Prof Bonang Mohale delivered the 14th annual honorary Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert (FVZS) lecture. The FVZS Institute was established in 2011 to honour the legacy of the late Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, a former SU Chancellor and former political leader. A central theme of the lecture was the role of citizens in sustaining democracy.

Thousands of graduands to receive degrees, diplomas and certificates during SU's March graduation week. The ceremony brings the total number of graduates for the 2025 academic year to a record number of 10 160 qualifications. SU will also confer three honorary doctorates on extraordinary individuals who have distinguished themselves in their fields and made significant contributions to society.

Louis du Preez has been unanimously elected to Stellenbosch University’s Council by the Electoral College of Donors for a four-year term from April 2026. A former SRC chair in the early 1990s, he returns with decades of experience in corporate governance and leadership. A father of two current SU students as well as a recent SU graduate, Du Preez brings a perspective shaped by navigating complex institutional challenges and a lifelong connection to Stellenbosch.

Hon Dr Ela Gandhi delivered the 4th UNESCO REDS lecture at STIAS on “Gandhian values today: right versus might in a time of power politics”. Hosted by the Centre for Sustainability Transitions with St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, the event explored how nonviolence and moral courage can counter today’s power politics. Gandhi and participants reflected on the “superpower of goodness” and how individuals and universities can live out Gandhian values in practice.

Political prisoners organised different sports. Sport became a tool of resistance, discipline, and solidarity. Sport helped bridge political, intellectual and generational divides.

In the paddocks of Stellenbosch University, two Appaloosa mares quietly guide students and staff on a unique leadership path. A structured, research-informed programme known as HERD (Human Embodiment, Relationality & Dynamics) reimagines leadership as an embodied, relational practice. For many participants, particularly women students or those who feel like outsiders in traditional leadership spaces, the experience offers a powerful alternative to conventional leadership training.

Thirty-four mid-career academics from all 26 public universities gathered in Stellenbosch for the Introductory Conference of the DHET Future Professors Programme, Phase 1 for Cohort 4. Distinguished professor Jonathan Jansen challenged participants to claim the identity of a scholar and reflect on the deeper purpose of universities. The programme, funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training and hosted by Stellenbosch University, aims to prepare the next generation of academic leaders for South Africa’s professoriate.

World Kidney Day is on 12 March. A kidney transplant is the best treatment for kidney failure. We don’t have enough organ donations and transplants.

Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Policy Innovation Lab is part of an international partnership that has formally handed over a landmark policy report tracing the evolution of the G20’s digital agenda to South African government partners. The recent handover event was hosted jointly by the Policy Innovation Lab and the TUM Think Tank at the Technical University of Munich, in collaboration with the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers. The report analyses more than 200 official G20 and T20 documents from the presidencies of Indonesia (2022), India (2023), Brazil (2024) and South Africa (2025).