Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
31 May 2018
Celebrating Africa the UFS way
The various events and initiatives that took place during the #UFSAfricaWeek.

The African Union was founded on 25 May 1963 and Africa Day is celebrated to mark the Union’s anniversary. However the entire month of May is dedicated to the commemoration of the continent’s freedom from colonialism and the unity of its diverse people.
 
A series of exuberant events were held on the Bloemfontein Campus last week. The UFS Debate Society officially opened the week, followed by the Annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture. The UFS Sasol Library then facilitated the Voices book launch. A group of students also served the community with meals in the spirit of ubuntu. The week culminated and closed with the UFS Africa Day Commemoration Panel Discussion.

UFS Debate Society: Africa Day Debate
Collectivism and striving for a unified African identity were the key debate points for the day. Tshiamo Malatji, chairperson of the UFS Debate Society, reflected on African histories, presenting a strong case for why indigenous Africans deserve liberation from a brutal past.
 
Lehakoe Masedi, one of the student speakers, outlined the role of communism in conjuring up an image of unity for African citizens and the diaspora. 

10th Annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture
Dr Rahul Rao shed some light on the topic of colonial statues from an international perspective by reflecting on the controversy surrounding the US Confederate statues and drawing from contemporary South African student activism. Dr Rao, a senior lecturer in politics at the SOAS University of London, presented this year’s memorial lecture titled, What do we mean when we talk about statues?, which was hosted by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies.

UFS Library Africa Day Book Launch
Voices, a book by Kenyan author Abenea Ndago, was launched by the Department of English in collaboration with the Library and Information Services. The book is a compilation of short stories that encapsulate the experiences of Kenyan people living in rural villages and towns. The book explores the balance between two sides of the African story. “I wanted to bring to the fore a balanced story such as the role that was played by Africans in enslaving, disenfranchising and oppressing their fellow Africans, as well the role that was played by European sympathisers who supported liberation movements that stood against oppression, racism and discrimination,” said Ndago.
 
A meal in a jar
Members of the Student Representative Council together with residents of House Kestell spent the morning of 24 May 2018 preparing more than 100 meals. They then went to Heide Primary School and spent the afternoon sharing a hot and healthy meal with the learners.

UFS Africa Day Commemoration Panel Discussion
A panel of intellectual powerhouses such as the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Francis Petersen; Director of UFS Department of Internationalisation: Mr Cornelius Hagenmeier; Acting Director of the UFS Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice: JC van der Merwe; founder of Embrace a Sister organisation: Pumla Mgobhozi; attorney of the High Court of South Africa and former President of the Student Representative Council (SRC): Richard Chemaly; former SRC President and spokesperson for the ANC Chief Whip in the provincial legislature: Phiwe Mathe; and senior lecturer in the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies: Dr Stephanie Cawood, fielded critical discussions of issues of the continental significance on Africa Day.
 
To quote one of the panellists, Dr Cawood, in her address on decolonising knowledge: “No form of knowledge is absolute. In order to decolonise knowledge we must first acknowledge and incorporate different world views in our curriculum.” Dr Cawood said this in reference to the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) which she views as a vital driving force for sustainable living and economic development.

Africa Day, at the end of the UFS Africa Week, which ran from 22–25 May 2018, marked the beginning of Africa Month and an endless effort geared towards maintaining unity in diversity.

 

News Archive

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages
2006-05-22

During the colloquium presented in Belgium by the Province Antwerp were from the left Prof Pol Cuvelier (University of Antwerp), Prof Theo du Plessis (Director: Unit for Language Management at the UFS), Mr Ludo Helsen (Permanent Deputy: Province of Antwerp) and Mr Jean-Pierre Rondas (Flemish radio journalist).

________________________________________________

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages at international conference

Prof Theo du Plessis, Director of the Unit for Language Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), was the main speaker at a colloquium titled “Routes:  Where to now? - Een traject van het Nederlands naar het Afrikaans en de Afrikatalen”, which was recently presented by the Province Antwerp in Belgium.

 The aim of the colloquium was to discuss the future cooperation in the field of language between the Province Antwerp and South Africa. 

 The Province Antwerp is already involved with projects in South Africa.  One of these projects is the Multilingual Information Development Programme (MIDP), a partnership project between the UFS and the Free State Province that is mainly funded by the Province Antwerp. 

 The project has been running since 1999 and was recently in the news with the presentation of a symposium on multilingualism and exclusion on the Main Campus of the UFS.  It is hoped that the Routes colloquium will indicate new stages on which can be added to the already successful cooperation in the area of language.

 Prof Du Plessis’s presentation titled “Nederlands, Afrikaans en die Afrikatale – kan samewerking slaag? Die geval MIDP in die Vrystaat”, investigated the successes that have been made with the MIDP.  He discussed two possible approaches to cooperation in the areas of language, that of a sentimentalistic  approach against an instrumentalistic approach. 

Cooperation in the first approach makes language the aim.  In the second approach language is used as a means to a greater aim.  According to Prof du Plessis the first approach is driven by a romantisised idea about the relation between the Flemish and Afrikaans speaking people, which may unfortunately polarise the position of Afrikaans in South Africa even further.

 He argues that, given the time that we are in, the second approach will deliver more constructive results as language can among others be used for to further  democracy in South Africa.   This can happen by cooperation in the institutionalising of multilingualism in our society.  The more languages are used in education, law and government administration, the more we can be assured a successful democracy.

 The Routes colloquium was facilitated by the well-known Flemish radio journalist, Jean-Pierre Rondas. About twenty South African and Flemish language specialists took part in the colloquium.  Dr Fritz Kok, outgoing chief executive officer of the ATKV took part in the opening ceremony and Dr Neville Alexander from the University of Cape Town and well-known activist for multilingualism in South Africa was also one of the main speakers.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept