Before embarking on a tour of historically Black colleges and universities, Dr. Makaziwe Phumla Mandela, daughter of South African President Nelson Mandela, stopped by the offices of Black Issues in Higher Education to discuss a wide range of issues facing higher education in the new South Africa.
Since 1994, Mandela, an anthropologist and educator, has been the affirmative action and equal opportunity advisor for one of South Africa’s largest universities, the University of the Witwatersrand. Before that, she worked with the African Academy of Sciences, a non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Mandela was in the United States as a Fulbright 50th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow. During her month-long visit, The College Fund/UNCF hosted Mandela as she toured 14 of the organization’s member colleges and universities.
Educated both in the United States and in South Africa, Mandela earned a master’s degree in sociology and a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree n social work from the University of Fort Hare in Alice, South Africa. A wife and mother of four children, Mandela lives with her family Johannesburg.
She has written and spoken extensively on the role of women and girls in society. In this interview, she discussed education reform post-apartheid South Africa, and the need to critically evaluate African history.
How would you differentiate what you understand affirmative action to mean in the United States compared to South Africa?
I don’t really see any differences per se. I think the difference would be in the historical context of both countries. Within South Africa the debate is different. Here [in the United States] Blacks, Hispanics and people of color are in the minority. In South Africa they are in the majority and people would argue that because of that you don’t have to have affirmative action. But the arguments for and against affirmative action are the same.
