University of Johannesburg Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Ihron Rensburg, says decolonising education will not be achieved overnight.
Rensburg delivered the annual Nelson Mandela Education Legacy Lecture at the university’s Kingsway campus on Monday night.
The lecture seeks to honour the legacy of former President Nelson Mandela in terms of his writings, speeches and actions.
Among other topics, Rensburg’s tackled the meaning of decolonising knowledge and universities, as one of the demands raised by students as part of the Fees Must Fall movement.
“We don’t wake up one morning and we’re decolonised. It’s reading, it’s excavating, and it’s going into the archives. It is spending hours on hours, days on days, weeks on weeks, coming to terms with this work. It is detailed work, it is difficult work, it is hard work, and it does take time. In 50 years’ time we must be in a different space, but that journey begins today, not in 25 years or 50 years’ time,” says Rensburg.
[Source: SABC]