My encounter with the president of South Africa: a tribute to Dr Cyril Ramaphosa.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to narrate a personal experience, which led to my encountering the president of South Africa through research. I was at the University of Transkei, which now is known as Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha, South Africa. I served as professor of Educational Psychology and Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor Professor Alfred Moleah who had returned to South Africa from exile in America after 27 years. One of my Engagements was to coordinate exchange academic programmes between South African and American Universities. With Unitra the exchange programme was with the City University of New York. The programme involved exchange of both students and academic staff. In the process of doing this, I ended up in New York as a Fulbright Senior Resident Academic at New York Metropolitan College for a year. While there, some of the research involving world cultures, which were published in the Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Mine was on Banyankole Ethnic group in Western Uganda, where my spouse was born and grew up. About ten or more Years after the publication of my research, President Cyril Ramaphosa, was busy researching on Ankole cattle, as he had a keen interested in Ankole long- horned cattle. In his literature review, He came across some of my national and international research on Banyankole. He found my Publication valuable to his own research. His interest was not only in what I had written, but also wanted to meet the author of such Papers. Therefore he launched an earnest search for professor Mwamwenda! Only, finally to find me at the University of Mpumalanga, Nelspruit! During our first meeting, we must have talked for more than an hour. In brief, this is the story I want to share with you, as you read this paper.