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13 March 2018 Photo Edwin Mthimkhulu
Solomon Mahlangu inspires UFS alumnus first Sesotho book
Ace Moloi questions and delves into the concept of freedomin Tholwana Tsa Tokoloho

Tholwana Tsa Tokoloho is the title of Ace Moloi’s anthology of short stories and the name of one of the 14 stories in the book. The anthology is the first book in Sesotho published by the three-time author.

On Friday, 16 March 2018, Tholwana Tsa Tokoloho, an Art Fusion Literature product, will make its debut public appearance during a public reading at the University of the Free State’s Equitas Auditorium at 17:30.

Moloi’s first literary offering was In Her Fall Rose A Nation which was published in 2013 during his final-year as a Communication Science student at the university. In 2016, Moloi published Holding My Breath, which was praised widely for stirring emotions in readers who related to the heart-wrenching narrative of losing a mother. It was only this year that the author managed to achieve his teenage goal of establishing himself as a vernacular author.

Solomon Mahlangu, an African National Congress freedom fighter and Umkhonto we Sizwe militant who was convicted of murder and hanged in 1979, was the inspiration behind the anthology. Mahlangu inspired the Tholwana Tsa Tokoloho story, which is the story of the selflessness of a captured guerrilla hero in the face of police torture and his eventual death by hanging. It represents Mahlangu and those who suffered during the struggle for liberation. 

“My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom,” are the supposed last words uttered by Mahlangu that inspired the book’s title. Tholwana Tsa Tokoloho means “the fruits of freedom” in Sesotho. For Moloi, writing in the vernacular symbolises the fruits of freedom. “I’m trying to write in a revolutionary spirit, in Sesotho, because we haven’t done that. We have not seriously interrogated political concepts in Sesotho or in any native language,” he said.

Graduate unemployment, violent crime, and sports are some of the other topics tackled in the book. These act as a catalyst for debates over the evidence of ‘the fruits of freedom’ in post-1994 South Africa. 

News Archive

UFS salary model makes salary adjustment of 16,13% possible
2008-12-11

Staff from the University of the Free State (UFS) will receive a salary adjustment of 16,13% for 2009. This adjustment is 2,78% higher than the 13,35% that was agreed by the management and unions last month.

The UFS has received the actual state subsidy for 2009 from the Department of Education. The amount is significantly higher than previously calculated as a result of a once-off inflationary adjustment that was made.

“The good news is that, as a result of the application of our Multi-Year, Income-Related Remuneration Improvement Model, this increased subsidy can be passed on to staff members in full,” said Mr Lourens Geyer, Director of Human Resources at the UFS.

“We are grateful that we can pass on this favourable salary adjustment to UFS staff members. This adjustment makes our remuneration packages more competitive with those of other universities, and also facilitates the retention of skilled personnel. We have experienced an exceptionally challenging and difficult 2008. For this reason, we are grateful that we are able to compensate staff members for their hard work and loyal support in a special way by granting this excellent salary adjustment,” said Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Acting Rector of the UFS.

The implementation date for the salary adjustment is 1 January 2009. The adjustment will be calculated on the total remuneration package.
 

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
                Assistant Director: Media Liaison
                Tel: 051 401 2584 
                Cell: 083 645 2454 
                E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za

11 December 2008

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