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24 January 2019 | Story Zama Feni | Photo Barend Nagel
Prof Matlabisa
Prof Motlalepula Matlabisa of the Department of Pharmacology.
Two South African government departments have granted the University of the Free State’s Department of Pharmacology a combined amount of R15 million for the establishment of four tea farms in the disadvantaged communities in the North West and Eastern Cape Communities.

The head of the project Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa at the Department of Pharmacology said that that Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has granted an amount of R10 million for the community research in the respective provinces.

This grant is a top up to the R5 million they received from the Department of Science and Technology for the “community implementation on indigenous health infusions or teas as commonly known.”

The DEA will in the near future sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the university.


Tea project set to empower communities


“The project is to implement and build structures in the four communities we work with in the North West and Eastern Cape,” he said.

The identified areas for the project are in the Eastern Cape towns of Alice and Idutywa as well another two North West communities in Zeerust.

Prof Matsabisa indicated that the project will be a manifestation of “how science can contribute to economic growth, poverty alleviation and job creation.” 

“It was very interesting to have discovered that some French and German companies have already displayed interest in the projects,” he said.

He stated that a project of this nature is a good initiative by the UFS and it will also show that the university’s research activities are national. “We have been researching and developing indigenous teas which have now attracted interest locally and internationally by huge companies such as Nestle, Tiger Brands, Moringa World etc,” he said. 


Taking it slowly


At the initial stages of the tea farming project, Prof Matsabisa said they would start in small portions of utilising five hectares in each of the four projects and as the project gains momentum, they would expand.

Prof Matlabisa said that an environmental impact assessment has already been conducted and they were waiting for the DEA to give them a go ahead for the land preparations.



News Archive

UFS can lead SA in race relations - Ramphele
2010-08-06


 

 
Pictured are: Dr Boesak and Dr Ramphele
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

The University of the Free State (UFS) could well be a perfect model of excellence in race relations that the whole of South Africa could emulate.

This was said by Dr Mamphela Ramphele, the first African to be a Managing Director of the World Bank, during the Anti-Racism Network in Higher Education (ARNHE) Colloquium held at the UFS recently.

“Healing circles need to be constructed on this campus to address issues raised by the Reitz incident,” she said.

“You might yet be the pioneer of what needs to happen on a nation-wide level.

“Can we confidently commit today to go on this quest for a true humanity and walk together as fellow citizens and strive for a more human face for our society? That is our challenge. That is what the UFS is called to give leadership to.”

“It is this human face which has the power to liberate us from the body of death and strengthen us in our struggle for meaningful life together in South Africa,” added one of the main speakers, Dr Allan Boesak, a cleric and former anti-apartheid activist.

However, said Dr Ramphele, this could only be achieved if all South Africans, black and white, abandoned the fear for each other that was hindering, if not stalling, progress in this regard.

“Fear of each other is the most important impediment to the sustainability of our journey into a society united in our diversity,” she said.

“People in this country are afraid to stand up and be counted, including many vice-chancellors and clerics. They are afraid of being seen to be difficult, and that is a major problem. Fear is the most destructive emotion that you can have because it makes you really incompetent and unable to respond to challenges.”

She said the biggest impediment, though, to ending racism was denial. “White people deny vehemently that they are or have ever been racist,” she said.

“We need to go through a process of acknowledging our wounds and scars from our racist past and present missteps in public policy.”

“Instead of saying they are sorry, those who are conscious of their whiteness should rather say what they are sorry for,” said another main speaker, Prof. Dennis Francis, the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the UFS.

On the other hand, according to Dr Boesak, blacks were and still are, to a large extent, also to blame for their own ongoing oppression. “The key here was the acknowledgement of our sheepish timidity, our complicity,” he said.

The Chairperson of ARNHE, Prof. Norman Duncan, had this to say: “If we are to confront and eradicate racism in higher education institutions, we should not do so to create comfort zones for ourselves.”

The theme of this ARNHE Colloquium was Black consciousness and those conscious of their whiteness. It was presented by the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice at the UFS.

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


 

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