Journal of Student Affairs in Africa | Volume 10(2) 2022, 225-230 | 2307-6267 | DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v10i2.4370   225

www.jsaa.ac.za
AFRICAN 
MINDS

R eflective practice

Building Capabilities and Leadership for Youth 
Development: Nelson Mandela University’s Approach
Luthando Jack,* Ayanda Mlatsha** & Buntu Mnyaka***

Introduction
The South African Association of Senior Student Affairs Professionals (SAASSAP) 
hosted a three-day conference on “Ramping up engaged scholarship, gender equity, 
and enhancing leadership in student affairs practice” at Nelson Mandela University, Port 
Elizabeth (Gqeberha), from 2 to 4 December 2021. The meeting, which was attended 
by student affairs leaders from South African higher education institutions, was a first 
of its kind, hybrid-level interaction for SAASSAP and affiliated stakeholders since 
the global outbreak of the coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, in 2020. 
The conference’s programme, which sought to address current challenges and social 
injustices affecting students in South Africa, provided student affairs professionals with 
an opportunity to consider and guide the processes of change required to enrich student 
growth and development nationally and further afield. 

The conference took place at a time when the higher education landscape had been 
greatly affected by the uncertainties produced in the advent of COVID-19. The pandemic 
and the lockdown measures that were implemented in response to it exacerbated several 
pre-existing student stressors, including the financial burden of higher education; 
impaired mental wellness; social concerns; and loss of identity. The pandemic also had a 
direct impact in terms of illness and death among the student cohort, their families, and 
communities, as well as an indirect impact in terms of the adoption of new learning and 
teaching strategies under lockdown. The resulting challenges led to a close-up critique 
and redesign of existing policies and strategies in the field of student affairs, including in 
relation to leadership and scholarship. 

Against this background, the SAASSAP conference hosted scholars sharing 
innovative papers and keynote speakers who addressed the audience on patterns of 
best practice. The meeting also enabled participants to engage in thought-provoking 
conversations as part of a student-centric learning experience. The speakers included 
Professor Cheryl Foxcroft, deputy vice-chancellor of Learning and Teaching at 
Nelson Mandela University (NMU), who talked about the importance of the notion 

*   Luthando Jack is dean of students at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa.
**  Ayanda Mlatsha is a student development practitioner and YouthLab coordinator at Nelson Mandela 

University, South Africa. Email: Ayanda.Mlatsha@mandela.ac.za.
***  Buntu Mnyaka is an assistant researcher and YouthLab coordinator at Nelson Mandela University, 

South Africa.

http://www.jsaa.ac.za


226   Journal of Student Affairs in Africa | Volume 10(2) 2022, 225-230 | 2307-6267 | DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v10i2.4370

of engaged scholarship as a crucial element of learning and teaching. She cited Boyer’s 
(1990) theory on what is meant by engaged scholarship, saying: “Engaged scholarship 
is described as teaching and research that connects the rich resources of the university 
to our most pressing civic and ethical problems.” She further emphasised the relevance 
of the conference’s theme insofar as it was linked to how institutions of higher learning 
produce value by giving back to societies and communities. Foxcroft further argued for 
an expanded notion of what is meant by scholarship, opposing the idea that something 
should be considered “scholarly” only if “it is published in a journal”. Instead, she said, 
student affairs professionals need to search for other innovative ideas that could be 
considered scholarly which may take a range of forms beyond journal articles, such as 
videos in which the researcher expands on a topic, or new programmes which seek to 
realize approaches to student affairs promoted in the literature. 

NMU Panel on Student Development
On the second day of the conference, an NMU panel ref lected on the approach 
used by Nelson Mandela University in building capabilities and leadership for youth 
development. The panel referenced the complexity of universities as microcosms of 
society. Douglas (2005, p. 1) argues that the complexity of these institutions is informed 
by the market; government interventions; changes in learning and teaching; and the 
type of students who enrol. Douglas is of the view that the challenges arising from these 
factors must be perceived as positive since, in addressing them, universities increase their 
relevance to society. In other words, the nature of the institutional culture and posture 
at universities should be informed by the constant changes that occur within society. 
This can then lead these institutions to ref lect on whether the current education and 
environment that they are providing for their students are adequate for fostering the 
democratisation and transformation of society. In this context, one of the speakers on the 
panel, Ayanda Mlatsha, a student development practitioner and YouthLab coordinator 
at NMU, noted that it was only through intense observation, research, and constant 
engagements with students on the ground that the Nelson Mandela University was able 
to understand the calibre and characteristics of the current generation of students.

Rather than being intimidated by the awareness that a constantly changing society 
requires a constantly changing university, the student affairs professionals on the panel 
said that their university had taken a conscious decision to embrace these changes and, 
accordingly, had encouraged the development of relevant, unique communities within 
the institution. Communities that embraced each student’s background through their 
ethos and activities and upheld African values in the university’s various structures.

