University of Venda Welcomes New York University Postgraduate Delegation in a Spirit of Transformative Collaboration

On 29 May 2025, the University of Venda (UNIVEN) proudly hosted postgraduate students and staff from New York University (NYU) at the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education – African Languages building. This vibrant gathering, attended by over 40 guests, including UNIVEN’s own students and academics, marked a dynamic exchange of ideas, cultures, and academic aspirations.

Mr Thabo Dikgale, Manager for Internationalisation at the University of Venda, opened by encouraging introductions to foster connection and understanding among attendees, valuing the diversity of backgrounds and accents. He highlighted the intentional selection of students from across various academic fields to promote interdisciplinary engagement.
Emphasising the university’s strong international ties, especially with U.S institutions, he not-ed a busy period of global collaboration. Mr Dikgale stressed the importance of transforma-tive education and community engagement, encouraging students to focus their research on real-world challenges. He concluded by warmly welcoming guests, inviting them to ex-plore the campus, and expressing eagerness to learn about their academic contributions.

Prof Annette Lansink, who is a Research Associate at the Ishmael Mohammed Centre for Human and Peoples Rights, gave a historical account of the University of Venda (UNIVEN), noting its origins under apartheid as an institution created to enforce ethnic separation, which left it under-resourced and marginalised. She emphasised that despite this exclusionary foundation, UNIVEN has evolved into a competitive, research-driven university, making significant contributions to South Africa’s knowledge economy.With strong growth in areas like environmental science, agriculture, health sciences, HIV/AIDS research, and Indigenous knowledge, the university
now hosts multiple research institutes and NRF-rated scholars. Prof Lansink attributed this transformation not only to national policy but also to the dedication of academic staff, international partnerships, and visionary leadership. She concluded that UNIVEN’s progress reflects its resilience and commitment to community engagement, innovation, and social justice, despite the challenges of its past.

Prof Tebogo Moja of New York University (NYU) provided an overview of the institution and its longstanding engagement with South Africa. She reflected on her ties with the University of Ven-da (UNIVEN) and shared that she has brought NYU students to South Africa for over 20 years to foster exposure to global education systems, focusing on education and social reform. While many lasting personal relationships have developed from these exchanges, she emphasised the need to strengthen academic collaborations. NYU is a large, private, non-profit university known for its diverse academic offerings, including a School of Culture, Education, and Human Devel-opment, which houses 13 departments. The visiting students are mostly master ‘s-level candi-dates in student affairs and higher education, and NYU’s programme includes practical intern-ships to bridge theory and practice. She concluded by expressing appreciation for ongoing connections with alumni and the importance of mutual learning in international partnerships.

Dr Dzivhonele Sinthumule presented a summary of the Faculty of Humanities, Social Scienc-es, and Education at the University of Venda, highlighting its broad academic offerings and commitment to transformative education. Formed from the merger of the Schools of Educa-tion and Human and Social Sciences, the faculty now hosts diverse disciplines and over 8,000 undergraduate and 600 postgraduate students. Emphasising student-centred learning, en-gaged scholarship, and international collaboration, Dr Sinthumule underscored the faculty’s dedication to producing graduates who are both locally grounded and globally competitive.

Mr Rudzani Mamphweli, Community Engagement Officer at the University of Venda, out-lined the role of the Community Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Inclusive Innovation, and Commercialisation Directorate in advancing the university’s mission beyond teaching and re-search. Established in 2009 and recently expanded to include entrepreneurship and inno-vation, the Directorate promotes collaboration with local communities to ensure academic activities have a tangible societal impact. It supports students and staff in community engage-ment and commercial initiatives, highlighting programmes like Skills for the Future, which provides digital and mental health education to high school learners, alongside other proj-ects assessed for their societal contributions under the university’s 2021–2025 strategy.

Professor Ademola Jegede, Director of the Ismail Mahomed Centre for Hu-man and Peoples’ Rights at the University of Venda, highlighted the importance of cultural diversity through reflections on his Yoruba heritage. He explained that the Centre, established in 2001 to honour South Africa’s first Black Chief Jus-tice, Ismail Mahomed, is committed to advancing social justice and human rights.
Now part of the Faculty of Management, Commerce, and Law, the Centre active-ly engages in regional and international human rights efforts, collaborates with bod-ies like the African Commission and UN mechanisms, and works closely with com-munities and traditional leaders. Professor Jegede also shared his personal research focus on the link between climate change and human rights, especially its impact on vul-nerable populations, and welcomed collaboration with all who share the Centre’s mission.

Ms Emily Patton, an MPA student at NYU Wagner, expressed deep apprecia-tion for the warm welcome her group has received during their visit across the country. She reflected on the inspiring student activism they witnessed, par-ticularly the history and ongoing impact of the Fees Must Fall movement, which demonstrated strong unity among students at various universities.
Emily also highlighted the meaningful community engagement efforts and the em-bodiment of the Ubuntu philosophy, noting how this sense of connectedness con-trasts with the more individualistic culture she’s familiar with in the U.S. Per-sonally, she found the experience enriching, especially as it complemented her studies in public administration and broadened her understanding of higher education.

Ms Pertunia Rankakane, a University of Venda student, stated that she is interested in the exchange programme and wishes to be hosted by Professor Teboho Moja, and em-phasised the need for the University of Venda to actively organise opportunities for ex-change programmes. She expressed concern that South African students miss first-hand experiences of institutions like New York University, where visitors can engage directly with faculty such as the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education. She highlight-ed the importance of genuine academic and professional collaborations beyond social ties and concluded with a light-hearted remark about saving personal matters for later in life.

During his closing remarks, Mr Carlton Mukwevho, Secretary General of the South African Na-tional Commission for UNESCO, reflected on his educational journey at the University of Ven-da and praised the collaboration between universities, including NYU. He honoured the late intellectual, Kenyan writer and academic Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o and emphasised the shared hu-manity that transcends politics and borders. He highlighted South Africa’s historic role in UNE-SCO, its exclusion during apartheid, and its re-admission after democracy was restored. Mr Mukwevho stressed the importance of international cooperation, noting the critical finan-cial contributions of both the US and South Africa to UNESCO. He expressed gratitude to Pro-fessor Moja for her two decades of dedication in fostering these connections, thanked UNES-CO for its partnership, and encouraged ongoing collaboration and mutual learning between students and institutions, affirming the value of these exchanges despite political challenges.
As presented by Dr Keamogetse Morwe, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Gender and Youth Studies at the University of Venda, in her vote of thanks, she expressed gratitude to everyone involved, including Professor Lansink, and the CEO for…., whom she initially overlooked.She noted that the event had allowed them to econnect after more than ten years. Dr Morwe emphasised the importance of appreciating one another and encouraged everyone to make their contributions count, no matter how small. She concluded by sincerely thanking all present.
Following the engaging sessions, guests participated in a campus tour that showcased UNI-VEN’s stunning facilities, including the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubation, sym-bols of the university’s forward-thinking vision and commitment to innovation. This visit not only strengthened existing bonds but also ignited fresh opportunities for collaboration, re-inforcing UNIVEN’s role as a beacon of transformative education and global partnership.

Issued by:
Department of Marketing, Branding and Communication University of Venda
Tel: 082 868 2218 / 082 868 1811