School of Religion, Philosophy & Classics

UKZN co-hosts conference on memories of the Rwandan genocide

  • By Melissa Mungroo
From left: Professors Tharcisse Gatwa; Simangaliso Kumalo; Elisée Musemakweli; Penine Uwimbabazi and Philippe Denis.
Photos: Supplied
From left: Professors Tharcisse Gatwa; Simangaliso Kumalo; Elisée Musemakweli; Penine Uwimbabazi and Philippe Denis.
From left: Professors Tharcisse Gatwa; Simangaliso Kumalo; Elisée Musemakweli; Penine Uwimbabazi and Philippe Denis.
From left: Professors Tharcisse Gatwa; Simangaliso Kumalo; Elisée Musemakweli; Penine Uwimbabazi and Philippe Denis.

Two staff members from the School, Professors Philippe Denis and Simangaliso Kumalo, and a postgraduate student, Ms Pretty Abrahams, attended the conference.

This was one of the many events organised in Rwanda and other parts of the world to commemorate the genocide which caused the deaths of an estimated 800 000 mainly Tutsi people between April and July 1994.

‘The history of this horrendous event and of what preceded and followed it is contested. Hence the need to take as an object of study the memories of the genocide,’ said Denis.

The conference also marked the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Protestant University of Rwanda, represented by Vice-Chancellor Professor Elisée Musemakweli, and UKZN, which provides for future cooperation between the two institutions in matters of research and student exchange.