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01 February 2018 Photo Johan Roux
Legae first-year residents welcomed on UFS South Campus
On 27 January 2018, several dozen eager first-year students and a large number of their parents crowded into the venue at the Legae residence on the South Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). They were welcomed by Gali Malebo, the Residence Head, Prof Daniella Coetzee, the Principal of South Campus, and Prof Francis Petersen, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

Prof Coetzee exhorted the students to show their seriousness about studying by giving their best and being accountable for their own learning experience. She said that she enjoyed the very positive vibe from the excited and enthusiastic students. Prof Petersen also addressed the students and advised them to make full use of the facilities made available to support and assist especially first-years.

Gali Malebo said of the occasion: “I am pleased that what we planned was so successful, and I feel blessed that both Prof Petersen and Prof Daniella [Coetzee] were present to share such beautiful moments with us. I am grateful to my team of Residence Assistants who worked very hard to make sure that everything was in order. They received several expressions of appreciation from parents for their hospitable, welcoming spirit and for making the first-years feel at home, especially for those who travelled from far.”

Prof Coetzee concluded with these words, “The UFS is a space for freedom, opportunities, and responsibilities. Use each day to reach out for knowledge. The university is a place where you are supposed to be active in seeking out the knowledge you need, a place where you are supposed to struggle and strive in order to excel. Do not give up until you have explored the limits of your intellectual ability. We expect much of you, and you should expect much of us.”

News Archive

UFS withdraws interdict against SASCO and ANCYL
2003-11-25

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Prof Frederick Fourie, announced today that a court order against the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) had been withdrawn.

The withdrawal of the court order follows after a written statement by SASCO and the ANCYL in which they “unconditionally withdraw or retract statements threatening to render the institution ungovernable” and give their “commitment not to proceed with our threats to establish our own democratic SRC and occupy the current SRC offices”.

The UFS management obtained the court order in October after SASCO and the ANCYL refused to accept the outcome of the recent student referendum and SRC elections and threatened to disrupt the campus.

Prof Fourie also welcomed the undertaking by SASCO and the ANCYL to act in accordance with the prescribed procedures to resolve any grievance that the organisations may have, saying the UFS management remains committed to a constructive dialogue with all student organisations to manage a campus of diversity, tolerance and non-racialism.

In September students voted in a referendum to test support for a system of proportional representation (PR) for the SRC. A vast majority of students voted against the PR system, a system favoured by SASCO and the ANCYL..

Following allegations of fraud in the referendum, the UFS management asked the auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers to conduct an independent audit of the ballot papers.

The auditors found that a total of 180 ballot papers out of 3513 – only 5.12% - of the votes cast - appeared to have been altered by means of erasing and then changing the student number.

According to the auditors, with all potentially altered and suspicious ballot papers excluded, a huge majority of 60,8% of students voted against the proportional representation system.

A few days after the referendum, the actual SRC election was held. However, at no stage were there any complaints from any organization about the integrity of the SRC election itself.

Despite this and the findings of the auditors, SASCO and the ANCYL refused to accept the outcome.

Law student Quintin du Plessis was elected SRC president. He welcomed the stance taken by SASCO and the ANCYL to pursue their objectives through the existing structures and said the SRC was always willing to engage with these organisations on issues of student governance.

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