In support of this approach, NMU has adopted a humanizing pedagogy, arguing that, 
as part of its public-good mission, higher education should practise humanizing ethics 
that promote fairness and opportunities for students about “what students are able to do 
and to be in and through higher education” (Walker, 2018, pp. 556–557). The approach 
is one that is centred on producing solutions to the challenges that face society and trans-
forming the thinking of those within society and the world accordingly. Locatelli (2018, 



Luthando Jack, Ayanda Mlatsha & Buntu Mnyaka: Building Capabilities and Leadership for Youth Development …   227

p. 10) argues that, in service to society and as a public good, education must be relevant 
to people’s lived realities and should embrace inclusivity, empowerment, innovation and 
the need to improve living conditions in society. One of the panellists, Buntu Mnyaka, 
an assistant researcher and YouthLab coordinator at NMU, noted that while the adoption 
of this approach at NMU had not been smooth sailing, there had been constant progress. 

According to Ayanda Mlatsha, a key aspect of seeking to promote this approach 
has been the university’s drive to transform leadership, including student leadership, 
at the institution. She emphasised the importance of guiding and mentoring young 
leaders in the context of a world facing economic strain in which there is inadequate 
leadership and a lack of appropriate role models. In this context, and as part of higher 
education’s engagement with local communities, student affairs professionals should seek 
to empower student leaders who can help to transform their communities and societies, 
as well as their universities. Accordingly, the Student Governance and Development 
department at NMU seeks to establish platforms and an overarching environment that 
foster critical thinking and tolerance for all and promote citizenship, academic success, 
and engagement among the students (Nelson Mandela University, 2021a). 

The university offers student leaders the opportunity to become involved in 
university decision-making, thus enabling them to acquire transactional and transfor-
mational leadership skills and knowledge and fostering their dynamism. In this way, 
the students can develop as individuals, while becoming effective leaders and agents of 
broader change. In this context, the students can benefit from programmes such as the 
Ndingumntu Nam (“I am human too”) mental health awareness campaign which allows 
them to acknowledge their backgrounds and foster the realization that they are human 
beings first before they are graduates or scholars. Such programmes enable all students, 
including student leaders, to embrace their own identities and encourage openness 
towards other student identities and cultures. In this way, an inclusive environment 
is created in which students not only develop their academic skills but also become 
productive members of society. In addition, such self-acknowledgement produces a sense 
of belonging and makes it easier for student leaders to reach out to others, enacting the 
concept of ubuntu, “I am because you are”, which is the basis of many communities in 
Africa. The concept of humanizing pedagogy espoused by the university also enables 
it to perceive its academics holistically, producing the understanding that, like the 
students, they are members of society before they are members of the institution, said 
Ayanda Mlatsha. 

Another noteworthy practice established at NMU is that of regular “neighbour 
checks”, which encourages students to check up on one another’s well-being. This 
practice proved particularly effective under COVID-19 lockdown when student 
isolation led to an increase in mental illness. More broadly, the neighbour checks operate 
as a channel for mutual caring, fostering self lessness and a spirit of ubuntu among the 
students. Ayanda Mlatsha said that this practice, which is based on the values of the 
university, had cultivated a culture of ubuntu among students suffering from mental 
illnesses, post-trauma as a result of the pandemic, and social injustices. 



228   Journal of Student Affairs in Africa | Volume 10(2) 2022, 225-230 | 2307-6267 | DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v10i2.4370

During the pandemic, it became clear that the support offered by NMU’s leadership 
to student affairs professionals in their efforts to mentor and guide the students was 
made possible as part of a larger institutional commitment to practising ubuntu and a 
humanizing pedagogy. In this context, Luthando Jack, the dean of students at Nelson 
Mandela University said:

Part of our efforts in truly becoming an African university that is rooted in its local 
community entails being able to harness and underpin the canon of our education with 
the philosophy of ubuntu. The new kind of graduate the university will send to society 
ought to be imbued with the intrinsic value of placing the community above the self. 
( Jack, 2019)

The panellists at the conference also mentioned NMU’s Madibaz YouthLab initiative. 
The platform seeks to establish spaces in which students come together to address 
the complex social challenges and injustices that confront the youth of South Africa 
and beyond (Nelson Mandela University, 2021b). This initiative seeks to promote a 
humanistic solution-orientated approach to addressing the challenges that face society, 
including by transforming people’s thinking.

Nelson Mandela University’s embrace of this ethos is demonstrated by its motto: 
“Change the world”. In this regard, former NMU vice-chancellor, Professor Derrick 
Swartz, speaking at the launch of the university’s name change in 2017, said that being 
named after Nelson Mandela: 

… means of course our students must be activists, not necessarily in a party-political 
sense, but must advocate for change, must work towards freeing up society so that we 
have a better world as well … We have to teach a curriculum that can equip our students 
with the best of tools and the knowledge to change the world. It has to be a radical 
transformation, and a call to that is the curriculum, what happens in the classroom, 
what knowledge comes through your mind. If you are not challenged with new skills 
and knowledge, you didn’t even know alternatives to the world that has been handed by 
history to our society. But the power of education is to change the world. (Swartz, 2017) 

Professor Sibongile Muthwa expressed similar sentiments at her inauguration as 
incoming vice-chancellor of Nelson Mandela University in 2018:

