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01 January 2018

After South Africa’s battle with the record-breaking drought of 2015, Prof Andries Jordaan from our Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa(DiMTEC) saw room for improvement in dealing with this kind of disaster. 

Drought impact

Commercial farmers   who are usually net exporters of food crops   and communal farmers who own the bulk of the country’s livestock, were all hit hard in 2015. Most of the latter had no resources to spare as the drought progressed. The concern about the drought’s impact on the country’s food production and availability resulted in a joint goal of preventing food scarcity during future droughts.

Prof Jordaan’s visit to the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the US, several years ago prepared him to better equip communities in South Africa to deal with drought situations. “I recognised that in spite of the impact DiMTEC has been able to make on disaster preparedness, a gap remained in disaster response in South Africa.”

Sharing knowledge

In August this year Prof Jordaan again visited the NDMC. This time he requested a few key players in South Africa’s agriculture and disaster response communities to join him. With him were Janse Rabie, head of Natural Resources at AgriSA, a nonprofit organisation that functions as an interface between the government and about 28 000 South Africa farmers, and Moses Musiwale Khangale, director of Fire Services for the South African Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

The South African delegation met with and learnt from climatologists, geospatial technologists, and outreach and planning analysts. 

News Archive

Student Council welcomes international students on campus
2017-03-16

Description: International students on Qwaqwa Campus Tags: International students on Qwaqwa Campus

Some of the guests and International Student
Council (ISC) members during the welcome
function. From the left are: Tatenda Goche (Deputy
Chairperson), Loice Nzombe (Chairperson),
Bulelwa Moikwatlhai (Office of International
Affairs), Jennifer Ashafa (Secretary), and
Takudzwa Nyamunda (Chairperson on the
Bloemfontein Campus)
Photo: Thabo Kessah

SRC President Njabulo Mwali says that the presence of international students on the Qwaqwa Campus is very welcome as it enables students from all over the world to learn from each other.  He was addressing the International Student Council’s welcome function for international students.

“One important area where South African students can learn a lot from international students is hard work. It is an open secret that many of us, as South Africans, are not as persistent as we should be. We give up easily,” he said to an audience of students mainly from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

Speaking on behalf of the Rectorate, the Registrar: Systems and Administration, Dr Karen Lazenby, assured international students that the UFS is committed to their emotional and physical wellbeing.

International students face various challenges

“Having been an international student myself, I fully understand your various challenges. If you have any ideas on how we can make your stay here as memorable as possible, please help us to help you,” she said.

Both Drs Elsa Crause and Dipane Hlalele, respectively Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research and Acting Campus Vice-Principal: Support Services, congratulated students on choosing the Qwaqwa Campus.

“Our campus will give you many opportunities to reinvent yourself both as a person and a student,”   Dr Crause said.

Dr Hlalele added: “International experience is fascinating as it does not only provide different types of knowledge and truth, it also enriches the campus with an African and international footprint.”

The Office of International Affairs also presented its services to students.

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