The Council of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) announced on January 10 the appointment of former United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, as its new Chancellor.
Her five-year term of office will run from 1 October 2022 until 30 September 2027. She will succeed Professor Njabulo Ndebele, whose second five year term as Chancellor ends 30 September 2022.
A university chancellor is the top official position that is available in a college or university setting. This person is responsible for the entire faculty and student body as well as the financial health and well-being of the school. A university chancellor oversees all programs run by the university, and the heads of each department must report to the chancellor. A chancellor acts as the chief executive officer in the college or university he or she works for.
UJ has a student population of over 50 000, of which more than 3000 are international students from 80 countries. This makes UJ one of the largest contact universities in South Africa (SA) from the 26 public universities that make up the higher education system.
Recognised as the country’s second strongest brand, UJ has 7 faculties and a college viz., Education, Law, Humanities, Art, Design and Architecture, Health Sciences, Science, Engineering and the Built Environment as well as the College of Business and Economics, housing the newly established Johannesburg Business School. The University has four campuses, namely the Auckland Park Bunting Road Campus; the Auckland Park Kingsway Campus; the Doornfontein Campus; and the Soweto Campus.
South Africa’s first female Deputy President
Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka was born in 1955 in Claremont, KwaZulu-Natal. After matriculating from the Ohlange High School in Inanda, and in pursuit of scholarly excellence, she enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts (in Social Sciences) at the National University in Lesotho (awarded in 1980), obtained a qualification in Gender Policy and Planning from the University College, London (in 1988), a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Cape Town (2003), and a Doctorate in Engineering from Warwick University (awarded in 2013).
Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was a member of the first South African democratically elected Parliament in 1994, first as deputy minister in the Department of Trade and Industry (1994 – 1996) and as minister of Minerals and Energy (1999 – 2005). She later became the Deputy President of South Africa (2005 – 2008), the highest-ranking female political leader in the history of the country. As the first woman to hold the position of Deputy President, Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka provided political oversight to several programmes to combat poverty and bring the advantages of a growing economy to the poor. In doing so, she embraced the technologies that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) provides, using Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs: -the topic of her doctoral thesis) for development.
Director of UN Women
Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka was appointed as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women in 2013. As the head of the United Nations entity that is dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, she was a global advocate for women and girls. She led the organisation’s innovative work on transforming social inequalities and discriminatory norms, with initiatives such as the HeforShe movement (driving men and boys’ engagement in gender equality), the UnStereotype Alliance initiative (influencing advertising norms for positive change and equal representation) and helped countries to change hundreds of laws that discriminate against women and girls.
Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka has also successfully mobilised a historic 40 billion USD in financial commitments from Member States, private sector, philanthropies and civil society as well as young people, which have formed Generational Equality to drive transformative change for women and girls around the world.
Track record of giving back to her communities
Throughout her illustrious political career, Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka directed her energy towards issues of human rights, equality and social justice, with a specific emphasis on gender and youth development. She has a track record of giving back to her communities, dating back to the pre-1994 years when she was a teacher and a lecturer. She has given back to her community, first as a lecturer at the Mpumalanga Teachers Training College (1980 to 1981) and subsequently as a teacher at the Ohlange High School (1981 to 1983).
She then moved to Geneva and took up the position of coordinator at the World YWCA, where she established a global programme for young women (1984 to 1989). During this time she also spearheaded TEAM, a developmental organisation based in Cape Town which focussed on upskilling women in informal settlements, thereby promoting economic self-reliance.
Still committed to education
Despite an extraordinary workload, explains the university of Johannesburg she continues to be affiliated with organisations devoted to education, women’s empowerment, and gender equity. These include the Umlambo Foundation (Founder), the Global Partnership and Fund to End Violence Against Children (Board Member), thePrincess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Women’s Empowerment (Member of the Jury), African Leadership Academy (Member of the Advisory Board), and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation (Board of Trustees).
Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka has authored several scholarly and other opinion pieces, including in the Harvard International Review. She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Witwatersrand Technikon (in 2003), one of the precursor institutions of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), the University of the Western Cape (in 2007), Nelson Mandela University (in 2014), the University of Fort Hare (in 2016), Wits University (in 2019), and Rhodes University (in 2020).
Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka was inducted as a Hauser Leader at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership and awarded the Vanguard award by Howard University for Leadership and Activism in promoting human rights, equality and justice for women and girls across the globe.