Student life at Mandela University will centre the student. It will thoughtfully involve 
and connect our students into the full life and promise of the university and its inter-
connection with wider society. Fashioned in an integrative way, student life should 
stimulate not only student development, social solidarity, multi-culturalism and 
diversity – through the execution of excellent and vibrant intellectual, social, cultural, 
sport, recreational and other value-adding programmes on campus … it will promote 
active student engagement in communities aimed at solving the challenges of poverty, 
inequality and unemployment. (Muthwa, 2018)

The point being made by both Swartz and Muthwa is that the institutional culture 
of the university is student-centric with the aim of producing an institution that is a 



Luthando Jack, Ayanda Mlatsha & Buntu Mnyaka: Building Capabilities and Leadership for Youth Development …   229

public good and serves society. In addition, there is an emphasis on the university’s role 
in local communities. The vision is of an institution that fosters transformative and 
transformational capabilities and leadership – attributes which may also characterise 
its graduates. In this regard, the university prides itself on instilling its graduates with 
a capacity for inter- and trans-disciplinary thinking which can contribute to solving 
complex problems and challenges (Nelson Mandela University, 2021c, pp. 46–47).

In summary, Nelson Mandela University seeks to promote the philosophical 
concept of ubuntu, “I am because you are”, as a core value and embed this in a 
humanizing pedagogical approach. The narrative of higher education institutions 
which promotes the separateness of learner and lecturer persists. However, under ubuntu 
the two are considered symbiotic. Furthermore, Wilkinson (1994, p.  327) argues that 
higher education institutions have always been forces of progress since their inception, 
including by fostering major developments in science, and by inf luencing culture and 
the development of ideologies and concepts. Moreover, Moscardini and Strachan (2020, 
pp. 10–11) state that, as society has changed, so must universities if they are to remain 
relevant to societal development. Accordingly, universities should seek to meet the needs 
of local communities and contribute to national development. Such is the thinking that 
provides the frame of reference for NMU’s efforts to operate as a public good; be of 
service to society; and function as a space of transformation in developing community-
orientated graduates.

Other Presentations at the Conference
There were a number of other presentations at the conference, including an address by 
Dr Neo Pule, Yeki Mosomothane and Dr Grey Magaiza from the University of the 
Free State (UFS) on “Student leadership engagement in institutional transformation: 
A model for leadership building and engaged scholarship”. Dr Bernard Sebake of 
the National Association of Student Development Professionals, presented under the 
theme “Rethinking capabilities of student affairs professional practice: Ref lecting on 
constantly emerging paradigms”. Bonolo Makhalemele and Ester Mahlatsi presented a 
ref lection on “Finding engaged scholarship in everyday living”. 

Professor Thierry Luescher from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) 
delivered an address on “The photovoice project: Violence and student wellbeing”. 
Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia from Higher Health presented on the state of health worldwide 
and how this impacts African higher education institutions. Tshegofatso Mogaladi from 
the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) addressed the audience on “The efficiency 
of student affairs departments in South African higher education: A conceptual analysis”. 
The second day ended with a productive annual general meeting (AGM) of SAASSAP 
members. 

The third day of the SAASSAP conference opened with a ref lective session offering 
attendees an opportunity to connect with and assimilate some of the key points made 
during the proceedings. Then, Dr Thandi Lewin, Acting Deputy Director General: 
University Education in the Department of Higher Education and Training, considered 



230   Journal of Student Affairs in Africa | Volume 10(2) 2022, 225-230 | 2307-6267 | DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v10i2.4370

the work of the department. Lubabalo Ndzoyiya, president of the South African Union 
of Students (SAUS), considered the work of the union. Dr Birgit Schreiber and Sindi 
Kayi spoke about the work of the Higher Education Leadership and Management 
(HELM) programme being implemented by Universities South Africa (USAf ) as part of 
the Department of Higher Education and Training’s University Capacity Development 
Programme. Dr Neo Pule from the Department of Psychology at UFS presented on the 
“Advantages of engaged scholarship: A systemic and multi-level co-curriculum toward 
collective impact”. Dr Matete Madiba, research and development officer at SAASSAP, 
talked about scholarship opportunities offered by the association.

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Locatelli, R. (2018). Education as a public and common good: Reframing the governance of education in a 
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Nelson Mandela University. (2021a). Leadership Training and Development. https://studev.mandela.ac.za/
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Nelson Mandela University. (2021b). What is the Madibaz YouthLab? https://studev.mandela.ac.za/
Madibaz-YouthLab/What-is-the-Madibaz-YouthLab

Nelson Mandela University. (2021c). Nelson Mandela University Vision 2030: Change the world. Policy 
document. https://www.mandela.ac.za/wwwnew/media/Store/documents/Leadership/V2030/
Mandela-Uni-V2030-Strategy-March-2021.pdf 

Swartz, D. (2017). Nelson Mandela University new name launch [Speech]. 
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Sociological Forum, 9, 325-341. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01466313.

How to cite:
Jack, L., Mlatsha, A., & Mnyaka, B. (2022). Building capabilities and leadership for youth 

development: Nelson Mandela University’s approach. Journal of Student Affairs in Africa, 10(2), 
225-230. DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v10i2.4370

https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1807493
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01466313