May 6, 2014
Exclusive Interview with Prof. Johann Van der Merwe
One interviewer, One interviewee, One catch – I’d like each
response to be answered in 60 words or less.
By Lukhanyo Mpumela @Lukha_M
Tell us
about you?
I grew up in in Pretoria during the fifties. It was carefree and I
was a happy child. We had no television then but we listened as a family each
night at 7.20 to a radio serial. Thereafter it was ‘lights out’ and everyone to
bed! I remember Hendrik Verwoerd and John F Kennedy being assassinated very
clearly; as well as the black and white pictures of the first man on the moon
and the first heart transplant here at Groote Schuur. I was in love with
Marilyn Monroe.
Your career spans over 20 years. What have been some of the challenges you have encountered, and what have been the highlights?
Your career spans over 20 years. What have been some of the challenges you have encountered, and what have been the highlights?
No. My career spans over 40 years. My career here at CPUT spans over 25 years. My greatest challenge – and highlight
- was when, at the age of 23, I had to face a sea of black faces as a young
white man at the University of Fort Hare in my first job as a law lecturer.
Other highlights - amongst many - include a British Council Scholarship for
research towards my Doctorate in Law in London during 1982/83 and two extended
stints in Europe and the USA as a visiting lecturer during the early 90’s, but under the radar – as apartheid was then not dead yet.
Higher
Education trend that you didn’t see coming?
Massification. The building now housing the Faculty of Business
was built, when we moved in there in December 1991, to accommodate class sizes
of a maximum of 30, with a few large auditoriums for special occasions.
What are
your thoughts on the Public Relations and Communications markets in South
Africa?
These markets are populated by professionals who know what they
want and will not settle for mediocrity. Servicing these markets as a PR or Communication
professional will require that you have to be better than most of your many
competitors.Please offer
one survival tip for making it in this highly competitive industry.
You have to be SIMPLY THE
BEST! BETTER THAN ALL THE REST … to coin a phrase from the famous Tina
Turner song. To achieve that you have
to persevere in spite of set-backs
and disappointments. And, believe me, those
are part of the playing field.
What's the
best piece of career advice you've ever received?
I never received any good career advice. What I should have done
was to follow my instincts; and that is to have studied literature and
theatre art and become a professional director. You see, in my days, the advice
was to become a doctor, advocate or cleric: that is what your parents wanted!
Being the PR
Department HOD, what are the ‘soft skills’ that a leader cannot do without?
You have to possess compassion. Many see this as a weakness. I view it as part of my survival kit. What is
the point of working with young people if you refuse to understand them; and
the challenges they face in an often very cruel world?
The best
thing about CPUT?
The students of course! Yes, the “nature of the beast” (!) has
changed over the years; and we complain often as lecturers about lack of
discipline, unaccountability, disregard of deadlines, etc. But you know what? That which will linger in my memory and
in my heart the longest will be our wonderful students. I will carry the bright
smiles with me, the Hello Prof! that
you suddenly hear – unexpectedly – somewhere and, most of all, the triumphant
graduation days. That is what it is
all about: the final graduation …
And one
improvement that you would /wish to make would be?
I would like to see many, many more student bursaries. The CPUT
Advancement Department works tirelessly on this, but there is still a long road
to go. I would also like to see outstanding, successful students being rewarded
financially with the waiver of class fees and other incentives.
The future
of CPUT PR Department would bring?
Who knows? It would be in good hands though, and the future could
only be good providing that the staff and the students hold on to the belief
that our occupation is a professional
one with a strong code of ethics.
What would
you like to be remembered for?
As someone who tried his best – occasionally fought for – the
interests of his students and his staff, sometimes against the prevailing
attitudes of those in power who are, very often, far removed from the realities
of the classroom.
· What is your
power perspective?
Power is a very dangerous weapon. In the hands of the wrong person
(-s) it is scary. Power is like an addiction: those who have it, usually crave
more. In the academic environment I would like to see power replaced with three
c’s: competency, capability and compassion.
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