New Chancellor takes the Helm

UWC inaugurated The Most Reverend Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba,Archbishop of Cape Town, as its new Chancellor on 28 February2012. Archbishop Makgoba succeeds Archbishop Emeritus DesmondTutu, who stepped down after more than two decades as Chancellor.

In his inaugural speech, Dr Makgoba remarked that he was “somethingof a perpetual student at heart,” having been either a student orlecturer for most of his life. Archbishop Makgoba holds a BSc, aMasters of Education in Applied Psychology and Educational Psychology(both from Wits), and he was awarded a doctorate for a thesis on“Spirituality in the South African Mining Workplace” by the Universityof Cape Town. He has lectured at Wits University (1993-1996) andserved as Dean of Knockando at Wits College of Education.

Paying tribute to the new Chancellor, Brian Williams, the Chairperson

of Council of UWC and President of Convocation, described DrMakgoba as “a teacher and scholar who believes in using the fullresources of education and scholarship to engage with the challengesof our time.”

Echoing this theme, Dr Makgoba remarked that “there is equally nomorally or ethically neutral way of pursuing or sharing learning. Bothare always inextricably linked to the world around: the world in whichwe live; the world from which our students come, and to which theyreturn. Education must fit us for engagement with such a world.”

The Chancellor was quite scathing in his assessment of the generalstate of education in South Africa today, and warned against theacceptance of falling standards and mediocrity. He left the audiencein no doubt as to his view of UWC’s mission in a challenging world:“Our task is both to provide moral leadership, and to help form themoral leaders which our country, our continent, so desperately need.”

Council NominationsThe University of the Western Cape (UWC) hereby invites its donorcommunity to nominate from its ranks two persons to serve on the Councilof UWC for a period of three years (from 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2015).

The University also invites nominations from its members of Convocationto elect two members to serve on the University Council.

Information regarding eligibility for nomination and election of the donorand Convocation representatives can be found on our website(www.uwc.ac.za).

Nominations must reach the Registrar by 4 May 2012 and can be mailedto The Secretariat, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, or faxed 021 959 3443,or e-mailed to secretariat@uwc.ac.za.

Alumni e-News

PRIDE • ENGAGEMENT • LEGACY

A L U M N I

Upcoming EventsConvocation AGM, Saturday, 9 June 2012 at the UWC Library Auditorium, 11h00-13h00.

UWC Open Day, 10-12 May 2012, at the UWC Main Hall, 09h00 – 16h00.

UWC Alumni ‘Club 99’ presents a Winter Ball Langarm Dance, Saturday, 14 July 2012, 19h00,

at the UWC Main Hall. Ticket Price: R80.00 (single). Dress: Formal. Band: Strand Combo. Bring your own platter and xyz.

Issue 1 / May 2012

Why join the Alumni Association?

For 50 years, the University of the Western Cape has produced

quality graduates, advocates for social change who have gone on

to become leaders in all areas of society. Along the way, our

students have had to overcome economic and political obstacles

not experienced by their more privileged peers. Their experiences

have forged a unique culture and history at UWC.

It is with good reason then that the institution proudly regards its

graduates and students as the bedrock of the University. The

relationship between the University and its alumni is based on

more than nostalgia, however, and is a relationship of mutual

benefit.

By joining the Alumni Association our alumni access a network

that includes old friends and classmates as well as many prominent

and influential UWC graduates. Benefits for alumni who register

with the Association include receiving the annual UWC 360 Degrees

Alumni Magazine, membership of regional alumni chapters and

invitations to UWC and alumni special events and seminars. Plans

are in place to expand the basket of membership benefits.

To join the UWC Alumni Association, please register online on our

website at www.uwc.ac.za/alumni or contact the Alumni Relations

office (tel: 021 959 2627 or email: alumni@uwc.ac.za).

Editorial

Welcome to the first edition ofThree-Sixt-e, the UWC AlumniNewsletter. The newsletter willbe published quarterly on theUWC website. Although inEnglish, we welcome feedbackand submissions from alumni inany South African language. Wehope you enjoy reading it asmuch as we enjoyed putting ittogether!

In this issue, we welcome our new Chancellor, Dr Thabo CecilMakgoba, to the UWC fold. May we all benefit from his wisdomand humility.

