Some former students who are currently trainee diplomats at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

After finishing his BA degree in International Studies at Stellenbosch University in 2009, Daniel spent a year in South Korea teaching English.  He now lives in Greenwich Village NYC - just around the corner from Washington Square Park - where he works in sales for a business-to-business conferencing company.

Marina completed her undergraduate B.A. (International Studies) and B.A. Honours (Political Science) at Stellenbosch University. During the second semester of 2011 she went on an exchange at l'Institut d'études politiques (Sciences-Po) in Paris, France. After completing her thesis on piracy in Somalia and Southeast Asia, she graduated with an M.A. (International Studies) in March 2012. She is currently an Intern at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Cape Town, with the Arms Management Programme. So far, she has worked on a publication entitled: "Negotiating an Arms Trade Treaty: A Toolkit for African States" - which was launched at the UN in New York in July 2012. Other research work includes the link between piracy and the international arms trade, as well as the feasibility of using ICTs in humanitarian work - with specific focus on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) in Uganda and South Sudan.

Amore has in the short time since graduating with Honours in Political Science in December 2011, gained experience in the Local Government Sector, the South African Parliament, and in the NGO sector.

Local Government experience occurred while completing an internship with a company that works at the private-public interface in the City of Cape Town. Amore received much exposure to the South African Parliament while concurrently completing an internship with a Parliamentary Monitoring, Political Consultancy and Lobbying Company. While completing the latter internship she obtained first-hand experience in the South African Parliament and was greatly exposed to the MPs of both the ruling party as well as opposition parties.

Currently Amore is in the NGO sector working at the FW de Klerk Foundation. She works predominantly for their Centre for Constitutional Rights. Amore is gaining much experience attuned to Law and Constitutional Rights. Having her work published and being able to make a difference - no matter how small, has made working in the NGO sector has been the most rewarding thus far.

Matthew graduated (cum laude) in 2010 with a BA in International Studies at Stellenbosch University - achieving a triple major in French, Political Science and History.

After graduating from Stellenbosch, Matthew went on to do his Masters in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge.  He is currently working with the United Nations International Organization for Migration in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  He also does consulting work and paper writing for different businesses and development networks looking to work in developing countries.

Alexa du Plessis, a former SU Politics student is now a Foresight Researcher, for Fast Future Research, a boutique consulting company. Fast Future specialises in scenario building, and future planning for organizations and companies - a powerful way to anticipate change and be ready for what the future holds. Alexa lives in London and enjoys travelling both for work and pleasure.  She hopes to bring her understanding of scenario planning and foresight work to conflict mediation and peace building in the future, and return to work in Africa.

Alexa completed her undergraduate and honours in International Relations through the Politics Department at Stellenbosch University, majoring in Politics and English and graduating with a B+. She maintained an academic focus on conflict in Africa and went on to complete a MLitt in Peace and Conflict Studies under Roger McGinty and Ian Taylor at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, graduating with a first class pass. While at St Andrews, she spent time in Rwanda for her dissertation on post-conflict Rwanda as a developmental state, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina conducting field work for her paper on grassroots peace building in the Balkans.

Alexa's passion is for Africa, and she has spent time living and working in Malawi at the Krizevac Project, and backpacked through East Africa, enjoying the natural beauty the region has to offer as well as the happy people and diverse cultures. She has also worked for ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainable Development, and a short stint at Organization Development Africa, a management consulting company in Cape Town.

Renee completed her BA International Studies in 2007.  She is currently working on her MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with an African concentration at American University in Washington, DC.  She will graduate in May of 2011.  In addition to her studies, Renee is an intern at the Fund for Peace.  This organization is best known for publishing the annual Failed State Index in Foreign Policy magazine.  Renee works in the conflict assessment division, as well as focusing on early warning assessment.  She is currently working on the Universal Network of Local Knowledge (UNLOCK) project, which focuses on using local information to document trends regarding different aspects of state failure.  Renee also writes country profiles, focusing on how state failure has changed in the last year in a given country.

