January 16, 2006
By Lucky Sindane
SOUTH AFRICA'S most famous palaeontologist, Professor Phillip Tobias, has received one of Johannesburg's highest awards, the Walter Sisulu Special Contribution Award.
The award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to promoting the city. The ceremony took place at Constitution Hill on Friday, 13 January, on the last day of the African Genesis Symposium, which took place at Wits University from 8 January.
South Africa's most famous palaeontologist, Professor Phillip Tobias, with Council Speaker Nandi Mayathula-Khoza
Attending the event were scientists from around the world; council Speaker Nandi Mayathula-Khoza; the member of the mayoral committee for community development, roads and parks, councillor Christine Walters; and other dignitaries.
During his academic career at Wits University, Tobias played a leading role in initiating anti-apartheid campaigns at universities and in keeping universities open to students and academic staff of colour.
The 80-year-old palaeontologist is honorary professor of palaeoanthropology at Wits University and honorary professorial research associate and director of the Sterkfontein Research Unit. Palaeoanthropology is the branch of science that deals with primitive humans and fossil remains.
He has received countless awards and honours for his contribution to science and has published more than 1 000 works, including about 40 books.
"It is a great honour to receive the city's highest award, which is named after a great struggle hero, Walter Sisulu," Tobias said. "The speaker told me that it is the first time that this honour has been awarded.
"I love Joburg; it has an experience which cannot be matched. It's a city which has given the world many great scientists."
Paying tribute to Tobias on behalf of Executive Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo, Mayathula-Khoza said, "It is a past that undoubtedly owes much to its allied fields of palaeoanthropology and evolutionary biology, which jointly have contributed to the recognition of Africa as the veritable Cradle of Humankind.
"Among these contributions none stands out more so than the enduring contribution of Professor Emeritus Phillip Tobias, a gentleman and renowned academic who has dedicated a lifetime of work towards the global understanding of humanity both past, present and future," she said.
"We are pleased to announce the confirmation of the prestigious Walter Sisulu Award upon Professor Tobias, to be held at the next council awards ceremony later on this year. This award was established to recognise a special contribution in promoting the ideals of the city in particular and the whole country at large."
The award will be presented to Tobias at a special council meeting later in the year.
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