On Saturday, 03 June 2017 Judge Nathan Erasmus and Dr Llewellyn MacMaster were elected as Convocation members to serve on the Council of the University of the Western Cape, while Mr Songezo Maqula was re-elected unopposed as the President of the UWC Convocation. We mourn her passing with her husband, Rev Dawid van Huffel, her five sisters, family, friends and colleagues.Council and Convocation 2017: Two members of Convocation elected to serve on UWC Council We honour the extraordinary and exceptional legacy of such a phenomenal woman and leader, and celebrate her life. We recognise her many remarkable talents, achievements and contributions, but above all, we remember her for her indomitable courage, her lovely person and her kind heart. In one of her last published articles titled, “A history of gender insensitivity in URCSA”, and utilising the auto-ethnographical methodology, she was “hopeful that this research would sensitise readers to issues of identity politics in URCSA, enlighten readers to experiences shrouded in silence in URCSA, and would deepen knowledge about the struggles women in ordained positions in URCSA have had to endure.” At the same time, she mentored and nurtured many students as well as ministers.
She was indeed a pioneer who transformed the spaces she occupied.
Llewellyn macmaster full#
She was the first black woman to be promoted to full professor at the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University” (Prof Reggie Nel, Dean Faculty of Theology SU). Still, she made an indelible impression in her field and in the hearts and minds of her colleagues and students. Her career at the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University commenced fairly recently. “While she has been a staunch activist for causes like black theology, women’s rights and transformation on many levels, and has represented our continent in prominent positions including in the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the World Council of Churches, she has also been a passionate church historian, church law expert and pedagogue. In the meantime, she also served as co-minister with her husband and two other colleagues in the congregation of Scottsdene, Kraaifontein. In 2013 she was also elected as one of the vice-presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC), thus becoming the president for Africa. She was elected vice-moderator in 2008 and in 2012, and became the first woman elected as moderator of the General Synod of URCSA. She became the first woman to be elected in the position of actuarius (church polity officer) of the Cape Regional Synod in 2002 – a position she held for two four-year terms. Prof Plaatjies-van Huffel is described by many as a “pioneer”, a “glass ceiling breaker” and a “trail-blazer” who played a remarkable role in her denomination, as well as ecumenical circles nationally and internationally. This remarkable achievement would have been recognised at her inaugural lecture as Professor in Ecclesiology later this year. She was appointed associate professor in May 2014, and at the end of 2019, she became the first Black woman to be appointed full professor in the Faculty of Theology at SU. She went on to obtain two doctoral degrees from UNISA and UP. Prof Plaatjies-van Huffel also completed her MTh at UWC. She served the congregation for 17 years before she was appointed as a senior lecturer in Church History and Church Polity at Stellenbosch University (SU).
She completed her teacher’s diploma at UWC and taught for several years before returning to UWC to enrol at the Faculty of Theology.Īfter completing her BTh (Hons) degree, she became the second woman to be licensed for ministry and the first woman in the then Dutch Reformed Mission Church (now Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, URCSA) to be ordained in the Robertson East congregation in November 1992.
Professor Rev Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel (15 December 1959 – ) passed away on Tuesday,, following complications after surgery to remove a cancerous growth.īorn in Prieska, the second of seven daughters, she matriculated at Bergrivier Senior Secondary School in Wellington in 1977.
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