Theme: Beyond Liberation: Is Education a Liberator or an Oppressor in the Struggle for Peace, Gender Equity, and Economic Justice
Programme Director,
Vice-Chancellor and leadership of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology,
Members of the Central SRC,
Representatives from Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light,
Distinguished guests,
Members of faculty,
Students – who are our future academics and vice-chancellors,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning.
Thank you for the invitation for me to be part of this Critical Conversation on education as a fundamental building block of human society and our pursuit of a better Africa and a better world.
I value this Conversation in the context of our broader National Dialogue process and I believe that the tone and content of today’s deliberation serves as a model for how our national conversation on key questions in our society can unfold.
I want to begin with a story that captures the heart of today’s theme — the question of whether education truly liberates or whether it sometimes reinforces the barriers we claim to dismantle.
Last year, in a rural high school in the Eastern Cape, I met a young woman named Lutho. She was the top student in her class, passionate about mathematics, and dreaming of becoming a civil engineer.
Her school had no library, the science lab had been closed for two years, and the internet was something she could only access when her neighbour’s phone caught a signal.
Yet, with borrowed books and sheer determination, she secured a place at university.
At first, the costs of accommodation, food, and transport threatened to close the very doors she had fought so hard to open.
But through a local mentorship programme, a bursary from a state-owned enterprise, and a refurbished laptop from a community organisation, she not only stayed in school — she thrived.
Today, she is in her third year, leading a student engineering club that tutors high school learners in STEM, and she recently completed an internship designing water infrastructure for rural villages.
Lutho often says the support she received did more than help her survive university — it gave her the confidence to believe she belonged in the world of engineering.
Her journey reflects both the liberating and limiting realities of education in South Africa.
It shows that while education can open doors, too many of those doors still require extraordinary force to push open.
And that is the challenge before us: to ensure that when we call education a liberator, it is not liberation in name only.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We gather here during Women’s Month, International Youth Day, and the lead-up to World Humanitarian Day. These commemorations are deeply intertwined.
They call on us to think beyond political freedom and to ask whether our society offers real equality, dignity, and opportunity to all.
The theme of this conversation, Beyond Liberation, asks whether education has fulfilled its promise as the great equaliser, or whether, in some ways, it has reinforced the divisions and inequities of our past.
When we won political freedom in 1994, we inherited the work of dismantling structural injustice.
A central part of apartheid’s design was the denial of quality education to black South Africans, as part of undermining our dignity and humanity, and creating a source of manual labour for large and small white-owned and largely male-owned businesses.
With the advent of our democracy, the Constitution promised every child the right to a basic education.
But as we reflect on 30 years of democracy, we must admit that the quality of that education still depends too much on where a child is born, the resources of their family, and the historical privilege or disadvantage of their community.
Education is one of the motive forces in our society.
By motive forces, we mean those groups, systems, and engines of change that can move a nation forward.
In our liberation struggle, the motive forces included workers, the rural poor, women, youth, and progressive intellectuals.
Education strengthens these forces by equipping them with knowledge, skills, and critical consciousness. But if education is inaccessible, unequal, or irrelevant, it can weaken them, leaving inequality entrenched.
The concept of education as a motive force reminds us that it is not neutral.
It can drive transformation when it challenges unjust systems, or it can reinforce oppression when it serves only to reproduce existing hierarchies. This is why our discussion today is urgent: it is about reclaiming education as a force for change.
This is not a new debate.
Cuban–Argentinian revolutionary leader, CheGuevara, reflecting on education in times of revolution, said that learning must be continuous and inseparable from the work of building new values in society
In other words, education cannot simply fill minds with technical skills; it must form citizens who can shape a more humane and just world.
If we take this seriously, it means our education system must evolve with the needs of our people, and must remain connected to the broader social, economic, and moral project of our democracy.
Former President Thabo Mbeki, speaking to the youth in 2008, warned that without purpose, education risks leaving young people as spectators in their own country’s future.
He saw the youth as “Young Lions” whose mission was to use their skills and knowledge to fight poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment.
This is not a task for tomorrow. It is a task for today.
The progress we have made in the past 30 years is significant.
Today, women hold 46 percent of the seats in Parliament, and our Cabinet is evenly split between men and women.
Gender parity has been achieved in school enrolment, and in universities, women graduate in greater numbers than men. Girls outperform boys in several academic areas.
These are real victories.
Yet the 25 Year Review and the 30 Year Review both reveal that parity in numbers does not mean parity in influence or opportunity.
Women remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - fields that are transforming societies and economies around the world hour by hour and day by day.
Women are instead over-represented in low-wage, informal sectors and remain the majority in unpaid care work.
Even with equal or better educational attainment, they face barriers in leadership positions, corporate boardrooms, and political decision-making spaces.
President Ramaphosa, in his Women’s Day address this year, reminded us that women’s emancipation is not complete until they enjoy equal access to resources, opportunities, and leadership roles.
He called on us to dismantle structural barriers that hold women back.
This call is not just for the private sector or government; it is for our universities and schools as well.
This call is also for families who disadvantage girls and young women by expecting them to play domestic and community roles inherited from a patriarchal past.
Liberation begins at home.
Our education system often reflects the economic divides of our society.
Schools in wealthier areas benefit from strong infrastructure, experienced teachers, and robust digital resources.
