Within the rumble of new developments, daily construction, and maintenance tasks, fixing pipes, painting walls, and finding new ways of dealing with loadshedding, is a small team of five that is looking after all that is our environmental sustainability projects on Stellenbosch University campuses. With a carefully designed sustainability plan, they work towards the ambitious target to achieve net zero by 2050.

John de Wet, sustainability manager at Facilities Management, leads this small group of dedicated SU employees that think planet Earth first. Dannica Pedro, Christine Groenewald, Taariq Fakier, and the “new kid on the block", Nelisa Mpama, tell us in this article why they do what they do. 

John de Wet, Manager: Environmental Sustainability 

As part of a small team with a massive goal of net zero by 2050, John believes collectively, as humans, we can do a great deal to reduce the impact on our one liveable planet, saving our natural resources for our children and generations that come after us.

"So many extraordinary examples of nature surround us, things that are part of everyday DNA: getting up and creating awareness and transferring knowledge on restoring the earth.

John believes in leading by example and practicing what you preach through behavioral change and lifestyle changes. "My role is to mentor the team, introduce them to International best practices and networks and help them promote environmental sustainability to all environments within SU."

"I am passionate and thank full to work for such a great cause. It is seldom that you can combine your passion and lifetime goal with your daytime job."

John, who has always been conscious about the environment, believes the earth was given to us to conserve and use in a responsible way. "We are basically borrowing the planet from our children and we must hand it over to the next generation in a better state."​

"I grew up with nature enriching the soil and crops with natural systems. My family employed sustainability practices from childhood by saving energy and water and reducing waste. I am trying to remember ever using chemicals or fertilisers on our vineyards and crops. Only in the last decade did I fully realise and understand the crisis and the rate of deterioration of our planet. This is when I started to drive awareness and mobilise people to live mindfully."

"Over the past thirty years, I launched various environmental sustainability programmes, where we've planted more than ten million trees, managed and funded the eradication of more than a thousand hectares of invasive species."

If John could do one thing to change the world, he would get everyone to stop using fossil fuels to generate energy. "There are many other fuels we can use to generate energy for electricity and vehicles. The emissions from using coal, petrol, diesel, oil for any reason cause many sustainability challenges."

Dannica Pedro, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator

"I keep on reminding myself that what I have to contribute feeds into something bigger than myself, and I enjoy ticking off the boxes - a method to track our progress in making SU more environmentally sustainable," says Dannica Pedro, our Environmental Sustainability Coordinator

Dannica's role is to gather data for several operational and performance reports. This includes data for SU's Carbon Footprint report, Green Building performance ratings, and the Impact Rankings regarding the environmental aspect. She also manages the compliance of SU's boreholes, where internal and external audit reports are completed. And thanks to Dannica, the team's social media pages and platforms for SUFM stay up to date with the latest news and views.

"I thoroughly enjoy my work, especially since each day is different from the rest. I bring positive change to Stellenbosch University.

"Nature, our planet, is not only crucial to our survival but there is so much that we can learn from it, primarily how it functions and operates sustainably. Biomimicry - engineering inspired by nature, where we mimic what nature does to solve our challenges, for example, owls inspired noise control in trains. Nature is beautiful, and it is my only place of residence." 

Dannica has always been conscious of the environment. "It stems from my childhood, where I learned to use water and electricity sparingly and sort my waste. I was a huge fan of The Big 5 (collected t-shirts, caps, and animal toys on game drive reserves); I played The Magic School Bus on the PC while growing up - games that teach about the planet and its diverse ecosystems. I grew up loving and respecting nature."

Dannica says she tries to practice what she preaches and do what she can at work and home. She tries to encourage friends and family to reuse and recycle at events.

Dannica says it would be more beneficial to empathise with nature as we do for others. "In this way, we will understand that nature is not only needed for human survival but for the animals that also depend on it."

 Christine Groenewald, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator

What makes Christine Groenewald, our Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, get out of bed in the morning?

"It is a little bit more difficult on the cold winter mornings, but what gets me up is knowing that I am part of a group of people worldwide who care about the future of our planet, and together we slowly but surely get more people to understand that our behaviour choices have a collective, exponential impact on our planet and those around us.

Every individual for whom the penny drops during one of our talks or tours motivates me to keep going."

Christine is responsible for creating engagement opportunities for staff and students that create awareness about environmental sustainability, and what SUFM is doing to reduce our carbon footprint, with the aim to effect change in individual and organisational behaviour. You will see her on campus organising tree planting events, waste tours, workshops, training, and the recent Environmental Sustainability Expo and Earth week program.

