Capability Month 2026: Asking Where We Can Go
Every September, South Africa pauses to reflect on heritage — on the histories, cultures and communities that have shaped who we are. It is a question rooted in the past: where do we come from?
This September, Optentia invites you to sit with a companion question, one that looks forward rather than back: where can we go? Throughout the month, our Capability Month 2026 programme explores what becomes possible when people have the values, opportunities and conditions they need to flourish.
The idea behind Capability Month
Capability Month is grounded in the Capability Approach developed by economist Amartya Sen and philosopher Martha Nussbaum. Rather than measuring wellbeing only by income or resources, the Capability Approach asks a deeper question: what are people genuinely able to be and do? It shifts the focus from what people have to what they can actually achieve with it — the real freedoms and opportunities available to them.
That thinking connects naturally to the Ubuntu principle "I am because we are." Human potential is not something we realise alone; it grows through relationships, community and the conditions we create for one another. Capability Month places this shared human potential at its centre.
Three dimensions, one shared purpose
The programme is organised around three dimensions, each posing a question worth returning to:
Values — What do we have reason to value?
Enablement — What makes flourishing possible?
Achievement — What does flourishing look like?
Together they form one shared purpose: understanding not just what flourishing is, but what makes it possible and how we recognise it when we see it.
Events you can attend
Optentia is hosting a full programme of events throughout September. Everyone is welcome to join.
3 September — Mentor–Mentee Certificate Ceremony: A celebration of capability development through mentorship, recognising the growth that happens when experience and potential meet.
17 September — Colloquium: Reimagining Human Flourishing: An exploration of capabilities, Ubuntu and decolonisation in the South African context — asking what flourishing means from within our own histories and futures.
21 September — Burnout Assessment Tool Workshop: A practical workshop with international experts Prof. Wilmar Schaufeli and Prof. Leon de Beer, focused on understanding and measuring burnout.
22 September — Lecture: Burnout in Higher Education: Prof. Wilmar Schaufeli examines burnout in the demanding environment of higher education.
22 September — Lecture by Prof. Jasper Van Assche: An exploration of diversity ideologies, inclusion, and the conditions in which human capabilities can grow.
23 September — Book Launch: Capabilities at Work: The launch of Capabilities at Work, edited by Prof. Jac van der Klink and Prof. Sebastiaan (Ian) Rothmann and published by Cambridge University Press.
Join us
Capability Month runs throughout September 2026. To register for events, use the QR code on the programme poster.
For more information, contact Lynn Booysen at lynn.booysen@nwu.ac.za.
This September, come explore not just where we come from — but where, together, we can go.
