Revisiting Rhodes University

By Khaya Thonjeni
Schools Outreach Officer
Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies

Marlan Padayachee to apply for JMS Masters in 2010
Seasoned journalist Marlan Padayachee, who also heads GreenGold Africa Communications, was spotted reading a copy of Grocott’s Mail in the Africa Matrix Media building after an academic visit and meetings with Professors Larry Strelitz and Guy Berger. He was en-route from an assignment at the Lalibela Private Game Reserve when he revisited Grahamstown to discuss a part time study proposal for a Master’s degree at the JMS in 2010.
He shared his story of how apartheid blackballed him from studying journalism in the 1970s: “In terms of the Separate University Act and the Group Areas Act, I could not enrol at Rhodes University. I was directed to the Minister of Internal Affairs to apply for a special permit. It was politically incorrect to request a special dispensation when the rest of South Africa’s disenfranchised people were subjected to these discriminatory laws. However, I took sabbatical in 2000 from Independent Newspapers and some opportunities included coming to Rhodes as a visiting lecturer and I am grateful to Guy Berger for arranging that visit.”
“It’s time to bring closure on this chapter and work towards attaining an academic qualification from one of the world’s leading journalism schools,” says Padayachee, who earned a British Council Scholarship to study international journalism at London’s City University in the 1980s and was recognised for his brave reporting style during the apartheid and democracy era with the International Visitor’s Award from the American Government in the 1990s.
His involvement in the University of Natal’s Cultural and Media Studies in Durban in 2000 inspired him to promote the industry-institution linkage. In 2003, he started broad-based media consultancy where he writes speeches for mayors and government ministers, co-ordinates social responsibility projects for corporate firms and writes for a variety of publications locally and abroad.
For more information on how to enrol for a master’s degree click here.