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16 February 2018 Photo Supplied
Miss Mamelodi Sundowns First Princess a proud Kovsie
Thato Mosehle was recently crowned Miss Mamelodi Sundowns First Princess

“True beauty is how you make a person feel, and I believe that I’m very beautiful,” said Thato Mosehle; Miss Mamelodi Sundowns First Princess and UFS medical student. When asked what she thought her edge was over the other contestants in the competition, Thato replied: “I will not speak about them. I will speak about myself and say it was the fact that I was true to who I am.” It is clear that Thato’s zealous character and clear sense of identity are among the determinants of her victory. Thato explained that her journey began when she could no longer play for the provincial netball team due to an injury she incurred on the court. She was very disappointed because she was relying on her netball skills to help her obtain a bursary to fund her studies. Despite this adversity, Thato was determined to be active and do something significant and profitable with her time. She began entering beauty pageants in and around Bloemfontein, such as Miss Glamorous 2016, Miss Armentum 2017, and Miss Environment.

“True beauty is
the ability to
give someone a
sense of warmth
when you arrive.”
—Thato Mosehle
Miss Mamelodi Sundowns
First Princess.

She said her prime motivation for entering this particular pageant was the prize money she could win that would help fund her studies. She described how the UFS facilitated her triumph through the challenging analysis methods from which her studies and overall knowledge and confidence derived. Thato explained that she respected the Miss Mamelodi Sundowns pageant as it promoted the empowerment of women. As a final-year medical student and Mamelodi Sundowns brand ambassador, Thato is smart enough to understand that with a specific title comes a definitive responsibility that you owe to yourself to fulfil. She explained that the essence of her win was that in the Free State, she was not just the 1st princess, she was the queen. Thato added that if students had a vision they should plan effectively and go for it.

News Archive

UFS’ position on student politics
2011-09-01

The University of the Free State (UFS) welcomes politics on its campus. It especially invites students to participate in all the political activities on campus, ranging from seminars and debates on national and provincial politics, and organization within party political structures. Earlier the year, in the run-up to the Local Government Elections, a programme was run on campus with all political parties participating in public and radio debates with students on political issues.

A university must be a place for all kinds of ideas and organizations---social, cultural, religious, academic and, yes, political. The perception that the UFS has “banned” politics is simply not true, nor is it possible within a constitutional democracy.
 
The University of the Free State once again invites SASCO and any other political groupings that have not yet registered to participate in campus life, to do so as soon as possible. It is important to the UFS that all student bodies enjoy full participation in campus life, and that there exists a vibrant and exciting political life on the campus alongside academic, social, cultural and religious life.
 
The Student Representative Council (SRC) Elections at the UFS has been constituted on independent candidacy and non-party-political basis. This is a decision crafted and recommended by the Broad Student Transformation Forum, whose members are elected by students, and approved for implementation by the highest authority of the university, the Council. The decisions of the Student Forum entails that all students can nominate individuals for a variety of student leadership positions, which includes nomination for elective portfolios in the SRC elections, but also within nine sub-councils that hold ex-officio seats on the SRC.
 
The old system which restricted student leadership to representation on a party-political basis only (DA, ANC, Freedom Front Plus etc) no longer exists.
 
This decision of the Student Forum ensures that the rights of all students to directly elect their representatives are protected, and that the SRC in fact represents the student body as a whole and not particular interest groups alone. This decision enables ALL students to stand for and participate in campus politics in the SRC elections, though not on a party political ticket. In the 2011 SRC Elections, for example, SASCO members were indeed mandated by its local branch to stand as candidates for various elected positions, as did other political parties such as the DA Student Organisation, a development which the university welcomes. 
 
Most importantly, the UFS insists that all students participate in university life with respect for the rights of all students, irrespective of their social beliefs or political commitments. The UFS insists that no student or student grouping acts to disrupt campus life or insult university staff or denigrate fellow students on grounds of race, religion, language, gender, etc. This is very important to the UFS as it works to build a non-racial culture that respects our common humanity. Our students must learn that democracy and decency go hand in hand, and that part of learning at a university, is to learn to differ without resorting to a language of derision.
 
In short, the University of the Free State warmly welcomes full participation in politics, as in other spheres of student life, on all three its campuses.
 
Statement by Prof. Jonathan Jansen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector.

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