On 26 May 2025 to 27 May 2025, Mr Wu Lin, Chinese Director of the Durban University of Technology (DUT) Confucius Institute (CI), led a delegation of CI teachers and students to attend the Second G20 Education Working Group Meeting (EdWG) held in the North-West Province of South Africa, upon invitation. The delegation also participated in a special Ministerial Dinner and Student Exchange event hosted by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
On the evening of 26 May 2025, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, Minister of Higher Education and Training, presided over the dinner alongside Dr Nkosinathi Sishi, Director-General of International Relations at DHET; Ms Melissa Erra, Acting CEO of the National Skills Fund; the President of the South African Union of Students; and several South African scholarship recipients currently studying in China.
Minister Nkabane engaged deeply with the students returning from China, attentively listening to their academic and life experiences, including challenges faced as international students. She solicited their suggestions for optimizing international student affairs management. The Minister highly commended their academic achievements, emphasizing the critical role of international education in cultivating global perspectives and cross-cultural competencies. She affirmed the South African government’s commitment to supporting students studying abroad, pledged to carefully consider their recommendations, and vowed to enhance policies and services to create a better overseas study environment for South African students while attracting more international students to South Africa.
Sanele Ntuli, a local Chinese language teacher at the DUT Confucius Institute, shared his journey, starting as a Confucius Institute student, he had received a scholarship to study in China, and upon returning, dedicated himself to teaching Chinese in South Africa. “I stand here, hoping my story lights a fire in young South Africans. Learn Chinese, see China, then bring your brilliance back to build our nation,” he said.
The spotlight then shifted to Wei Yimei and Wang Wanting, two Beijing Foreign Studies University students, studying Zulu at DUT through Confucius Institute’s Zulu Language Summer Camp Programme. They were speaking, not in English or Mandarin, but in fluent, melodic isiZulu. They vividly shared their unique experiences and profound insights into learning the Zulu language and culture in South Africa. They specifically thanked DUT and its Confucius Institute for organising the Zulu Language Summer Camp, which provided them with in-depth learning opportunities. Their impressive presentation earned high praise from the Minister and unanimous acclaim from the guests. Notably, videos of their speeches, shared by DHET’s official accounts and local mainstream media on Facebook and TikTok, garnered over 110,000 views and 18,000 likes, significantly enhancing the South African public’s understanding and appreciation of Chinese youth engaging with South African language and culture.
Director Wu Lin briefed the Minister Nkabane on the achievements of DUT, its Confucius Institute, and its Chinese partner institution Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) in China-South Africa educational cooperation, language and cultural exchange, and youth talent development. He expressed hopes to expand cross-cultural exchange programmes and joint talent cultivation initiatives, deepening two-way educational cooperation: creating more opportunities for the South African youth to develop in China while encouraging more Chinese scholars to explore growth opportunities in South Africa, fostering a new chapter of mutual benefit.
These engagements under the G20 education cooperation framework not only established a strategic dialogue platform for the China-South Africa higher education collaboration but also highlighted the foundational role of language connectivity and youth mutual understanding in bilateral relations. Youth empowerment serves as a sustainable driver of China-South Africa cooperation. Looking ahead, the two nations aim to continue to deepen collaborations in education and cultural fields. As a vital pivot in China-South Africa people-to-people exchanges, the DUT Confucius Institute has indicated that it remains committed to supporting youth from both countries as they contribute to a new chapter of win-win cooperation through mutual exchanges.
Pictured: From left: Sanele Ntuli (DUT Confucius Institute); WEI Yimei (Beijing Foreign Studies University); Dr Nkosinathi Sishi (Director-General, DHET); The Honourable Dr Nobuhle Nkabane (Minister of Higher Education and Training); WANG Wanting (Beijing Foreign Studies University) and WU Lin (Chinese Director, DUT Confucius Institute).
Story supplied by the Confucius Institute at DUT.
