This year, Stellenbosch University's Matie Community Service – which is housed within the Division for Social Impact – made great strides in forming purposeful partnerships as part of its Mandela Week 2019 activities.

Together with staff and students, members from the community and other stakeholders joined in to help address the pressing food security challenges in the community.

On Tuesday, 23 July, volunteers packed close to 50 000 meal packs that were distributed among NGOs in the Stellenbosch community. This was a collaborative effort between the Division for Social Impact at SU, the international organisation Rise Against Hunger and South African Breweries, who funded the event.

Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organisation that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world's most vulnerable, mobilising the necessary resources with the aim to end hunger by 2030.

On Wednesday, 24 July members from Volkskerk Stellenbosch, Safe House Stellenbosch and the Stellenbosch Municipality's Disaster Management Unit helped to cook about 400 litres of hearty vegetable soup. This soup was distributed in communities that had been affected by the heavy rainfall over the past few weeks.

“These Mandela Week activities were a practical demonstration of one of the University's core strategic theme, which is to build purposeful partnerships and inclusive networks, while raising awareness about the critical food security needs within the surrounding community," said Renee Hector-Kannemeyer, Deputy Director: Social Impact. ​