Rhodes University

Rhodes University is an institution with a well-established reputation for academic excellence.

With just over 8200 students, Rhodes is a small University which enjoys the distinction of having among the best undergraduate pass and graduation rates in South Africa, outstanding postgraduate success rates, and the best research output per academic staff member. This is a testimony to the quality of students that Rhodes attracts and of academic provision, and to the commitment of Rhodes staff t

o student development and success. Of our more than 8000 students, 30% are postgraduates and over 18% are international students from 54 countries around the world, making Rhodes a dynamic and cosmopolitan knowledge institution. Students are able to undertake an extensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the faculties of Humanities, Science, Commerce, Pharmacy, Law, and Education. With the most favourable academic staff to student ratio among South African universities, Rhodes students are guaranteed easy access to academics and close supervision. The University takes pride in its motto, Where Leaders Learn, and producing graduates who are knowledgeable intellectuals, skilled professionals, and critical, caring and compassionate citizens who can contribute to economic and social development and an equitable, just and democratic society. Almost 50% of Rhodes students and the majority of undergraduates live in the University residences, while there also special residences for postgraduates. Through a well-established structure of wardens, sub-wardens and residence committees, the residences play an important role in overall student development, including developing leadership skills. Numerous clubs and societies provide extensive opportunities for students to participate in a variety of intellectual, social, cultural, and sports activities and further develop valuable skills. Rhodes University looks to the future with confidence, secure that as indawo yolwazi (a place of knowledge) and through the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and community engagement it produces outstanding graduates that are sought after and makes a vital contribution to human and social development. At our Open Day, you can find out more about the wide range of attractive and flexible programmes we offer in our six faculties – Commerce, Law Education, Pharmacy, Humanities, and Science. At Rhodes, you will have an opportunity to participate in programmes across all faculties. Our graduates perform well in an increasingly competitive job market and are highly regarded by employers around the world. During your time here, we will help you prepare for your chosen career. The employability of our graduates continues to increase and rates up there with the very best the world has to offer. Our degree offering prepares students for the job market by ensuring they develop the skills employers want, whether through work experience, volunteering or social activities.

18/08/2026

From Day 1 of the Samora Machel Symposium at Rhodes University, 17 August 2026

17/08/2026

It's been a very thought-provoking first day of the Samora Machel Symposium so far.

Don't forget to catch the livestream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhHqCjj2GaA for the afternoon sessions.

📸 Vusumzi Tshekema

17/08/2026

[NOW LIVE] Samora Machel Symposium 2026 – Liberation Legacies

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhHqCjj2GaA

"Much of civil society has become a vassal of foreign donors and state grants. Trading its prophetic voice for a seat at the table of the status quo. The proliferation of NGOism in the country has been embedded with the continuity of imperialist domination over the last 30 years.

As an industry of activism, it has conspired to produce a lean post-colonial state across the region, replacing the historical dream of a revolutionary developmental state that meets the needs of the people.

It has not understood that 'funded freedom' is an oxymoron."

~ Dr Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi, Thabo Mbeki Foundation

📸 Vusumzi Tshekema

17/08/2026

[NOW LIVE] Samora Machel Symposium 2026 – Liberation Legacies

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/live/nhHqCjj2GaA

"It’s been 40 years without his physical presence [Samora Machel] - the man who gave his life to Africa.

Today, the challenges we face are different.
Today, we fight for equality.
Today, we fight for rights within our countries.
Today, we fight for education and equality in education for all.
Today, we fight for a better life.
We fight for the economy.
We fight for justice.

And it is important that the legacy of Samora Machel remains an example for future generations - to provide them with an incentive to believe in transformation and to also thank those who fought before."

~ Samora Machel Jr, Chair of the Samora Machel Foundation

17/08/2026

[NOW LIVE] Samora Machel Symposium 2026 – Liberation Legacies

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/live/nhHqCjj2GaA

"To revisit Machel’s memory is not a project of nostalgia. It allows us to ask 'how do struggles across generations show both continuities and ruptures in the pursuit of freedom, dignity, justice, love and happiness?'" ~ Rhodes University Dean of Humanities, Prof Siphokazi Magadla

Rhodes University Political and International Studies
Thabo Mbeki Foundation
Open Society Foundations

17/08/2026

[LIVE NOW] Samora Machel Symposium 2026 – Liberation Legacies

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/live/nhHqCjj2GaA

"For Rhodes University, the Symposium creates room to not only remember the liberation struggles that shaped the region, but to debate the Africa that those struggles sought to create." ~ Dr Kwezi Mzilikazi, DVC: Research, Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, Rhodes University

17/08/2026

Join us live from Rhodes University for Day 1 of the Samora Machel Symposium: Samora Machel, Liberation Movements, and the Unfinished Decolonial Project.

Monday’s programme explores historical reflections, Southern Africa’s liberation movements, youth participation and the continuing struggle for freedom and justice.

Programme highlights include:

• Opening remarks and welcome
• Samora Machel Junior and invited speakers
• Keynote address by Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi
• Samora Machel and Southern Africa’s liberation
• Africa’s youth, liberation struggles and imagined futures
• Author conversations

Date: Monday, 17 August 2026
Programme: 08:30–16:30
Venue: Eden Grove Blue Lecture Theatre, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

A Luta Continua.

17/08/2026

[LIVE at 08:30]: Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation to deliver keynote address at the Samora Machel Symposium

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/live/nhHqCjj2GaA

This conference comes at an important moment for Southern Africa and for a continent still grappling with the meaning and promise of different forms of liberation (political, economic, cultural, psychological and technological, among others).

Four decades after the death of Samora Moisés Machel, his life and political thought continue to invite reflection(s). Machel understood liberation not simply as the attainment of political independence, but as a transformative project grounded in social justice, popular participation, education, cultural freedom, sovereignty and solidarity among African peoples.

His vision was inseparable from the wider struggles against colonialism, Apartheid and imperialism.

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Location

Grahamstown

Telephone

+27466038111

Website

http://www.ru.ac.za/

Address

Drostdy Road
Grahamstown
6140

Rhodes University

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