Dr. Wanelisa Xaba has been an activist for the past 21 years, she is a writer and a feminist researcher passionate about reclaiming decolonial Black futures. She is a postdoctoral researcher at UCT in digital media sociology. She has lectured undergraduate and postgraduate studies on Queer rights and theories, Black feminism(s), decolonial theories and education. She is the author of In Pursuit of Epistemic Healing in South African Universities, which examines coloniality in higher education, the marginalisation of indigenous knowledge systems, and the ways Black students resist epistemic and spiritual violence in South African universities.

Dr. Mphutlane wa Bofelo stands as both scholar and sentinel of memory, a voice that bridges the academy and the streets, the written word and the living struggle. A researcher in Governance and Political Transformation, his expertise in Development Politics, Public Leadership, Popular Politics, and Worker Education is inseparable from his lifelong devotion to justice and human dignity. 
In 1983, he joined the Black Consciousness Movement through the Azanian Students Movement, carrying forward the flame lit by the youth of 1976. His activism led to eight months in detention and a one‑year prison sentence, yet prison could not silence his spirit. Upon release, he poured his energy into cultural and political platforms-Makana Poets, Makana Arts Commune, Azanian Youth Organization, the Muslim Youth Movement and the Anti-Racist Education Forum (AREF)—each a vessel for resistance, renewal, and the re‑imagining of freedom.

Nonkululeko “MaMntambo” Mntambo is an African writer, civil society practitioner, and founder of AfroManifesto, an archive of African manifestos. Her work sits at the intersection of politics, memory, faith, and social life. Her writing, including “How Relationality Precedes Thought: Descartes’ Cogito in Light of Ubuntu,” engages questions of power, identity, and metaphysics, with a particular interest in African thought and experience.

Nomzamo Zondo is currently serving as the Executive Director at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), Nomzamo joined SERI in 2013 as an attorney, driven by a lifelong desire to work alongside marginalized and exploited communities using the law to advance social justice. Within a year, she was appointed Director of Litigation, leading some of the organisation’s most significant legal battles. Today, she leads the organisation in its mission to support communities, social movements, and activists in their fight for dignity, equality, and human rights.

Throughout her career, Nomzamo has remained committed to ensuring that the law works for those who need it most. Whether it be defending communities facing eviction, advocating for better living conditions in informal settlements, or supporting grassroots movements agitating for land redistribution. She brings both legal expertise and a deep sense of purpose to her work, and a leadership style which is rooted in a simple but powerful conviction: that justice should not be a privilege enjoyed by a few, but a reality experienced by all.

Imvemnyama is a Johannesburg-based jazz singer, songwriter and live performer whose work merges contemporary jazz with storytelling rooted in cultural memory. Born Sive Mqikela in Komani in the Eastern Cape, he approaches music as a narrative practice—a way of documenting lived experience while engaging social and political undercurrents. He released his debut EP titled Emnyamandawo on 28 March 2026. The project expands his exploration of memory, identity, and voice, establishing him as a distinctive new presence in contemporary South African jazz.

iPhupho L’ka Biko is a Johannesburg-based Pan-Africanist jazz collective founded in 2015 by visionary bassist and composer Nhlanhla Ngqaqu. Born from the jam sessions, music schools, and resistance culture of Braamfontein, the band is a spiritual and sonic embodiment of Steve Biko’s dream—a dream of Black consciousness, unity, and self-determination through sound. Their name, iPhupho L’ka Biko, translates to “Biko’s Dream” in isiXhosa: iPhupho (Dream) speaks to God’s power to fulfill divine purpose Biko honours the legacy of Bantu Steve Biko and the struggle for self-love and justice. Through a seamless fusion of African indigenous sounds (like igwijo and imvumane), jazz, ritual, and experimental freedom, iPhupho L’ka Biko’s performances are more than music—they are sacred gatherings of healing, history, and revolution.