April

I write this issue as a prologue to Africa month. The month of May was declared by the African Union as Africa month to commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May 1963. This historic event underscored the continent’s context and its future as one that will be underpinned by a strong sense of self determination and rigorous efforts to deepen the meaning of independence from all forms of colonial domination expressed almost in all fronts of social history the economy, education, political institutions and belief systems.

At Student Affairs in partnership with the Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation, we began this term with the launch of the Perspective Online student journal. This is a journal that will be in the hands of the students to utilize as a vehicle to shape the discourse around the pressing questions of higher education transformation.

Gender-based violence remains one of the biggest and most profound problems in South African society. Its prevalence in institutions of higher learning – as a microcosm of this society – has garnered much debate and attention, particularly in recent years.Mandela University has not been immune to this troubling phenomenon, having received reports on gender-based violence incidents involving the institutional community, in particular the students.