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22 February 2018 Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
Future of South Africa discussed at UFS peace conference
Delegates form the UFS and Osaka University gathered together at the Peace Conference.
The Department of Political Studies and Governance as well as the Centre for Africa Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Osaka School of International Public Policy of Osaka University, jointly hosted a Quo Vadis South Africa Conference at the UFS on 12 and 13 February 2018.

Prof Hussein Solomon, Department of Political Studies and Governance, stated: “The focus is very much policy-oriented using academic insights to help resolve the myriad challenges confronting South Africa as a country as well as those on the continent.”

Prof Philippe Burger, Head of the Department of Economics and Acting Dean at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the UFS, spoke on the state of the national economy saying that factors contiguous to education could explain unemployment in South Africa. He pointed out that 60% of the population who were unemployed had not completed high school. He said only 20% of the employed population had tertiary education. Prof Burger said that labour-intensive, export-driven and investment-driven growth are the three integral sectors to consider when looking to improve the economy and overall growth of the country.

Prof Andre Duvenhage from North-West University delivered a presentation on his Strategic Perspectives of the ANC’s 2017 National Conference. Prof Duvenhage said that he had anticipated President Jacob Zuma’s recent departure from the ANC, saying his exit strategy had been negotiated behind the scenes. Some of his focal points included the state decay as a result of corrupt state practices, and the ideal future of the legitimate state which envisions the optimistic turn-around of the current condition of the South African Constitution.

“The future of Africa will be determined by politics”, said Jakkie Cilliers; Chairperson of the board, and Head of African futures and Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies. He explained that politics would drive events leading up to the national elective conference. This would offer political-election-outcome forecasts for 2019, 2024 and 2029 for the ANC, DA, EFF, and other national political parties. 

News Archive

Dr Abdon Atangana cements his research globally by solving fractional calculus problem
2014-12-03

 

Dr Abdon Atangana

To publish 29 papers in respected international journals – and all of that in one year – is no mean feat. Postdoctoral researcher Abdon Atangana at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS) reached this mark by October 2014, shortly before his 29th birthday.

His latest paper, ‘Modelling the Advancement of the Impurities and the Melted Oxygen concentration within the Scope of Fractional Calculus’, has been accepted for publication by the International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics.

In previously-published research he solved a problem in the field of fractional calculus by introducing a fractional derivative called ‘Beta-derivative’ and its anti-derivative called ‘Atangana-Beta integral’, thereby cementing his research in this field.

Dr Atangana, originally from Cameroon, received his PhD in Geohydrology at the UFS in 2013. His research interests include:
• the theory of fractional calculus;
• modelling real world problems with fractional order derivatives;
• applications of fractional calculus;
• analytical methods for partial differential equations;
• analytical methods for ordinary differential equations;
• numerical methods for partial and ordinary differential equations; and
• iterative methods and uncertainties modelling.

Dr Atangana says that, “Applied mathematics can be regarded as the bridge between theory and practice. The use of mathematical tools for solving real world problems is as old as creation itself. As written in the book Genesis ‘And God saw the light, that it was good; and divided the light from the darkness’, the word division appears here as the well-known method of separation of variables, this method is usually employed to solve a class of linear partial differential equations”.

“A mathematical model is a depiction of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The procedure of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modelling. Mathematical models are used not only in natural sciences, but also in social sciences such as economics, psychology, sociology and political sciences. These models help to explain systems and to study the effects of different components, and to make predictions about behaviours.”

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