Mpedi

CHARLES MOLELE

“I am not here to fill anyone’s shoes. I am bringing my own shoes,” says newly appointed vice chancellor of the University of Johannesburg Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi in response to a question about walking into the big shoes left by his predecessor Tshilidzi Marwala.

Speaking exclusively to Inside Education from his West Wing office in Kingsway, Auckland Park, Mpedi makes it clear his will be a different leadership style from that of his predecessor, who elevated the university into one of the most respected on the African continent.

“There is only one Professor Tshilidzi Marwala…and the factory is closed. There’s only one Professor Mpedi and I can only excel at being myself than somebody else. He is a scientist. I am a lawyer”.

Mpedi spoke to Inside Education shortly after his inauguration as the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg at a ceremony held on Friday, 10 March 2023. Mpedi, who was wearing a grey Nehru suit when he welcomed us at his West Wing office, UJ, spoke for 40 minutes before rushing to a graduation ceremony.

He replaces Marwala, who stepped down last year to take on a new appointment as rector of the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan, and becomes the third vice-chancellor since the opening of the institution 18 years ago.

He expressed delight and deep honour in accepting the position of vice-chancellor succeeding Marwala and his predecessor, Professor Ihron Rensburg, who have both played significant roles in building a strong university.

Commenting on his appointment, Mpedi had nothing but praises for his predecessors, saying Professor Marwala and his predecessor, Professor Ihron Rensburg have built a strong University, with UJ now ranked second in South Africa and on the African continent.

UJ was previously ranked at position three by the QS World University Rankings.

“I’m delighted and deeply honoured to be taking up the role of vice-chancellor of this great university. Prof Marwala and his predecessor, Prof Ihron Rensburg, have built a strong university, and I see many opportunities to take the institution’s ambitious strategy forward. I am particularly looking forward to working with staff and students to build a truly inspirational and transformative institution where all are included and supported to thrive,” said Mpedi.

Outlining his vision, Mpedi said UJ remains committed to innovation, Pan-Africanism and the Fourth industrial revolution (4IR) university, which has become part of the university’s DNA.

“The commitment to innovation, Pan-Africanism and the emergence as a fourth industrial revolution (4IR) university has become part of our DNA. This will continue to remain our focus and ethos going forward. However, we cannot ignore the context of the world around us. Steep rises in inequality, growing divisions, pandemics, climate change and leadership crises are but a few descriptors of our current era.”

He said under his leadership, this will continue to remain the university’s focus.

“Under my leadership, we will also focus on social security laws in dealing with challenges such as unemployment, and other social ills in South Africa, using 4IR technologies. We will also intensify our 3D printing project in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation to continue to leverage the technology of the 4IR and find sustainable solutions that benefit local communities, including the provision of housing,” said Mpedi.

Mpedi also hailed the university’s project in Gwakwani, Limpopo. Gwakwani, a small village in northern Limpopo, had no running water, electricity, cell phone reception or internet access. But since the university started introducing smart Internet of Things (IoT) systems there, a lot has since changed in the remote village.

“We are also proud of our colleagues in the School of Electronic and Engineering Department for setting up basically the first smart village in South Africa using solar technology; today the village has among others, mobile connectivity and this has impacted on the lives of ordinary people in Gwakwani,” said Mpedi.  

Mpedi said another top priority for him is to establish a medical school “like no other in South Africa”.

“What we want to do at the university is to combine medicine and technology. We are waiting for the green light and are hoping that we will have the first cohort of students in 2025,” Mpedi said.

“As UJ, we are ready to launch a medical school. If the national departments of health and education can support and trust us, we would bring a medical school like no other in South Africa; we would combine medicine and technology and be leaders in that regard. If we get the go-ahead today, we are prepared to even put in our own limited resources.” 

Mpedi is also working towards bringing down the dropout rate at UJ, and raising the rate of completion in record time.

“That’s one of my biggest priorities; to achieve a lower dropout rate from 32%, and most importantly, to a single digit. It would be amazing if I achieved that at the end of my term,” said Mpedi.

“My other top priority in the next 100 days is to oversee the development of the UJ Island at the Vaal River; we are going to turn it into an academic project, training courses, conference centre and have a food garden project.”

Mpedi said he also wants the university to offer more online courses by the end of the year; some of them free of charge.

“We have about four online courses at the moment. But by the end of the year, we should have at least ten of these online courses.”

Mpedi’s focus will also involve turning UJ into a reseacrh-intesnive institution. In the past few years, UJ has seen a surge in its accredited academic research output. The University, which has set a goal to increase its accredited research output, has now achieved this and is ranked among South Africa’s Top 2 universities.

“We want to build a research intensive institution. Research is important to teaching and learning. Research contributes to new body of knowledge and is a pillar to community engagement,” said Mpedia, who is a National Research Foundation (NRF) rated scholar and is placed in the B category at level B3 (researcher who enjoys considerable international recognition by peers).

Turning to student issues, Mpedi said he would like to raise more money to cover student fees and their registration costs, particularly the missing middle group.

“We have the SRC Trust Fund to help students to register and raise funds for the missing middle. I have also contributed R50 000 to the fund. We also appreciate the role played by the Motsepe Foundation for contributing R30 million. Are we where we need to be? No,” said Mpedi. 

Mpedi holds an Advanced Management and Leadership qualification from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (2022), as well as in ‘Leading in Artificial Intelligence: Exploring Technology and Policy Programme, from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education (July 2022).

He completed his B Juris degree in 1996 and LLB degree in 1998 at Vista University. He holds an LLM in Labour Law from the Rand Afrikaans University (now UJ) and an LLD in Mercantile Law from UJ. He publishes labour law and social security.

Mpedi holds a B3 rating (Internationally Acclaimed Researcher), issued by the National Research Foundation. He is a recipient of several awards, including the Continental Award for Education and Training: Academic, and the South African and Southern African Development Community Regional Awards for Education & Training: Academic.

INSIDE EDUCATION