The violent xenophobic attacks that spread through South African communities recently, together with their widely-circulating news headlines, left many feeling hopeless, and praying for our country to be healed.

However, not everyone has remained silent or inactive to the hopelessness. With each passing day, we saw many South Africans standing for justice for our brothers and sisters from around Africa and the world. The office of Student Affairs took a stand, wanting to contribute as agents in the healing process that would ultimately mend our country’s brokenness.

As many can attest, music is believed to be the vehicle for bringing nations together, uniting and strengthening bonds across all cultural and national divides. The Kovsies Beyond Borders Concert not only generated excitement amongst students, but also ensured that we remain conscious of the events within our community. 

The opening performances were by our own very talented Kovsie students, who graced the crowd with a selection of songs about unity and promises of a better tomorrow for all. Freshly Ground and Micasa set the stage alight with exciting and exhilarating performances. Each band was strategically chosen: Freshly Ground being a truly international band, whose members come from all over the African continent, while Micasa has been very vocal about their concern about xenophobic attacks.

When asked about the initiative behind the concert, acting Dean of Student Affairs, Cornelia Faasen, had this to say: “The idea for this concert came about during one of the discussions on campus around statues and symbolism. One of our post-doctoral fellows from Zimbabwe said that he had expected Bloemfontein and the University of the Free State to be racist places, based on our reputation, but he has not experienced them as such. However, he has experienced bouts of xenophobia.  This really stuck with me because at a university we should always embrace foreignness and strangeness, as it allows us to grow, and to deepen our understanding of the world.  We cannot claim to be a university of international standing when we don’t embrace foreign staff and students in our midst.”

The Student Affairs office hopes that students walked away with a sense of community as well as a desire to fight discrimination.