Dr Choice Makhetha currently serves as the senior director of the Division for Student Affairs at Stellenbosch University. She speaks with Sarah Hoek about her life and career as a woman who has risen through the ranks of academia at some of the top tertiary education institutions in the country.
Dr Choice Makhetha in March 2020. Makhetha is the senior director of the Division for Student Affairs at Stellenbosch University where she is passionate about students and transformation. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
On the deck of the Wallenberg Conference Centre, chatter from Stellenbosch University (SU’s) annual Transformation Summit filters out the doors. Dr Choice Makhetha sits looking out at the trees that skirt around the building and the blue, Stellenbosch sky rising above. Having slipped out from the summit, which she organised and hosts, there is no hint of stress or distraction over what is going on inside the building.*
“The day is just going so light, so I’m very happy,” she says. She leans back in her chair. “I’m enjoying every moment in the sun.”
Free moments like these are few and far between. Dr Makhetha has learnt how to find balance in her busy schedule and adapt to the demands of her job as senior director at the Division for Student Affairs (DSAf) at SU.
“I’m always conscious of how I design my day,” she says. “It’s very important just to be cautious about it. On a Monday, specifically, I book two hours just to make sure that we pick up on all the things that happened over the weekend.”
The rest of her time is then filled with meetings, emails and everything else that comes with having a job on campus. “It is beautiful to get into an environment knowing what to expect,” she says. Being prepared for whatever comes her way is exactly what makes her so good at her job.
Working woman
Working in student affairs is never monotonous, though, and no day is the same, so dr Makhetha has realised that she always must be ready for things to change at the last minute. “I’m ready to adapt and change even when I don’t know what that change and adaptation looks like,” she says.
Dr Makhetha says she believes her skills are needed at SU to bring change to the university. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
March, when this interview was being conducted, was one of those times where things changed quickly, with events and topics such as gender-based violence, queerphobia and the Covid-19 pandemic all affecting SU, and other tertiary education institutions across the country. “March has just become so busy, because we are digging on things which then creates more work. We have to move fast,” she says. “You just have to be able to shift around. It is exciting.”
In the midst of an extremely busy life and demanding job, there is wisdom and humility in the way dr Makhetha speaks about her leadership.
“Life happens,” she says, adding that you shouldn’t beat yourself up over the things you weren’t able to do. “That makes me relax actually,” she chuckles. “I’ve learned to keep external things external. People wonder why I’m happy every day and I say that I guard my inner side well. What I can’t handle, I can’t handle.”
The only black female in the room
As a black female in a very much white, male-dominated space, dr Makhetha has learnt how to navigate and transform those spaces, though she admits it is not always easy.
“I used to feel the pressure in the beginning, because even in the senior leadership in the rectorate at the University of the Free State, I was the only black woman,” she says. However, as time went on, she would forget that.
“You might just be the only [woman of colour] in the meeting, and then at some point you look around and think ‘oh, me only?’ ”
In these spaces, dr Makhetha says she has also learnt not to be intimidated, but rather empowered to make a difference.
“[This] actually gives me power to challenge the environment, to challenge everyone, to be conscious of the issues of diversity, of the issues of transformation, of understanding that backgrounds are different,” she said.
The longer she works in the field, the more confident she has become. “I’ve worked with so many people… I know higher education so well, that nothing intimidates me,” she says. But it’s also key to be comfortable in one’s own skin, adds dr Makhetha. “I think I have been on a journey of accepting me, because it begins there; accepting me as me with all my quirks and all.”
Choices, career-moves and connections
Dr Makhetha admits, though, that Stellenbosch University was never on her personal agenda.
Whenever anyone asked if she was applying for the DSAf position that had become available at SU initially, she would answer with a “no”.
“Stellenbosch was not on my list,” she laughs. Eventually, she did change her mind, saying it became more and more obvious that she needed to make the change, both for herself and for the opportunity to effect change at SU. “You know what? You need to go there,” she told herself. “It’s no more a choice. You just need to go there, because your skills are needed.”
“It was by chance that I moved into student affairs. And for South Africa, everybody moves into student affairs by chance,” says dr Choice Makhetha. PHOTO: Stellenbosch University Website
Her own personality made it easier to overcome her hurdles too, as she remembers thinking that once she could connect with people, it would be easier to affect change at SU and do well. “I’m an extrovert,” she says confidently. “If I didn’t connect with people, I was going, irrespective of how wonderful the prospects. For me, the people are the critical part.”
Switching work off and self-care on
Despite her non-stop schedule, dr Makhetha says that as she grows in her career, she has become keenly aware of the importance of self-care and balance.
“When I get home, I listen to music. I chat with my partner. I love dancing,” she says. “Not that I’m a good dancer, but the importance is that the body must move.”
Dr Makhetha also carries two bags wherever she goes; one that holds her official work, and one that she keeps personal things in, like her diary and a colouring book. Free moments tend not to be a common occurrence, so dr Makhetha says she has to make time for herself when she can. “I’m not a lunch person,” she laughs, and says she likes to use lunchtime as an opportunity for self-care and to relax alone.
There is a light breeze in the air, and dr Makhetha’s voice softens as she speaks. “I make time to meditate. I visualize my day and pray quietly even as I drive,” she says.
Even though her daughter has moved out and lives in Bloemfontein, they still keep in close contact. “I can see she is very proud of me,” dr Makhetha smiles, saying how important her family is to her and that she knows her partner is proud of her too.
Her mother passed on sixteen years ago. Dr Makhetha laughs as she recounts how her mother would worry about her daughter building a career in student affairs. “When I was doing my PhD, she kept on saying, ‘You know, I don’t understand what you’re doing; it’s your path, but are you sure you will get a job with your path?’ ”
She did find work though. And, in fact, has held some of the most prestigious jobs in tertiary education. Yet, dr Makhetha feels that despite everything, she has remained true to who she is. Her family, while supportive, do not treat her any differently.
“They’re very supportive and appreciative,” she says, and they still call her by her nicknames the way they always did. “At home I’m the one dirty, in overalls and doing the paving [even though] people don’t expect a person who’s called a doctor to be doing those things,” dr Makhetha says. “You need to be accessible to people.”
*Please note: This interview was conducted before the nationwide lockdown
regulations were implemented.