Author: PROF MPHO NGOEPE
Augmenting Apartheid Memory Through Art and Exhibition
When we speak about apartheid history, we often turn to legislation, political speeches, court records,…
Seeing Beyond the Horizon: Unisa Shapes Tomorrow as It Expands Its Research Outputs Significantly
When the University of South Africa, popularly known as the University of the Land, entered…
Archives for Justice or Injustices?
From 8 – 12 June 2026, the International Council on Archives will celebrate International Archives…
Chepape Makgatho’s Art Exhibition is a Living Testimony of the Adage ‘There is No Place like Home’
The paremias “tšhipa e taga mohlabeng wa gayo,” is a Northern Sotho adage which literally…
The Pathway to Education Lies Between Thorns
Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM) have long been regarded as neutral spaces of preservation and display. Yet historically, they have functioned as instruments of power, deciding whose stories are told, whose histories and herstories are preserved, and whose voices are amplified. In SA, this legacy is inseparable from colonial and apartheid frameworks that systematically excluded Black artists from institutional visibility. It is within this context that “The Pathway to Education Lies Between Thorns,” a travelling exhibition of works by…
Rethinking the History of UNISA Library as a Living Intellectual Infrastructure – 185 Into 80 Years
In his Hiddingh-Currie award-winning autobiography, “His story is history,” published by Unisa Press, Dr Tlou Setumu asked a daring question: When does life begin? In the same text, Setumu offers different answers from different people. Some say life begins at 40, others say at birth, there are those who are saying in a womb, while others say when a person starts to stand on their own. Indeed, people perceive the beginning of life differently. This is also the same with…
Unisa Surges Ahead in Global Subject Rankings and National Creative Outputs
In the latest QS World University Rankings, Unisa is ranked highly in six subjects, as opposed to one in the 2022 academic year, while the Department of Higher Education and Training ranks the institution fourth in the country in terms of its creative outputs and innovations during 2024. On 25 March 2026, QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Ranking released results for institutions in the subject areas in which such institutions have been nominated for evaluation. This includes the scores and…
Contested Narratives on Geelbooi Mofokeng and the Sharpeville Massacre of 21 March 1960
This year marks 66 years of the Sharpeville Massacre. Since 1994, more often than not, some new kind of commission of inquiry is established to respond to some major crisis faced by the government. The commissions are often framed as moments of reckoning — institutional spaces where ‘truth’ is meant to lead to ‘justice’ and accountability. In 1960, the apartheid government set up the Wessels Commission of Inquiry “to investigate and report on the occurrences in the Districts of Vereeniging,…
Repositioning Internationalisation in Higher Education Landscape in a New Geopolitical Era
The Covid-19 pandemic, disruptive technologies, and current developments in changing global geopolitics, specifically the US travel ban on 21 countries and counting, as well as the raging war in the Middle East, have led to a dire situation that requires repositioning of internationalisation in the higher education landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional internationalisation activities, further stretching already limited resources and impacting international student and staff mobility. To date, delays in study visa processing continue to pose a major obstacle…