You can read more here about recent advances in science educationand research at UWC. UWC currently has 87 NRF-rated researchers,many of them in natural science disciplines. Our Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof Ramesh Bharuthram, is the currentchairperson of the Astronomy Desk, a body that is the Ministerof Science & Technology’s key policy advisor on the developmentof astronomy in South Africa. These excellent academics are helpingto make UWC one of the leading science institutions of highereducation in Africa and a global player in international scientificresearch.

Already UWC produces the highest number of black and femalepostgraduate science students in the country but, as can be seenwith our massive investment in the Life Sciences Building, we areaiming ever higher.

The University continued to attract distinguished guests, includingformer president Thabo Mbeki, the British Foreign Secretary andthe Cuban ambassador to South Africa. All hailed our strugglehistory, of which many alumni are justifiably proud. Fittingly, theinstitution has launched the Kader Asmal Moot Court, in honourof the struggle icon.

Whatever its academic achievements, it is the students and alumniwho breathe life into a university. We are making steady progressin establishing our Alumni Association’s footprint and expandingour services to alumni. As can be seen in the article on the Symondsfamily, the institution remains the first choice of many alumni forpostgraduate study. We hope that more alumni will emulate theSymondses in future.

Join the UWC Alumni Association& get your free UWC AlumniT-shirt!

Download the Alumni Membership Form at

www.uwc.ac.za/alumni

UWC MemorabiliaGet your UWC Gold Tie for R125.00

To place your order call 021 959 3905

����������Archbishop Makgoba is the youngest person ever to have been elected Archbishop of Cape Town. That may be one of the reasons he

believes so strongly in the potential of the University’s young students.

Ms Patricia LawrencePro Vice-ChancellorDepartment for Institutional Advancement

����������To ensure that postgraduate students get the most out of campus life – and manage to graduate and move on to productivecareers – UWC has appointed a full-time Director of Postgraduate Studies to run postgraduate seminars and workshops.

Spotlight on:Prof Jimmy Ellis

Prof Jimmy Ellis, BA Hons(UWC), MA (UNC-Chapel Hill),PhD (UNC) , ha i l s f romSwellendam. He first enrolledat UWC in 1964 for a BA SocialScience. His long and illustriouscareer included 31 yearsat UWC (27 as a lecturerin Sociology), and 12 years atthe University of Johannesburg(first as Head: CommunityDevelopment & Interna-tionalisation and later asDirector: Public Affairs).

Jimmy retired in 2011 as the Director of International Relations at theUniversity of Johannesburg. His wife Henrietta Ferguson is a UWCalumna, (BA Social Science, BA Hons Social Work) who also holds aMasters in Social Work from UNC-Chapel Hill. They have four children.Their son William (MA Sociology, UWC, 1998) has lectured inAnthropology and Sociology at UWC since 2004.

Q. Who was your biggest influence in terms of your decisionto follow a career in tertiary education?A. I must say that the inspiration definitely came from my grandfather,my dad and my paternal uncle, although the actual encouragementcame from my first professor in Sociology. My original choice was togo into the ministry but I was not selected for training for the profession.The next choice I was encouraged to follow was social work. Havingreturned to UWC to come and work there a year after graduation, Ithen started a career in tertiary education that stretched over 43 years.

Q. Why did you choose to study and work at UWC?A. The choice was not really a choice as we were caught up in theapartheid dilemma of the time – to go to [the then-named UniversityCollege of the Western Cape] UCWC under protest, or apply for apermit to go to a “white” university, íf you had the right grades andthe money! We were actively discouraged from going to UCWC whileat high school.

The choice to work there initially followed when an opportunity to goback was offered after a rather unsatisfactory job in a governmentoffice situation, governed by apartheid prescriptions. Over the yearsthe choice to work at UWC was strengthened by a commitment tobe part of a transformation process that grew stronger over time.

Q. What’s your most enduring memory of your days as a UWCstudent?A. The most enduring memory of the first stint (1964-67) has less todo with the university than the community of Bellville South in whichmost of us boarded with families and spent our social lives. The smallnumber of students on campus served as a support and encouragementto one another under conditions of severe challenges, academically,politically and socially. On campus [I remember] our facing up to theideological drivel dished up by administrators and some lecturers (GansMeiring: “I’ve promised Dr Verwoerd that I will further the aims ofseparate development at the UCWC”; a lecturer: “Is it not wonderfulthat coloured people can now be trained to work with their ownpeople?”). One also had to endure scorn for attending an apartheidinstitution from friends attending institutions such as UCT.

