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17 May 2018

Misleading information was posted on a Twitter page today (17 May 2018) regarding a sexual harassment case which the former employee linked as the reason for her dismissal by the University of the Free State (UFS).

The UFS has zero tolerance towards sexual harassment, sexual assault, and the victimisation of individuals. In this particular case – which was reported on social media today – the university confirms that a sexual harassment case was indeed reported by the employee, and the university’s disciplinary process was followed. The complainant accepted the outcome of the disciplinary process without any reservations.

Sometime later, the university discovered that the complainant had falsified material information on her CV, which she used to apply for the position in which she was appointed. The termination of the complainant’s employment is based on fraudulent action and misrepresentation.

As part of its drive to eradicate fraud and corruption, the university initiated disciplinary action according to its policies and procedures.

It is unfortunate that the complainant used her sexual harassment case, which the UFS addressed to her satisfaction, to now justify her fraudulent actions.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Corporate Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

News Archive

Final lecture in Darwin series presented at the UFS
2010-02-23

At the lecture were, from the left: Prof. Terence McCarthy, Prof. Jo van As, Chairperson of the Darwin 200 Committee and Head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the UFS, Prof. Bruce Rubidge, Elsabe Brits, journalist at Die Burger and Esther van der Westhuizen, presenter on Groen.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs


The University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) and The National Museum in Bloemfontein recently hosted the final lecture on the Charles Darwin lecture series entitled “The story of life and survival”.

The lecture was presented by Prof. Bruce Rubidge, the Director of the Bernard Price Institute for Paleontological Research at Wits University and Prof. Terence McCarthy, a Professor of Mineral Geochemistry at Wits and Head of the Department of Geology. Proff. Rubidge and McCarthy are co-authors of the book The Story of Life on Earth.

Their lecture with the topic “Trends in evolution and their bearing on the future of humankind” dealt with the future of evolution. According to Prof. Rubidge, ninety-nine percent of the species that have ever lived are extinct. “We are living in a time of mass extinction. Fifty thousand species become extinct annually,” he said.

Prof. McCarthy discussed many factors that can result in mankind’s extinction today. The impact of climate change, big volcanic eruptions, a comet or asteroid hitting earth, tsunamis and the collapsing of sea islands are some of the factors Prof. McCarthy believes could cause great catastrophe’s on earth.

“We live on the brink of this all the time,” he said.

Prof. McCarthy also believes that we can avoid these catastrophes. By allowing only one child per family we can shrink the global population with 30% per generation. This is doable in a short time span,” he said.

Other ideas he had on saving mankind from getting extinct is to create extensive ecological reserves on land but especially in the ocean, to decentralise everything, to change to renewable energy, to recycle resources and to be vigilant in doing this.

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