The University of Pretoria (UP) has officially launched a dialogue on future sustainability through the Africa Week 2025 science leadership summit, hosted at UP’s Future Africa institute under the theme “Global Security – Global Africa”.

Held in partnership with the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) and the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), Africa Week 2025 is taking place from 25 to 30 May and brings together leading African and international scientific leaders and stakeholders for a series of high-level discussions. The event aims to tackle pressing global and continental issues through inclusive and transformative dialogue. Africa Week 2025 features a number of parallel dialogues as part of the summit’s official side events and aligns with the African Union’s theme of the year for 2025, “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”.

“Our purpose is to reframe and broaden global security beyond its militarist confines, to uncover its multiple, hidden and overt meanings at present, and how they manifest at all levels of society,” said Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Francis Petersen. “While the call to silence the guns cannot be overlooked, there is an urgent need to address a broader range of security threats, including pandemics, advancements in information technologies, environmental and human degradation, climate change, and natural disasters.”

Professor Petersen noted that the programme was framed around four central questions: “Where are we at?”, which is being explored through the Future Africa Global Lecture; “What is at stake?”, which examines six critical security domains from both global and African perspectives; “What will it take?”, which identifies the essential enablers of global security; and “What about Africa?”, which revisits the previous questions through a focused lens on the continent’s unique context, challenges and opportunities.

Keynote speaker Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor of SOAS University of London and former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, spoke frankly about the challenges facing South Africa and the continent during his address titled “Where are We? South Africa and Africa’s Role in the Contemporary World”.

He criticised former US President Donald Trump’s treatment of South Africa, questioned the United States’ attempts to portray China as a threat to its prosperity, condemned the failure of South African political leadership at municipal and national levels, and called out far-right individuals in AfriForum for their apparent intention to undermine the country.

Professor Habib’s address set out three key recommendations for South Africa, with relevance for the broader African continent. First, he called for a clear foreign policy focus on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), warning that South Africa’s long-term economic development and strategic autonomy are at risk without it.

Second, he emphasised the urgent need to prioritise professional excellence in public institutions. This includes limiting politically motivated diplomatic appointments and addressing systemic governance failures that stem not only from corruption or cadre deployment, but also from a disregard for academic and professional competence in the name of transformation. He cautioned against the false dichotomy between excellence and representation, stating:

“Representativity without excellence violates our constitution – as does excellence without representation. The two are in tension, but can be reconciled, as Singapore so ably demonstrates.”

Finally, he underscored the importance of diplomatic agility and a cohesive national political identity that can withstand international reprisals. He urged South Africa’s political leaders to move beyond divisive and racialised rhetoric towards a unifying national vision that advances sustainable development, social cohesion and global credibility.