The 2020 UFS Transformation Review Week in brief - Have your say!

Taabo Mugume
The Transformation Review Week of the University of the Free State (UFS) is scheduled to take place from 7 to 11 September 2020 as an opportunity for the university community to celebrate our transformation achievements and to reflect on the challenges experienced at our institution towards realising the UFS transformation agenda. The UFS transformation agenda is set out in the UFS Strategic Plan 2018-2022 and the Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) towards the realisation of a socially just institution with a welcoming environment for all. The ITP is operationalised as the implementation tool of the UFS Strategic Plan.

The Transformation Week will be presented as a virtual Transformation Week, celebrating social justice, our common purpose, and our commitment to openness and engagement. The Transformation Week will showcase the UFS as an institution that responds to the needs of the local community, while at the same time participating in global knowledge production – an institution that has engaged actively with its colonial and apartheid legacies and recognises its common humanity and the universal nature of the intellectual endeavour.

The ITP has been under implementation since 2018. Hence, the ITP Review exercise is organised as the main invention of the UFS Transformation Week. Through the ITP Review exercise, the university is taking this opportunity to celebrate the achievements, to reflect critically on challenges encountered, and to explore the lessons learned during the first years of ITP implementation. In this regard, the UFS will host an esteemed panel of external experts to conduct a formative mid-term review of the ITP. The ITP Review panel members include:

1. Prof Barney Pityana
2. Prof Crain Soudien
3. Prof Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni

The panel will engage with students and staff of all three UFS campuses from 7 to 11 September 2020 about transformation at the UFS. The formative review report by the panel will provide the university with insights on how to progress towards accelerating transformation at the UFS.

In addition to the ITP Review exercise, the university will also be involved in other activities, which will celebrate our transformation achievements and share our challenges in order to engage the university community on transformation opportunities. These are contributions made by our staff members and students. It includes poems, songs, musical performances, articles, and personal stories. These contributions will be available on the university's website and digital platforms, the Blackboard teaching and learning platform, and social media.

The UFS invites all members of its community to participate in this virtual Transformation Week and to have your say.


ITP Transformation Week: Call for contributions

UFS Transformation Week: Contributions


OPINION ARTICLE


Opportunities revealed by COVID-19 for continuously developing a universally accessible university
by Mosa Moerane and Martie Miranda, Center for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) within the Division of Student Affairs


We are ready
by Khiba Aubrey Teboho, postgraduate student in the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of the Humanities. 

VIDEO CONTRIBUTIONS



 

 



 

 




 

 



 

 




 

 



 

 



POETRY CONTRIBUTIONS



Ma’Ntsho
Henewaa Djan

I was born like everyone else
With my fists clenched 
But I was not angry 

I was born like everyone else 
With my fists clenched 
I was named
I was called cute 
I was given nicknames 
At first, they were all cute 

I was born like everyone else 
With my fists clenched
I was told I was too dark 
Our helper called me Ma’Nthso 
(mother of blackness)

I was born like everyone else 
With my fists clenched 
I was told
I am well-spoken for a black girl 
I was told “you’re pretty for a dark-skinned girl”

I was born like everyone else 
With my fists clenched 
I am not angry 
But now they call me 
An angry black woman 
When did my name change?
When did you change my identity? 

I was born like everyone else 
With my fists clenched 
I was not angry 
I am still not angry 
I have constantly opened my arms to love, nurture 
And growth

But now I clench my fists again
Not out of anger, 
But to reclaim my identity 

I was born like everyone else 
With my fists clenched
I was born a dark black human 
Being … 
Fortunately, not like everyone else. 

Poet biography
Name: Priscilla Henewaa Djan
Year of Study: Fourth-year medical student
Biography: 
"I am a deeply flawed ever-changing young lady. I have had my fair share of experiences with institutionalised racism, racial prejudice, and overt racism. I previously let these define me. However, I can now boldly say I take no offense because I am ever proud of the phenotype into which I was born; a woman – black, bold, and beautiful."
Beyond understanding 
Henewaa Djan

I will continue to say 
“anyone else’s idea of you
belongs entirely to them” 

So no, it’s not because you are black 
Because black child 
You are 
Magical 
Your hair is an illusion 
You are 
a great creation 
beyond understanding
to the simple mind

Poet biography
Name: Priscilla Henewaa Djan
Year of Study: Fourth-year medical student
Biography: 
"I am a deeply flawed ever-changing young lady. I have had my fair share of experiences with institutionalised racism, racial prejudice, and overt racism. I previously let these define me. However, I can now boldly say I take no offense because I am ever proud of the phenotype into which I was born; a woman – black, bold, and beautiful."
Let's stop the flames
J Ngwenya

