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13 July 2018 Photo Johan Roux
Sikhululekile Luwaca named 100 Young Mandelas of the future
Sikhululekile Luwaca was recently named as one of 100 Young Mandelas of the future by News24 for his embodiment of Nelson Mandela’s characteristics.
On Tuesday 3 July 2018, News24.com announced the 100 Young Mandelas of the future. Among those nominated was Sikhululekile Luwaca, a former president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) at the University of the Free State (UFS).
 
“It is humbling. I embrace collective action and it would be unfair not to appreciate all the great minds I have encountered over the years and had the privilege to work with. Our individual progress can never be separated from that of the community. It is no longer I that lives, but us, we,” said Luwaca.

Six million readers nominated 1 000 South Africans from all walks of life who could be considered Mandelas of the future. Luwaca emerged in the Visionary category as one of the 100 who made the cut. The initiative was inspired by what would have been Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday on 18 July 2018. “News24 set out to honour 100 young South Africans who embody the characteristics Mandela was best known for,” said a statement by News24.

While he was the SRC president, Luwaca’s office played a critical role in raising R1.2 million for underprivileged students. He continues to make major strides as the current chairperson of the UFS African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). 

His social and political influence goes back to when a 13-year-old Luwaca founded an association that sought to address school dropouts in rural areas. In high school, the young philanthropist established an organisation that collected and distributed food for needy elders of Cathcart township in the Eastern Cape. For five years Luwaca served the Student Christian Organisation as chairperson. In 2013, he co-founded the Ubuntu School Project that donated 100 full school uniforms to Phomolong High School learners in Tembisa.

Later on as a UFS student, Luwaca helped found the Hand2Hand Student Association which drives fundraising initiatives, as well as the collection of non-perishable food items and second-hand textbooks for disadvantaged students. In 2015 he was elected a Residence Committee representative for House Outeniqua and SRC: Dialogue and Association. 

Luwaca was instrumental in facilitating a series of dialogues on transformation such as the Fees Must Fall movement and the Shimla Park incident.

News Archive

Prof Beatri Kruger conducts research on modern-day slavery
2014-12-12

 

Representatives of the US Embassy in South Africa and other stakeholders gathered in Bloemfontein in November 2014.
From the left are: San Reddy and Chad Wessen from the US Embassy, Prof Beatri Kruger, and Palesa Mafisa, Chairperson of the Kovsie National Freedom Network.

Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar ‘business’ with daunting challenges because of the uniqueness and complexities involved in the crime, says Prof Beatri Kruger, ex-prosecutor and lecturer in Criminal Law in the Faculty of Law.

Prof Kruger’s on-going research concentrates on whether South Africa’s legal efforts to combat human trafficking complies with international standards set out in the United Nations Trafficking Protocol of 2000 and other relevant international treaties.

Since the completion of her studies, the Prevention and Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Act of 2013 was passed in Parliament, but needs to be promulgated. This means South Africa is still a long way from complying with the UN protocol. A delegation of the US Embassy in South Africa recently visited the Faculty of Law on the Bloemfontein Campus. The purpose of their visit was to gain information for the US Department of State’s comprehensive 2015 report on trafficking in persons.

Prof Kruger’s current research focuses on the new legislation in collaboration with other national and international stakeholders. One of the focus areas is how traffickers control their victims. This research enhances the understanding of why victims often do not seek help, do not want to be ‘rescued’ and why they return to the very traffickers who have brutally exploited them.

The recently released Global Slavery Index 2014 estimates that 36 million people are living as slaves worldwide and that 106 000 of them are in South Africa. This report states that ‘modern slavery’ includes human trafficking, forced labour, forced marriage, debt bondage and the sale of children. The International Labour Organization estimates the illicit profits of forced labour to be US $150 billion a year.

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