SU celebrates 2024 Templeton Prize Laureate Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela

Music, dance, ululations and heartfelt tributes marked Stellenbosch University’s stirring celebration of Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, the 2024 winner of the prestigious Templeton Prize.

Held at the Webersburg Wine Estate on Wednesday October 2, the occasion was a fitting and moving conclusion to a series of recent events held in her honour; namely the official handover of the Templeton award in New York on Monday September 23, and the John Templeton Foundation's celebration at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town on Tuesday October 1.

Professor Gobodo-Madikizela, who holds the South African Research Chair (SARChI) for Violent Histories and Transgenerational Trauma and is the founding director of the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ) at SU, was honoured with a standing ovation from a full room of academic peers, SU’s Rectorate, family and friends, students and other distinguished guests.

Describing Professor Gobodo-Madikizela as a “remarkable visionary”, Heather Templeton Dill, president of the John Templeton Foundation, expressed pride in being able to count her among the 54 recipients of this prize.

“Laureates come from different fields of research, different areas of the world, different perspectives and different faith traditions, but they all share a curiosity about the world that goes beyond what we learn from science alone. Pumla has demonstrated that kind of curiosity that we seek to recognise with the Templeton Prize.”

She said Professor Gobodo-Madikizela had built on her personal experiences and “profound reality of apartheid in South Africa” to pursue a fundamental set of questions, such as why people forgive after experiencing trauma, what the act of forgiving requires, and what is needed for reconciliation to take place and last across generations.

“These are spiritual questions, and these are scientific questions. The tagline for the Templeton Prize is celebrating a spiritual and scientific curiosity. Pumla has embodied both of those in her work.”

She added that Professor Gobodo-Madikizela had created a globally recognised approach to social healing, known as the “reparative quest".

“We hope (this prize) will inspire students to continue advancing our knowledge of transgenerational healing and most importantly, provide a way for individuals and institutions to embody virtues of forgiveness, reconciliation and love."

She also pointed out that she was delighted to see that these and other virtues had been aptly used as table names for the event.

Professor Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of SU, said the celebration of Professor Gobodo-Madikizela’s achievements was also a recognition of the need for the continuation of her reparative work.

“Pumla’s commitment and dedication to justice and her passion for fostering healing in divided communities remind us that we must continue the journey she has helped to chart. Her work shows us that reconciliation is not a destination but a process – a journey that requires tolerance, dedication, empathy and an unwavering belief in the power of forgiveness and healing.”

Professor De Villiers also noted the importance of her contribution for SU.

“It is even more significant, in the context of the history of our country and of our institution, that this reparative work is led by an accomplished scholar at SU. It brings our Restitution Statement to life, gives substance to our quest to rebuild and restore human relations, and it radiates the hope for a re-humanised future for our country.”

Professor Gobodo-Madikizela devoted her acceptance speech to SU, as her “intellectual home”, and her parents, Nobantu and Tukela Gobodo.

“This is an award that is in my name, but SU has made it possible.” She went on to say that it was an honour to be an academic at SU. “I have had so many people open doors for me at SU. I have to say, I have felt at home (here).”

Sharing anecdotes and photographs, Professor Gobodo-Madikizela also honoured her parents’ profound influence on her work. “Who I am is because of my parents.”

She went on to say: “I am donating some of this money in my parents’ name for scholarships at this university. And it is very intentional, because I have grown at this University. It is my way of honouring my parents.”

Valued at £1,1 million GBP, the Templeton Award is one of the world’s largest annual individual awards.

In recognition of her achievements, Professor Gobodo-Madikizela has pledged to donate R8 million to SU.

Of this, R5 million will go towards an endowment scholarship in the name of her parents, R1 million to the SUNRISE programme to support future professors and R2 million to AVReQ for postgraduate student funding and postdoctoral fellow support.

Professor Sibusiso Moyo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation, and Postgraduate Studies, bestowed the gift of a traditional blanket “as a gesture of our institution’s warm embrace of your pursuit of a better world”.

Professor Gobodo-Madikizela’s pioneering work in “exploring new domains and frontiers of the human spirit, delving beyond the barrier of forgiveness to open new avenues for reconciliation” had helped to shine a light on the “formidable potential of the human psyche for remorse and reconciliation," she added.

“Your stellar work brings together the missions of SU and the Templeton Foundation in affirming how little we know about the effects of historical trauma across generations and how eager we are to learn and contribute to a better world.”

Professor Anthony Leysens, Dean: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, congratulated Gobodo-Madikizela, saying: “Her work has had a profound and lasting impact on our understanding of human rights, reconciliation, and the enduring power of the human spirit.

“Moreover, it has shown us that to love our fellow humans is to be able to forgive. Forgiving the other, the one that has caused sorrow and pain, is to love. This requires a deep understanding and empathy for the other, as well as an unwavering courage and resilience.”

In her closing remarks, Professor Hester Klopper, Deputy-Vice Chancellor: Strategy, Global and Corporate Affairs, thanked Gobodo-Madikizela for her immense contribution.

“The presence of your work and your unwavering dedication to creating spaces for healing has really touched us all. You remind us, yet again, that change is possible, even in the face of the most complex questions.”

Drawing on the words of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Professor Klopper reminded guests that “the single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true, but they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story”.

Professor Gobodo-Madikizela’s research challenges this by encouraging the search for alternative stories, said Professor Klopper.

Her work is a “call to action that both acknowledges the trauma of our past, but equally motivates us open up those alternative stories”.

In conclusion, Professor Klopper said Adichie also wrote about how the realisation that there is always more than one story was a way to gain a piece of paradise.

“And that is what you have given us in your work – just a glimpse of paradise.”

Established in 1972 by Sir John Templeton, the Templeton Prize honours individuals whose life's work embodies a fusion of science and spirituality, advancing our understanding of the deepest questions of the universe and human purpose.

It is one of the world's largest annual individual awards, and recognizes those who harness the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions about the universe and humankind's place and purpose within it.