Masimange Jezi’s journey to Rhodes University is not a story of effortless achievement; it is a story of recovery, support and self-belief rebuilt over time. It is also a powerful illustration of how research-driven educational interventions can prevent capable students from slipping quietly through the cracks.

Amahle Mayi’s journey to Rhodes University did not follow the neat, uninterrupted path that so often defines academic success on paper. Instead, it unfolded slowly, shaped by reflection, support, and a growing understanding that potential does not always announce itself through immediate performance.

In a South Africa grappling with inequality, mistrust in institutions, and the urgent need for social cohesion, Rhodes University has introduced a programme designed to reset how universities understand their purpose. The Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education: Community Engagement (PGDip HECE) is the first professional qualification of its kind in the country, offering academics and practitioners a structured way to integrate meaningful engagement into teaching, research, and partnership-building.

When the nation’s world-renowned epidemiologist took the stage at the Bio26 South Africa Congress in Makhanda, we expected a pandemic post-mortem and a research-based roadmap forward. We expected charts, data, best practices and policy. What we did not expect was a warning about an entirely different crisis: the Infodemic, a war on truth, orchestrated by those in power. But Professor Salim Abdool Karim did not come to Bio26 to play it safe.