Zimbabwe's Co-Minister of State for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration; Human Rights Activist
BA (UTS), MSc (Wis)

Senator Sekai Masikana Holland addressed graduates from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology in the Great Hall, University of Technology, Sydney on Wednesday 2 October 2013, 10.30am.

At the ceremony, Senator SM Holland received the UTS honorary award, Doctor of Letters (honoris causa).

Senator Sekai Masikana Holland came to Australia as a student and completed a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) at the University of Technology, Sydney in 1979. She furthered her studies as a Fulbright Scholar completing a Master of Science (Agricultural Journalism, Life Sciences) at the University of Wisconsin.

While studying in Australia, Sekai met and married Australian, Jim Holland. During this time she was a prominent leader in the Anti-Apartheid movement, delivering many inspirational speeches at rallies in Australia. She was a tireless worker for Aboriginal land rights and women’s rights, helped to establish the Murrawina Child Care Centre in Redfern and was an early activist in the environmental movement.

As a student, Sekai was constantly involved in the struggle for independence in her home (then) Rhodesia, setting up the Free Zimbabwe Centre and later became the Australasian representative of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). She returned to Zambia, working in refugee camps where she spoke out against the endemic violence and sexual abuse of ZANU recruits. Following a tip off that she had been labelled a dissident and sentenced to death, Sekai escaped back to Australia.

Sekai Holland returned to Zimbabwe in 1980 to be part of the post-liberation nation-building project. In her fight for human rights Sekai Holland helped resuscitate the important but moribund Association of Women’s Clubs. With Sekai Holland as its National Chairperson, this club became the leading organization in speaking for the rights of women against the increasingly repressive Mugabe government. The leadership was gazetted and banned from their positions in the AWC by the government. Sekai Holland made a Supreme Court challenge against the government’s action and won, making history with the human rights case ‘Sekai Holland and Others vs the Ministry of Labour, Social Welfare and Public Service’.

In 1999, Sekai became a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change, the party set up to oppose the corrupt regime of Robert Mugabe. This movement was the only substantive challenge to President Mugabe who had dominated Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. With elections scheduled for the following year, a brutal campaign of terror was underway to intimidate this increasingly popular movement from participating in the political process.

Sekai suffered constant harassment, arrests and attempts on her life. Her arrest and torture in 2007 brought her plight to world attention.

Sekai Holland was elected to the Zimbabwe Senate in 2009 and was appointed Co-Minister of State for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration in the Cabinet of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Sekai Holland works alongside those who are responsible for her imprisonment and torture. She does so because she believes that if one stands against injustice then change will be inevitable. In placing her life at risk for the betterment of Zimbabwe, Sekai Holland’s actions have provided encouragement and inspiration around the world.

Sekai Holland and her husband, Jim Holland, have opened their home in Harare. They provide a home for orphaned children, the children of absent parents and relatives’ children. The numbers go up and down, but it seems there are usually about 30 children at any one time. This is how the Holland household has run for years. It also became a refuge for more than 100 women and children during the horrific violence leading up to the 2008 elections.

Sekai Holland was awarded the French Legion of Honour (Legion d’Honneur) in 2011 and in 2012 the Sydney Peace Prize. She received this award for ‘for a lifetime of outstanding courage in campaigning for human rights and democracy, for challenging violence in all its forms and for giving such astute and brave leadership for the empowerment of women.’

As a UTS Luminary, Sekai Holland demonstrates the transformative impact of her education and has contributed to the reputation of UTS by using her education as a force for peace and reconciliation. She is as an advocate and ambassador for UTS, and has met with senior staff, students and alumni to deepen her understanding and to explore future engagement opportunities. In 2012 Sekai was the Guest of Honour at the 2012 UTS Alumni Awards.

It is a great honour for the University of Technology, Sydney to award Senator Sekai Masikana Holland an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa), in recognition of her outstanding commitment to human rights, democracy, leadership and the empowerment of women.

Speech

forthcoming