By Anelisa Centani

 

Rhodes University recently celebrated its retiring staff members during a memorable tree-planting tradition held on campus. Among them was Professor Justin Jonas, referred to by Dr Bernie Faranoff as the “spiritual guru of the SKA”. Prof Jonas first enrolled as a student at Rhodes University in 1976.

Mr Schalk van der Merwe, the Human Resources Manager for Learning and Development, extended his well wishes for a healthy and enjoyable retirement to all the retirees.

Professor Sizwe Mabizela, the Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, expressed gratitude to the retirees for their many years of dedicated service to the University. “Thank you all for serving Rhodes University with great honour for so long. You have seen this university change over time and, in the process, made your own unique contribution to make this university great,” he said. Concluding his heartfelt speech, Prof Mabizela stated, "We will continue to lead your knowledge and expertise to mentor young staff members. As you begin this chapter of your lives, please remain in touch with our university, and you'll always be one of us.”

Prof Jonas had the privilege of unveiling the Wild Plum Tree plaque in recognition of his remarkable 43-year tenure, the longest among all the retirees. On behalf of the other retirees, in his emotional speech, he thanked the Vice-Chancellor and the University for celebrating collective years of partnership. "We hope that we have made a positive and lasting contribution to the University through diverse employee roles. Although it is said that no person is irreplaceable, we hope that our unique personal qualities and attributes will be missed by our colleagues and the University as a whole," he said.

 

This year’s retirees are:

Name	Department	Years
Prof. JL Jonas	Physics and Electronics	43
Prof. D Thorburn	Fine Art	41
Prof. PJ Britz	Ichthyology & Fisheries Science	38
Mr C Dyala	Infrastructure and Operations	37
Mr MP Katiya	Infrastructure and Operations	37
Mr DE Martin	Infrastructure and Operations	34
Mrs PG Ntshebe	Infrastructure and Operations	33
Mr SG Gill	Infrastructure and Operations	31
Mrs ACE Goosen	Library	30
Mr P Jordaan	Infrastructure and Operations	28
Dr NR Mazwi	School of Languages	28
Mrs JC Seymour	Management	27
Mrs NN Mbebetho	Infrastructure and Operations	26
Prof. KM Ngcoza	Secondary & Post School Education	22
Ms CR Knowles	CHERTL	21
Mrs JA Otto	Library	21
Prof. A Kirkaldy	History	17
MR MJ Louw	Management	17
Mr M Mgqina	Infrastructure and Operations	17
Mr MM Lunke	bbin宝盈集团	16
Adv AC Renaud	Law	16
Mr JC Wessels	Infrastructure and Operations	15
Prof. LA Wilbraham	Psychology	15