Evelien currently works as the Head of the International Section for Westminster Explained (the training division of The House Magazine, which is the weekly magazine for the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom). Besides monitoring political trends and policies; it also supports government departments and organisations from the wider public sector in becoming more efficient in the work they do.  Evelien is charged with developing bespoke learning programmes for international governments and other organisations. Depending on the learning needs we identify during our consultancy work with a particular client, we design programmes on policy making, the Westminster model, parliamentary scrutiny or even on skills like negotiating, lobbying and working together with stakeholders. Recently, she worked with a Chinese delegation on anti-corruption and also had members of the Iraqi government over to London for a programme on Good Governance and Parliamentary Scrutiny. She has also started working on the European Union with both member and accession states. What she likes most about her job is the combination of working in a political-international environment, learning a lot about good governance and developing a taste for business acumen in the process. Stellenbosch prepared me very well for this international encounter and it is great to complement the academic background with the skills you pick up by actually doing it!

Luzelle completed a BA International Studies and MPhil (Political Studies) degrees in 2005 and 2007, respectively. After completing her studies, Luzelle worked at a research-focused management consultancy in Cape Town, where most of her work involved nation-building project coordination at the South African Parliament. She currently works for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Cape Town. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Media24 Rachel's Angels Trust, a black economic and leadership empowerment programme that partners with students at Stellenbosch University and selected disadvantaged schools in the Western Cape province.

Simon completed his Masters in International Studies, half of which was completed on exchange at the University of Amsterdam. Straight after graduating he joined the research and strategy firm Emerging Market Focus, working on the Africa team and concentrating on the environment of business in Sub-Saharan African states for SA firms and multinationals interested in market entry. In 2007 he helped start consulting firm Frontier Advisory, where he headed the Africa research team and focused, amongst other factors, on Africa's political and economic environment relevant to the private sector, developments in African capital markets, private equity opportunities and business development. Since April 2009 he is working for Standard Bank in Kenya (CFC Stanbic) as the East African economist for the Group Economics Research Division.

I am currently in Geneva, Switzerland attempting at cracking the working world of international relations. I am working with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (The IFRC), the largest humanitarian organisation to date which provides relief to the most vulnerable in times of natural disasters. The earthquake Sichuan was the Federation biggest 'job', which was quite tricky as the government did not want external aid so as to ensure that they wouldn't owe any Governments anything. Governments like these make humanitarian work very difficult, which is one of the many things that one learns from working in the humanitarian field. I am an intern in their international relations department and my responsibilities involve running the events calendar (searching for international events that are of humanitarian interest to the Red Cross), attending meetings and conferences on international issues and challenges at the UN, Inter-parliamentary Union, UNHCR, ILO, IOM amongst others. It has been great and as been a real eye opener into the actual happenings of state and non-state interaction on the global platform. It is also very interesting when it comes to adopting resolutions to see which states stick together in terms of the votes. It is often a clear divide between developed and developing countries. Having studied the degree that I did (BA International Studies 2005-2007) has been the essential foundation to the work I have been exposed to here which ranges from human rights, female genital mutilation to international humanitarian law and much more. Geneva also has a tremendous amount to offer for graduates of International Relations, in terms of further education, internship programmes and employment. Knowing as many languages as possible is also a great asset in the world of international relations and being here has helped me tremendously in polishing off my French before I tackle Spanish, as another one of the official United Nations languages.

I did my undergrad in Stellenbosch from 2002 - 2004; BA International Relations. I then did an exchange through the Department with Sodertorns Hogskola in Stockholm, Sweden from January - June 2005, and returned to finish my Honours in Political Science with the Department that year. In 2006 I completed my Masters in Political Science with the Department. Through the Department I also obtained a scholarship to commence with my PhD studies in International Relations in St Andrews, Scotland. In 2007 I completed my residency year in St Andrews for the PhD. In January 2008 I was appointed as a Senior Programme Officer with the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), based in South Africa, where I work on peacekeeping and peacebuilding in African conflict zones. I currently am with ACCORD, and am completing my PhD with the University of St Andrews. Stellenbosch provided me with the skills to analyse and be critical of what is going on in the world around me, and to challenge and provide my own solutions. Knowledge cannot be taught, but you can be given the skills with which to seek it, to understand it, to challenge it, and to redefine it. I guess that is what my time as a Matie in the PolSci Department gave me. 

After completing my MPhil at Stellenbosch, I moved over the the UK in February 2007. I started working at an immigration consultancy firm in London as a consultant, and was there for about 18 months. Since November 2008, I have been working at PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal in their immigration practice, as a paralegal. I focus on business immigration, and primarily advise companies in relation to business immigration law and policy.