Fikile Vilakazi

Vilakazi-Alberts began her involvement in student and community organizing as a University of the Western Cape student in the 1990s. She chaired Cassinga Residence from 1994 to 1996 and served on an interim Student Representative Council in 1998. Her work subsequently expanded into feminist activism, LGBTQ+ rights, public policy, and community development.

From 2007 to 2012, she served as Executive Director of the Coalition of African Lesbians, a continental feminist organization advocating for the rights and visibility of African lesbian women. Her activism also included South Africa's same-sex-marriage movement and international human-rights advocacy. In 2012, she delivered a joint statement on women human-rights defenders at the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of the Coalition of African Lesbians.

Vilakazi-Alberts has held academic roles in Political Science and Public Policy and has pursued research in gender, sexuality, feminism, public policy, human rights, and social justice. Her professional record also includes work in social development, organizational development, advocacy, participatory development, and movement building.

She became Director of the Gender Equity Unit at the University of the Western Cape on January 1, 2023. During her tenure, she helped establish and sustain Queer Dubs, a forum supporting queer staff and activism at UWC. UWC documented her departure from the university in July 2026.