The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance was launched at UCT yesterday to
support strong public governance in Africa. With the support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the school will function as a living memorial to Madiba.
Student cohorts will be an ongoing testament to his values of ethical, equitable and courageous African governance.
UCT Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng is an enthusiastic supporter of the school.
“The Mandela School epitomises my vision of strengthening our excellence as a university, driving transformation and ensuring a sustainable future for UCT. Through it, UCT is becoming a more African University through its contribution to excellence in leadership and excellence in Africa,” she said.
Founded originally as the Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice in 2011, the school combines academic insight with practice-based public service to promote strategic public leadership in Africa.
As a multi-disciplinary centre, the school and its offerings are designed to make public service at the highest levels of leadership an aspiration for the most talented of the community’s rising generation.
Director of the school Alan Hirsch said: “The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance is committed to cultivating and supporting leadership in African governance.
‘‘We have built a truly African centre at UCT. We are proud and deeply honoured to be associated with Nelson Mandela’s name.”
The work of the school is undertaken through the university’s part-time Master’s programme for mid-career public servants and its high-level dialogue with experts from across the continent.
The school’s student demographics straddle the public and private sector, from civil society professionals to government officials and activists. The 1300 alumni of the school so far come from more than 30 African countries.
The academic backbone is the cutting-edge Professional Master’s degree which is taught part-time in four intensive tuition blocks, making it ideal for those already working in the public sphere.