Q. What’s the greatest challenge in tertiary education in SouthAfrica right now?A. The greatest challenge to tertiary education is not to sink to levelsof mediocrity in the light of the large numbers of students cominginto tertiary education [who are] extremely poorly prepared for study.Furthermore, the challenge is to consolidate the transformations oftertiary education achieved through struggle, particularly to serve thebroad South African community through appropriate research agendasthat will sustain these advancements.

Q. Lastly, what’s the best career advice you can give studentsstudying at UWC today?A. A university career only lays the foundation for what we will beattempting as a career. To further benefit from it they need to benchmarktheir own progress and achievements against those alumni of UWCwho have made their contributions to the South African developmentagenda in all major walks of life: in education, in politics, in jurisprudence,in health care, in social services, in the economy, etc. They have provedthat challenges, whether politically, economically, socially andeducationally, can never be justification for mediocrity and lack ofcommitment or resting on one’s laurels, expecting others to do it foryou.

Hague singles out UWC

Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign andCommonwealth Affairs, The Right HonourableWilliam Hague, delivered a public lecture at

UWC’s Life Sciences Building auditorium on14 February 2012. The Secretary’s two-day visitwas aimed at furthering and deepening theUK-South African relationship and followed asuccessful Bilateral Forum in 2011 and visitsto South Africa by British Prime Minister DavidCameron, the Prince of Wales and the LordMayor of London.

Mr Hague’s lecture, entitled ‘Britain and SouthAfrica: A 21st Century Relationship’, was infact his maiden speech in South Africa asForeign Secretary, and the only public talk ofhis short tour. Directly addressing the studentsand staff in the audience, Hague explained hisreason for wanting to speak at UWC: “You

represent your country’s next generation ofleaders. You belong to a South Africa that isa growing force in world affairs, and that isshaping a new global role for itself. How SouthAfrica exercises that role in the future will havea major impact not just on your region but onour world.”

Mr Hague emphasised South Africa’simportance as a trading partner and theeconomic gateway to Africa. He stressed SouthAfrica’s emerging role in international relations,especially its moral leadership as a country thathad transformed itself into a democracy, andacknowledged the “distinguished role in thatstruggle” that UWC had played.

UWC has been awarded seven Research Chairs in the South AfricanResearch Chairs Initiative (SARChI) of the National Research Foundation(NRF). A total of sixty Chairs were awarded in the stiff competition with23 other institutions that saw UWC submit no fewer than 22 proposals.

The main aim of the SARChI is to strengthen scientific research leadershipand capacity in South African universities. Research Chairs are tenablefor five years, renewable for two further five-year periods, giving a totallife span of 15 years. Eligibility for renewal will be entirely performance-linked. The SARChI award is worth up to R2.5 million per annum perResearch Chair in Tier 1 and up to R1.5 million per annum per ResearchChair in Tier 2. The award covers salaries, postdoctoral fellowships andpostgraduate student bursaries, research operating costs and equipmentfor the laboratory relevant to the Chair.

The new Research Chairs are in Nano-Electrochemistry and SensorTechnology; Microbial Genomics; Earth observation applications forWater Resources Assessment and Management; Multi-level Government,Law and Development; Nuclear Science; and Health Systems complexityand change.

Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Brian O’Connell said this was a proudmoment for UWC. “Our achievement is more remarkable in that, sincewe already have four SARChI Chairs [in Astrophysics, Bioinformatics,Education and Land Issues], our university was not considered as a‘redress’ institution and had to compete in the same pool as thehistorically advantaged institutions.”

“Building on the seminal work done especially in the Humanities andSocial Sciences during the struggle, our staff and postgraduate studentshave risen to the challenge of creating a significant research capacityin many disciplines,” O’Connell said.

Gauteng Alumni Chapter

The UWC Gauteng Alumni Association Chapter elected a newexecutive committee at its annual general meeting on 19 November2011. They are Dr Raymond Patel (Chairperson), Julia Paris (DeputyChairperson), Ashley Theron (Treasurer) and Ndumi Sinyenyeko-Sayo(Secretary).

Keynote speaker Professor Edith Vries (UWC alumna) encouragedalumni to support their alma mater by joining the the AlumniAssociation. “We are alumni of a prestigious and historically richuniversity. UWC alumni were privileged to walk the corridors of theUniversity and to acquire a good tertiary education – the fundamentalthread that binds us.”

She urged those present to support the University by pledgingdonations to the Chancellor’s Fund and promptly pledged a personaldonation of R5 000 to the fund. The Chancellor’s Fund directs fundingto UWC’s state-of-the-art Life Sciences Building.