They sat down by the corner

As they saw the fire about to start

The flames of rage and anger filled the room Powerless they tried not to watch.
As much as they wanted to put the flames out, the fire went stronger and stronger; the heat came closer and closer to them, even though the mother tried to keep them away from it
Eventually it would get to them emotionally and psychologically

As they watched the man they looked up to as their HERO and PROTECTOR put marks as he roared like a lion on their mother
They try to look away, but her trembling and scared voice kept on making it impossible to do so She asks for forgiveness for something she doesn’t even know
But the rage in him suppressed the voice of reason

He kicks her and tells her, until you scream more than my mama did I am not going to be okay, I’m not letting you go
He keeps hitting her

The little boy and his sister by the corner, terrified and confused Assure each other of a good outcome
That all this will pass

As the girl cried silently, her brother embraces her and says, it’s not the first time let’s not scream, maybe he won’t hit us like the last time
The girl says to the brother, I wish it was tomorrow already

So he can buy mommy flowers and those nice chocolates, so he can apologise and be sweet again. The mother keeps screaming for mercy but he keeps kicking her until her voice went down.
Because of his own loud voice that kept on saying,  ‘I said scream louder than my mother‘, he couldn’t tell that her voice had disappeared, and she was no longer moving.
 
The girl cried ‘mama! Mama! Scream so he can let you go’, but her mother did not respond; normally she would say it’s okay baby, and later tell them that your father is not a monster,

He just needs a little love; he had a rough life, let’s give him a chance

But how many chances can one give and how many chances can one get? No one is born a monster,
Yes, a monster is created.

As soon as his senses came back, he realised she was not breathing, He runs out with a rope in his hands looking for the nearest tree.
How long will the rage and anger rule over the perpetrators? How long will the victims hope for change?
How many more?

How many more children should go through the trauma? How many more women should be victims?
What went wrong?

Where did the flames come from? Why did they start?
Why did it have to go this far? When is enough, enough?
Break the silence and save lives.

Let’s stop the flames before they leave permanent and continuous marks.
Be loud, be seen, and take action
Thomelo Lehlehla

Be loud, be seen and take action, the world has never loved you
It is now time to voice your truth, it is now time to be loud
And let the world know your story
You cried, you felt the pain, you endured
But it’s ENOUGH NOW, take back your power
Your BODY is your throne, it is now time to sit on your throne and own it 
It’s been a long time they felt entitled to your throne
Now it is time to be seen, Girl child
Now it is time to take action
Oh, how stupid and foolish, they thought they took your power
But they forgot one thing, that you are the pillar of their strength
You are the glue of their communities
Oh, Girl child, how strong and powerful you are
Stand up and be seen and claim your power from monsters
Monsters who claim to be your friend, brother, uncle, and husband
Monsters who claim to love you and take care of you
Yet they kill you like a dog
Monsters who once made you feel safe
Monsters who once made you believe in love
Monsters who once made you smile and be happy
But now when the sun set, all that happiness
All that glitters turns into tears and blood
Oh, how bedrooms and bathrooms are so full of blood
Children crying so sad, their hearts bleeding
Living in the sorrow of seeing their Mothers being beaten and killed everyday
Oh God, what a cruel creature you created
Filled with anger and rage, having no mercy at all
So much darkness in its heart
When the sunrise, the room is so silent like nothing happened
Yet, you can tell how the night had pierced everyone’s heart.
Oh, Girl child, where can you run to?
When home is no longer safe for you!!

Poet biography
Thomelo is a second-year Bachelor of Social Sciences student majoring in Business Management and Political Science. He is hardworking, goal-oriented, a 2019 Golden Key Honorary student, and driven by life circumstances many find adverse. An aspiring writer, future leader, and a philanthropist at heart, Thomelo is an entrepreneur with sharp skills and creative thinking abilities.

Thomelo Lehlehla Read More



A cry for change, for transformation and equality for South Africa
Khiba Aubrey Teboho


Why us?


Why we the only ones suffering? Why are we the vexatious nation?
What have we done?
To who?

What have we done?
What qualifies us to such treatment?
What have we done?
To who?


Why is the nation suffering?
Why do elites have everything beautiful this land has?
What have we done?
To who?


What did the son of God die for?
What did the descendants of this land die for?
What have we done?
To who?


Why are we weighing the existence of each other?
Why are we enemies of the same skin?
What have we done?
To who?


Poet Biography
Khiba Aubrey Teboho is a postgraduate student in the Department of Sociology (UFS Bloemfontein Campus). He holds a BA Degree in Sociology and Languages and a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). He is currently doing his honours degree in Sociology and currently, he serves as a student lab assistant for ICT Services at the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. He has been awarded several certificates in his area of academic specialisation and student participation, including a certificate in selfless service to the university as a student volunteer. He has authored several academic opinion pieces and participated in a wide variety of department programmes in the university.

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

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