Samkelo Ntobeko Vukani Mngadi, University of South Africa (Unisa) lecturer and Rhodes University Student Representative Council (SRC) President of 2019, is the new University’s Convocation President.
He was elected by the alumni at the Convocation gathering on 6 September 2025, the University Acting Registrar, Professor Michelle Karels, announced today.
He takes over the reins from Dr Michele Ruiters, a Gordon Institute of Business Science (University of Pretoria) academic, whose term ended this year.
Mngadi graduated from Rhodes University in 2022 with a Master of Arts in History, having completed his honours and undergraduate degrees in 2016 and 2017. Currently, he is registered to complete his PhD at Unisa.
He has a formidable leadership pedigree, which the University has recognised. It includes being the recipient of the Memorial Prize for History for his master’s degree at Rhodes University, securing the Rodney Davenport and Residence Merit Scholarships, and receiving the Nelson Mandela Hall Leadership Award.
He is also recognised at a national level. In 2015, he received the Toastmasters International Communicator Award. In 2017 and again in 2019, he was named in Investec’s Top 100 leadership category.
He is becoming a sought-after academic speaker and panellist, having featured at the Chief Albert Luthuli two-day colloquium, the Biennial Conference of the Historical Association of South Africa, and the Namibian-German Student Conference of Humanities International Student Conference.
Yet his heart for young people is evidenced by the many roles he has played in teaching, mentoring, and leading.
These roles began as early as 2015 when he was appointed as a sub-warden for Stanley Kidd House. Several tutoring and warden roles followed, culminating in his election as SRC President.
Today, he is a history lecturer and postgraduate assistant at Unisa.
He also serves as an advisory board member of the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation, to which he was nominated in 2021, and played a critical role in the foundation's earliest advocacy efforts.
Mngadi's term as Convocation President runs until September 2027.