Dr Phosa’s work in education honoured

Dr Mathews Phosa was honoured with the highest award the JSE-listed investment company can offer in acknowledgment of his diligent commitment to South Africa’s higher education sector.

Unknown to many, Phosa is a prolific author and many of his poems, including the Afrikaans anthologies Deur die oog van ‘n naald, are prescribed in South Africa’s school curriculum as part of the matric syllabus.

In the past, Phosa held a 12-year tenure as chairperson of the Unisa council, where he successfully oversaw the merging of Unisa, Technikon SA and Vudec to create the largest higher education institution in the southern hemisphere.

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“Stadio is delighted to be able to acknowledge Dr Phosa as our first-ever Fellow of Stadio. We strongly feel his continued contributions to ethical leadership and championing the values of constitutional democracy, good governance and social justice in South Africa, contribute to the achievement of Stadio’s vision, mission, values and commitments. This is our way to not only appreciate his phenomenal accomplishments, but also a chance for us to celebrate strong role models with our students,” said Dr Divya Singh, the chief academic officer of Stadio.

Aside from his work in education, Phosa is widely acknowledged as a trailblazer in South Africa’s political and business sphere. After opening the first black law practice in Mbombela in 1981, he went on to play a central role in negotiating a peaceful transition to a fully democratic South Africa in 1994. He was appointed the first premier of Mpumalanga during the same year and later was elected treasurer general of the ANC from 2007 to 2012.

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Commercially, Phosa sits on several listed company boards and on the boards of several unlisted entities. He is also the chairperson of Special Olympics South Africa, which is NPO-founded and provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

Addressing the graduation congregation, Phosa said his best piece of advice to his fellow graduates is to listen.

“We must learn to talk to each other in our country, in a barefoot, calm, loving way that will restore trust between people and build bridges where it has been destroyed by ideological nonsense,” he said.