Music legend, Hugh Masekela gets Wits honorary doctorate
Jazz musician, Hugh Masekela has been conferred with an honorary doctorate in Music at the Wits University.
This is the 78-year-old's third honorary PhD. He holds a doctorate in Music from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Rhodes University.
The Witbank-born performer - who rose to fame in the 50s - is a trumpeter, bandleader, composer, vocalist and an author.
He is known for his 1986 anthem Bring Home Nelson Mandela and 1994 hit, Stimela.
During his speech at the university's Great Hall, Masekela told graduates that South Africans should actively work to preserve their home languages.
"It makes me realise that a decade or two from now, African society will be the first in human history to have abandoned its native tongues in preference to those manipulated by colonial rule, if we soon do not re-institute our languages back into our own schools and social interaction with each other," he said.
He's also a recipient of the Order of Ikhamanga, an honour by the President that recognises achievement in areas that include inter alia - arts, literature, music, and sport.
Watch Masekela being awarded the degree below.