One thousand and twenty students from the University of Venda received their certificates, diplomas, and degrees during the graduation ceremonies held in the university auditorium a fortnight ago.

The graduates were from the faculties of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural and Applied Sciences, Humanities, Management Sciences and Law.

The chief operations officer and head of the Heritage Unit in the Department of Arts and Culture, Dr Somadoda Fikeni, said the core business of a developmental university is the production of knowledge that is relevant in understanding challenges and solving problems facing the society within which the university is located. “The university must equip its learners with relevant analytical and technical skills. Venda University should be commended as it has taken seriously the challenge of re-thinking and re-imagining its role and programmes. This university has broken the shackles of being a bush university, whose primary pre-occupation is to teach material that is produced elsewhere.”

MEC Aaron Motsoaledi said African leaders have started taking courageous steps in correcting the failures of the past and confronting the challenges through structures such as the African Union and its development programme, popularly known as Nepad.

He added that, using indigenous languages, “we will be able to produce millions of engineers annually”.