#GivingMaties 2026 | The Fight Against Student Food Insecurity with Viwe Benxa and and Alwin Mabuza
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How many students at one of South Africa's most prestigious universities are choosing between eating and studying? More than the numbers suggest — because most of them never ask for help.
They suffer in silence, navigating food insecurity behind the façade of a normal student life. And according to the people driving Stellenbosch University's #GivingMaties campaign, the problem is not a lack of food. It is a lack of funding.
In this episode of the Breakfast Club on MFM 92.6, Caleb and Jade sit down with Viwe Benxa and Alwin Mabuza, both Giving Maties Coordinators from SU's Development and Alumni Relations, on the final day of the 40-day #GivingMaties campaign. Together, they make the case for why student food insecurity is a systemic funding crisis — and why every member of the SU community, from alumni to first-years, has a role to play in addressing it.
What we cover in this episode:
- What is #GivingMaties?: The goals of the 40-day campaign, what it has been trying to achieve in 2026, and why it is structured as a community-wide mobilisation rather than a traditional fundraising drive.
- The Hidden Reality of Food Insecurity: Alwin unpacks the uncomfortable truth that many SU students are quietly choosing between eating and attending class — and why the silence around that reality makes the problem harder to solve.
- #Move4Food on the Ground: Launched in 2018, the #Move4Food initiative provides direct food allowances to students facing financial hardship. Viwe explains what that support actually looks like for a student who receives it — and why dignity is central to how it is delivered.
- 700 Instances of Support: What a single year's worth of financial assistance, supermarket vouchers, sponsored meals, and food parcels tells us about the true scale of need at SU — and why one-off crisis aid is never enough.
- Funding, Not Food, Is the Problem: Alwin makes the critical distinction between symptom and cause — and explains why stabilising, practical support that addresses the root of student funding gaps is the only approach that creates lasting change.
- A Community That Showed Up: The response from alumni, staff, students, and faculties over 40 days — and what that groundswell of participation means for the campaign's long-term impact.
- You Don't Have to Do Something Massive: Why sharing a WhatsApp message is a legitimate and meaningful act of participation — and how small contributions aggregate into real change for real students.
Key Resources & Highlights:
Donate or Sign Up: givengain.com/event/givingmaties2026.
Students Needing Support: Reach out anonymously and confidentially via supportus@sun.ac.za — because, as Viwe puts it, these initiatives exist so that students can be helped in a dignified manner.
Businesses Wanting to Contribute: Contact the SU giving team at giving@sun.ac.za.
Follow the Campaign: @givingmaties on Instagram.
MFM 92.6 is proud to amplify the voices and initiatives shaping student life at Stellenbosch University. This is a conversation about funding, dignity, and what it means to show up for your community — however you can.
Stream MFM 92.6: www.mfm.co.za
Follow us on Socials: @mfm926
They suffer in silence, navigating food insecurity behind the façade of a normal student life. And according to the people driving Stellenbosch University's #GivingMaties campaign, the problem is not a lack of food. It is a lack of funding.
In this episode of the Breakfast Club on MFM 92.6, Caleb and Jade sit down with Viwe Benxa and Alwin Mabuza, both Giving Maties Coordinators from SU's Development and Alumni Relations, on the final day of the 40-day #GivingMaties campaign. Together, they make the case for why student food insecurity is a systemic funding crisis — and why every member of the SU community, from alumni to first-years, has a role to play in addressing it.
What we cover in this episode:
- What is #GivingMaties?: The goals of the 40-day campaign, what it has been trying to achieve in 2026, and why it is structured as a community-wide mobilisation rather than a traditional fundraising drive.
- The Hidden Reality of Food Insecurity: Alwin unpacks the uncomfortable truth that many SU students are quietly choosing between eating and attending class — and why the silence around that reality makes the problem harder to solve.
- #Move4Food on the Ground: Launched in 2018, the #Move4Food initiative provides direct food allowances to students facing financial hardship. Viwe explains what that support actually looks like for a student who receives it — and why dignity is central to how it is delivered.
- 700 Instances of Support: What a single year's worth of financial assistance, supermarket vouchers, sponsored meals, and food parcels tells us about the true scale of need at SU — and why one-off crisis aid is never enough.
- Funding, Not Food, Is the Problem: Alwin makes the critical distinction between symptom and cause — and explains why stabilising, practical support that addresses the root of student funding gaps is the only approach that creates lasting change.
- A Community That Showed Up: The response from alumni, staff, students, and faculties over 40 days — and what that groundswell of participation means for the campaign's long-term impact.
- You Don't Have to Do Something Massive: Why sharing a WhatsApp message is a legitimate and meaningful act of participation — and how small contributions aggregate into real change for real students.
Key Resources & Highlights:
Donate or Sign Up: givengain.com/event/givingmaties2026.
Students Needing Support: Reach out anonymously and confidentially via supportus@sun.ac.za — because, as Viwe puts it, these initiatives exist so that students can be helped in a dignified manner.
Businesses Wanting to Contribute: Contact the SU giving team at giving@sun.ac.za.
Follow the Campaign: @givingmaties on Instagram.
MFM 92.6 is proud to amplify the voices and initiatives shaping student life at Stellenbosch University. This is a conversation about funding, dignity, and what it means to show up for your community — however you can.
Stream MFM 92.6: www.mfm.co.za
Follow us on Socials: @mfm926
