Page 15 - DUT Excellence 2024 S1

These are no different from the good values you learnt from home and school. We hope that as you become part of this community you will exude these values in all that you do,” reiterated Professor Mthembu.
He explained to the students that any university you will find in the world is about critical thinking, is about reimagining what you know, how you extend and innovate that knowledge.
“The era of learning and being a repository of the knowledge imparted in you has ended. Here it’s no longer about learning, it’s about what you do with what you have learnt. How you use your critical thinking skills, how you use your creativity, how you then innovate with what you have learnt. So if you have come here thinking you are going to regurgitate what you have learnt and get the best marks, no, this is no longer school. Be creative, be innovative with what you have learnt over the last 12 years,” shared Professor Mthembu.
As much as the students have come for a particular qualification, he advised them that they must be adaptive to the changes in the world. He indicated that to be adaptive requires them to seek creativity and innovation so that when things change in the broader society, they are able to change too.
“Through creativity and innovation, you must be able to use that to continue to make a contribution and to continue to be a productive citizen in this country. If you hold on to this, I can assure you that South Africa will be different in a few years’ time. Our future belongs to you and we can only look back to this day when you committed to changing the lives and livelihoods of ourselves and society,” said Professor Mthembu.
He warned students against becoming unruly. He urged them to remember that they joined DUT to build their characters and not
to destroy infrastructure. He encouraged the students to be the group of young people who will change the culture of destroying infrastructure and strive to create a DUT legacy and beyond.
Also extending a warm welcome to the students was the Dean of Students, Dr Clement Moreku, who assured the students that DUT had a set of initiatives aimed at cumulatively growing them to become adaptive graduates. The Student Representative Council President, Mr Solomzi Zoleka, introduced the SRC members and encouraged the students to make the most of this opportunity given to them.
Delivering the closing remarks was the DUT Registrar, Dr Maditsane Nkonoane, who thanked Professor Mthembu for sharing pearls of wisdom with the first-year students. He thanked the parents for trusting DUT with the stewardship of their “bundles of joy”. He assured the parents that the people that DUT will usher back to them in three to four years’ time will be a different breed. Dr Nkonoane thanked the first year students for choosing this great university as their intellectual home, saying this was one decision they would never regret in their pursuit to achieve greatness.
Photography: Khulsande Tshayile.
Simangele Zuma
The era of learning and being a repository of the knowledge imparted in you has ended. Here it’s no longer about learning, it’s about what you do with what you have learnt.
13 DUT EXCELLENCE 2024