User talk:Matekizola

Rothney Stok Tshaka 1386 Matopo Street, Galeshewe, Kimberley, 8345• CELL: 072 667 9567 • E-MAIL: rstshaka@sun.ac.za.

Rothney Stok Tshaka

PERSONAL INFORMATION

ID no.:                                       7901285359081 Race:                                          African Nationality:                              South African Gender:                                     Male Health:                                      Excellent Language:                                Afrikaans, English, Setswana, S.Sotho and Isixhosa Marital status:                         Married with children Driver’s license:                     Code 10

EDUCATION 2005	                                    Doctor of Theology (D Th) Dissertation title: Confessional theology? A critical analysis of the theology of Karl Barth and its significance for the Belhar Confession. University of Stellenbosch • Stellenbosch • South Africa Majors: Systematic Theology Graduated: December 2005 2004	Master of Theology (M Th) Mini-thesis title: The URCSA and a renewed public responsibility. Free University of Amsterdam • Amsterdam • Netherlands Majors: Systematic Theology Graduated: November 2004 2002                                     Licentiate in Theology (Lic. Theol) University of Stellenbosch • Stellenbosch • South Africa Graduated: December, 2002 2001                                     Master of Divinity (M. Div) Cum Laude University of Stellenbosch • Stellenbosch • South Africa Graduated: December, 2001 2001	Baccalaureus Theologiae (B Th) University of the Western Cape • Bellville • South Africa Graduated: March, 2001 1996                                     Matric passed with university exemption

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS 2007     Paper read at an international IRTI conference on: The marks of the church – the unity of the church; Romania – Cluj- Napoca. 3-8 July 2007 2005      Paper read at an international IRTI conference on: Christian Identity. Seoul, South Korea. 5-10 July 2005 2005      Paper read at the conference of the Cape Synodical Commission for doctrine and current affairs of the URCSA. 2005       Member of the Theological Society of South Africa (TSSA). 2004       Member of the International Reformed Theological Institute (IRTI). 2003        International Reformed Theological Institute (IRTI) Scholarship to study in the Netherlands (Sept 2003-Sept 2004). 2002    Faculty of Theology, University of Stellenbosch (RSA) – Columbia Theological Seminary Exchange Programme Scholarship (USA). January – July  2002. 2000-2001 Chairperson: Uniting Reformed Students’ Theological Committee University of Stellenbosch 2000-2001 Deputy Chairperson: Theological Students Committee. University of                       Stellenbosch. 1998-1999 Chairperson: Azanian Student Convention (UWC Branch)

WORK EXPERIENCE 2007          Student Welfare Coordinator; National Institute for Higher Education in                    the Northern Cape 2006         Associate Minister of the Word (URCSA - Kimberly. RSA) 2006         Lecturer of Reformed Dogmatics and Ethics. (Murray Theological                    College • Masvingo •Zimbabwe). 2006         Dean of Students (Murray Theological College• Masvingo •Zimbabwe) 2001-2004	Tutor and Researcher for the Beyers Naudé Center for Public Theology at the University of Stellenbosch • Assist with the teaching of undergraduate students • Doing research for the publications of the center • Organizing national conferences

PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS DELIVERED Book review: The Word of Christ and the World of Culture: Paul Metzger. In: Scriptura 84, 2003: 3 Paper: Towards a renewed sexual ethic: sexuality as private and/or public. Paper delivered at the URCSA’s commission for doctrine and current affairs. July 2005 Paper: The hastening that waits: a critical assessment of the tangibility of unity within the URCSA. Paper read in Romania – Cluj- Napoca. 3-8 July 2007. Paper: The inevitability of culture and its continued struggle with Christianity: a challenge for reformed theology in South Africa today. Paper read in South Korea – Seoul. 5-10 July 2005. Paper: Confessing and embodying the Belhar Confession today. Paper read at the Barmen – Belhar conference – Stellenbosch, 18 October 2004. Article.: The essence of ecclesial authority in our treatment of reformed confessions. In: the Ned Geref Teologiese Tydskif (NGTT). Deel 46. Numbers 3 & 4. September and December 2005. pp. 587-596. Article.: The inevitability of culture and its continued struggle with Christianity: a challenge for reformed theology in South Africa today. Forthcoming in the Studies in Reformed Theology. Article: A need for a consensus on an interpretation of a reformed confession? Karl Barth’s interpretation of a confession as a basis for further discussion. In: the Ned Geref Teologiese Tydskif (NGTT). Article: Confessional theology? The significance of Karl Barth’s theology in dealing with the confessional quagmire of the reformed church. Submitted for publication. Article.: The Christian as the Christ in society –Karl Barth’s public theology and its implications for democratic South Africa today? Article forthcoming in the Beyers Naudé series. September/October. 2007. Article.: African you are on your own! - The need for African reformed Christians to seriously engage their Africaness in their reformed theological reflections. In Scriptura. Vol 96 (2007:3). Article.: ‘Doing theology as though nothing had happened’: Reading Karl Barth’s confessional theology in Zimbabwe today. Unpublished article. Article.: Was the Belhar Confession a rejection of Modern Protestant theology? Invoking the past as a shield for the future! In the Ned Geref Teologiese Tydskrif. Deel 48, Nommers 1 en 2. Maart en Junie 2007. Article.: A confessing church at war with itself: the significance of the relationship between the concepts “Gospel and Law”. Unpublished article.

