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19 October 2018 Photo Anja Aucamp
Itumeleng Tsatsi - Using Occupational Therapy to tackle mental health
“Every opportunity you get is a chance that leads you to your goals, making the best of it; a journey of a thousand steps begins with just one.” - Itumeleng Tsatsi
Polokwane-born Itumeleng Tsatsi, junior lecturer in Occupational Therapy at the University of the Free State (UFS), pledged to improve the quality of life of South African citizens through her study and practice of Occupational Therapy.

Itumeleng Tsatsi was named in the Mail and Guardian Top 200 list of South Africans under the age of 35 who have done exceptional work in their fields, aiming to uplift their society.

Tsatsi explained that working as a clinician at the Thabamoopo Psychiatric Hospital in Lebowakgomo, Limpopo, lit a fire in her that was charged at dissociating and destigmatising the views that people associate with the term ‘mental health’.  Her focus as an occupational therapist zooms mostly into tackling mental-health issues and the injustices faced by people, making use of the services offered in the system.

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental-health issues around the world, and mobilising efforts in support of mental health. Tsatsi elaborated that one of the many challenges she faced in clinical practice, was the constructed theories of mental health that were too westernised and did not meet the needs of South African populations, particularly in the rural areas. Her aim is to create a niche area in academia and train occupational therapists to care for their citizens on a practical basis and not only through textbook guidelines that aren’t entirely applicable to the South African context.

With October being Mental Health Awareness Month, Tsatsi further highlighted that she wants to optimise the training of Occupational Therapy students at the UFS by ensuring that their attitude towards mental health as a specialisation in their field is a positive one, due to the growing number of South Africans subjected to mental-health issues today. 

Furthermore, her study aims to empower mental-healthcare users to speak up about their experiences in mental-health institutions, to aid their reintegration into communities and create supportive environments where they can equally contribute to society. 

News Archive

Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings
2007-06-29

Trafficking in Human Beings:
National and International Perspectives

Date: 17th August 2007
Address: CR Swart Auditorium, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Every year thousands of children and adults become victims of trafficking and abuse in South Africa and throughout the southern African region. Victims are trafficked for a myriad of reasons: sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography; illegal labour, including child conscription; domestic servitude; illegal adoptions; body parts/organs; and forced marriages.

The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department of Criminal and Medical Law, University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Centre for Continuing Legal Education at UFS, will host a Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings. The conference will bring together key role-players from the South African government as well as crucial international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.

Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is a serious violation of the human rights of the victims, as well as an extremely profitable source of income to organized crime, and needs the attention and intervention of both governmental and non-governmental institutions in South Africa.

Speakers will include representatives from the United National Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Law Reform Commission, the Unit for Children’s Rights-UFS, and NGOs Molo Songololo and Terre Des Homes, that work with child trafficking victims in South Africa and around the world.

The media are invited to report on the conference, and interview speakers and presenters Attached find programme. For more info contact the following persons.

1. Beatri Kruger - 051 401 2108 / email: krugerh.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za  
2. Susan Kreston - 051 401 9562 / email: krestons.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za  
3. Elizabeth Snyman – 051 401 2268 / email: snymane.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za  

Programme

Trafficking in human beings:
National & international perspectives

Presented by The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department Of Criminal & Medical Law , Faculty of Law, in Conjunction with The Centre for Continuing Legal Education, University of the Free State.

Funded through the Generosity of the United States Department of State

17 AUGUST, 2007 – CR SWART AUDITORIAM

8:00-8:30 Registration & Tea
8:30-8:45 Opening & Welcome
Prof. JJ Henning, Faculty of Law
8:45-9:40 Overview & Global Perspective
Prof. Susan Kreston - Unit for Children’s Rights, Faculty of Law-UFS

9:40-10:00 TEA

10:00-10:45 International Perspectives & the Role of Organized Crime in Trafficking
Wiesje Zikkenheiner, Associate Expert
United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, Pretoria
10:45-11:45 Identifying and Assisting Victims of Trafficking
Marija Nikolovska, Project Officer
International Organization for Migration, Pretoria

11:45-12:30 LUNCH

12:30-1:15 Prosecuting Trafficking Without Trafficking Laws
Adv. Nolwandle Qaba, Sexual Offences & Community Affairs Unit
National Prosecuting Authority, Pretoria
1:15-2:15 Recommendations for New Legislation in South Africa
Lowesa Stuurman - South African Law Reform Commission, Pretoria

2:15-2:30 TEA

2:30-2:50 The Role of Terre Des Homes in Fighting Trafficking in Children
Judith Mthombeni– Terre Des Homes, Pretoria
2:50-3:50 Trafficking in Children in South Africa – A Front Line Perspective
Patrick Solomon - Molo Songololo, Cape Town
3:50-4:00 Closing Remarks
Adv. Beatri Kruger
Department of Criminal & Medical Law - UFS

 

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