Six Old Rhodians, including a Grahamstown native, who have enhanced the reputation of the University were honoured at a ceremony held on Saturday 30 August.
Six Old Rhodians, including a Grahamstown native, who have enhanced the reputation of the University were honoured at a ceremony held on Saturday 30 August.
The annual awards ceremony is held at the Gavin Relly Postgraduate Village. Rhodes University alumni are honoured for their outstanding accomplishments in their professional or personal lives.
The prestigious awards are specifically intended to acknowledge Old Rhodians as role models who are part of the greater Rhodes University family.
Imogen Nonhlanhla Mkhize, Richard Thompson Mkhondo, Lincoln Camagu Mali and Judge Ronald Jonathan Wilshire Jones received the Distinguished Old Rhodian Award, while Unathi Msengana and Konehali Gugushe received the Emerging Old Rhodian Award.
Msengana, who was born and bred in Grahamstown, was presented with the Emerging Old Rhodian Award.
Msengana, who matriculated from Victoria Girls High School, is a singer, actress and radio presenter. She was recently nominated for Best South African Radio Host at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2014. She has also been a judge in the reality TV show Idols since 2011.
Distinguished Old Rhodian Award recipient Mkhize grew up in a humble home environment. She graduated from Rhodes University in 1984 with a BSc Information Systems, followed in 1985 by a Higher Diploma in Education. She then obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995 and a Diploma in Company Direction with the Institute of Directors/ GIMT in 2000.
“It was a privilege to go to Rhodes… it has a campus culture supportive of teaching and learning and I felt nurtured and encouraged to explore my abilities,” Mkhize said.
Journalist Richard Thompson Mkhondo love of writing brought him to Rhodes to study Journalism and African Politics. He was the founder of the Black Students Movement and one of the first black journalism graduates in 1983. He is a marketing communications and reputation management practitioner and strategist of international repute.
A prominent student activist during his time at Rhodes, Mali was President of the Black Student Movement, Eastern Cape Chairperson of the South African National Student Congress (Sansco) and became the founding National Vice President of the South African Student Congress (Sasco) which was launched at Rhodes after the merger of Nusas and Sansco.
Mali is now an outstanding internationally accredited graduate and currently holds the position of Regional Executive Head, Western Region, Personal and Business Banking at Standard Bank. Jones started his career as an advocate at the Grahamstown Bar in 1964, after receiving his LLB (cum laude) in 1963. In 1986 was elevated to the bench of the Eastern Cape Division of the Supreme Court (now High Court).
He served on the High Court bench from 1986 until his retirement in 2010, playing an increasingly influential role as a judge in the Eastern Cape over the years and particularly since the advent of democracy.
Parallel to his judicial role Judge Jos has made an incredible contribution to the University. He served as Chair of Council and a member of the Rhodes Board of Governors from 1994 to 2014.
Gugushe matriculated at the age of 15 from All Saints Senior College in the Eastern Cape. Originally starting her Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Fort Hare, she completed it at Rhodes in 1997.
Having already enjoyed success in subjects such as accounting at university, she decided that she would go all the way and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2001.
At that time only 4% of chartered accountants in South Africa were black women.
