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22 May 2018 Photo Rulanzen Martin
UFSAfricaWeek - Focus on Dr Tariro Kamuti
Dr Tariro Kamuti, postdoctoral fellow in Africa Studies.

“Africa is a continent endowed with vast natural resources and the ways through which these resources are governed for the development of the continent and the upliftment of its people are critical.” These are the words of Dr Tariro Kamuti a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State. 

Believer of advancing Africa and African scholarship
Dr Kamuti said it was important to celebrate Africa Week because “as a continent, we have come a long way through so much sacrifice to be where we are today”. 

He said Africans needed to celebrate their achievements attained so far by remembering where they had come from while embracing change and focusing on the future with hope. 

“Pausing to reflect on the issues facing the continent in order to chart the way forward through celebrating African Week is a good thing to do,” he said.

Dr Kamuti supports the notion of growing African scholarship on the continent to “to turn the tide and reflect on what really transpires”. 
“It is incumbent upon us to own and tell the African story,” he said.

Personal experience attributed to interest in Africa Studies

Dr Kamuti’s experiences and roots as a child of peasant farmers shaped his world view and drove his passion towards a career in Africa Studies as a scholar and researcher.

“My research work seeks to offer a fresh perspective on the policy processes surrounding the governance of the private wildlife ranching sector in South Africa,” he said. “It is an interesting research angle when considering the role of wildlife ranching in shaping the agricultural and environmental policies and land-use patterns in a situation where the land question itself is highly contested from various perspectives.

“Issues relating to wildlife ranching can be used as a lens to analyse challenges facing democratic South Africa,” Dr Kamuti said.

News Archive

UFS gets equipment worth R3,9 million to do doping tests for the World Cup
2010-05-18

One of the new state-of-the-art machines to be used for dope testing.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe


The South African Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL) at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein boasts new state-of-the-art equipment worth R3,9 million with which doping tests for next month’s 2010 FIFA World Cup will be done.

“Our new instruments are some of the best in the world,” said a proud Dr Pieter van der Merwe, Head of the laboratory.

SADoCoL, housed in the Department of Pharmacology at the UFS, has done doping analyses for many international sport events in South Africa and elsewhere in the world, including the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the Sevens Rugby World Cup in Dubai.

“Because of our international recognition and accreditation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) the laboratory was selected to be the official doping control facility of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” he said.

“FIFA has entered into a contract with us and they will send all the urine and blood samples for the World Cup to this laboratory. I must hasten to say that it is not only for the World Cup. We will continue with the work that we have been doing all these years regarding doping analysis in South Africa.”

“It is an honour for the Department and the UFS to offer a world-class service to a world-class association like FIFA and to be associated with a tournament of this magnitude.”

Being the only one of its kind in South Africa, and one of only two in Africa (the other being in Tunisia), it is not surprising that FIFA has entered into this partnership with SADoCoL.

“It is a well-known fact that we have been, and still are, the official doping control testing facility in South Africa for many years now. So there is also a lot of African involvement in our laboratory where African countries send samples to us for analysis,” he said.

It is not for the first time, though, that SADoCoL is involved with FIFA. The laboratory did all the testing for the Confederations Cup that was held in South Africa in June 2009.

It had just been extended to accommodate the new equipment. An official viewing session of the new facility was held last week.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
18 May 2010
 

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