Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
17 December 2018 | Story Andre Grobler | Photo Supplied
Drought read more
Water-saving initiatives have been implemented throughout the university’s campuses to withstand the drought.

An attentive visitor to the University of the Free State (UFS) would have noticed that in the past year, certain parts of the Bloemfontein Campus’ gardens have undergone a change. This is part of the UFS’s water-wise and grey-water initiatives that are a response to the ongoing local drought conditions and water restrictions.

Waterless gardens

Senior Director: University Estates, Nico Janse van Rensburg, says the environmental conditions have had a severe impact on the appearance of the gardens. “The era where we had big lawns, has passed.”

Janse van Rensburg says the UFS decided to start the initiative at two highly visible areas, two traffic circles, one at the George du Toit Building and the other the Francois Retief Building.

More landscape changes can be seen in the gardens around the Biotechnology Building, Geography building and Muller Potgieter Building, as well as near the Institute for Groundwater Studies, Engineering Science and the Thakaneng Bridge.

Towards an energy-efficient environment

Paving in these areas is designed to allow for water to soak into the ground. Acting Grounds Services Manager, De Wet Dimo, says more than 100 indigenous trees, which are more adaptive to local environmental conditions, have also been planted. He says a new wood chipper which was recently purchased, will turn dead trees in gardens into wood chips to be used as mulch for new plants.

Dimo says the new look and feel of the gardens was created by using hard elements, paving and indigenous succulents.

New student residences, including those in Qwaqwa and South Campus will use a grey-water system using water which will be collected from showers and basins. The piping at two older residences on the Bloemfontein Campus has also been renovated to a two-way system.

“Rainwater harvesting systems have been fitted at all residences and academic buildings,” said Dimo. The 19 tanks that have been installed have a storage capacity of 265 kilolitres.  Janse van Rensburg says other water-wise initiatives that have been put into action include installing waterless urinals in administrative and academic buildings, water restrainers, pressure control systems (reducing the volume of water) and push-button systems instead of taps.

News Archive

Public Protector visited Faculty of Law
2005-09-23

On 21 September 2005 the Public Protector visited the Faculty of Law.  This event took place at 10:00 in the Senate Hall of the CR Swart Building, after which a light lunch was served for the delegates and staff of the Faculty.

The purpose of the visit was to spell out the roles, functions and powers of the Public Protector, to promote public awareness and transparency and to increase contact between the Faculty and the Public Protector.  Sufficient time was allowed to answer all the questions posed by various parties, and brochures were made available.

All law students and staff members of the Faculty were invited to the occasion.  The presentations also included information regarding career possibilities for students with the Public Protector’s office.  This organization is more than willing to involve students in community service projects and would keep in contact with the Faculty in this regard.

All the representatives of the Public Protector’s office who visited the Faculty are in the law profession:

The following persons made presentations:

Mr P Nthotso:  Independent Complaints Directorate
Ms L Mdalane: Directorate of Special Operations – Scorpions
Ms M Thetlhu: South African Human Rights Commission
Mr A Madiba:  Office of the Public Protector.

The persons mentioned above were accompanied by their supervisors, viz. Mr L Mashee (Head Public Awareness, Free State) and Ms SD Griessel (Provincial representative for the Public Protector, Free State).  A further two employees of the Public Protector attended as observers, viz. Mr T Kgabeginyane and Mr MR Matlesoane.

The Public Protector functions independently and reports directly to Parliament.

Staff and students found the visit very informative and valuable contacts were made in the process.

 



Back from left: Ms Michelle Havenga (President of the Faculty of Law's Juridical Society ), Ms Masego Thethu (South African Human Rights Commission), Ms  Lebo Mdalane (Directorate Special Projects of the Scorpions) and Mr  Pieter Nthotso (Independent Complaints Directorate).
Front from left: Mrs Soné Griessel (Provincial Representative of the Public Protector in the Free State) and Prof Carel van der M Fick (Head:  Department of Criminal Procedure and Philosophy of Law at the UFS Faculty of Law).

 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept