As part of the national celebration of human rights, DUT hosted its first ever on-campus Human Rights Day event at the Steve Biko Campus on Thursday, 21 March 2013.

Themed Human Rights, Culture, Education and Social Transformation, the event was made possible by DUT, in collaboration with Arts for Humanity, the South African Human Rights Commission and Democracy Development Programme (DDP). Together, the organisations worked incessantly since January this year to ensure that the event was a success.

Jan Jordaan, a fine art lecturer at DUT who is also the founder of Arts for Humanity, an NGO that advocates human rights through art, believes that educating students about human rights is “more important than anything else”.
“If you look at institutions around the country that embrace values involved in human rights, you will see that they are all top institutions. It is important that DUT embraces human rights so that the University can be on par with other top universities in the country,” said Jordaan.

The event had two sessions. During the day, the programme was jam packed including several performances by South African band Expresso, which stirred up the crowd, and a traditional Zulu dance act to outline the theme of human rights. South African guitarist Steve Fataar, who was among the guests, also performed a special number at the event. Jordaan said inviting celebrities to such events is not a norm for the University as it is believed that “all individuals are special”.

Nontobeko Mbatha, DDP Projects Coordinator, said despite it being a public holiday, the turnout was good thus making it a successful inaugural event. “This (the idea and success of the event) laid a good foundation for future events,” she said.

In the evening, a seminar was held where certain human rights issues were delved into. The speakers included Prof Steve Pete, Prof David Mcquoid-Mason and Devina Perumal of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN). Also speaking at the seminar and representing DUT was Prof Brian Pearce, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at the Drama and Production Studies Department as well as Prof Sibusiso Moyo, Director of the Centre for Research Management and Development.

– Nikita Smith-Morgan

Pictured: Some of the festivities at the Human Rights Day event held at the DUT Steve Biko Campus on Thursday (21 March 2013).