Achievements | Stellenbosch University

A photo of Abigail Kok, South Africa’s top public-school matriculant.

Awards and milestones

South Africa’s top learner ‘super excited’ to become a Matie

Abigail Kok can be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed. The week after she was announced as South Africa’s top national achiever in the 2025 National...

Media release

Dr Alfred Schaffer awarded prize for strengthening literary ties between South Africa and the Netherlands

Dr Alfred Schaffer, a senior lecturer in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at Stellenbosch University (SU), has been awarded the prestigious Van Ewijk...

A view of the Stellenbosch campus photographed on a sunny day.

Institutional news

SU features among leading higher education institutions globally in several subject areas

As the new academic year approaches, it’s welcome news that Stellenbosch University (SU) continues to feature among the leading higher education institutions...

Moses Shambare SU LIV Learning Partner 2024

Awards and milestones

LIV: Local and International Global Goals

The Local and International Global Goals (LIV) Project is an experiential learning collaboration between VUC Storstrøm (Denmark) and Stellenbosch University...

As a 2020 matriculant, Keesha’s final year of high school unfolded against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Masks, social distancing, and unprecedented disruption defined what should have been a celebratory milestone.

Awards and milestones

Keesha Petersen’s resilience rewrites her future

Keesha Petersen remembers exactly how she felt in 2021, staring at her matric results. The numbers on the page told a story she couldn’t and wouldn’t accept.

As...

A scene from one of the videos where a Deaf storyteller interprets a children’s storybook in South African Sign Language.

Media release

SU’s Handlab and Book Dash open new worlds for Deaf children

A quiet revolution underway in early childhood literacy didn’t begin in a classroom, but in a studio where Deaf storytellers rehearse, sign and retell African...

Chérise Adams reframes feminist theory through the lived knowledge of working-class Coloured womxn in the Winelands.

Media release

‘Skut gat and dala’ – pioneering Master’s research captures the lived reality of Winelands womxn

“Coloured* identity needs a bietjie room to breathe.” This line from Chérise Adams’ Master’s thesis stays with the reader and only crystallises once you grasp...

Dr Florence de Vries completed a PhD that interrogated how journalism shapes mental health narratives in South Africa.

Media release

Dr Florence de Vries’ PhD shaped by loss, purpose and care

Dr Florence de Vries has spent her career thinking carefully about the power of storytelling – who wields it, who benefits from it and who can be harmed by the...

Amogelang Moagi photographed at the Coetzenburg Centre on the Stellenbosch Campus where she received her degree.

Awards and milestones

Amogelang Moagi does not allow hip of steel, loss to steal her graduation joy

“A hip of steel and a heart of steel.” That’s how Amogelang Moagi’s lecturer Dr Susan de Klerk describes her. These words are particularly apt, given the...

Dr Luthando Tiya photographed at the Coetzenburg Centre on the Stellenbosch campus where he received his doctorate in pharmacology.

Awards and milestones

From forensics to farms: Dr Tiya’s mission to protect communities against pesticides

Moving from DNA analysis in forensics to studying the impact of pesticides on farm workers may seem unusual – but for Dr Luthando Tiya, it was a natural next...