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Professor Thoko Mayekiso will act as UMP interim vice-chancellor when her term of office ends in October this year. Professor Mosa Moshabela will start his job as UCT vice-chancellor on October 1.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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The Council of the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) has gone on a search for a new vice-chancellor as the second term of Professor Thoko Mayekiso comes to an end.

Mayekiso oversaw the establishment from scratch in 2013. Her two terms were tumultuous as she successfully warded off allegations of nepotism, corruption and almost had R100 million of the university’s fund stolen by a Nigerian scammer.

UMP has since grown from 169 students in 2013 to 10 091 and now offers 72 programmes. UMP is one of two universities constructed after democracy. The second one is the Sol Plaatje University in the Northern Cape.  

UMP Chairperson of Council, Sabelo Mahlalela, said in a statement that the council took a decision to begin the recruitment process for Mayekiso’s replacement on May 22.

The decision was taken considering Mayekiso's second and last term drawing to an end in October this year.

“Following careful consideration of the UMP Statute and relevant policies of them University of Mpumalanga, the Council decided to commence with a recruitment process of a new Vice-Chancellor. In addition, the Council has decided to retain the services of Prof. Thoko Mayekiso as an Interim Vice-Chancellor for a limited period whilst engaged with the recruitment process,” Mahlalela said.

“As the Council, we are pleased by the leadership our Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mayekiso has provided in the past ten years. She has laid a solid foundation for the academic excellence at UMP based on a sound value system. We are grateful that Prof Mayekiso has agreed to be available during this transitional period for a limited period whilst we are busy with a recruitment process of a new Vice-Chancellor,” he added.

Mahlalela said that the council was excited about the prospects of bringing on board a new Vice-Chancellor to actualize UMP’s Vision 2030.”

Mayekiso said that she was satisfied that she and all stakeholders had laid a firm foundation over the past decade.

“As the Founding Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga, I have witnessed the establishment, growth, and many breakthroughs of the University over the past ten years. We have surely laid a firm foundation for the benefit of many generations yet unborn, who will find a thriving University that they will be proud to join,” Mayekiso said.

She said that she would work closely with the council during the transitional

period to ensure continuity and sustainability as UMP embarked on the next decade of excellence and creating opportunities.

PROF MOSHABELA APPOINTED AT UCT

Meanwhile, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has appointed Professor Mosa Moshabela as the university’s 11th vice-chancellor following a six-month recruitment and selection process.

Moshabela, a medical doctor by profession, will start his work at UCT on October 1. 

“Throughout the recruitment and selection process, he demonstrated deep knowledge and an appreciation of the challenges the UCT vice-chancellor may encounter. He showed a sincere commitment to agile, transformative and values-based leadership,” said UCT chairperson of Council, Norman Arendse (SC).

“The selection committee believes that Professor Moshabela is the best candidate for such a time as this in UCT’s history, and that he will work with conviction and vision to ensure UCT’s sustainability into and beyond 2030,” he added.

 Professor Moshabela is currently the deputy vice-chancellor for research and innovation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a role he has held since 2021. 

An esteemed academic and clinician scientist, he is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. His career is decorated, with multiple awards. Among his accolades, he was awarded the PHILA Annual Award in 2022 by the Public Health Association of South Africa for his contribution to Public Health in South Africa, and a Ministerial Special COVID-19 Award in 2020–2021 for COVID-19 Science Communication and Public Engagement.

Professor Moshabela is the Chairperson of the Governing Board at the National Research Foundation; and Health Commissioner to the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, as one of the seven multi-sector commissioners on the premier’s Provincial Planning Commission. He is former member of the board at the South African Medical Research Council, and former chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health in the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Moshabela’s  research is focused on the implementation science of health innovations. This is a multidisciplinary practice which seeks to improve the access, quality, equity and the impact of healthcare for especially resource-constrained sub-Saharan African countries.

“Primarily, Professor Moshabela’s contribution to health research has been in the improvement of access and quality in healthcare to combat infectious diseases, particularly in relation to HIV and TB, and in the areas of health systems, services and policy research,” Arendse said in a statement.