African scholar: Prof Malegapuru Makgoba, Vice-Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, spoke on Knowledge, Identity and African Scholarship at the third JD Baqwa Memorial Lecture on 3 August.

The third JD Baqwa Memorial Lecture, held at Forest Hill Residence on 3 August, featured the Vice-Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, who spoke on Knowledge, Identity and African Scholarship.

Professor Jeffrey Dumo Baqwa was one of the leading members of the Black Consciousness Movement in exile. At UCT he served as warden of Forest Hill and associate dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

He was the faculty’s first black full professor.

Baqwa passed away in August 2001.

The lecture series commemorating the impact Baqwa had at UCT is the brainchild of Forest Hill management, and serves as a platform for critical debate and dialogue on issues facing South African today.

“Baqwa was the type of person who debated issues powerfully,” said Makgoba. And on this occasion it was Makgoba’s turn to do likewise, challenging the audience to incorporate African identity into the construction of knowledge.

At the event Kopano Matlwa, a second-year medical student and resident at Forest Hill, also received the Forest Hill Order of Merit for winning the European literary award for her first novel, Coconut.