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05 February 2018 Photo Johan Roux
Prof John Mubangizi appointed as UFS Dean of the Faculty of Law
Prof John Mubangizi.

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Prof John Mubangizi as Dean of the Faculty of Law during a meeting held on the Bloemfontein Campus on 22 January 2018. He assumed office on 1 February 2018.

“Prof Mubangizi’s extensive experience and scholarly contributions are most valuable to the university and the faculty, and I look forward to working with him,” says Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

Prof Mubangizi's academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Laws (LLB, Makerere University, Uganda), a Master’s in Public Law (LLM, University of Cape Town), and a Doctor of Laws (LLD, University of Durban-Westville). Prof Mubangizi also has several professional qualifications, including a Diploma in Education from Makerere University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Law Development Centre). He has been awarded several certificates in his area of academic specialisation, including a Certificate in Human Rights from the Institute of Human Rights (Strasbourg, France), and a Certificate in International Humanitarian Law from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria.

He has been a full professor for more than twelve years. From January 2005 to April 2007, he served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). From May 2007, he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Law and Management Studies at UKZN, with the responsibility of leading the academic and research strategy and realising the mandate of the college and the university.

One of the highlights of Prof Mubangizi’s research profile is the authorship of a book entitled The Protection of Human Rights in South Africa: A Legal and Practical Guide (2004 and 2013), which is widely used by scholars, practitioners, and students of human rights law in South Africa. He has published more than 60 publications, most of which are in SAPSE-accredited peer-reviewed journals. Furthermore, he has presented more than 40 academic papers at international conferences across the globe. He is rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF) as an established researcher.

Prof Mubangizi is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), and has served as member and advisor to the Council of ASSAf. He is currently the Chairperson of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of South Africa, and a member of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). In addition, he serves on various committees and in different ad hoc positions at institutional, national, and international level.

News Archive

UFS academic speaks on Islamic terrorism
2012-09-12

 
 Prof. Hussein Solomon

Senior Professor Hussein Solomon from the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State (UFS) says it is imperative that we understand how ordinary Muslims are socialised, violently radicalised and primed to engage in acts of terror.

He was speaking at the Inter Religion Forum in the Faculty of Theology on the topic, “The rise of Islamist fundamentalist thought”.

According to Prof. Solomon, “The war on terror is truly a struggle between competing ideologies, after all, before a suicide bomber detonates his/her vest he/she must be ideologically indoctrinated to believe that what he/she is doing is the ‘right’ thing both in terms of the act and target.” Prof. Hussein, however, assured that the pure teaching of Islamic is not in favour of terrorism and killing.

Most of the twentieth century witnessed an ideological struggle between freedom and democracy. According to Prof. Solomon, “democracy” won that struggle. “The ideological struggle between freedom and authoritarianism is, however, far from over and thus we witness a clash of two competing ideologies across the globe,” he said.

He added that this is not an inter-civilizational conflict. “It rather is occurring within Muslim societies and between radical Islamists and the West.”

“A major battle is taking place in Islam between moderates, who in my view are the real Muslims, and the Islamo-fascists. Non-Muslims cannot simply regard this battle as an internal struggle. They need to support the moderate Muslim actively.”

“Should moderate Muslims lose this struggle, a clash of civilisations will become inevitable and the future will resemble a world of a war of all against all,” Prof. Solomon said.
 

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