VIDEO: Mandela and Science

What does it mean to think science through the lens of Mandela? Can we imagine a Mandela-inflected physics? Oceanography? Medicine? These were some of the reflective questions posed at the recent seminar, Mandela and Science, hosted by Nelson Mandela University.

Held at the Science Centre Dome on the Ocean Sciences Campus, the conversation brought together three voices: Prof Azwinndini Muronga, Dr Derrick Swartz, and Dr Zikhona Tywabi-Ngeva, facilitated by historian and academic Prof. Nomalanga Mkhize. The discussion dug deep into how science, knowledge, ethics, and Mandela’s legacy might intersect in symbolic and practical ways within the university and broader society.

Nelson Mandela University's Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sibongile Muthwa, delivering her opening remarks

The Nelson Mandela University Science Centre Dome was filled to capacity by an engaged audience

Dr Derrick Swarts in conversation with Prof Azwinndini and Dr Zikhona Tywabi-Ngeva

Beyond Positivism: Towards a Mandela-Inflected Science

The speakers noted that Mandela's perspective on science, which is sometimes modernist and positivist, has to be questioned. In a post-colonial, African academic environment, what does it mean to pursue science ethically? How may Western science be in meaningful conversation with indigenous knowledge systems? And how could values and story help define what we regard as fact?

While Prof Muronga discussed the need of an epistemic fusion, not unlike what Mandela personally lived, combining his traditional background with British missionary education, Dr Swartz pointed out the conflict between the empirical and the ethical. Dr Tywabi-Ngeva emphasised how profoundly science is ingrained in story and identity, particularly for those historically excluded from mainstream institutions of knowledge.

Science for Social Justice

The experience taught us, among other important lessons, that science cannot be impartial. A Mandela university has to probe closely how science may be used in the service of justice in a nation still struggling with the consequences of inequality and colonialism. When their work connects with names like Mandela, what obligations do scientists bear? How should the university react to frameworks such as the National System of Innovation (NSI) that emphasises community needs, sustainability, and equity?

Watch the full conversation below and catch up on what was a rich and necessary dialogue.

YouTube Video: Mandela and Science

Check out the full gallery to scroll through the snaps captured from the day below. Link to the gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xJCq8wN3YeCFi8xW8