FVZS Institute

We’re excited to bring you the final episode of our FVZS Vice-Chancellor’s Unplugged podcast series for 2025!

Happy Heritage Day! Heritage Day is a moment to reflect on South Africa’s diverse cultures, histories and identities. It honours those who preserved our cultural legacies and challenges us to engage critically with our shared past.

📆 On Sunday, 7 September, the MatiesLead weekend concluded with a TEDx Stellenbosch Salon: “Unmap the Known – Leadership in Times of Transition.”

On Saturday, 6 September, the MatiesLead weekend continued with a powerful Closing Plenary: Leading the Shift in Our Communities.

📣 On Friday, 5 September, Stellenbosch University, Centre for Student Life and Learning hosted the Opening Plenary of MatiesLead 2025 (Phase 2): Leading the Shift at SU. Stay tuned for more highlights from the MatiesLead weekend. 🤩

We’ve journeyed through three powerful sessions in the FVZS Pan-African Leadership Masterclass Series, unpacking key questions around capitalist history, and liberation. Now, it’s time for session fourth session - happening today! RSVP are still open via: tinyurl.com/PALM4.

The venue is now Krotoa 3001 but the Masterclass will still deliver intellectual work of the highest quality. Come thru!

🔗 Sign up for our upcoming masterclass: forms.office.com/Pages/Response… Refreshments will be served!

SU Newly Elected Leaders - this one is for you! 🤩 🔗RSVP now: forms.office.com/r/vT9vhq9E2n

Have you signed up yet to attend the third session? Do so now for an opportunity to engage with seminal work of significance for our social and political landscape. Date: 27 August 2025 | 17:45 for 18:00 Venue: Victoria Hub and MS Teams RSVP: tinyurl.com/MasterClassAL3

FVZS Honorary Lecture 2025:

Have you signed up yet to attend the second session? Do so now for an opportunity to engage with work of deep creativity, cultural sensitivity, and intellectual rigour. RSVP Link: tinyurl.com/FVZSAL2 Date: 14 August 2025 at 17:45 for 18:00 to 20:00

Have you secured your seat yet? We’re counting down to the 2025 FVZS Honorary Lecture, and throwing it back to the incredible energy, insights, and community of changemakers who joined us last year. This year, we are honoured to welcome Ms Busisiwe Mavuso, CEO of Business Leadership South Africa, as our keynote speaker. Themed "Everyday Citizen-Leadership: 30 Years and Beyond – How Do We Practice Our Citizenship Beyond Elections?", the lecture invites students, academics, alumni, and global partners to reflect critically on democracy and governance in South Africa and beyond. 📅 Tuesday, 12 August 2025 🕠 17:30–20:30 📍 STIAS, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study or online 🔗 Register by 6 August: tinyurl.com/FVZSHonoraryLe… Let’s build on last year’s momentum, we look forward to welcoming you.

In Session One, we unpacked what the bystander effect means personally and globally. Now in Session Two, we shift gears to a legal lens, exploring how this phenomenon intersects with the South African Constitution. We’ll dig into values like dignity, social justice, and equality while debating real-world scenarios that reveal how bystander behavior shows up in everyday life. If you're ready to engage with your peers, reflect on your own involvement as a bystander, and make the shift from unconscious spectator to active citizen, this is your session! When: Wednesday, 6 August 2025 Time: 18h00 - 20h00 Venue: Victoria Hub or MS Teams Sign up now: tinyurl.com/MCDemocracy2

Mandela Day is not just about looking back, it’s about carrying forward the spirit of struggle, sacrifice, and unyielding courage. It reminds us that the freedom we cherish was built by many hands and brave hearts, often at unimaginable personal cost. Today, we honour Nelson Mandela’s legacy by remembering those whose names echo alongside his: fierce leaders like Winnie Madikizela Mandela, whose defiance shook the foundations of apartheid, and Zindziswa Mandela, whose voice spoke truth to power when silence was not an option. May this day renew our commitment to justice, dignity, and the unfinished work of liberation.

The Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert Institute for Student Leadership Development invites you to the annual FVZS Honorary Lecture 2025, delivered by our Keynote speaker Ms Busisiwe Mavuso, CEO of Business Leadership South Africa. This year’s theme, ‘Everyday Citizen-Leadership: 30 Years and Beyond - How Do We Practice Our Citizenship Beyond Elections?’, calls on students, academics, alumni, and the international community to reflect critically during our current political landscape on democracy and governance in our time. Date: Tuesday, 12 August 2025 Time: 17:30–20:30 Venue: STIAS, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, or online. Seats are limited. Please secure your place by registering before 6 August: tinyurl.com/FVZSHonoraryLe…

Brought to you by the Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert Leadership Institute, this podcast dives deeper than the title, revealing the human stories behind university leadership. In this episode, Oluwaseyi Agboola, a Masters student in Development Studies, sits down with Professor Robert Balfour, the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape. Together, they explore, his passion for linguistics and language, his not-so-guilty love of pop music and his powerful journey, liberated academic, leader and artist. Prof. Balfour shares a vision of scholarship that’s rooted in community, connection, and creativity, reminding us that true leadership honours diversity in all its forms. The real difference lies in how we bring our discoveries, passions, and stories back into the world around us. Tune in now and experience leadership like you’ve never heard before: open.spotify.com/episode/5sURWX…

Let us not forget, the pulse persists ... As we commemorate Youth Month, we reflect on the powerful legacy of student movements such as #FeesMustFall, #RhodesMustFall, and #OpenStellenbosch. These protests, which began in 2015, called for free, decolonised, and accessible higher education, while confronting exclusionary institutional cultures. Ten years later, the call for transformation remains deeply relevant. Financial exclusion, historical debt, and cultural barriers continue to impact students across South Africa. Youth Month invites us to ask: What progress has been made, and what work still lies ahead? How do we ensure that the pursuit of education is just, inclusive, and truly accessible?

31 Years On: What Does Democracy Mean for South Africa’s Youth? Since 1994, South Africa has walked a complex path toward democracy. Today, youth represent at least a third of the population, highlighting the critical role youth play in reinforcing democratic values. As we reflect during Youth Month, we ask: 1. What does democracy mean when you're young, unemployed, or unheard? 2. What does meaningful participation look like beyond voting? 3. How are young people actively building the democracy they envision — not just the one they inherited? It’s not just about remembering the past. It’s about reimagining the future, one that reflects the voices, aspirations, and leadership of young people. Let’s continue the conversation. How do you see youth shaping democracy in South Africa today?