SKILLS

Interpersonal: My involvement with issues that concern students has contributed greatly towards the enhancement of my interpersonal skills. I am privileged to have been associated with student politics during my studies. I am also delighted to have been affiliated with the black conscious movement of South Africa and led its student wing AZASCO -UWC from 1998 – 1999 after which I decided to pursue further studies at the University of Stellenbosch. My involvement with students across different disciplines encouraged me to develop a keen interest in what happens in different academic disciplines. My interaction with the student masses also galvanized me into supporting projects that were aimed at helping students see the essence of being African as my later writings illustrates. Education proved to be a formidable instrument in achieving this objective. Trained as a theologian, my interaction with other people across the different academic disciplines enabled me to look at theology not merely as a subject that is confined to the spiritual aspects of individuals but as a subject that encompasses the socio-economic, political and cultural context in which it is practiced. I was fortunate to attend a number of international as well as national conferences, and came to appreciate the reality of different views. Because of this I have learned to see the reality of different views as a means that serves the purpose of improving my own understanding about issues. Working with people especially with a dedicated interest in the subjects of theology, philosophy, politics and education is a privilege in which I delight. My activities as lecturer, minister of the Word and lately as dean of students in Zimbabwe has also challenged me to be more involved in issues that were traditionally seen as being reserved for the state. It is for this reason that I became very much interested in issues relating to democracy and contemplating ways of dealing with theology in a post modern, democratic South Africa. My exposure to the different socio-economic, cultural and political situations has made me more aware of the contribution that Africa and Africans can make for the enhancement of Africa as well as Africans’ lives.

INTERESTS

I have been very active in student societies as indicated. Since my induction into postgraduate studies, I became more interested in the academic world, being particularly impressed with scientific research. My interest in the fields of theology, philosophy, politics and education is unwavering. I am also an enthusiastic reader of history and democracy. Equally important for me is the question of Africa and what it can do for itself. It is for this reason that I consider myself a great follower of African affairs although this is sometimes pursued from a theological and philosophical point of view. As an Afro-optimist, I remain immensely fascinated by the media and the power that it has to inculcate pictures in our minds. I am particularly impressed by certain contemporary African media trends that tend to highlight the positive aspects of Africa and of being African, something which in my view has not enjoyed much attention until recent calls for the reawakening of Africa were made. In maintaining this, I am certainly not suggesting that the ills that surround Africa (sometimes because of external affairs and sometimes because they are perpetuated by Africans themselves) should conveniently be contorted to give the impression that all is well with Africa. I am a young African intellectual and believe firmly that hard work and dedication are some of the most important ingredients that are needed to make Africa the mother continent that it truly is. I therefore enter any institution with this vision and conviction in view. Hard work and dedication compels one to be passionate about what one is doing, and it is passion that allows one to see that which others fail to see. The greatest challenge then is to let one’s colleagues see that which the passionate person is seeing. A passionate person is also one who always tries to keep an open mind and realizes that in working in a team, one is bound to accept that what one is seeing might not necessarily be as impressive as what others are seeing. Furthermore, I am not only a young African intellectual, but I am more importantly a family man, and I enjoy spending time with my wife and family.

REFEREES:

1.	Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics Professor Dirk Smit Faculty of Theology University of Stellenbosch Email: djs1@sun.ac.za Tel: 021 808 3258

2.	Director of the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology Professor Nico Koopman Faculty of Theology University of Stellenbosch Email: nkoopman@sun.ac.za Tel: 021 808 3250

3.	Rector and Vice chancellor of the University of Stellenbosch Professor H. Russel Botman University of Stellenbosch Email:russelbotman@sun.ac.za Tel: 021 808 4513 Cell: 083 285 345 7

4.	The Principal (Murray Theological College) Rev. H W Murray Morgenster Masvingo Zimbabwe Email: hensan@mango.zw            Tel: 09263 11 219 364 5.     Actuary of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) Rev. B P Makoko Kimberly Congregation Cell: 072 334 469 8