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This paper evaluates the societal impact of the Ubuntu Project, one of three 2024 Societal Impact Projects implemented by the University of Venda (UNIVEN) in rural Limpopo Province, South Africa, alongside Skills for the Future (SfFP) and Phasing Out of Accounting. Centered on the Ubuntu Project, this project review examines its role in addressing community needs through collaborative engagement with stakeholders in the Vhembe and Mopani Districts. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with beneficiaries and stakeholders, complemented by quantitative surveys with 126 respondents, which were analysed using Thematic Analysis and SPSS software. Findings demonstrate the Ubuntu Project’s success in promoting Ubuntu principles of humanity, interconnectedness, and mutual support, enhancing social cohesion, reducing social isolation, and fostering positive behavioural changes, including decreased crime, teenage pregnancies, and substance abuse in participating villages. Commendations highlight robust community participation and intergenerational learning, though challenges such as limited funding, inconsistent oversight, and incomplete documentation of data were noted. Recommendations include securing sustainable funding, improving monitoring systems, and expanding stakeholder inclusivity. This evaluation underscores the Ubuntu Project’s potential as a culturally resonant university-community initiative, offering a model for societal transformation in rural contexts.

This paper examines the need to decolonise entrepreneurship education in South Africa by addressing epistemic inequalities and aligning curricula with local socio-economic realities. Grounded in decolonial and human capital theories, the study critiques existing programmes that are dominated by Western pedagogies privileging individualism and profit maximization. A literature review shows that current curricula inadequately reflect indigenous knowledge, community-oriented practices, and the informal economy, which remains a crucial site for livelihoods and economic participation. Three key gaps are identified: an overreliance on Eurocentric content, weak contextual relevance to South Africa’s socio-economic challenges, and the exclusion of indigenous and community-driven approaches. These shortcomings limit the curriculum’s capacity to prepare students to address pressing issues such as unemployment, inequality, and informality. The study argues for a decolonised curriculum that integrates African epistemologies, emphasizes social and community entrepreneurship, and produces graduates capable of contributing to inclusive and sustainable development. This study adopts a conceptual and integrative literature-based approach to examine the decolonisation of entrepreneurship education in South Africa. Drawing on peer-reviewed journal articles, policy documents, doctoral studies, and prior empirical research conducted within South African higher education contexts, the paper synthesises existing scholarship to identify structural gaps, epistemic exclusions, and contextual misalignments within entrepreneurship curricula. Rather than presenting new primary empirical data, the study draws on illustrative insights from established South African studies to support conceptual arguments. This approach is appropriate given the paper’s aim to advance theoretical clarity, curricular reflection, and contextually grounded recommendations for entrepreneurship education reform.

There has been a global recognition of the importance of the Ubuntu philosophy to decolonizing education in Africa and beyond. This recognition is a result of the usefulness of Ubuntu in decolonizing education and addressing the critical areas of value orientation among indigenous people, particularly in Africa. The call for integrating the principles of Ubuntu into the curriculum will facilitate behavioral modification and embed indigenous values and spirituality into the education system in Africa. However, this study aims to investigate the extent of research conducted on Ubuntu philosophy and the Decolonization of Education in Africa. The researchers performed a bibliometric analysis using Biblioshiny, a component of the bibliometric package in RStudio designed for text mining analysis, to collect data from the WoS database, the largest database. Data selection followed certain criteria, including that articles must be peer-reviewed, published between 2010 and 2024, and in English. The authors used the PRISMA flow model for data collection, which was analyzed with the RStudio statistical package to identify the most cited institutions and countries, production trends, and the most productive country. Results show South Africa as the most productive and cited country on Ubuntu philosophy and Decolonization. The findings also indicate the majority of the productions are single-country collaborations. The review also reveals authors like Metz (2010), Gade (2012), Letseka (2012), and Le Grange (2012) as the most influential authors emphasizing integration of Ubuntu philosophy in education theory and practice.