By Suné Coetzee
In October 2026, five Stellenbosch University (SU) students will travel to Dakar, Senegal, for the UNESCO Intercultural Conference’s African youth programme. The trip runs from 10 to 16 October, with all expenses covered.
According to Dr Heidi October, director of the Frederik van Zyl Slabbert (FVZS) Institute, the aim of the conference is to “reflect on the African continent” and explore “how youth leaders can take their agency and their networks to strengthen democracy in the countries on the continent”.
The FVZS Institute is in the process of selecting five students to attend the conference. The money was raised through the institute’s Long Walk to Dakar campaign, a virtual walking challenge where SU students and supporters collectively walked the distance between Cape Town and Dakar on Strava while donors contributed towards the goal of raising R150 000.
As of July 2026, participants had covered more than 1 000 kilometres and had raised R4 915. Two public walks were planned as part of the campaign: one on 25 July in Hermanus and one on 12 September at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa.
The institute was established in 2011 as part of the university’s HOPE Project and named after Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, a former SU student, sociology lecturer and later chancellor of the university from 2008 until his death in 2010, according to the SU Matie Voices archive. Slabbert was also the leader of the Progressive Federal Party (PFP) from 1979 to 1986 and a member of Parliament.
In 1987, he led a delegation of 61 South Africans – academics, writers, church leaders, and business people – to Dakar to meet with representatives of the African National Congress (ANC), which was still a banned organisation in South Africa at the time. The meeting was organised by the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa (IDASA), which Slabbert had founded with Alex Boraine the previous year.
According to South African History Online (SAHO), the delegation included prominent figures such as writers Breyten Breytenbach and André Brink, journalist Max du Preez, and academics like Willie Esterhuyse and Hermann Giliomee. They met with ANC leaders, including Thabo Mbeki, Mac Maharaj and Pallo Jordan.
The South African government condemned the meeting, and right-wing groups accused the delegates of treason. However, the Dakar talks are widely regarded as a watershed moment in South Africa’s transition to democracy, helping to dismantle stereotypes and open pathways for future negotiations.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the FVZS Institute. Today, the Institute offers leadership development programmes, funding for students to attend conferences across South Africa and abroad, and free masterclasses. It also hosts an annual honorary lecture series, which has featured speakers such as Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman, former minister Jay Naidoo, and business leader Maria Ramos. In addition, the Institute runs a podcast series, FVZS Unplugged, available on Spotify. The Institute is housed in the Unit for Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion at the Centre for Student Life and Learning (CSLL), which aims to develop “citizen leadership” in students.
Short courses
The institute offers a variety of short courses, including Facilitative Leadership, Global Citizenship, Leadership in Law, and Leadership in Education, and a graduate programme for final-year students, all of which are recognised on academic transcripts.
Masterclasses
Each year, more than 1 300 SU students participate in a masterclass series hosted by the FVZS Institute, which covers African leadership as well as democracy and citizenship. Students who complete the required activities receive transcript recognition.
The sessions are intentionally designed to be conversations rather than lectures. “It is not just teacher talking time,” said African Leadership programme co-ordinator Nosipiwo Matiwane. “It is a lot of student talking time because we want it to be interactive, engaged and impactful.”
The 2026 African Leadership series explores decolonising leadership, while the Democracy and Engaged Citizenship stream focuses on understanding Parliament and how democratic institutions work beyond what appears on television.
Democracy and Engaged Citizenship masterclass co-ordinator Aluwani Ramarumo believes many students underestimate how closely politics affect their everyday life. “A lot of people say they do not do politics,” she said. “The price of bread goes up, the price of coffee goes up, the price of eggs goes up when there is a war. That is politics.”
Her advice to students who feel disconnected from public life is simple: “Do the research. Read on what political parties are doing. You do not have to be a partisan member.”
“If students are not engaging, or if students are not researching, you become a bystander to your own life,” said Ramarumo.
Conference funding
The FVZS Institute offers students financial support to attend academic, professional and leadership conferences. According to October, students can apply for funding of up to R15 000 for events in South Africa, R50 000 for conferences elsewhere in Africa and R55 000 for conferences in Europe and other regions.
October says the application process is straightforward. “Your academics need to be on par,” she said. “And secondly, you need to be involved in the co-curricular space.” Students submit their academic records, a summary of their involvement outside the lecture halls, and a motivation explaining how attending the conference would benefit both themselves and the wider student community.
The funding is administered through a university mechanism, and the same application process applies to all funding requests, including the Institute’s Long Walk to Dakar campaign.
Broadening the definition of leadership
These conversations challenge the idea that leadership belongs only to people with titles. Some students do not know the FVZS Institute exists. Some associate it only with the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) or other formal student leaders. Others walk past its offices, on 15A Bosman Street, without realising what happens inside.
October believes leadership also means understanding issues beyond Stellenbosch. She pointed to what is often called the “Stellenbosch bubble”, the perception that SU students are disconnected from the realities facing the rest of South Africa. For her, leadership is not about staying comfortable in familiar spaces but rather engaging with the world beyond campus.
“Our focus is not on leadership for a particular role, but citizen leadership,” she added. “There is scope for anyone to make a change, whether it is a formal leadership role or as a follower or an ally.”
Leadership, in her view, means recognising that students are part of a much bigger society. That thinking has shaped initiatives like MatiesLead, an integrated leadership programme that reached roughly 800 aspiring SU leaders in its first phase in 2025. It has also pushed the Institute to bring students from different faculties, backgrounds and experiences together.
FVZS Short Courses and MatiesLead Programme coordinator Gabriella Carolus said that is often where students notice the biggest change. “They would not have been able to meet people outside of their coursework,” she said.
According to Carolus, many only realise the value later. “Once they go out there as a Stellenbosch graduate, they are like, ‘Wow, I did not know the applicability of my course was so tangible.’”
For October, that delayed realisation is something she hopes current students can avoid.
“Use this time as a Matie to take up all these offers and many more opportunities,” she said. “Once you leave, you will realise that you have had all these opportunities and you have not taken them up.”
For more information on FVZS, email fvzs@sun.ac.za or follow @fvzsinstitute on Instagram for updates on upcoming programmes and events.
