Meet the Department’s First Man
The smell of coffee permeates the air as shafts of Autumn-coloured sunlight filter through the window. I am sitting on a comfortable chair in a warm office decorated by wooden and stylish furniture.
A pile of books and a precious see-through stationery case lie on the table, if knowledge and power had a smell, this is it! To my side, in a pinkish formal shirt, sits former University of North West Communication lecturer, and now HOD of Tshwane University of Technology Journalism department, Dr MP Chaka.
Born Mpho Phillip Chaka, 35 Years ago in Mafikeng, in the North West province, Dr Chaka is an awe-inspiring giant of a man: a larger than life figure whose sweet voice commands respect, yet he oozes modesty. He knows how to make visitors feel welcomed, and when he called me by name, the rest was “Sir”.
He is an accomplished story-teller who paints pictures with words in a laidback manner. Interviewing him is like speaking to my favourite uncle.
I am at the office of the HOD of the Journalism Department, but I am not here to talk about academic stuff but to interview him.
Dr Chaka holds a BA (Hons) in Communications from the University of North West, specialising in broadcast journalism, print journalism and public relations, an MA in Development Communication (University of Pretoria), ), and a PhD in Communication (North-West University)
“I was motivated by radio and television personalities like Glen Lewis, and Bob Mabena at the then Bop Broadcasting Corporation,” he said. In the course of our interview, his phone kept ringing and I could tell that Dr Chaka is indeed a busy man.
With 15 years of experience, the 35-year-old Dr Mpho Phillip Chaka took over the reins at the Department of Journalism on 1 March. He said he is grateful for taking over from a prominent figure like his predecessor, Dr PD Diedricks whom he met before he assumed with his duties as the new HOD.
His previously worked for two British-owned newspapers in Botswana, The Guardian and Midweek Sun, in 1999 before moving to Government Communication and Information Systems in 2001 as a communication officer and later the University of Pretoria as a junior lecturer.
Asked about the challenges he meets as a HOD he just smiled and said “I am still familiarising myself with my position and I believe when time goes by I will adjust to the work load before me.”
Affectively known as “MC” amongst his colleagues, Dr Chaka spoke about his love for sports, particularly soccer. “I support the best soccer club in the premier soccer league, Kaizer Chiefs and I know if you are an Orlando Pirates fan you are not happy with this,” he said to me teasingly.
When I asked him if he do play Soccer, he gently buried his face in his hands. “I can only play soccer in a reasonable level, nothing professional,” he said.
He went on and said he have bigger plans for the journalism department which includes meeting possible employers to help third year students with industrial exposure. “My sole intention is to take this department to bigger heights and make the department a centre of excellence through quality and innovation,” said the humble academic.
No comments:
Post a Comment