Students Dipuo Seripe and Lindokuhle Madlala shared their reflections as participants of the module, which grew out of the activism and academic disruption of the #FeesMustFall movement in 2015 and is now formally embedded in the university curriculum.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Sibongile Muthwa welcomed guests to the Digital Dome on the University’s Ocean Science Campus in Summerstrand before Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching Dr Muki Moeng outlined the purpose and vision of the course.
The executive deans of the faculties of Humanities and Law, Prof Pamela Maseko and Dr Lynn Biggs respectively, and the Deputy Dean of Education, Prof Shervani Pillay, also relayed messages of support, in a programme facilitated by SCSF project manager Prof Babalwa Magoqwana.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching Dr Muki Moeng and Social Consciousness and Sustainable Futures head project coordinator Thandolwethu Gwiba and students on the Social Consciousness and Sustainable Futures. Photographs by Gillian McAinsh
The launch on 25 July also marked the moment when the module – now credit-bearing and compulsory – was formally introduced into the mainstream curriculum for all Humanities, Law and Education students. The aim is to extend the eight-part module across all faculties by 2027.
However, it was the students themselves who gave voice to the heart of the initiative.
Social Consciousness and Sustainable Futures head project coordinator Thandolwethu Gwiba, centre, with students Dipuo Seripe and Lindokuhle Madlala
A legacy of resistance and reflection
Seripe, a third-year microbiology student, began by linking the event with an historic moment.
“This monumental event is with us in 2025 – it is ten years since the #FeesMustFall movement. A movement that echoed out through all the institutions across South Africa, rooted in making sure that we demand accessibility of higher education for marginalised groups in a post-apartheid South Africa, and that we decolonise higher education.”
For her, the SCSF module was personal and provocative.
“We were given an assignment: go learn where you come from. What are your clan names? What does your surname mean? Where do you come from? And for me, it was a really touchy subject. I was living with my aunts. I was like, why am I going to ask? How am I go to find these people?
“I found people that dedicate themselves to writing about the cultures in South Africa, preserving the clan names. And today, after that, now I know myself. I can learn about society. I am conscious of who I am, and I've learned that there's an intersectionality of social issues.”
The module shifted how Seripe sees the world.
“Before I came, I would often view social issues in isolation but I learned that all of these systems are intertwined. When you look at a person, don't be limited, learn about all the complexities that shape this person and how they navigate the world.”
For those wondering why a science student would take a course like this, her message was clear: “We are human, and you're going to exist with other humans in different communities. When we leave university, you don't know where you're going to work – which place, which city, which organisation. So it's important that you're conscious of the world outside of the bubble that you exist in.”
She likened the course to being a seed, sewn now but only bearing fruit in years to come, calling it “a revolutionary movement”.
Roots, identity and values
Madlala, a third-year electrical engineering student, echoed the importance of personal and historical reflection.
“We need to know where we come from. So many of us have a life, and people that we live with, but do we really have a family tree? Can we trace to three, four or five generations back?”
He found the second theme of the module – gender and sexuality – challenging.
“That was a very difficult theme for me because I had my own opinions about it. As much as I may have some disagreements, however, I now have a far better perspective – one that is informed and one that has removed my bias.”
Madlala cautioned against simplifying what social consciousness means.
“Sometimes we may feel it means I must be a ‘comrade’. I must wear a blue, red, yellow, green, or whatever colour, shirt. That's not what social consciousness means though. It means we are fighting for a better future, and if it means my blood, my sweat, my tears are going to be poured on the tree that will bear the fruits, that's what I need to do.”
“Deepening the soul of the university”
Prof Muthwa described the module as a long-held dream.
“This seemingly small step is such an important journey in our University's effort to deepen our soul. Bearing the iconic name of Nelson Mandela comes with a responsibility to be the academic expression of his values and ethos … and this Social Consciousness and Sustainable Futures module is one of the concrete and decisive interventions to inculcate these attributes in our graduates.”
Dr Moeng emphasised how the module was rooted in the University’s humanising pedagogy.
“It centres students as knowledge co-creators,” she said. “We believe that students come into the learning environment with knowledges, experiences, skills and understandings that form part of the learning process.”
Origins in student activism
SCSF head project coordinator Thando Gwiba pointed the way forward by looking back on his years at Nelson Mandela University. Over #FeesMustFall in 2015, he described how he and fellow students were involved in helping to create what would become today’s curriculum.
“There were students there who I want to acknowledge today and say thanks to. We started writing the document in 2015, which was sent to then-VC Derrick Swartz. What Mandela University wants for its students is that when they pass and graduate, they go out there and change the world.”
A vision for justice
Prof Maseko described the new module as an embodiment of the struggle for curriculum transformation and social justice.
“The #FeesMustFall protests made visible what many already knew – that the university curriculum remained in many places untransformed, disconnected from the realities, histories and aspirations of the political experience.
“Humanities are not only about preserving culture, but equipping students to respond thoughtfully and decisively to the crises and questions that define our present.”
Dr Biggs said the launch was a visionary step in reimagining the curriculum, and was not only an academic offering.
“Students – this is your space. Engage fully. Bring your experiences, your questions and your passions. Let this be a space where you grow, not only intellectually, but personally and socially,” she said.
“Let us all commit to nurturing a university culture where learning is not only about passive exams, but also about understanding the world and our place in it.”
Prof Pillay welcomed the courage of elevating the African experience.
“This speaks about bold issues of the land in our country. It doesn’t just speak about academic issues, the epistemologies and the ontologies. It also speaks about African sufferings and African experience.”
The official launch marked the formal rollout but for many of those in attendance, it also marked something deeper: – a space for reckoning, reflection and resistance.
In the words of the students who helped birth it, the Social Consciousness and Sustainable Futures module is geared to be monumental and life-changing.