Stellenbosch University’s Code 2040 was approved by Council in 2022 and represents the combined input of various role players in the student and staff populations. The aim of the Code is to provide a mechanism to guide and manage organisational integrity and ethical culture at SU, and to promote and maintain ethical behaviour in the conduct of SU’s business with its stakeholders.

Code 2040 is aligned with Vision 2040 and Strategic Framework. It can best be described as an integrated ethics code, which seeks to translate SU’s institutional values into a set of high-level regulative guidelines that govern conduct at SU. Code 2040 is thus aspirational and directional. However, its primary focus is on our values – rather than legalistic compliance – as the basis for behaviour that we aspire to.

Code 2040 is a mechanism to guide and manage the organisational integrity and ethical culture of SU, and to promote and maintain ethical behaviour in the conduct of SU’s business with its internal and external stakeholders. It guides the daily work of SU staff and those stakeholders who are affiliated with SU’s activities. It is a statement on how SU’s ethical values direct its culture, strategies, business, and relationships (with both direct and indirect stakeholders).

Code 2040 was developed with reference to the governance principles set out in SU’s Statute, and in recognition of the fact that good governance does not stem primarily from legal imperatives but from an ethical commitment (underpinned by SU’s strong institutional values of excellence, respect, equity, compassion, and accountability). SU is a public tertiary institution that utilises public funds and is accountable for doing so in an ethical and accountable manner. Code 2040 gives expression to our unique institutional legacy as the unfinished and ongoing task of ethically advancing knowledge in service of society.