Newly appointed VPs ready to make a difference

On Friday, 25 February, Professor Puleng LenkaBula, Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor (VC), welcomed the newly appointed Vice-Principal: Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Mathabo Nakene, and Vice-Principal: Facilities and Operations, Matsiababa Solofelang Motebele.

(left to right): Mathabo Nakene (VP: ICT), Matsiababa Solofelang Motebele (VP: Facilities & Operations) and Prof Puleng LenkaBula (VC: Unisa).

The VC said that she is excited to bring the two new members into the Unisa family. She outlined her commitment as driver of the pre-eminent African open, distance and eLearning (ODeL) university, and her intention to apply best practices to transform and sustain the university’s academic project.

Towards digital transformation

‘What I love about Unisa is that the university moved to online assessments,’ said the new ICT portfolio head. ‘The university has a clear vision. It is important now to lift the university’s efforts by optimising and looking at the solutions that will enable the academic project to thrive.’

Joining Unisa from Airports Company South Africa, where she excelled as Service Development Group Manager, Nakene said she believes that it is crucial to digitally transform the student experience. ‘I want my role to be student-centric,’ said Nakene, who successfully migrated South Africa’s airport systems from analogue to digital platforms. Among the many positions she previously held, she worked as Senior Project Manager at the Department of Home Affairs, and Programme Manager at Wits University. Nakene also served as a board member at Rand Water.

Though Covid-19 is changing the landscape of higher education, Nakene said she is optimistic and positive about quality service delivery, the students, and transformation in the digital space to ensure that everyone enjoys their schooling or working life.

Nakene’s academic background is versatile. She completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Cape Town.

‘Through the ICT systems that my team and I are going to offer, I am looking forward to giving Unisa students convenience and making their learning journey easier. I want to change our relationship with the academic project.’

Nakene said that Unisa needs to achieve better throughput rates in a way that is tangible and meaningful. ‘The student experience for distance education should be a positive one,’ she concluded. ‘With our past success, experience, capabilities and skills, we are able to transform the digital experience of our students.’

Prioritising students

New Facilities and Operations supremo Motebele, who was a Unisan before, reiterated the importance of adding value to the students. Motebele said that prioritising students as the main stakeholders is pertinent. ‘Since Covid-19 hit,’ said Motebele, ‘there are a lot of occupational health and safety issues. My strategy is not to come with “Rolls Royce” strategy, but to rather focus on the basics that can be dealt with. These include the basic occupational health and safety needs of  students to enhance their learning experience.’

Motebele plans to use facilities to help the teaching and learning project to recover. His interest lies in bettering gardens and grounds to ensure that students’ learning experience is enhanced. While he noted that the pandemic made staff members and stakeholders disengage, he said that he is looking forward to working with his team to make sure that people once again engage with operations and facilities.

‘We should become the knowledge base for other universities in the world on how things are done best,’ he said. ‘It is about making a difference in the world and staying relevant.’

Previously, Motebele worked at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University as Executive Director of Institutional Support. At Unisa, he was Project Management Director at University Estates and Acting Executive Director for six months. At Eskom Holdings, he managed a project worth R800 million.

Motebele holds an MSc in Build Environment/Project Management, a National Diploma in Civil Engineering and a BTech in Contract Management – Civil.

In conclusion, Motebele said: ‘Even though I worked for Unisa before, I am aware that things change and am confident that my team will improve Unisa’s facilities.’

The VC’s meet-and-greet with the newly appointed VPs was a success, and it is clear that the newbies cannot wait to add value to Unisa.

*By Lesego Chiloane-Ravhudzulo, Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement