Page 47 - DUT Excellence Semester 2

NINE DUT STUDENTS WIN AT THE MAGUBANE S BOOK EXPLORES LOVEIN THE ERA OF
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SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY ESSAY COMPETITION
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in South Africa awarded nine Durban University of Technology students for submitting outstanding essays in the South African University Essay Competition themed: Xi Jinping’s Thought Through South African Students’ Eyes. The awards ceremony was held in Tshwane (Pretoria) on Saturday, 12 November 2022.
The DUT winners were part of a group that comprised of 59 students from six SouthAfrican universities,who were acknowledged for their excellent writing. The six participating universities were, Durban University of Technology (DUT), University of Johannesburg (UJ), University of Cape Town (UCT), Stellenbosch University (SU), Rhodes University (RU) and the University ofWestern Cape (UWC).
Amongst dignitaries who attended the event was the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Mr Buti Manamela, who delivered the keynote address. Also in attendance was His Excellency Mr Chen Xiaodong, who congratulated the students for their dedication to this essay contest. The essay topics included: poverty alleviation, governance philosophy, ecological conservation, a community with a shared future for mankind and BRICS.
Accompanying the DUT students at the event was the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement, Professor Keolebogile Motaung and Mr Frank Lin Wu, Co-Director of the DUT Confucius Institute (CI).
Conveying her congratulatory remarks, Prof Motaung said: “It gives me great pleasure to congratulate our brilliant students who won the South African University Students Essay Contest, which was equally organised by DUT, UCT, UJ, SU, RU and UWC. I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of all of the universities involved,
Simangele Zuma
Pictured: Mr Frank Lin Wu, Co-Director of the Confucius Institute at DUT with the DUT students who won at the South African University Essay Competition.
to express our immense gratitude to the Chinese Embassy in South Africa for your generous sponsorship of this event.”
She further expressed that DUT and its Confucius Institute was committed to promoting youth development.
“As a young, dynamic and robust university in democratic South Africa, at DUT, we are so lucky to have our own Confucius Institute, which was established on 26 March 2013 under the witness of the Chinese President Mr XI Jinping. We also enjoy a very good partnership with many Chinese universities, including our Chinese partner university, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU). We are confident that we will continually develop DUT’s CI as a key people-to-people exchange centre in South Africa, that will deepen academic, scientific and intellectual engagement between FAFU and DUT; that will strengthen the connection and relations between our people; and that will promote mutual trust and friendship between both countries,” added Prof Motaung.
45 DUT EXCELLENCE 2022 // SEMESTER 2