“Remember that as we do things, rise and succeed, we take someone else by the hand, inviting them on this journey with us. Such values are also transferred to our students as this is the African way of life and this is the legacy I want to leave at Unisa.”

– Prof Rosemary Moeketsi

For everyone who has crossed paths with the Executive Dean of the College of Human Sciences (CHS), Prof Rosemary Moeketsi, the above quotation will sound familiar, not only because she has said it many times but because she has lived it and instilled it within a college that breathes life into Unisa.

As the days to the ED’s retirement dwindle, many farewells have been held and tributes have been paid to a woman who has dedicated 31 years of her life to Unisa, ensuring that the goals and vision of this university are met and upheld.

From being dubbed the “Queen Mother” of CHS and Unisa, to more recently, the “Coolest Dean in the country” when she was trending on social media for advancing decoloniality in South Africa, Moeketsi has become one of the most loved and respected leaders to walk the Unisa corridors.

While it is no easy task to summarise 31 years of Moeketsi’s career, her story on how she came to lead one of the biggest and most productive colleges at Unisa is an inspirational one. When she joined the university in 1985, there was one other black female academic, who left a few months after she started. For the next few years, the only other black women at Unisa were the cleaners. Having always been an eager student, who at age 15 wrote her matric exam, step by step, Moeketsi advanced her academic career.

Trailblazer in the humanities

She began her academic career producing innovative research in the rare field of forensic linguistics, examining the manner in which language features in the process of justice—from the moment of arraignment, including the manner in which court interpreters conveyed verbal and non-verbal messages in court, until the final verdict and sentencing by the presiding officer. She was awarded the DLitt et Phil in African Languages in the sub-discipline of Forensic Linguistics and has produced a book, Guilty as charged, and several articles on the nature of discourse in criminal cases and alternative dispute resolution.

When she shifted her focus to the development of academic culture at Unisa, her contributions to the university multiplied. Among some of them are the increase of young, black scholars in CHS, the increase in student numbers, and building a college that has consistently produced, on average, 50% of the university’s research output and has the most research masters and doctoral students.

She has also introduced the mentorship programme, which in brief, ensures that experienced professors take newcomers by the hand and lead them through their academic journey. Another project introduced by Moeketsi is Africa Speaks, a college lecture series with aims to allow the continent to tell her own story, to emphasise the worth of the social and human sciences, and to expose emerging academics to new role models—accomplished African scholars from the African continent and the diaspora.

Moeketsi was also instrumental in creating the decoloniality project at Unisa about four years ago. This project, in her words, “aims to undo what colonisation did. It aims to unteach us the methods of thinking, of doing things according to coloniality. It allows us to be free, to think differently, and to be relevant to our own circumstances, without being influenced by what was the case of the past”. She also introduced the Unisa Radio Station, which gives students the opportunity to be trained in various radio positions. Some of these students have subsequently been scooped up by national radio stations.

Also important to note is that in a time before her Unisa adventure, she tried to study law at the University of the Witwatersrand, but was refused ministerial consent because at the time, the Minister of Education could decide who could study at a so-called white university. After being frustrated for two years, she enrolled for a Junior Secondary Teachers’ Certificate, which she completed with a first-class pass in 1971 at Hebron Training College at age 19. Thereafter, she taught Afrikaans for 13 years.

Encouraging staff to excel as leaders

While much has changed in the last 31 years, what remains a constant is the humanity within Moeketsi which enables her to nurture as she led CHS. As Prof Andrew Philips, Director for the School of Humanities in CHS, said during the farewell celebration held on 12 December 2016, she has an open door policy, listens attentively to staff and students, and is not scared to delegate. “She is comfortable to be the executive dean, entrusting others to do the work. She commends those who achieve, and caringly reprimands those who do not, always encouraging us to excel as leaders.”

In her tribute to Moeketsi, Prof Puleng Segalo, Head of Research and Graduate Studies in CHS, said her leadership embodies loyalty, respect, ethics, empathy, and accountability. “She is direct in her approach but is able to contextualise her personal, interpersonal and social space and interactions. She is unafraid to communicate openly and honestly, reflecting a person who is at ease with herself. She is a willing listener; does not force her opinions but is willing to convey her beliefs. Professor Moeketsi is confident, reliable and precise, and most willing to see a task through to its conclusion.”

Segalo added: “When asked to describe the three things that drive her, she comments: ‘First, I cherish the growth of others, I mentor and am bent on putting talent on steroids. Secondly, I’m a decision maker in awe of policies. I initiate action and ensure its success. Thirdly, I believe in younger people—their ardent, albeit reckless zeal enthuses me.”

Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mandla Makhanya, was also present at the farewell and shared the following: “Professor Moeketsi, you have reached the end of a long, full, rich and successful career—through some of the most challenging times that this university and the country have experienced. What you have achieved in that time is nothing short of remarkable. The legacy that you leave will continue shaping futures in the service of humanity. You are one of the giants on whose shoulders we stand and for that we need to salute you, we need to thank you and say that we are going to miss you.”

Swansong: The fire next time

In thanking Unisa staff, Moeketsi said she was honoured by the outpouring of love and gratitude, and apologised to those whose farewell party invitations she could not honour. Her message to CHS staff was one she always stresses and that is to continue “to do better at what we have always been doing very well, to protect our legacy, to close the leadership gap at Unisa, to take one another by the hand, and to uphold the university’s values”.

She added: “I have listened very carefully to the accolades, congratulatory messages, praises in poetry, song and drama. I have shed tears of joy; I have been overwhelmed by the love; I’ve been physically exhausted because my heart has been running over for longer than my body could take. It has been a busy nine months. The last thing I wish to say is that I can almost not recognise the person you spoke about this morning and you have been talking about in the last year. I have never known myself in the manner that you describe me. It can only be that I am your creation, your handiwork. You have made me by your hands and by your agency into this person that is about to leave Unisa for other life tasks. You have moulded me into this perfect beautiful shape and I take this opportunity to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. I will miss you; I will forever cherish your love.

“To my successor, one of my favourite authors, James Baldwin, on writing on the struggle against oppression, says, ‘God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time’. In other words, take the struggle to the next level. ‘The fire next time’.”

*By Rivonia Naidu-Hoffmeester

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