2019 Annual Report

The year 2019 provided us an opportune time for reflection as it signifies the last year of the decade, coincides with the end of the second cycle of the University of    Pretoria’s strategic plan, UP 2025, and concludes my second term of tenure as the    Director of the Centre (2009-2019). Therefore, I meticulously gathered the words, activities and memories like one who picks up spilled beads, and it provided me the opportunity to ponder the colour, texture and uniqueness in each one.

From its modest 1990-origins, starting with one professor (Prof Erna Alant) and myself as her temporary, part-time research assistant with no students, the Centre has developed into a vibrant, diverse multi-disciplinary team with three professors,    two extra-ordinary professors, two senior lecturers, three lecturers, a junior research fellow, and two professional staff members. Together, we have been serving 135    postgraduate students and two post-doctoral fellows who have all chosen to study at the    Centre. As economies globally become more knowledge-based, education is seen as an important driver of growth. Hence, the additional 321 students enrolled in different degree programmes and at different universities (both locally and internationally) – who were also taught by this cohort of academics – constitute a significant student corps.