08 November 2002
	Apartheid's legacy BUILDING THE NEW AFRICA By Ethel Hazelhurst

In the mid-1990s, when excitement about the release of the legendary Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners subsided, Conrad Mhlongo realised the scale of the problem that lay ahead. "We were not, overnight, going to have the freedom of mind, the freedom from the inhibition that people had within themselves, to construct a successful nation," says Mhlongo, now a Cida director. "Bantu education had completely devastated people. They no longer believed in themselves. They had no drive because they felt unworthy of anything greater," he says. "We realised we had to help people in a very profound way. "It is important for us to develop a new type of leader for the rise of Africa in the 21st century. We need Africans who believe in themselves, in what precious gifts they have to offer the world, Africans who are not only skilled in technical approaches to development but who care for people and demonstrate their concern at all levels of operations in the organisations they are running. "They should also be able to network with other people in Africa. This is made simpler by the concept of Ubuntu, which is a given with many people. But we need to make people dynamic and ensure they acquire both technical and human skills to demonstrate what Africa is capable of. And also to play a significant role in globalisation." Mhlongo says the time has come for Africa to start "contributing significantly to global development, as opposed to being dependent on other regions, which has always been the situation". And he is determined that Cida will support the process. The institution recently ran an African Leadership course which, among other things, encouraged students to "look into their own selves and their own cultures to learn about leadership" and presented them with role models. Mhlongo says it is critical that Cida students start working in the community while they are students and that they start projects that relate to their studies and on which they can be tested. "At a later stage, they will excel in their professional work and play a meaningful role in their communities." Students are selected on the basis of academic achievement, among other things. "We look for academic excellence but our priority is students' leadership potential," says Mhlongo. Another element in the Cida approach is its relationship with the families of its students. "We have tried to create an African model and part of that is including the community," says Mhlongo. "When we have open days, we invite the uncles, the aunties and the grannies. Some of our students have kids, so we have two and three-year-olds taking part." The community counts at Cida. Cida's mission is to teach students to move ahead of life's chances.