Mr Zakhe Khuzwayo was crowned the Student of the Year at the DUT Community Engagement Showcasing, Pitching, and Excellence Awards 2022. The awards are an initiative where DUT staff, students, and social partners are recognised, honoured, and awarded for their commitment to selflessly serving communities around them, all in line with the universities’ ENVISION2030 objectives, values, and principles.
Khuzwayo, a postgraduate student in the Department of Information and Corporate Management, is no stranger to community engagement work and has been an active initiator and supporter of community work during his time at DUT. He currently has a plethora of projects under his umbrella project, Men Carve.
Men Carve seeks to promote healthy manhood by creating a culture of equity and respect. It also seeks to eliminate gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual assault, whilst increasing bystander intervention.
“We are reshaping, reaffirming or redefining masculinity, we have conversations that no one else is having about what it means to be a good man,” Khuzwayo states.
The project also encompasses two smaller programmes, a programme formerly known as the Sakh’sizwe Campaign, but is now called the Nomfundo Mbatha Campaign in honour of the late DUT lecturer, and the #LiveRespect Movement.
The Nomfundo Mbatha Campaign provides food parcels to students and community members that do not have access to food. “We see a relationship between hunger and GBV in South Africa, especially the pressure on men to be providers. That is why we try to help those homes who struggle to get something to eat with the help of SA Harvest. We managed to distribute food parcels to more than 200 students in 2022,” shares Khuzwayo.
The #LiveRespect Movement specifically targets high school and primary school learners. It promotes healthy masculinity and discourages all forms of violence, discrimination and harassment. The programme has a curriculum which helps to prevent dating violence and bullying in schools and sports. Khuzwayo elaborates, “The easy-to-integrate curriculum offers coaches, educators, mentors, and youth advocates the tools to build young men of character.”
He explained that this programme also includes career guidance and motivation, and online university application support.
Speaking on his hopes for the future and the project, “We want to see the project in all South African universities and provinces, reaching more people and reshaping manhood.” Ultimately, they would like the initiative to be an international project, “We hope to have branches even in other countries who want to be promoters of healthy, respectful manhood. When I was in Thailand recently, I shared about the Men Carve project. Most of the other young leaders from different countries became interested in the issue we are addressing. They even asked me if it is possible to visit their universities with my teammates to have seminars about gender issues,” Khuzwayo affirms.
After receiving his award, Khuzwayo had a deep sense of gratitude, “It is a huge honour for me to receive this award for being the Community Engagement Student of The Year 2022. I am deeply honoured by my fellows for this recognition of my work.”
He thanked all those who he felt had significantly contributed to his journey, “I would like to thank The Men Carve Secretary General and Founder of Izithelo Ezinhle Project for her incredible effort. I would also like to dedicate this award to my late lecturer, teammate, friend and mother figure, Ms Nomfundo Mbatha. She was the one who gave me the opportunity to have these conversations and training sessions. May her soul rest in peace. I am what I am today because of the efforts of my late lecturer, I know she’s proud!”
Pictured: Mr Zakhe Khuzwayo with his award.
Tracy Khuzwayo