership and Transformation

 

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Publish date: 2019/12/19

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