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26 April 2018

 Description: 2018 Macah new Tags: Paediatrics, mother and child, healthcare, community, research, academic hospital, Free State.   

Rolene Strauss Patron of the MACAH Foundation, Oupa Mohoje,
Cheetahs rugby union player, and Kesa Molotsane
who are both champions of the MACAH Foundation.
Photo: Johan Roux

Description: 2018 new new MACAH Tags: Paediatrics, mother and child, healthcare, community, research, academic hospital, Free State.

From left is: Prof Gert van Zyl, MACAH Foundation’s founding
Director and Chairman; Khumo Selebano,
newly appointed Director; Dr Riana van Zyl founding director,
and Prof Andre Venter, Founding director and Project Leader.
Photo: Johan Roux



The Mother and Child Academic Hospital (Macah) Foundation was launched at the University of the Free State (UFS) on 24 April 2018. The foundation is instrumental in the building of a state-of-the-art academic hospital that will provide antenatal care and comprehensive health services for mothers, infants and children in Central South Africa. The hospital will be developed under a project in a partnership between UFS, Afrisky Holdings, and the Free State Department of Health, and will be located on the university’s Bloemfontein Campus but will be privately owned and operated.  

Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, said in his opening remarks this high-level partnership was a demonstration of the power of working together to implement innovation and development, promoting research and academic excellence, while serving communities that are most in need. “This project is possibly the first of its kind in South Africa. I am really proud that the UFS can be a part of it,” he said. 

Officials from the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality;  Deputy Director General of the Free State Department of Health, Mr Sekgothe Polelo; members of the UFS rectorate; senior academics in the Faculty of Health Sciences; Dr Rolene Strauss, former Miss World and patron of the Macah Foundation; as well Kesa Molotsane, athlete and UFS student, who is the new face of the Macah Foundation, as well as Oupa Mohoje, Springbok rugby player and captain of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, who is also the face Macah Foundation among others, were present at the event. Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, said the university had a pivotal role to play in shaping the future of children who are the future generation. “If we fail our children, we fail our future, our culture and our being,” he said.

The Macah Foundation’s “Make the first 1000 Days Count” programme emphasises the importance of childcare in the first 1000 days. By the age of five, almost 90% of a child’s brain will be developed. Therefore, it is vital that this period is well monitored to ensure the child grows to be a vigorous and happy individual. As nurturer, a mother’s health is just as significant from conception to birth and beyond. The R20-million programme is still in its early stages, but has already received great support.

Prof André Venter, one of the founding directors of Macah, and Head of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences, said the success of the mother and child hospital was like a dream come true. 

“We have been working on this concept for seven years. It is a privilege for me to work with children, but more so when we can combine so many skills and expertise in developing a world-class facility that will help members of our communities to thrive.”

The foundation is growing steadily and its founding directors are calling on corporates, businesses, and individuals to support it through their influence, loyalty and financial means.

To find out more about the foundation and pledge your support, visit www.macahfoundation.org.za or send an email to Tertia de Bruin on debruintr@ufs.ac.za or  foundation@macahfoundation.org.za

News Archive

Ensure your place at the UFS
2010-10-27

The University of the Free State (UFS) appeals to all prospective South African students who want to come and study at the UFS in 2011 to submit their applications no later than Tuesday, 30 November 2010.

The UFS is aware of the fact that learners will not have received their final Grade 12 results by Tuesday, 30 November 2010; therefore provisional admission will be granted based on learners’ most recent Grade 12 results. Final admission will take place upon receipt of the final Grade 12 results, which will be available early in January 2011.

Prospective students can obtain application forms for admission at the following places:

  1. The UFS’s web site at www.ufs.ac.za,
  2. The Information Office (Unit for Prospective Students) at the Thakaneng Bridge on the UFS’s Main Campus in Bloemfontein,
  3. You may also send an e-mail to info@ufs.ac.za or
  4. Phone 051 401 3000 and the necessary forms will be posted to you.

Senior undergraduate students (that is all students who were registered up to and during 2010 at the UFS) as well as post-graduate students, must self-register electronically on-line from Monday, 1 November 2010 until Tuesday, 4 January 2011. This includes master’s and doctoral students.

In order to encourage senior students to register online, the UFS offers 20 laptops as incentives for the senior students who successfully register online from 1 November 2010. These laptops will be handed over to the winners after the registration process in 2011.

Registration of first-year students:

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, will welcome first-year students on Friday, 14 January and Saturday, 15 January 2011, respectively, in the Callie Human Centre. The Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences, the Humanities and Education will be welcomed on 14 January 2011 and the students of the Faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Law and Theology shall be welcomed on 15 January 2011. The compulsory orientation programme for new first-years will also then commence.

From 17 to 21 January 2011 first-year students will receive academic advice at the Callie Human Centre, whereafter they will be referred for self-registration. These processes will take place according to the set timetable. This timetable is available in the Kovsie Guide that will be sent to learners as soon as we have received their applications, as well as on the web site of the UFS at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011.

First-year students’ fees must be paid prior to arrival on 14 and 15 January 2011.

Registration of senior students:

Senior students who experience problems with the electronic on-line self-registration process have the opportunity to resolve problems within a programme on campus from Wednesday, 5 January until Wednesday, 12 January 2011. This programme will be sent out to students and is also available at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011. The specific scheduled day for senior students to resolve problems is the last and only day to resolve the problem.

Senior students can also contact 051 401 9111 for more information in this regard.

Students may register for prescribed modules for 2011, even though the November 2010 examination results are not yet available. Changes resulting from examination results that are made available later can be done up to and including 28 January 2011.

In terms of applications for senior students, only students who have interrupted a calendar year of study need to re-apply for admission.

Registration of students at the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus:

Senior and first-year students of the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus register from Wednesday, 12 January until Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Nelson Mandela Hall on this campus.

Registration of students at the UFS South Campus:

First-year students from the UFS’s South Campus in the University Preparation Programme and the Extended Programme (only Natural and Agricultural Sciences) register from Monday, 24 January till Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Arena Hall on the South Campus.

Students who have successfully completed the University Preparation Programme register with the first-year students on the UFS Main Campus on Friday, 14 and Saturday, 15 January 2011 – according to faculties (cf. paragraph 6).

Lectures for all students shall commence on Monday, 24 January 2011.

MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
26 October 2010

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