Apart from networking and reminiscing about old times, the AGMalso provided those present with an opportunity to discuss the newAlumni Association Constitution.

New UWC book launched

The Centre for Humanities Research (CHR)launched its new book, Becoming UWC:Reflections, pathways and unmakingapartheid's legacy, at the School ofPublic Health on 3 Apri l 2012.‘Becoming UWC’ relates the history andachievements of UWC, and the strugglewaged there against apartheid. The launch

coincides with UWC’s 50th anniversary, serving both to remind us ofthe road travelled and as an opportunity to reflect on the legacy

inherited by the present generation of students and academics.

Edited by Prof Premesh Lalu, the director of the CHR, and CHR Post-doctoral Fellow Noëleen Murray, the book features chapters contributedby Julia Martin, Premesh Lalu, Noëleen Murray, Ciraj Rassool, NeilMyburgh, Emile Maurice, Keith Gottschalk, Arthur Nortje, Deela Kahn,Wendy Woodward, Patrick Cullinan, Ingrid Masondo, Maurits vanBever Donker and Leslie Witz.

The publication was generously funded by the Andrew W. MellonFoundation. ‘Becoming UWC’ can be purchased at the Cashier's Officein the Administration Building, UWC.

����������According to a recent National Research Foundation survey, UWC is one of the top three universities in South Africa inthe research areas of Biotechnology, Molecular Biosciences, Physics, Computer Science, History and Development Studies.

Life Sciences Building

Officially opened by Minister of Science and Technology NalediPandor on 3 August 2010, the five-storey building is designed toaccommodate 1 800 undergraduate and 273 postgraduate students,as well as postdoctoral researchers, staff and visitors. Besides theinitial cost of R550 million, the ongoing additional costs of maintainingand upgrading facilities and technology represent a large investmentin science research and teaching in South Africa. Although raisingthese funds will be a challenge, the scientific community and thebroader economy will reap the benefits of this bold initiative forgenerations to come.

Among the many superb features of the Life Sciences Building are:

• 13 classrooms (total capacity of 375 students)• an anatomy lab that can accommodate 336 undergraduate students• 3 computer labs (combined capacity of 160 students)• 6 small library and meeting areas• more than 400 offices and workstations for staff, postgraduate students and visiting scholars.

The building also houses many specialist areas, among which arean animal house for small rodents (300 m2), an autoclave preparationroom (32 m2), greenhouses on the roof (100 m2), refrigeration space(64 m2), a cadaver store (60 m2) and areas for embalming, dissectionand bones storage (60 m2).

UWC and SANBI partnership

On 31 March this year the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology,Derek Hanekom, witnessed the historic signing at UWC of amemorandum of understanding between UWC and the SouthAfrican National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

“History will prove this agreement to be of great importance becauseeven generations to come will learn of it and will feel its impact. Wemust develop appreciation for our biodiversity. We must make itinteresting again so that from early on, the youth have an optionto study and choose a career in biodiversity,” said Hanekom.

In terms of the agreement the University will act as an advisor andconsultant on matters relating to biodiversity management. UWCwill also provide information technology infrastructure to assist SANBIwith the management of and dissemination of biodiversity informationand make available the results of research projects to SANBI in orderto enhance biodiversity knowledge, awareness and management inSANBI’s national botanic gardens.

SANBI undertook to make its national botanical gardens and associatednatural estates available to researchers and students attached toUWC and, together with UWC, to monitor and evaluate progresson projects.

SANBI chief executive officer Tanya Abrahamse said the aim was toget people to know how to use biodiversity information in theirhomes and communities. “We want to empower both the citizenand the scientist. This MoU will ensure that biodiversity informationis carefully gathered, studied and disseminated”.

����������UWC also has its own SANBI on campus – the South African National Bioinformatics Institute, the South African node of the EuropeanBiological Network. Researchers at this SANBI have assembled genomic databases for parasites responsible for sleeping sickness, malariaand Chagas disease, and have discovered genes that could be targeted by drugs and vaccines.

University of the Western Cape taking on Greening

UWC is committed to managing its everyday activities with the best environmental practices. As an institute of

higher learning, the campus community realises the need to reduce waste and manage water and energy use

responsibly. As part of this ongoing initiative the Facilities Management department is leading the way through

education and public awareness for both staff and students to increase recycling on campus.

