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18 September 2018 Photo Charl Devenish
Students urged to help combat crime
What to do in case of an attack? The UFS taekwondo team taught students a trick or two.
Speaking at the official opening of Safety Week, newly elected Student Representative Council (SRC) president of the Bloemfontein Campus called for students to come to the party in the fight against crime. “We encourage students to participate because it cannot just be the SRC, university management, and the police. Students need to join the Community Police Forum because these platforms are there for us to engage in. You must not die in silence, if there is a problem, raise it,” said Sonwabile Dwaba.

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Protection Services in collaboration with the university’s BSafe campaign hosted the Safety Week from 3-6 September 2018 on the Bloemfontein and South campuses with the objective of keeping students and staff members informed on the measures in place, addressing pressing safety-related concerns, brainstorm ideas on how to beef up security, and distributing safety souvenirs.

Collaborative efforts encouraged

Brigadier Maehlo Lento, reporting on behalf of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Provincial Commissioner, said: “Robbery incidents have subsided but we still need to make sure that we continue and collaborate with students and all other roleplayers to make sure that we sustain the safety.”

The collective participation sentiment was also reflected by Prof Prakash Naidoo, Vice-Rector: Operations. “We are hoping through our annual Safety Week to reiterate our commitment to the safety of students, as well as bringing all roleplayers together to reflect on areas of cooperation and collaboration in an effort to improve the safety of student.”

Not just physical safety

Issues of mental health were discussed by the Next Chapter student organisation, while Embrace a Sister student organisation spoke about femicide and the safety of women. The scourge of gender-based violence formed the focal point of the Gender and Sexual Equity office’s address. In addition the Student Counselling and Development division offered invaluable advice on where those who exhibit symptoms of depression can seek help.

Other stakeholders who contributed to the success of this year’s Safety Week were the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, Department of Police, Roads and Transport, as well as Sector 3 Community Police Forum. 

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But do you forgive yourself, Eugene de Kock? asks Candice Mama
2015-03-16

From the left are: Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Candice Mama and Prof André Keet, Director of the UFS Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice.
Photo: O'Ryan Heideman

 

Candice Mama: Audio

Candice Mama and her family met with her father’s assassin. Eugene de Kock. Prime Evil. Commander of the apartheid government’s covert Vlakplaas police unit. And what followed from this meeting was one of our country’s most poignant gestures of reconciliation. One by one, each family member expressed their forgiveness of De Kock, and soon afterwards, he was granted parole.

Candice recently visited the Bloemfontein Campus to talk about ‘An Unexpected Encounter with Eugene de Kock: A Journey of Transformation’. The event was a collaborative effort between the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice and Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation Studies.

“What makes it possible to cross the boundary from loss and pain to bond with the person who hurt you?” Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, asked Candice. “I had to educate myself about the when, where, and how, to get a context for Eugene de Kock,” she answered. With the encouragement of her mother, Candice became an avid reader from an early age. She devoured information, so that she could build a picture of this man within a specific historical and political context. What also contributed to this moment of reconciliation for her was De Kock humbling himself and taking full responsibility for his actions.

This meeting was not without inner conflict for Candice, though. “Why am I crying for hím?” she asked herself as she listened to him speak. “Why am I laughing?” she chastised herself as De Kock preened shyly for a group photograph with the family. “Is there something wrong with me to connect with him?” She questioned her values and beliefs. But instead of a monster, Candice saw the true essence of a repentant human being.

But how do you know he didn’t fake it, many people asked. Because it was “one of the most sincere and honest encounters I’ve experienced,” she said. During their meeting, Candice saw a man “crushed by the world”. Everything he believed as a young man, he realised, was a lie.

“Do you forgive yourself?” Candice asked the one question De Kock feared most. And in that moment, he was humanised for her. “When you’ve done the things I’ve done,” De Kock replied, “how do you forgive yourself?”
It remains an open question. But this act of forgiveness gives an entire country hope.

 

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za.

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