Schools in rural and township areas still grapple with overcrowded classrooms, insufficient learning materials, and lack of internet access.
This digital divide is more than a technical issue. It is a justice issue.
In the modern economy, digital literacy is as fundamental as traditional reading and writing.
Students who are excluded from digital tools are excluded from future opportunities.
The 30 Year Review shows that while we have expanded access to higher education, completion rates remain a concern, particularly among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Many drop out not because they lack ability or interest, but because they lack the financial, emotional, and academic support systems needed to succeed.
The link between education and peace is also critical.
Peace is not simply the absence of war; it is the presence of fairness, dignity, and opportunity.
Education fosters peace when it teaches empathy, respect for diversity, and skills for resolving conflict without violence.
This is at the heart of the Women, Peace and Security agenda first established by UN Security Council Resolution 1325.
Yet, as the latest Security Council Report (August 2025) reminds us, women still make up only 19 percent of negotiators and 6 percent of mediators in major peace processes worldwide.
This under-representation is not just a moral injustice; it is a missed opportunity for lasting peace.
Studies show that when women are meaningfully involved, peace agreements are more likely to be reached and are significantly more durable.
Education is the foundation that enables this participation, giving women the political awareness, negotiation skills, and confidence to take their place at the table.
The UN Women and UNESCO analysis reinforces this point: countries with higher levels of female education tend to have stronger democratic institutions, more inclusive governance, and lower risks of violent conflict.
This tells us that gender-responsive education is not a marginal issue; it is a peace and security strategy. If we are serious about preventing conflict and building resilient societies, then educating girls and women must be a core national security priority.
We have seen this on the African continent.
In Rwanda, post-genocide, education was intentionally reshaped to promote reconciliation.
History curricula were revised, and schools became places for dialogue and healing.
Ladies and gentleman,
In Women’s Month, it is my duty and the duty of all of us to emphasise that dialogue and healing in our world starts with dialogue and healing in our homes and families.
Part of this means that men and boys must take seriously the education and the outrage that frames our fight against gender-based violence.
Men on university campuses, in churches, in corporate offices and boys in schools commit offences against women and girls every day.
This must end.
Our investment in education amounts to little if women of all ages and backgrounds have their dignity and potential cut short through violence.
Our investment in education comes to little if men and boys learn one thing and choose to do another.
While all of us share the responsibility for raising boy children and girls in ways that promote respect and equality, we also share the responsibility to come down hard on suspected or actual abusers and killers.
As we turn to the transformational power of education, our own history shows that student movements have often been at the forefront of social change, from the 1976 Soweto uprising to the #FeesMustFall movement.
Economic justice is equally tied to education. It is not enough to prepare students to enter the economy as it is.
We must prepare them to reshape the economy into one that is inclusive and fair. This means developing entrepreneurs who create jobs, not just job seekers. It means ensuring that research and innovation address the needs of communities, not only the interests of global markets.
This is especially urgent in light of the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report, which warns that by the year 2030, more than 40 percent of the skills needed in the workplace will have changed.
Advances in artificial intelligence, the green transition, demographic shifts, and global uncertainty will redefine what it means to be employable.
The report makes it clear: education must evolve from simply imparting foundational knowledge to actively building the capabilities of complex problem-solving, analytical thinking, creativity, technological literacy, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.
Employers are increasingly seeking graduates who can combine technical expertise with human-centred skills like communication, ethical judgment, and collaboration.
This is why our education system must see itself not as a one-time provider of degrees, but as a lifelong partner in learning, giving graduates the ability to upskill and reskill throughout their careers.
And learning needs to be a way of life for all South Africans; it must become part of our cultural fabric.
Learning need not serve the economy alone. Learning raises self-esteem; it satisfies our curiosity about the world around us; and it makes us more confident and better rounded people, who are able to play a positive role in building better communities.Our education system needs to open pathways for women and youth into sectors from which they have been historically excluded, such as mining, energy, technology, and finance.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s own statistics show that women remain underrepresented at executive levels and in board leadership. Education must be the pipeline that changes this reality.
Programme director, transforming education into a true liberator requires deliberate action.
Curricula must reflect African realities and global challenges.
Every student must have access to digital tools and the internet, regardless of geography or income.
Work-based learning, internships, and mentorships must be embedded in every programme. Campuses must be safe, inclusive spaces that actively combat gender-based violence.
When we do this, we do more than strengthen education; we strengthen the motive forces of change in our society.
Workers become more skilled.
Rural communities become more resilient.
Women become more empowered.
Youth become more capable of shaping their future. Progressive intellectuals become more connected to the real needs of the people.
As we mark Women’s Month, we must regard the struggle for gender equity as central to building a peaceful and just society.
As we observe International Youth Day, let us invest in young people as active partners, not passive recipients, of education.
And as we approach World Humanitarian Day, let us ensure that our education system produces citizens who are not only skilled but compassionate, civic-minded and capable of contributing to the common good.
Education will be what we make it.
It is a liberator, breaking down barriers and building bridges to opportunity.
If we don’t leverage education in this way, it will be an oppressor, silently reproducing the inequalities of the past.
The choice is ours. Let us choose liberation.
Let us make education the most powerful of our motive forces, driving peace, gender equity, and economic justice for generations to come.
I thank you.
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