Rhodes University has a new deputy registrar in Gcinibandla Mtukela, whose first name means "one who oversees the flock".
Rhodes University has a new deputy registrar in Gcinibandla Mtukela, whose first name means "one who oversees the flock".
Mtukela has been steeped in academic leadership since 1999 at the then Vista University, Port Elizabeth campus. "At Vista University I was tasked with the overall planning of the registration process, running of exams and graduation," he explains.
Before leading Vista as an academic he had been a Student Representative Council president between 1991 and 1992 at the same institution. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1992, he went to teach at Kwazakhele High School. His keen activism and leadership prowess was soon spotted by the teacher’s organisation, South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) and he became chairperson of the Kwazakhele branch of the union.
While overseeing the merge of Vista University and the University of Port Elizabeth he enrolled for a doctorate in administration with the University of Kwazulu-Natal. "I felt this irresistible urge in me to venture into something new and do something for the community," he explains. This led him to the Red Location Museum in Port Elizabeth where he served as a chief curator. "At the museum I oversaw preparations for the launch of the museum and public education programmes."
He was with the museum for about two years before academic administration and leadership beckoned again. In 2007 at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) he was appaointed as the deputy registrar for academic registration. "I wanted to work far from home and experience other places here in South Africa." He is married to Nosiseko Mtukela (néé Mengu) who is a teacher at a high school in PE. They have five children, so it was not always easy to maintain a harmonious balance between work and family over a distance. He left VUT at the end of July this year.
He regards his new job at Rhodes as "a homecoming of some sort of me as I regard this institution as my alma mater." In 1998 he finished coursework for a masters degree in teaching English as a second language at Rhodes. Dr Vivian De Klerk, the current Dean of Students, was one of his lecturers.
Gci is quite passionate about transforming higher education institutions and looking closely ast matters which affect students. He was quick to say "I am not qualified to comment about the state of transformation in all 23 institutions in the country." He maintains that "transformation is driven by three imperatives: access of students to higher education, success thereof and financial aid for those who are needy."
On the issue of funding he said he was pleased that the minister of higher education Blade Nzimande had proposed an overhaul of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). One other thing he has promised to do is "to deepen mutual understanding between diverse people. I am looking forward to working with the university’s student leadership," said this devout Christian and staunch member of the Zion Christian Church.
