Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) is proud to announce a significant academic achievement following the publication of a special issue of the African Journal of Higher Education Community Engagement (AJHECE). The issue, published in November, showcases the research and engaged scholarship stemming from the inaugural Engagement Conference hosted by MUT in late 2025.
Professor Mncedisi Maphalala, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement (RIE), formally congratulated the Centre for Community Engagement and Development (CEAD) and its Director, Professor Busisiwe Nkonki-Mandleni, for their leadership in spearheading this initiative. “This special issue marks an important scholarly achievement and a major milestone for MUT,” said Professor Maphalala. “The publication shows the depth and quality of engaged scholarship coming from our Institution and its partners. It positions MUT within national and international conversations on community engagement and socially relevant research.”
The special issue features diverse contributions from MUT scholars that tackle complex societal and educational challenges. Sithembile Nkosi, a lecturer in the Department of Nature Conservation, authored ‘Decolonising Conservation and Democratising Knowledge: A Case Study of WildConnect-ZA as a Community-Engaged Higher Education Initiative.’ Her work argues for the redistribution of epistemic authority, ensuring historically marginalised communities are recognised as legitimate conservation actors; while Bibin Mohan George, Themba Mngomeni Mthethwa, and Ayanda Sizwe Zondo from the Learning and Development Centre (LTDC) contributed an extensive 22-page study titled ‘Integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems for Epistemic Justice and Engaged Physics Education at a South African University of Technology.’
The publication is the result of a strategic partnership with Rhodes University, whose library hosts the online open-access journal. Professor Maphalala acknowledged this collaboration as an exemplification of the spirit of Ubuntu and shared academic goals.
The achievement has resonated beyond MUT, receiving praise from peers such as Tshidi Lelaka of Wits University, who lauded the work as a “beautiful achievement” and expressed a keen interest in future collaborative contributions.
The success of both the 2025 Engagement Conference and this subsequent publication reflects the growing strength of MUT’s research, innovation, and engagement ecosystem. “This reflects the University’s shared commitment to producing knowledge that is socially relevant, transformative, and impactful,” Professor Maphalala added. “May this achievement continue to raise the profile and impact of MUT locally, across the continent, and globally.”