The third annual Memorial Lecture of the late Prof MA Plaatjies-Van Huffel had the audience in awe of her achievements as the first woman to be ordained in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa.
At the same event, held at the Theology Faculty at Stellenbosch University on on Thursday 11 August, the MA Plaatjies van Huffel Bursary Fund was launched by her husband Rev Dawid van Huffel from Uitzicht.
Plaatjies-Van Huffel was the first black woman to be appointed as a Professor in Theology at Maties. She was looking forward to her inaugural lecture on 11 August 2020, but however passed away on 19 May 2020. Henceforth, the Theology Faculty decided to have an annual Memorial Lecture in honour of her on this date He said establishing this bursary allows him to fulfil his wife’s wishes which go beyond the walls of the classroom. The fund will support deserving postgraduate students from the Reformed Church family to do research in church polity and church history.
Prof Reggie Nel, dean of the Faculty of Theology, said through this donation Plaatjies-Van Huffel’s mission will continue to endure in her determined, but unassuming way.
Francis Fourie, one of her sisters, from Abhu Dabi in the UAE, said Plaatjies-Van Huffel’s resilient and trailblazing spirit will continue to inspire the next generation of students through the bursary fund. “She was an undaunted protagonist for the role of women in the church and in theology, becoming the first woman to be ordained as minister in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa and later being elected as the first woman moderator of its general synod.
“She also served as Africa president in the World Council of Churches and was a dedicated mentor to numerous young academics and church leaders.”
The other sisters, Eva Olivier, Sharon Witbooi and Mara Dolman, their families and friends attended the lecture.
Prof Fundiswa Kobo, senior lecturer at the University of South Africa, gave a intersectional analysis of the life of Plaatjies-Van Huffel. “All her earlier disappointments turned into appointments and triumph. She was a warrior, a trailblazer, breaking the glass ceiling, fighting patriarchy with sheer determination, poise and dignity. The first of many but definitely not the last because she paved the way and remains the matriarch.” according to Kobo. “She still speaks…”