A UWC FamilyIt is not unusual in a fifty-year-old institutionfor several members of a family to have studiedor worked there, but the Symonds family’saffinity for UWC may well be a record (we’dlove to hear from other UWC families).

Not only have nine members and twogenerations of the family studied here (mostmore than once), but two of them also choseto work at the institution. Althea Whitaker(nee Symonds) believes the family’s love foreducation was inspired by their father, whohad a very strong belief in the value of highereducation, and their grandfather, who was ateacher. “When our children opt to study and

succeed it makes us proud that they too haverealised the value of education for themselves,”said Althea.

Four of the five sisters ended up as educators.Althea (Masters in Public Administration)lectured in the School of Government for 10years. She is now the acting Director of theCommunity Development Workers 'Programme (CDWP) in the Western CapeProvincial Department of Local Government.Althea’s daughter Chandra graduated with aBCom degree and is now enrolled for thePostgraduate Certificate in Education.

Another sister, Carlin, who holds aPostgraduate Diploma in Governance and

already has two degrees from UWC (BA andBEd), is the principal of Cedar Primary inBonteheuwel. Older sisters Alverna and Gaildid their NPDE in the Education Faculty andare now teachers. The other sister, Reneé, hasserved the School of Pharmacy for 15 yearsand is currently its administrative officer.Reneé's daughter Gené has a master’s degreein Occupational Therapy.

The Symonds’s UWC connection includes theirextended family. Cousin Dale Louw, whoalready has a BSc from UWC, has completedher Postgraduate Certificate in Education, anda paternal cousin, Ruby Matthys, obtained herB Iuris at UWC. Ruby is currently a magistratebased in Roodepoort.

����������There are over 19 000 students at UWC right now. That means for every 1000 000 people you come across, three of them will be UWCstudents… and many of the rest will be alumni.

����������Kader Asmal was a forthright independent thinker who dedicated himself to human rights and international relations. After leaving SouthAfrica in 1959, he qualified as a barrister in both England and Ireland within four years and three years later held two master’s degrees –somehow still finding time to start both the British and the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement. He was a law lecturer and professor at Dublin’sTrinity College from 1963 and a visiting law professor at UWC until his return from exile in 1990, when those roles were reversed. He playeda crucial role in the negotiations that preceded South Africa’s first democratic elections and served as an MP in Parliament until 2008. Hepassed away in June 2011, aged 76, leaving behind a powerful legacy.

New UWC Moot Court unveiled

The University of the Western Cape has honoured its former Professor Extraordinaryin the Faculty of Law, Kader Asmal, by unveiling a moot court in his name. The KaderAsmal Moot Court will celebrate the values Prof Asmal stood for and will honourhis contribution as a legal practitioner, activist, intellectual and teacher.

The Moot Court will provide students with invaluable opportunities to perfect theanalytical, research and writing skills required by the legal profession, while developingconfidence and techniques in oral argument by participating in simulated courtproceedings. In many instances, moot courts also present alumni with an opportunityto contribute to the institution, as practicing legal professionals are often called uponto preside over proceedings in moot courts.

The Moot Court will be regularly used by postgraduate and undergraduate studentsfor moot court competitions and debates as well as for local and internationalconferences and seminars.

Minister Trevor Manuel TalksPolitics and Change withStudents"What should be our theory of changein South Africa?" This question was posedby National Planning Minister in thePresidency Trevor Manuel, when headdressed second-year political studiesstudents at UWC's Library Auditorium on11 April 2012. The lecture was part oftheir POL 211 Learning Outcomes lecture

series, which allow the students to witness real-life reflection onclassroom material – in this case, the work of the National PlanningCommission.

Manuel, who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Commerce bythe University in 2002, began his lecture with a YouTube video,"Planning Thandi's future: Diagnostic Report by the NPC"(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIiRsFYsRcg). The animated

presentation cleverly illustrated the economic challenges a womanfaces in South Africa and the need for cohesive national planning andpolitical leadership. Manuel then spoke about South Africa's Vision2030, emphasising nine major challenges facing the country: inadequatejobs and job opportunities, crumbling infrastructure, a resource-intensive economy, exclusive planning, deteriorating education, a highdisease burden, public service unevenness, corruption and dividedcommunities.

"We need to embody a certain set of values that will live long afterwe are gone," he said, adding that all citizens must be afforded equalopportunities to meet their potential to better serve the cause of thenation.

Pointing out that there was not a single country in the world that hadtaken South Africa's route to democracy, he noted that we had towalk our own path and not outsource our responsibilities to createa better South Africa.

