2026 IBSC Annual Conference
St. Stithians College
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
June 29 – July 2
Speakers
Hear from these compelling speakers to kickstart new ideas and engaging conversations.
Seth Sandile Mazibuko
Monday, June 29, 3:00 PM
Seth Sandile Mazibuko was the youngest leader of the South African Students' Organisation that planned and led the Soweto uprising and student march on June 16, 1976. He was also the youngest political prisoner held captive on Robben Island Prison in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Raised and educated in Soweto, the then 16-year-old was arrested in July 1976 and held in solitary confinement for 18 months before being charged, tried, and sent to Robben Island for seven years. While imprisoned, Mazibuko completed his Matric (grade 10) through correspondence and then earned his bachelor’s in education degree from the University of Southern Africa (UNISA).
After his release from Robben Island, he worked as a teacher at St. Ansgar’s College and Bophelo Institute, and later became the principal of Bophelo Institute, Mike Morrison College, and First National College. Dedicated to advancing education, Mazibuko continued to study with UNISA while working as an educator and attained a master’s degree in education. He embarked on his post-graduate degree when Clarke Atlanta University in the United States invited him as one of the African Scholars to work on joint research investigating education in African countries focusing on economic, social, and political transition in Africa. He continued his research and studies in Scotland and France.
Mazibuko is currently the COO of Moral Regeneration Movement. Previously he held roles in education and human resources for the governments of South Africa and Sweden. Mazibuko was the final chairperson of the Release Mandela Campaign and has served in the Free the Children Alliance fighting against detention and imprisonment of children, the Human Rights Commission, Committee on Immigrants and Xenophobia, and as chancellor of the June 16 Development Foundation.
Alex van den Heever and Renias Mhlongo
Thursday, July 2, 11:30 AM
In the late 19th century, Alex van den Heever's family was instrumental in establishing Afrikaans as an official language in South Africa, a language associated with oppression. Growing up, van den Heever experienced all the privilege and material benefit of the Apartheid regime's policies. Renias Mhlongo is from a family of hunter-gatherers in the greater Kruger National Park. Apartheid segregation laws forced them from their land. Refusing to be educated in the oppressor's language, Mhlongo abandoned school at age 10—destined for a life of poverty.
Years later, van den Heever and Mhlongo were thrown together as guide and tracker at Londolozi Game Reserve to lead safaris for discerning travelers. Their 30-year journey together has taken them from tracking leopards at Londolozi Game Reserve to following grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park and speaking internationally.
Van den Heever and Mhlongo have been the subjects of several TV news documentaries, most notably by CNN International. These two men have broken through the barriers of their backgrounds and formed a bond that has changed both their lives forever. The duo co-owns Kruger Untamed safari camps in Kruger National Park, which holds the distinction of being the only concession to achieve a perfect score on an environmental audit. Many view this relationship as a model in a democratic South Africa.