The term of the Institutional Forum (IF) representative, Mr Khaya Matiso, expired in July 2024 and a Special election meeting was held on 24 July 2024 where Mr Bamanye Matiwane was elected as the Alumni Association IF representative. Mr Matiwane currently serves as the Head of the Political Secretariat for the Medical Society and a Board Member for the Eastern Cape Provincial Education Advisory Council. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (2017) and BA Honours in Sociology (2019) from Nelson Mandela University. Bamanye served as President of the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and was a former Executive Board Member of NSFAS. He is a former SRC President of at Nelson Mandela University and served two terms and was a District Deputy Director for the Department of Small Business Development. Mr Matiso was thanked for his dedicated service to the IF, the Alumni Association Executive Committee and the University over the past six years.
Members of the Association were also reminded of the four focus areas of the Association which include (a) Graduate & Student Employability & Livelihoods; (b) Mentorship & Personal Development Support; (c) Resource Mobilisation and (d) Governance & Alumni Services.
We need our alumni to assist in securing opportunities for work-integrated learning, internships and jobs for our students and young graduates. The Association calls on our alumni to connect with their faculties and academic programmes and share their expertise and willingness to support. Having role models and mentors can make a difference in the life of students and young graduates.
Bursary and Scholarship support is required to assist missing middle students, postgraduate students as well as addressing historical debt. We continue to call on our alumni to support their alma mater and be part of building a stronger culture of giving. The Association also encourages alumni to join the Mandela Alumni Connect online networking platform, to also connect to the various alumni social media platforms and to ensure that their contact details are updated.