Professor Thoko Mayekiso reflects on a decade of transformative leadership at University of Mpumalanga

Founding Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga, Professor Thoko Mayekiso, whose term comes to an end at the end of October 2025, says she wants to be remembered as one who prioritised the university and wanted to focus on people-building, not only students. 

Daily Maverick spoke to Mayekiso about her tenure as the first Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Mpumalanga (UMP), which began in 2014. Her contract was renewed in 2019 for a second term. Mayekiso is a distinguished scholar and accomplished academic who studied at the University of Fort Hare and furthered her studies at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, where she obtained her PhD in Psychology.

Read more: Prof Thoko Mayekiso — the SA woman who turned a golf course into a university.

Asked about what it was like being the first vice-chancellor and working with students, Mayekiso said, “As a VC, you are responsible for everything. Finances, human resources and legal matters, people bring those things to you, and you make solid decisions. When it comes to students, I really enjoy working with them; that is why, when we’re drawing our organogram, I made sure that the dean of students reports to me so that student issues are taken at the highest level by the person who is responsible for student matters,” said Mayekiso.

Mayekiso led the institution’s growth from 169 students and three programmes to more than 11,000 students and 81 courses, with residences offering 1,353 beds at both the Mbombela and Siyabuswa campuses.

She said that during her tenure as a female vice-chancellor, she never saw gender as something that could deter her from doing the job.

“I grew up in a home as the only girl… I don’t necessarily have to look where the women are to make me feel comfortable in this space. Because in these spaces, your management team would be maybe 80% male. And if you are going to sit there chairing, being mindful of the fact that I’m a female and I’m chairing for a male, you will find yourself struggling, not because of them, but because of your own perceptions and your own interpretations,” said Mayekiso.

University initiatives

Under her leadership, many student programmes and innovations in university academics and travelling abroad took place. In 2021, the university had its first Master’s degree graduate, Confidence Ndlovu. Soon after, the university received a four-star grading from TGCSA Star Grading for the Tfokomala Hotel located within the Mbombela Campus.

Other programmes include the Student Women Economic Empowerment Programme (Sweep), which equips female students with entrepreneurial skills and support, tackling gender-based violence and the low representation of women in entrepreneurship.

Mayekiso said it was important to develop young women.

“Sweep is part of our entrepreneurship drive, where we also have some of our graduate attributes, where we’re saying we’ll produce graduates who are innovative and developing an entrepreneurial mindset amongst women students, so that they can be bold with their entrepreneurial pursuits and really be supported by our Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator, because that’s where this programme is located,” said Mayekiso. 

A tough time

In 2021, it was reported that Excellent Mlangeni, a 21-year-old third-year Bachelor of Science in Agriculture student,