Message from the Chair of Council

CHAIR OF COUNCIL MESSAGE

Ms Futhi Mtoba

Planning for better futures

FOR SOUTH AFRICA, AFRICA AND THE WORLD

The University of Pretoria has a compelling story to tell. In a complex and fast-changing environment, we have differentiated ourselves and are making solid progress towards achieving our goals as set out in the UP 2025 Strategic Plan.

The University of Pretoria (UP) is one of the largest research-intensive universities in South Africa, with seven exceptional campuses and nine highly regarded faculties spanning the knowledge spectrum: from traditional academic fields to rapidly evolving 4IRfocused programmes. It is committed to making a decisive contribution to transforming South Africa’s and Africa’s future through excellence in knowledge creation, impactful and relevant research, high-quality academic programmes, innovative teaching and learning, and social responsiveness and engagement.

The University enjoys a stellar reputation for the quality of both its professional and research-orientated academic programmes. Yet, the profound scientific and technological developments linked with the 4IR, where machines are increasingly becoming smarter, require that it continuously enhance its learning ability, skills and technological knowledge. “The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” This statement by Alvin Toffler, an American futurist, predicts the way forward for all universities. Today’s dynamic world requires that every organisation and individual should find a way to unlearn what they have experienced in the past and relearn so that they can create new solutions for the future. It is an opportunity the University embraced enthusiastically in 2019 when what it could be and how it could thrive in an increasingly uncertain environment was considered.

Following the Universities South Africa’s (USAf) national higher education conference – Reinventing South Africa’s universities for the future – it was clear that universities cannot be ivory towers. They need to positively engage with their varied publics and grow their trust in universities as creators of future-proof knowledge. As a top higher education institution, we, at UP, regard it as our duty to focus on innovation and transformation in all spheres of society, the economy, and the environment. UP believes that education for the 4IR is our greatest opportunity to achieve this and to contribute to a prosperous continent.

The development of the Future Africa Institute and campus and the Engineering 4.0 complex on the UP Hillcrest Campus is stimulating the convergence of expertise across

faculties to address several societal challenges. These innovations seek to bring local and global researchers, networks of scientists and partners from many disciplines and sectors in the broader community to work on transformative research projects that will seek to resolve some of Africa's complex, complicated and intersectional problems, and contribute to Africa's sustainable development. Topics as diverse as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, cloud computing, logistics modelling, synthetic biology, bioprospecting, agriculture and forestry are being explored.

As a University, our raison d'être is to make a difference in society. UP understands that future strategies are not built on “business as usual” approaches, that future societies are not built on conventional thinking and that future solutions are not found in traditional approaches.

In the year under review, UP continued to work towards creating and maintaining a rewarding environment for current students, even exceeding some of its own targets

Executive appointments

Prof Tawana Kupe was appointed as Vice-Chancellor and Principal and took office at UP on 14 January 2019. Later in the year, Prof Kupe was awarded an honorary doctorate in the Humanities by Michigan State University. Other executive appointments include: • Prof A Ströh as Vice-Principal: Institutional Planning,

Monitoring and Evaluation (re-appointment) • Prof N Mosia as Vice-Principal: Student Life (re-appointment) • Prof N Duncan as Vice-Principal: Academic (re-appointment).

under challenging conditions. At the same time, it also started building a platform for future students to take the lead in a new world, creating new knowledge and new ways of doing things.

This report offers a glimpse into the future.

Ms Futhi Mtoba Chair of Council

Members of the UP Council are (from left): Front row – Ms Kedibone Diale, Prof Anton Ströh, Dr Barbara Ribeiro, Ms Danai Magugumela, Ms Neo Lesela, Mr Israel Skosana, Ms Vuyelwa Qinga and Ms Jane Mnguni; Second row – Prof Themba Mosia, Mr Danie Behr, Mr Appie Pienaar, Mr Kuseni Dlamini, Prof Tawana Kupe, Mr Francois Swart, Prof Innocent Pikirayi and Prof Caroline Nicholson; Third row – Mr Phillip Nel, Mr Laurie Dippenaar, Prof Carolina Koornhof, Mr Anton Botha and Mr Johan van der Merwe; Back row – Mr Allan Taylor, Prof Vasu Reddy and Prof Sunil Maharaj.