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17 January 2019 | Story Mamosa Makaya | Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
Nkahiseng
Nkahiseng Ralepeli will join the Rhodes Scholarship cohort of 2019.

Aspiring lawyer and political prodigy, Nkahiseng Ralepeli, will soon join a cohort of Rhodes Scholarship recipients at the University of Oxford in the UK later this year. He completed his LLB at the University of the Free State (UFS) in 2018, and it comes as no surprise that this young achiever has his eyes set on greater heights.

As a student, Nkahiseng was always a cut above the rest, with his involvement in non-governmental organisations such as Corruption Watch and Debate Afrika, where he used debating to not only educate youth in South Africa but to engage various social ills that plague the country in whichever way he could. He represented the UFS at various debating tournaments such as the Pan-African Universities Debating Championships and the World Universities Debating Championships.

“This is something I’ve wanted for an incredibly long time. Receiving this scholarship is so important, and makes me feel that all my efforts and work have been validated. What I’ve learned is that regardless of the situation you’re born into, rich or poor, hard work is rewarded. I hope this experience will help me realise my dreams and career goals, but most importantly I want to have a significant impact in whatever space I find myself in and on the people I encounter,” said Nkahiseng.

As an Abe Bailey Bursary recipient, he is deeply interested in the transformation of African political theory and the establishment of various structures in the development and maintenance of African ‘infant’ democracies and post-civil wars. He later hopes to pursue a career in South African politics. His list of achievements keeps getting longer as he adds to it the Rhodes Scholarship. The UFS is truly proud to have an alumnus of this high calibre.

News Archive

UFS Autumn Graduation inspires perseverance
2015-04-20

 

Louzanne Coetzee and her guide dog, Oakley after she received her degree at the UFS’s Autumn Graduation.
Photo: Gerhardus Bosch

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Prof Himla Soodyall
Mr Ndumiso Hadebe
Leanne Manas
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Autumn has seen the UFS’s first graduation ceremonies of the year on the Bloemfontein Campus. From 14 to 17 April 2015, a total of 3 660 graduates were rewarded for their hard work while top speakers addressed them in the Callie Human Centre.

UFS Chancellor, Dr Khotso Mokhele, commented the more than 250 students who passed their degrees with distinctions at the autumn graduation.

Prof Soodyall, a Medical Scientist at the South African Institute for Medical Research as well as  Principal Medical Scientist for the National Health Laboratory Service, and Director for the Human Genome Diversity and Disease Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand delivered the first motivational message of the April Graduation. The group of graduates in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences listened as she shared her story with them.
 
"My own career – with no grand design or script – steered me into conducting genetic research on human populations from sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on a better understanding of human evolution, and to reconstruct the prehistory of African populations. While giving graduates a glimpse on how her career progressed, Prof Soodyall said: "I share these stories with you to give you some reassurance that you do not need feel that you have to figure out every minute detail of where to from here. Things fall into place with hard work, dedication, and dreams.

The developed world is forging ahead with interventions, so the gap between the developed world and the developing world continues to grow bigger. Prof Soodyall said: “You have the unenviable opportunity to think strategically, and to use the modern tools in your respective fields to make significant advances to transform our society, and to contribute to making it a better place for all. We need to embrace the current challenges, and build networks and bridges across disciplines to close the gaps, to work beyond the cultural barriers, and to ensure equity in access to health, water, education, etc, for all, as we would wish these things for ourselves and our families.

Read the full story of the Autumn Graduation 2015

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