This is a big year for me. I am turning 60! Instead of receiving lovely gifts and thoughtful presents on my birthday, I would like to do something special for our Matie students. I have pledged my birthday in support of the Die Vlakte Bursary Fund, and I would like to encourage all of you to make a donation.

I announced the creation of the Die Vlakte Bursary Fund at my inauguration ceremony in 2015 as a direct response to student requests and a further sign of redress that the University had committed itself to at the turn of the 21st Century.

This Fund currently benefits a maximum of five students per year, descendants of those forcibly removed in the 1960s from an area close to the town centre of Stellenbosch, known as Die Vlakte. This was a neighbourhood in the area between Muller, Bird, and Joubert Streets and Merriman Avenue, where the residents were mostly coloured people who were forcibly removed under the Group Areas Act. At the time, the University did not protest.

When you make a donation on my birthday, you are helping to ensure that more students reach academic success.

Will you help me make a positive difference?  

Forward together. Saam vorentoe. Masiye phambili.