The future of our youth, and of our country, is in your hands. You, the students, stand at the centre of the university's activities. For the past decade that center stage had seen heroic acts on your part to bring about and speed up political change. Now, we look to you now for the courage to return with equal single-mindedness to the lonely work of libraries, laboratories and study rooms. Defeat that evil Verwoerdian dream of an innumerate and scientifically illiterate population, by dedicating yourselves to the concrete tasks of learning and scholarship.
Society invests heavily in universities, and it legitimately expects returns on that investment.
We are confident that you, as the academic heart of the university, will rise to these challenges. It is in support of efforts to meet those academic and scientific challenges that the administrative and service staff play their indispensable roles. Without them, the university cannot perform its primary function. We thank them for their unselfish dedication to the education of our youth and the advancement of their university. The miracle of our political transition needs to be permanently translated into the social and economic transformation of our country.