Hidden History revealed

UWC alumnus Prof Archie Dick has authored a new book published by the University ofToronto Press, entitled ‘The Hidden History of South Africa's Book and Reading Cultures’.

The book explores the political history of South Africa through the practice of reading andshows how books and the social practice of reading were employed in the political strategiesof various antagonists in our history.

Dr Dick holds a BBibl, BBibl (Hons) from UWC, an MLS from the University of Washingtonand a PhD from UCT. He has served on several key national committees in library andinformation science and is Chairperson of the National Council of Library and InformationServices. He is the author of ‘The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics of Information’(2002), as well as numerous chapters in books, journal articles and papers. Dr Dick iscurrently based at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Information Science.

Tribute to Dullah Omar

The 8th Annual Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture was hosted by theUniversity of the Western Cape’s Community Law Centre and LawFaculty on 16 February 2012. Former President Thabo Mbeki delivereda typically wide-ranging and erudite lecture entitled ‘Reflections onPeace-making, State Sovereignty and Democratic Governance inAfrica.’

Mbeki, who has been much involved in quiet diplomacy in Africasince leaving government, gave a succinct exposition of how, in hisview, the “UN Security Council wilfully elected to ignore” the AfricanUnion’s negotiated “roadmap for the peaceful resolution of theconflict in Libya” by sanctioning military intervention by NATO.

“In essence,” Mbeki declared, “NATO intervened, not to impose ano-fly zone to protect civilians, as prescribed by the UN SecurityCouncil, but to lead and empower the opposition National TransitionalCouncil in a military campaign to overthrow the Gaddafi regime.”

According to Mbeki, the post-Libya scenario sees Westerngovernments more willing to intervene in Africa to advance theirinterests, and some African governments all too willing to go alongwith it.

“Dullah understood the intimate relationship between - and foughtfor the realisation of the integration through our efforts as Africans,of the objectives of democratic rule in Africa - the construction ofsovereign developmental African states committed to serve especiallythe interests of the poor, and the achievement of peace among theAfricans, regardless of race, colour, gender, religion and historicalorigin,” said Mbeki.

In closing, Mbeki remarked: “I make bold to pose to you a questionI believe you have to answer in terms of your practical actions as acentre of learning, teaching, research and uninhibited intellectualinquiry and expansion of the frontiers of knowledge - what shallwe, the Africans, do, regardless of the continent of our abode, toensure that tomorrow belongs to us?”

Friendship with Cuba grows

Cuban Ambassador to South Africa, His Excellency Mr Angel Villa,gave an illuminating talk at UWC on 30 March 2012, entitled ‘CubaMyths and Realities: Tourism, a people-driven strategy to overcomethe US embargo’. The lecture was presented at the invitation ofUWC’s Convocation, in support of efforts to strengthen relationswith Cuba.

Villa reminded the large audience of Cuba’s long shared history withAfrica, which began with the shipping of hundreds of thousands ofAfrican slaves to the Caribbean. The audience needed no reminderof Cuba’s more recent role in assisting the liberation of many Africancountries, including South Africa.

Villa described the tremendous growth of tourism in Cuba, despitethe long-standing US embargo. He said Cuba had only 300 000foreign tourists in 1995, but 27 million tourists visited Cuba in thelast year alone.

Villa said Cuba was the biggest economy in the Caribbean and “weshould like to reposition our tourism industry so that this will bereflected on our GDP.” Before the growth in tourism, the US embargoseverely affected the Cuban economy. He said in the 1990’s Cubalost 85% of its foreign trade and 35% of its GDP due to the USembargo. Despite this “Cuba has had no illiteracy since 1961.”

Plans are afoot to have some UWC students and staff visit Cuba toshow support for the Cuban struggle against the embargo and toexplore opportunities for cooperation.

����������The Annual Dullah Omar lecture honours the late (1934-2004) anti-apartheid activist and human rights lawyer Abdullah Omar, who wasinstrumental in the establishment of UWC’s Community Law Centre, becoming the Centre’s director in 1990. Under his leadership, theCentre made major contributions to policy formulation and human rights advocacy in the run-up to South Africa’s first democratic elections.

Contact the Alumni Relations Office:

Amanda Philander-Hietala, Alumni Relations Manager

Tel: +27 21 959 2627 Fax: 021 959 3115

Email: alumni@uwc.ac.za

www.uwc.ac.za/alumni

UWC Alumni Online