More about myself:

I have in-depth experience of community mobilisation, community development, and conflict resolution. Having been involved with higher education transformation for the past 31 years offered me the opportunity to fuse community development with one of the core functions of a university, namely community engagement.

My role mainly involves the following:

• Strategic leadership
• Coordination of institutionally engaged scholarship programmes and processes
• Building and supporting sustainable partnerships

We are privileged to be part of a team that ensures that the university is committed to its mission of building an institution that is engaged in finding sustainable solutions to societal challenges in partnership with different communities.
 
 

Rethabile Motseki
Office Manager: Directorate for Community Engagement
T: +27 51 401 2142
M: +27 78 766 8073
E: MotsekiR@ufs.ac.za

More about myself:

Backed by years of experience, I serve as Office Manager within the Directorate for Community Engagement. I provide strategic administrative coordination, stakeholder engagement, project support, and operational management within the higher education environment. Over the years, I have developed a strong understanding of institutional processes, governance, and community engagement practices, allowing me to effectively support initiatives that advance the university’s societal impact agenda. I am passionate about creating organised, efficient, and collaborative working environments that strengthen relationships, support strategic objectives, and contribute to meaningful community engagement outcomes.

Key responsibilities include the following:

• Coordinating office operations, executive support, governance processes, and administrative functions within the directorate.
• Managing events, outreach programmes, project logistics, procurement, budgeting, and financial administration processes.
• Supporting student involvement, volunteer coordination, and community engagement initiatives that contribute to student development and experiential learning.
• Engaging and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, including university leadership, academic departments, students, government entities, NGOs, communities, and industry partners.

I am a highly organised, people-centred professional who values professionalism, accountability, collaboration, and service excellence in every aspect of my work. I pride myself on maintaining strong work ethics, building positive working relationships, and approaching responsibilities with integrity, efficiency, and a solutions-driven mindset. My ability to work well with diverse stakeholders, manage multiple priorities, and remain adaptable in dynamic environments enables me to contribute meaningfully to both operational effectiveness and impactful community engagement initiatives.
 

More about myself:

I believe that engaged scholarship aims to co-create new action-oriented knowledge, and that it integrates, shares, applies, and mobilises knowledge for positive social change towards the common good and well-being of people, profit, and planet for establishing a caring, democratic, socially just, and responsible future for all.

My key roles and responsibilities in the directorate include:

• Liaison with local to global stakeholders for the advancement of engaged scholarship and social justice for the common good of society
• Capacity development and support to advance the performance of quality engaged scholarship in community-university research partnerships
• Quality management, monitoring, and impact evaluation of engaged scholarship

The function of Community Engagement at the university adds value to people’s lives daily, and that pleases me. Engaged scholarship (ES) enables the application of academic scholarly work and professional expertise, with an intended public purpose and mutual benefit that demonstrates engagement with external (and non-academic) constituencies to address societal challenges for sustainable development and social justice. Community engaged scholarship includes the teaching, discovery, integration, application, and engagement involving academic staff, students, and partner communities in a mutually beneficial partnership. It is characterised by clear goals, adequate preparation, appropriate action-oriented methods, and significant results.

Dr Winnie Mthanti
Manager: Societal Impact
T: +27 51 401 3125
M: +27 82 061 2970
E: mthantiBJ@ufs.ac.za

More about me:

As Manager: Societal Impact, I bring a wealth of experience in community development and institutional strategy to my work, driven by a lifelong commitment to social justice and academic excellence. I manage the university’s Community Engagement / Engaged Scholarship mission by facilitating strategic partnerships that bridge the gap between academic departments, student affairs, and external stakeholders across the public, private, and community sectors.

I oversee the implementation and monitoring of initiatives in Service Learning, Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), and Engaged Citizenship, ensuring that these programmes enhance teaching, research, and student growth. To ensure that our collaborations remain ethical and impactful, I provide specialised training on partnership protocol guidelines, supporting cross-functional teams in human rights, community impact, and equitable engagement practices.

My work is measured by several key performance indicators (KPIs) designed to track our institutional footprint:

• Partnership growth: Tracking the volume and sustainability of formal agreements with community, business, and government organisations.
• Placement success: Monitoring the number of students and academics successfully integrated into service learning and WIL programmes.
• Societal reach: Evaluating the breadth of community-engaged research through participant engagement rates and qualitative impact narratives.
• Equitable engagement: Measuring the adoption of human rights and ethical conduct standards across university-led community projects.

By managing these relationships and tracking their outcomes, I ensure that our university remains a resilient corporate citizen dedicated to measurable societal impact. 
 

More about myself:

I believe that our directorate already has a positive impact on the lives of people in the community. The directorate has been delivering services for many years, and we have managed to sustain all our partnerships.

Moreover, I also saw how people’s lives were changed through our Community Engagement programmes, enabling individuals to start sustainable businesses. These individuals now not only support themselves and take care of their families financially, but they also grow their businesses in such a way that they could create jobs, making it possible for other persons to also take care of themselves.

My three main responsibilities are:

• The coordination and facilitation of socio-economic development programmes, forming partnerships with funding agencies, and developing business incubation programmes.
• Monitoring and evaluating projects in Community Engagement, especially the income-generation projects initiated during a training session on socio-economic development. I am also involved in building social cohesion in the wealth creation programme, which is in line with the National Development Plan.
• Coordinating the management and implementation of citizenship programmes between the UFS and the communities.
  
  
  

More about me:

I see myself working mainly behind the scenes. Sometimes it is challenging but I enjoy it, because I work and learn at the same time.

I am mainly responsible for the following: 

• Ensuring that the Community Engagement fleet is clean, safe, and reliable, thus not only ensuring that my colleagues have a safe experience, but also adding to the positive reputation of the university.
• I am also responsible for booking and issuing clean vehicles to my colleagues.
• Ensuring that all vehicles are serviced on time and are ready to use.
• Ensuring that all faculty kilometres are logged, captured, and sent to the relevant person on a monthly basis.
• Attending to any defects on any of the vehicles.

I would like to see Community Engagement spreading its wings to change the lives of more people, including young people, adults, the disadvantaged, as well as people in rural areas. My hope for the latter is to be given an opportunity where they can obtain more skills that will enable them to get jobs or to create their own employment.
 

More about myself:

I am excited about the role I am playing to close the gap between the university and the community, contributing to our student’s graduate attributes, and having a positive social impact on society.

I work towards creating an enabling environment for Engaged Scholarship on the Qwaqwa Campus. My main responsibilities and duties include providing support to staff and students on the campus regarding Community Engagement activities. I also liaise with our people in the communities, establishing and promoting effective partnerships with provincial structures, the town of Phuthaditjhaba, and our stakeholders. Moreover, I monitor and maintain different sustainable projects, and create platforms for social entrepreneurship and wealth creation programmes for a positive social impact.

My vision for our campus and its community is to be a place where social entrepreneurship is promoted. I believe it will eliminate poverty and promote economic growth.