1. Dr
Muavia
Gallie
!
Keynote
at
the
TUT
graduation
ceremony
11
May
2012
–
10h00
to
12h00
South
Campus,
Gencor
Community
Hall
Let
me
start
off
by
greeting
all
the
important
dignitaries
as
well
as
our
students
who
are
graduating,
with
their
parents,
and
social
supporters
on
their
sides.
I
reflect
back
to
my
graduation
when
I
first
completed
my
Teachers’
Diploma
in
Commerce
in
1984,
and
decided
not
to
go
to
the
graduation
ceremony,
for
political
reasons.
Then,
we
did
not
want
to
glorify
Apartheid
education,
and
today
I
want
to
honour
my
parents
for
accepting
my
wish
not
to
go,
despite
me
knowing
that
they
were
looking
forward
to
that
graduation
ceremony.
In
particular,
my
father
passed
on
without
experiencing
the
opportunity
to
attend
one
of
my
subsequent
graduation
ceremonies
–
my
mother,
who
was
still
alive
then
managed
to
experience
this
unique
event.
With
the
low
level
of
success
in
education
currently
in
South
Africa,
only
1
out
of
12
students
who
started
grade
1,
ever
have
the
opportunity
to
experience
this
event,
and
therefore
you
need
to
regard
yourself
as
very
special,
or
maybe
privileged.
Privileged
because
we,
who
made
it,
were
not
necessarily
the
best
among
the
group
of
students
who
started,
but
rather
that
the
system
only
allowed
a
small
group
of
students,
by
design,
to
succeed.
For
this
reason,
I
would
like
to
share
three
key
ideas
with
you,
as
a
reminder
of
your
responsibility
towards
those
who
never
made
it.
1.
Who
are
you?
Or
How
do
we
define
ourselves/
our
identity?
There
is
a
popular
song
by
an
American
soul-­‐R&B
singer,
India
Arie,
called
“I
am
not
my
hair”.
Just
last
week,
I
did
some
work
with
two
matric
student
groups
in
Cape
Town
and
Paarl,
making
up
more
than
500
students,
where
I
engaged
with
them
that
‘they
are
not
their
skin
colour,
their
parents,
their
communities,
their
mistakes,
their
economic
and/or
financial
situation,
their
circumstances,
etc.
Rather,
they
are
what
they
want
to
be,
and
therefore
what
they
are,
would
be
their
decisions,
their
responsibilities,
their
choices,
their
dreams.
This
is
as
relevant
to
them,
as
it
is
to
you
at
this
crucial
stage
in
your
life.
If
you
are
not
happy
with
what
you
are,
especial
if
you
know
that
you
were
under-­‐performing
up
to
this
point,
that
you
can
change
this
through
a
‘split
second’
decision,
just
like
that.
And
so
whatever
is
happening
in
your
life,
and
where
you
are,
is
a
result
of
‘where
you
want
to
be’
–
it
is
a
choice.
You
therefore
have
to
take
100%
responsibility
for
your
life,
and
what
you
make
of
it.
No
one
owes
you
anything.
You
are
not
entitled
to
a
free
ride
in
this
world
–
especially
not
where
you
are
going
after
your
‘protected
life’
at
university.
Whatever
you
will
receive
in
life,
are
gifts.
Whatever
you
do
with
those
gifts
is
up
to
you.
Some
of
those
gifts
may
have
double
edges
but
they
are
still
a
viable
source
of
learning
and
growing
and
accepting
what
this
life
has
in
store
for
you.
1

2. 2.
No
one
owes
you
as
much
as
you
owe
yourself
During
my
travels
through
this
country,
as
well
as
abroad
(I
am
excited
to
be
traveling
to
Samoa
in
the
next
two
weeks)
I
have
been
blessed
to
have
met
people
from
all
walks
of
life,
but
regardless
of
their
differences,
I
find
nearly
everyone
is
looking
for
happiness.
After
all,
what
is
life
without
happiness?
–
and
here
I
am
not
referring
to
pleasure,
since
pleasure
is
more
‘short
lived’,
while
happiness
is
a
more
long-­‐term
feeling
of
joy.
However,
another
common
thread
seems
to
be
running
through
the
lives
of
so
many
as
well.
They
are
looking
to
be
repaid
for
some
type
of
offense
committed
against
them,
real
or
imagined,
either
way
they
feel
they
are
owed
something.
This
debt
or
grudge,
real
or
perceived,
is
carried
through
life
for
years.
And
over
the
course
of
years,
resentment,
anger,
and
frustration
attached
itself
to
this
debt.
In
particular,
in
our
country,
we
have
those
who
believe
that
they
are
entitled
to
things
–
whether
it
is
material
or
monetary
or
a
position/title.
If
we
continue
in
this
vein,
we
will
be
in
serious
trouble
with
this
type
of
mentality.
There
is
nothing
in
live
that
is
‘for
free’
–
either
you
have
paid
for
it
already,
or
you
will
be
paying
for
it
in
the
future.
Let
me
be
a
bit
more
specific.
All
those
who
are
graduating
here
today
owe
it
to
others
for
the
trust
they
had
in
you
to
come
and
study,
and
graduate.
Most
of
you
got
a
bursary,
whether
you
have
to
pay
it
back,
or
not.
So,
you
have
received
nearly
R100
000
of
investment
by
either
taxpayers,
of
which
I
am
one,
or
some
other
sources.
But
someone
needed
to
trust
you
enough
to
invest
in
your
future,
and
therefore
it
is
important
for
your
to
know
that
it
is
your
turn
to
‘repay’
that
favour
in
order
for
others
to
benefit
the
way
you
benefitted.
When
I
speak
to
my
students
about
this
matter,
they
often
think
that
there
is
a
tree
or
some
money-­‐printing
machine
where
their
bursary
is
coming
from
–
NO,
there
is
no
such
thing.
This
phenomenon
is
called
‘giving’
(or
giving
forward).
Those
who
gave,
don’t
want
the
money
back;
they
want
you,
the
way
they
‘picked
you
up
on
their
shoulders’,
that
you
do
the
same
for
others
in
allowing
them
to
get
onto
your
shoulders.
We
therefor
have
to
get
away
for
this
‘selfish’
attitude
of
only
focusing
on
the
‘me’
–
grabbing
whatever
is
available,
even
if
you
can
or
will
never
use
it,
or
you
don’t
need
it.
Doing
everything
for
yourself,
for
your
own
benefit.
Great
joy
don’t
come
from
‘taking’,
since
the
joy
of
receiving
is
very
short
lived,
while
the
joy
of
‘giving’
lives
for
long
within
our
hearts
–
it
is
the
kind
of
warm
feeling
you
get
when
you
do
something
good
to
someone
you
don’t
even
know,
or
had
an
obligation
towards.
3.
Moving
beyond
Mediocrity
There
is
an
interesting
movie
called
“The
pursuit
of
Happyness”,
where
Will
Smith,
the
main
actor,
is
indicating
to
his
son
in
the
moving
that
“don’t
every
let
somebody
tell
you
that
you
can’t
do
something.
Not
even
me.
Okay.
You’ve
got
a
dream;
you
got
to
protect
it.
People
can’t
do
something
themselves,
they
want
to
tell
you
that
you
can’t
do
it.
You
want
something,
go
get
it,
period!”
This
notion
of
pulling
each
other
down
is
often
out
of
a
deep
fear.
The
poet,
Marianne
Williamson,
in
her
poem
called
“Our
deepest
fear”,
relates
to
us
the
following:
Our
deepest
fear
is
not
that
we
are
inadequate;
Our
deepest
fear
is
that
we
are
powerful
beyond
measure;
If
is
our
light,
not
our
darkness
that
most
frightens
us;
2

3. Your
playing
small
does
not
serve
the
world;
There
is
nothing
enlightened
about
shrinking
…
so
that
other
people
won’t
feel
insecure
around
you;
We
were
born
to
make
manifest
the
glory
that
is
within
us;
It
is
not
just
in
some
of
us;
it
is
in
everyone;
And
as
we
let
our
own
light
shine,
…
we
unconsciously
give
other
people
permission
to
do
the
same;
As
we
are
liberated
from
our
fear,
…
our
presence
automatically
liberates
others.
In
conclusion,
I
want
to
indicate
to
you
that
our
country
needs
you
to
be
one
of
those
who
will
contribute
towards
restoring
the
dignity
of
all
the
people
in
South
Africa.
• You
have
to
be
part
of
those
who
will
start
giving,
rather
than
taking.
• You
have
to
be
part
of
those
who
will
start
caring
about
others,
and
not
just
yourself;
• You
have
to
be
part
of
those
who
are
prepared
to
speak
the
truth
to
power;
• You
have
to
be
part
of
those
who
will
be
honest,
rather
than
be
corrupt,
cheating,
stealing,
looting,
etc.;
• You
have
to
be
part
of
those
who
will
invest
for
the
long-­‐term
good,
rather
than
the
immediate
short
term
gains;
•
You
have
to
be
part
of
those
who
would
want
to
earn
your
way,
rather
than
expecting
hand-­‐outs
from
others;
and
• You
have
to
be
part
of
those
who
will
build
the
country,
even
if
you
don’t
personally
get
the
benefits,
rather
than
wanting
to
see
personal
benefits.
We
have
over
4,2
million
youth
in
our
country,
who
are
slowing
loosing
hope.
You
can’t
join
them
in
the
cue
of
hopelessness.
You
have
to
assist
us
in
creating
hope
for
all
of
them.
Please
stand
up
and
be
counted,
in
whatever
small
way,
and
wherever
you
are
going
find
yourself.
Make
a
difference
…
let
others
feel
the
difference.
Your
space
must
be
a
better
space
since
you
have
arrived
there
…
and
the
difference
must
be
YOU.
Go
in
peace.
I
thank
you.
3