VUT students and staff unite for Mandela Day 2025, transforming their campus through cleanups, beautification, and meaningful acts of community service.
22 July 2025 | Story By: Ngomane Gracious Maswoba Raludzingana and Thabisang Thebeeapelo | Picture: Keitumetse Mokgope
3 minutes read time.
On 18 July 2025, the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) commemorated Mandela Day with a heartfelt series of community-centred clean-up and beautification activities. Students and staff came together in service, honouring the enduring legacy of Nelson Mandela with action and unity.
The Social and Outreach Committee of the Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering took the lead, focusing their efforts on transforming the RE Block. Guided by a shared purpose, members of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology joined students in planting flowers beneath campus trees, sweeping and tidying outdoor areas, and repainting weathered tables and chairs. The result was not only a more vibrant and welcoming space but also a moment to reflect on the value of collective effort.
Ms Letsabisa Lerotholi, chairperson of the Social and Outreach Committee, shared her thoughts on the initiative. “We are not only giving back to communities beyond VUT but have chosen to begin by bringing that spirit of service home. “We are not only giving back to communities beyond VUT but have chosen to begin by bringing that spirit of service home.” Lecturer Mr Dube added with poetic clarity, “We are not just planting flowers we are planting the future.”
At the same time, the Green Campus Initiative launched its “Residence Living and Learning Clean-up 2025” campaign across VUT’s primary residences. Volunteers rolled up their sleeves to clear litter, scrub shared areas and repaint faded palisade gates, breathing new life into student spaces. Tshepang Phakane, a third-year Information Technology student and GCI member, said, “I joined GCI because I saw that our environment was being neglected and I wanted to be part of changing that.” Second-year Logistics Management student Tracey added, “Mandela Day means doing something meaningful for the community with the community.”
Their words captured the heartbeat of the campaign. Under the banner of “Pioneers of a Greener Tomorrow”, these students are not just maintaining spaces. They are taking ownership and fostering a culture of accountability and pride in the place they call home.
Further uplifting the spirit of the day, the National Tertiary Education Union led a university-wide “67 Minutes” campaign. Under the leadership of Chairperson Ms Kimberly Kempkes, staff and students were called to take pride in the university and embrace a deeper sense of belonging. “This is our home this is our life for the time that we are here and we need to be proud of our institution. Let us keep it clean so that when you walk out of here you can say it with pride ‘I studied at VUT I am from VUT’ and hold the brand high.”
Ms Kempkes reminded the community that a clean and welcoming campus reflects a strong identity and brings people together in shared purpose.
Through acts of planting painting cleaning and caring VUT students and staff lived out the spirit of Mandela Day. Their efforts not only transformed spaces across the campus but strengthened the values of responsibility unity and service that define the VUT way.