When looking at the lives of these two new “doctors in the NWU house”, one of Mahatma Gandhi’s sayings comes to mind: “The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

 

This is exactly what the NWU’s latest recipients of honorary doctorates have done. Justice Nkabinde, who received her honorary doctorate on 21 October 2021, has made an exceptional contribution to the legal profession and to social justice in South Africa. Dr Fraser-Moleketi was honoured for her lifelong work in society and in the South African political landscape. She received her degree on 19 November 2021.

 

Looking up at a legal eagle

 

NWU alumnus Justice Nkabinde was nominated by the Faculty of Law, with which she maintains close ties, for her significant contribution to our country’s jurisprudence and for being a role model to many, especially women in the legal profession, locally and internationally.

 

She was appointed as a justice of the Constitutional Court in January 2006. Through the years, she served as acting deputy chief justice and later acting chief justice of the Republic of South Africa, as well as acting judge of appeal in the Supreme Court of Namibia.

 

She is also no stranger to academia. Holding a BProc degree from the University of Zululand and an LLB from the University of the North West, Justice Nkabinde has delivered papers at national and international institutions. She has also taught an introductory course in South African constitutional jurisprudence to postgraduate students at the Maryland Law School in the United States.

 

Making the world a better place

 

Dr Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi was nominated for an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Humanities.

 

A strong advocate for social and economic transformation in South Africa and Africa, she played a significant role in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) multiparty negotiations which gave birth to the SA constitutional democracy.

 

While serving as Minister of Public Service and Administration from 1999 to 2008, one of her achievements was the inception of the child support grant. She also introduced the notion of community development workers as a way of bridging the gap between government and disadvantaged communities.

 

She has a master’s degree in administration from the University of Pretoria and completed a Leading Organisational Change Course at Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. She has been awarded a DPhil Honoris Causa by the Nelson Mandela University.

 

These two examples – the one flying high as a role model in the legal world and the other improving life for vulnerable people – underline the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi. It seems as if losing yourself in service leadership is indeed finding your true purpose – and ultimately yourself.