Onetime Comrades Marathon champion Bruce Fordyce has one. So does the suddenly silent muso with a Zulu beat, Johnny Clegg (above), that divine songstress Sibongile Khumalo and the now solo – and grooveless – ex-lead singer of Mango Groove Claire Johnston.
Included in this hot list is the titillating Thandi Mazwai from love them or hate them kwaito outfit Bongo Maffin and the tepid Karma-Anne Swanepoel of Henry Ate, which got gobbled up by its own success before really enjoying any.
What have they all got in common?
They’re graduates from the faculty of humanities and social sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. They’re listed on the university’s website under the section “Famous Graduates”. The list includes advertising legend Reg Lascaris and Minister of Justice Penuell Maduna.
The university, situated a heartbeat away from the bustling Johannesburg city centre, has produced leaders in commerce, politics, culture and virtually any field one can imagine. Hloma Dandala, erstwhile Derick Nyati of Isidingo fame, was an arts graduate at Wits. The education faculty has also produced its share of leaders, including the director of the Gauteng Institute for Curriculum Development Haroon Mahomed, senior staff at the Joint Education Trust Mashwala Diphofa, Khololefo Sedibe and Nick Taylor, Commission on Gender Equality’s Linda Vilikazi-Tselani and former education boss in Gauteng Mary Metcalfe, who was farmed out to the province’s environment department. The list is by no means the final word on famous graduates.
Perhaps, you know of someone established as a political, business or community leader, cultural activist or entertainer, let us know at the Teacher/Famous Graduates, PO Box 91667, Auckland Park, 2006. You can also email: [email protected]
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, November 2001.