Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
11 June 2019 | Story Moeketsi Mogotsi | Photo Moeketsi Mogotsi
New KovsieCyberSta
Read to roll: The dynamic duo of Olebogeng Tlhong and Anderson Mosia are always camera ready and they’ll be telling you what is happening on and around campus over the next year. PHOTO: Moeketsi Mogotsi

The search for the 2019/2020 #KovsieCyberSta team has been an exciting one, with Anderson Mosia and Olebogeng Tlhong coming out tops to beat the competition.
Anderson, a second-year BA Languages student, didn’t let last year’s failure deter his efforts to enter again this year. 

“I am hoping to achieve a lot of things. My milestone would be to raise the bar high for the next stars; I've got a lot in store,” he says. 

He says he is passionate about spreading love, and he will use this new platform to express himself.

It has been first-time charm for first-year LLB student, Olebogeng. She says as soon as she saw the competition was open, she knew it was something that would fit her persona. 

“I am hoping to not only grow as an individual, but to leave my mark. The question that I asked myself before stepping into this role, was –what’s going to be different because you stepped in? I aspire to document and present events in the best way that I know, while being open to learning and, through my knowledge, inspire and teach others.”

The 19-year-old says she will use her passion for serving to express herself best over the next 12 months. 

“I believe that it is my duty to use the knowledge I have acquired/am to acquire in order to make somebody else’s life better. So essentially, I am a servant leader; I believe that there is enough room for everybody to succeed,” she adds.

As #KovsieCyberStas, the duo will cover events on and around campus, while filming and presenting short video clips to give fellow Kovsies some insight into these events across the UFS’s digital platforms.



News Archive

UFS DiMTEC will help compile national emergency management system
2017-10-11

Description: UFS DiMTEC will help compile national emergency management system Tags: UFS DiMTEC will help compile national emergency management system

Preparedness and response are the two most important aspects of managing disaster when it strikes. Prof Andries Jordaan, Head of the Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC) at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently attended an incident command course in California in the US.

Learning from US disaster management systems
More than 20 specialists from 17 countries attended the course where participants were introduced to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) in the US. The system was implemented after lessons learned during 9/11. “According to the NIMS structure, all government organisations at all levels as well as emergency agencies had to standardise terminology and systems,” said Prof Jordaan.

The professor also had the opportunity to visit among others the Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) headquarters in California, some State Coordination Centres as well as several other disaster management centres. He also had the chance to shadow an Incident Management Team (IMT) during active operations.

Providing training for local disaster management
Insight gained during this course, as well as Prof Jordaan’s experience as senior officer in the South African National Defence Reserve Forces, provided him the necessary background to conduct training and give assistance in terms of disaster management.

Through DiMTEC Prof Jordaan will assist the National Disaster Management Centre with the implementation of a national emergency management system. He will also provide training for incident management teams.

“DiMTEC is currently also in the process of developing a Master module in disaster response. Command and control and Incident Command will form a sub-module in the disaster response module,” he said.

From South Africa, Prof Jordaan was joined on the course by General Elias Mpumelelo Mahlabane from the South African Police Services, who is responsible for disaster management in the SAPS. Savage Breytenbach, a trainer in rural fire fighting who assists Mangaung with command and control structures, also attended the course.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept