Die
Universiteit Stellenbosch (US) en die Departement van Verdediging het onlangs
'n Memorandum van Verstandhouding onderteken om die verhouding tussen die twee
instellings, wat uit die 1960's dateer, te versterk.
Volledige
berig in Afrikaans volg.
The event was
held at Defence
Headquarters in Pretoria on 5
October 2017
The
intention of the MOA – a revision of an MOA that was signed by the two parties
in 2012 – is to facilitate a closer working relationship between SU and the
DOD. Revisions include a clarification of higher education services that SU
will provide to the DOD as well as creating conducive learning environments
where students and staff alike will flourish.
Prof
Wim de Villiers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Dr Sam Gulube, Secretary of Defence, and Lieutenant
General Vusumuzi
Masondo (on behalf of the Chief of the SANDF, General SZ Shoke), signed the agreement on
behalf of the parties.
“I am glad to
say that the relationship between Stellenbosch University and the Department of
Defence (DOD) is strong and healthy. This is evidenced by the revised agreement
between us, cementing the long-standing relationship between our Faculty of
Military Science and the SANDF’s Military Academy,” De Villiers said.
“Our
partnership lays the strongest possible academic foundation for the
professionalization of military education. SU is the only university in the
country offering military science, and a leading research-intensive
higher-education institution on the African continent. The revised agreement
between SU and the DOD will take us into the future.
“Stellenbosch
University is honoured to be the preferred higher education partner of the DOD
and the SANDF. We are committed to strengthening the quest of the SANDF to
promote comprehensive security on the continent, helping to make Africa ‘more
peaceful and secure’, as expressed by the African Union in Agenda 2063 – the
Africa we want,” he said.
Major General Lawrence Mbatha, General Officer Commanding of Training
Command, Human Resource Division, SA National Defence Force said: “This
partnership with Stellenbosch University is a continued and important
investment in the most valued resource of the SANDF – its people. Education
will be the key to develop the cognitive flexibility of the SANDF’s leaders and
their ability to deal with unforeseen and complex security challenges across
the spectrum of conflict.”
The
agreement stipulates, among others, the roles and obligations of the two
parties such as the financial obligations of the DOD and that of the University
with regard to academic quality of its Faculty of Military Science.
The
MOA also makes reference to appointments, remuneration and service conditions, admission
and treatment of military science students as well the establishment of a Joint
Advisory Committee accountable to the parties simultaneously. The Joint Advisory
Committee will advise the University and the Department on the policies,
management and implementation of the Agreement.
The signing was also attended by Major General Ansu Fakir, Chief
Director Human Resource Development; Prof Nico Koopman, SU Vice-Rector: Social Impact, Transformation and
Personnel; Adv Simphiwe Damane-Mkosane; Counsel to the Secretary for
Defence; and, Prof Sam Tshehla,
Dean of the Faculty of Military Science.
Photo: Prof
Wim de Villiers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor and Dr Sam Gulube, Secretary of Defence (photo by Katiso Mabuza, Directorate Corporate Communications,
SANDF)