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29 October 2018 Photo Thabo Kessah
Qwaqwa Campus students march for safety and improved social services
Phuthaditjhaba Station Commander,Brigadier Matsoso Mohloare; Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s Advocate Frans Dlamini; and Lerato Seekane from the Private Accommodation Providers Association signing a memorandum from Sakhile Mnguni.
Hundreds of students and staff from the University of the Free State’s Qwaqwa Campus recently marched to the Phuthaditjhaba South African Police Service to highlight their unhappiness about lack of safety and other services provided by various stakeholders in Qwaqwa.

“Our students have experienced continuous harassment, rape, burglaries, assaults, intimidation, and related unacceptable behaviours from criminal elements in the community and in government departments,” said SRC President, Sakhile Mnguni, reading from the memorandum of demands. “The SAPS, Departments of Health and Justice and Constitutional Development, as well as Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality are the biggest perpetrators. We demand visible policing where most of our commuter students reside, and on the main road. We also demand that the SAPS will take previously reported cases seriously and investigate them thoroughly. From the Department of Health, we demand abolishment of tribalism in the offering of services and that staff must acknowledge that they serve the entire community.”

Mnguni said the students demanded that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development should work closely with the SAPS to ensure that all cases are quickly resolved. “Cases take forever to be resolved and all we get is a case number, but no progress,” he said. “From Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality, we demand basics such as water and electricity. The municipality must cater for the needs of students who reside within the municipality; for example, we need street and high-mast lights and maintenance thereof, as it is very dark, especially between campus and Phuthaditjhaba.”

Private accommodation service providers were not spared the rod. “Landlords must be held accountable for the goods stolen and damaged within their premises. They must put the necessary safety measures in place and meet the standards for accreditation by the university’s Housing and Residence Affairs (HRA). They must also reduce unreasonable rental amounts,” he added.

Representatives from the relevant institutions and departments signed and received the memorandum and were given seven days to respond.

The march was the highlight of the Safety Week activities which included the distribution of whistles and talks on criminality and the consequences thereof. It was a collaborative effort by the SRC, Protection Services, and Student Affairs. 

News Archive

Department Old Testament receives visiting professor from the USA
2009-05-19

 
Prof. Fanie Snyman (left) and Prof. Leder.


Prof. Arie Leder, professor in Old Testament at the Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan in the United States of America (USA) set foot on the African continent for the first time when he visited Prof. Fanie Snyman of the Department Old Testament in the Faculty of Theology at the University of the Free State (UFS). Prof. Leder is a visiting professor at the Department of Old Testament.

During his two-week-long visit to the faculty he amongst others lectured to undergraduate and master’s students. The lectures addressed issues related to the first five books of the Old Testament with the focus on the interpretation of the Hebrew text. The mentioned historical books of the Old Testament were discussed with the postgraduate students of the faculty. During the meeting of the Discussion Group for Biblical Sciences, Prof. Leder presented a public lecture with the theme, “Lady Wisdom and Sir Folly: Preaching Esther for such a time as this”.

According to Prof. Snyman, the agreement with Prof. Leder was to present the same lectures as what he would have delivered at the Calvin Theological Seminary. “The aim was to compare the standards, course content and presentations of the lectures that are presented by the respective departments, with each other. We compare well with the Calvin Theological Seminary and we do not have to be ashamed of ourselves. The feedback of the students about the exposure to another lecturer from another institution was also positive,” said Prof. Snyman.

The possibility of future collaboration was also discussed, specifically with the objective of both institutions publishing articles in the respective journals of both institutions. A further positive result of Prof. Leder’s visit is that colleagues of the Calvin Theological Seminary will be approached to act as external examiners for postgraduate students,” said Prof. Snyman.

The Calvin Theological Seminary libraries are some of the best equipped theological libraries in the world and as a result of the collaboration between our two institutions, staff of this faculty will get the opportunity to visit the Calvin Institution and to utilise the facility.

Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

 

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