CSA Salutes SASCO’s 35 Years of Unbroken Service to Students

The Commonwealth Students’ Association congratulates the South African Students Congress on three and a half decades of student activism, governance, and leadership

The Commonwealth Students’ Association (CSA) has extended its warmest congratulations and solidarity to the South African Students Congress (SASCO) on the occasion of its 35th Anniversary, celebrated on 6 September 2026 at the University of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal.

The celebration, held under the banner “35 Years of Unbroken Service to Students,” brought together SASCO’s national leadership, government officials, labour representatives, and members of the broader progressive movement. Addresses were delivered by SASCO President Alungile Kamtshe, ANC First Deputy Secretary General Nomvula Mokonyane, Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela, NEHAWU General Secretary Zola Saphetha, an official of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and members of the Progressive Youth Alliance. The main event was preceded by a week of regional celebrations across SASCO structures in KwaZulu-Natal, running from 1 to 5 September 2026.

SASCO’s founding traces back to 1991, when the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) and the South African National Students Congress (SANSCO) merged at Rhodes University to form a single, unified student movement. Over the past 35 years, that movement has grown into one of the most consequential student organisations on the African continent, shaping generations of leaders who have gone on to occupy pivotal positions across South Africa’s political, civic, and institutional life.

In a formal letter addressed to SASCO President Cde. Alungile Kamtshe, the National Executive Committee, and the general membership of SASCO, CSA President Francis Azubuike, AIoL, conveyed the Association’s congratulations on behalf of its network of over 45 National Student Organisations across 56 Commonwealth nations.

The letter described SASCO as a “kindred spirit” to the CSA’s own mission, noting that student organising is “not a rehearsal for leadership, it is leadership itself, exercised in real time, under real pressure, in defense of real people.” It further recognised SASCO’s decades of campaigning for access to education and the transformation of historically exclusionary institutions as a reference point for student movements across the Commonwealth.

“Thirty-five years is not an anniversary to be marked quietly,” the letter states. “It is an achievement to be declared, defended, and built upon.”

As SASCO marks this milestone, the CSA reaffirmed its continued solidarity with the organisation and its membership, wishing SASCO strength for the next 35 years of service to students across South Africa.

The CSA remains committed to strengthening ties with National Student Organisations across the Commonwealth, recognising anniversaries such as this as important markers of the enduring role student movements play in shaping democratic and educational institutions.