When Professor Rethabile Possa looks back at what prompted her to rethink postgraduate supervision, she does not begin with graduation statistics. She begins with a friend.
The friend was a student who had spent eight years pursuing her doctorate. She was nearing the end of a long and difficult journey when, according to Professor Possa, she died in her sleep at a shelter after losing her funding, accommodation and had no financial means to support herself.
For Possa, the circumstances surrounding her friend's final years exposed a painful gap in postgraduate education: a student could be academically registered at a university while simultaneously struggling with isolation, financial insecurity, social expectations and deteriorating mental health.
Unable to afford rent, her friend, who was a student in the University of Cape Town's (UCT) Faculty of Humanities, eventually ended up in a shelter. But even as her circumstances deteriorated, she remained determined to finish her PhD.
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"She told me: 'I can never go back without a PhD'," Possa said. Her friend felt immense pressure because people at home expected her to return with a doctorate from UCT.
"What if postgraduate supervision did not have to be an isolated journey?"
The academic who was supposed to help her progress became another source of distress. Possa said her friend could wait as long as eight months for feedback from her supervisor, only to receive comments she experienced as derogatory and demeaning, including criticism of her English.
Possa remembers seeing her friend on campus in a state she describes as resembling that of a "vagrant".
"She was not mentally okay."
She suggested that her friend go home and rest. But the answer was no. She could not go home without the PhD.
Eventually, the pressure became overwhelming.
For Possa, the tragedy raised a question that would shape her work from 2020 onwards: What if postgraduate supervision did not have to be an isolated journey?
From isolation to community
Possa began developing a model called the Letsema Theory of Postgraduate Supervision, drawing on Africentrism and the African philosophy of letsema - collective effort, mutual support and shared responsibility.
Rather than placing the postgraduate student in an isolated relationship with a supervisor, the model creates a community around the student.
Students at different stages of their degrees meet, present their work, exchange ideas, share resources, and encourage one another. Possa also holds monthly seminars and writing retreats, grouping students by the stage of their research.
A student working on a proposal, for example, can receive support from peers at the same stage. Those working on literature reviews can share resources. More advanced students can provide feedback to those who are further behind.
"I realised that the relationship between a student and a supervisor is actually a relationship that does not have humanity."
The supervisor stays central but is no longer the only source of academic support. Possa said she also makes space for students to talk about their lives beyond their research. "I would first of all give them a chance to see how they are feeling; how they are doing at home," she said.
Students are encouraged to share their personal challenges and experiences, creating a support network that extends beyond formal supervision.
For Possa, that human connection is fundamental. She said conventional postgraduate supervision can create a frightening relationship in which students become anxious about meetings with their supervisors and feel expected to work entirely on their own.
"I realised that the relationship between a student and a supervisor is actually a relationship that does not have humanity."
The Letsema model attempts to change that.
The power of peers
One of its central features is peer-to-peer feedback. Possa said students often respond differently when presenting their research to fellow postgraduate students than when presenting directly to a supervisor.
It's "lighter" when feedback comes from peers. The result is what Possa describes as "positive pressure".
A student who knows that a seminar is approaching has a reason to keep working. Instead of worrying about what a supervisor might think, the student begins asking what their colleagues will think if they arrive without anything to present.
That accountability can help keep students moving. The approach has also created a community in which students continue supporting one another outside formal sessions, including through communication platforms such as WhatsApp.
Possa said students share resources, ideas and advice even when she is not directly involved. "It's like I've created that community that understands each other."
The approach has since expanded considerably. Possa began with a cohort of three PhD students. The group has grown to 16, with five completing their doctorates and one graduating with a master's degree in 2026.
The broader model has contributed to eight PhD and three master's completions since 2022.
For her, these outcomes provide evidence that the model can work.
"I can confirm I have tested it. It is working," she said.
But the numbers are only part of the story. The model was designed around a problem that cannot be captured entirely by completion rates. What happens to students as they try to finish?
Possa believes the answer must include their mental health, social circumstances, financial realities and sense of belonging.
Decolonising the way students are supervised
Possa sees the programme as a practical way to bring the idea of decolonisation into an area of university life that sometimes receives less attention than curriculum reform.
The objective, she explained, is not necessarily to change the research students conduct, but to change the way they are supported while conducting it.
The model challenges an individualistic approach to postgraduate education by drawing on communal African traditions of working together. She said students do not lose academic independence by receiving support from their peers. Instead, presenting and defending their ideas repeatedly helps them develop a deeper understanding of their own research.
"I don't have any student who can go missing for two months without me knowing what they're doing because of the monthly seminars."
By the time students submit, she said, they have already had opportunities to explain their work from beginning to end, respond to questions and incorporate feedback. This also means that students are less likely to disappear from the supervision process for extended periods.
"I don't have any student who can go missing for two months without me knowing what they're doing because of the monthly seminars," Possa said.
She now believes the model could be expanded beyond her own group and potentially adopted across a faculty or university. Her proposal includes Letsema research communities that bring together master's students, PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows, supervisors, and recent graduates.
She envisages monthly faculty-wide research seminars, structured peer mentorship, writing retreats and opportunities for senior doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows to develop academic leadership skills.
The model could, she said, help universities address several challenges simultaneously - postgraduate completion, retention, research culture, inclusion, student well-being and transformation.
Possa has already discussed expanding the approach with university leadership and believes it could initially be tested at faculty level before scaling up.
She also cited an example from engineering in which a group-based approach to student work was reportedly successful, suggesting that collaborative postgraduate models are not necessarily restricted to the humanities.
"We're not saying change the content. We're saying let's change the approach."
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Those who have gone through the programme attest to its success.
Sense of community
Manthabile Maduna, who graduated with her PhD this week, compared Letsema to life in her childhood in Lesotho. "Community members would assist one another with any work that required hard labour: working in the fields, gathering firewood or collecting stones for building. Villagers would merrily join hands because they believed that unity enables people to achieve far more than they can on their own."
She said when she started her PhD in 2024, she thought her journey would be one of solitude. "Instead, my supervisor welcomed me into a WhatsApp group that became a new home. We shared challenges, encouraged one another, and offered collective support. Through grief and loss, especially after losing my mother in October 2024, the support I received was immeasurable.
"Letsema's approach has been so much of a blessing to me, especially as an international student."
"Today, I am among UCT's graduated PhD students because of Letsema. My colleagues have become my brothers and sisters, and our family tree now has branches that stretch across many tribes and nations of Africa."
For Thulani Nzama, who also graduated with his PhD, one of the programme's greatest strengths was the sense of community it created. "Through regular cohort writing retreats, monthly research seminars and online participation, I remained connected with my peers despite being based in Durban. My colleagues were always willing to assist, creating a reciprocal relationship that made a meaningful difference to my journey. Most importantly, Letsema demonstrated that postgraduate success does not have to be a lonely journey but can be strengthened through collective support and genuine academic community."
Nigerian student Oluwakemi Oluwatoba is in her first year of her PhD studies and described Letsema as a healing to her academic trauma. "During my undergraduate research, I once wept in the supervisor's office because he was yelling at me every day. Letsema's approach has been so much of a blessing to me, especially as an international student."