She loves her job, says Christine. "I work with wonderful people, who together with many others, put systems in place to make our institution more sustainable. And, working with students who will go out into the world to lead towards a "greener" future has a unique appeal. I get to do a job where my passion has a home."

Why is nature, our planet, so important to her? "I am an introvert, so I need to "unpeople" to recharge.," says Christine. "Spending time in nature helps to clear my head, allows my thoughts to unjumble, give me oxygen-rich air with all the health benefits, and grounds me with something that has been before me and that will outlive me. It helps to put things into perspective."

Christine grew up appreciating nature, with a responsibility to leave only footprints. She became very aware of her wasteful choices' impact when she started taking her rubbish bags to the waste rooms on the Tygerberg campus where she stayed for seven years. "I met the people who sorted through my waste to salvage recyclables. I realised that not sorting into the three bins as we have on campus, and having food waste in between everything impacts their working conditions in a significant way. The smell and sight of rubbish bags opened up on a hot February afternoon to be sorted made me decide to do more to make others aware of the impact on our choices."

Christine said it started with waste but spilled over to the rest of her life. "Walking the talk, sharing the real struggles of the journey to becoming more aware of how my choices need to change to align with what I am saying and talking about it, and connecting people who are interested with others who are also moving in the same direction."​

What would it be if she had the chance to change one thing in this world? "Difficult," says Christine. "We all see ourselves as part of nature and the ecosystems around us, that we are impacted by our environment just as much as we impact on it, not separate from it so that it has nothing to do with us."

Taariq Fakier, Conservation and Waste Management Specialist

"I get inspired to come to work every morning because we can change people's mindsets regarding sustainability and, in my case, waste management. I also wish to improve the standard of living of my family," says Taariq Fakier, our Conservation and Waste Management Specialist at SUFM.

"I get inspired to come to work every morning because we can change people's mindsets regarding sustainability and, in my case, waste management. I also wish to improve the standard of living of my family," says Taariq Fakier, our Conservation and Waste Management Specialist at SUFM.

Taariq fulfils the role of operations manager for the waste management contract on campus and the operational side of the conservation areas which fall under SU's management.

He is very grateful to be in the position that he is in as the work is diverse, allowing him to improve himself as a person and an employee.

"No two days are the same in our department," says Taariq.

Why is nature, our planet, so important to him? "I would say that our planet and nature is important to me because I would like to improve the state of the environment - our beautiful planet - for future generations to enjoy."

Taariq says in his earlier years, he was not as nature conscious as he is now. "To be honest, I was not taught the importance of sustainability and conservation of our environment in my school. Only once I started studying nature conservation and did my internship was I exposed to the real world and the environmental struggles we face. That is when I decided to try and make conscious decisions for the betterment of the environment."

For him, it is essential to continue and expand the work this small team at SUFM is doing. "If I could change one thing, I would wish for everyone to be God-conscious and environmentally conscious in how they live their lives."

Nelisa Mpama, Environmental Sustainability Specialist

Nelisa Mpama is the new kid on the block in this unique team at SUFM. As Environmental Sustainability Specialist, she joined the team earlier in the year and has already made her mark.

What makes her get up every morning? "My biggest motivation is to improve the world around me. I partake in efforts to make the world a better place, I am not just doing activities that change the world, but I am sharing steps to preserve the environment. Knowing that I am making a positive impact on the environment and helping others to create a positive impact on their environment is very important to me."

She is responsible for utilizing SDGs, GRI, JSE & ESG to create a management reporting framework to track and measure projects for quality review and compliance regulations. She also provides training and transfers knowledge to staff and students on environmental sustainability living.

"I love my job," says Nelisa. "I am passionate about the environment, and I love implementing new programs that will improve the environment and benefit students and staff to ensure continued growth. Last but not least, I enjoy adding value to people's lives."

For her nature nurtures all life on this planet, from the largest mammal to the tiniest microorganism. "Natural things are what keep us alive. Without nature, no one would be here."

Nelisa has always been mindful of the effect of my actions on the environment and always strives to reduce or minimise the negative impact she causes. "By adapting to how I live my life and how to reduce the environmental footprint, I make a difference."

She sees her most significant contribution to our planet, her determination to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing natural resources, and taking urgent actions on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.

If she could have the chance to change one thing in this world, what would that be?

"Changing behaviour and empowering people to make life changes that positively impact the environment because we need to work together to reverse the damage we have inflicted on our planet. We need contributions and solutions from everyone. "​