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06 May 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Barend Nagel
Africa Month
Africa Month; a time to celebrate and reflect on African unity in diversity.

Africa Day marks the commemoration of the establishment of the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU), now called the African Union (AU). Every year on 25 May the continent celebrates its diverse peoples and cultures. At the University of the Free State (UFS), Africa Month is pinned on the calendar as a time for critical conversation. This year, it coincides with the general elections on 8 May 2019, when South Africans will exercise their democratic right to vote.
  
Opportunity versus opportunism

A series of events such as the Annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies will mark the memorable month. Prof Francis Nyamnjoh is expected delve deeper into the topic of Ubuntu-ism and Africa: Reconciling opportunity and opportunism.  

Giving back to locals

The Student Representative Council is to champion a community outreach programme known as Meal In A Jar. This initiative will see learners at Joe Solomon Primary School in Heidedal receiving a hearty meal and stationery as a gesture of ubuntu and engaged scholarship. 

Dialogue beyond borders

The Office for International Affairs is to host the second Annual Africa Day Reflection and Celebration event at which topical issues of continental importance will be dealt with.

Migration, segregation, and liberation

The Debate Society together with the History Student Society will unpack Africa’s role in South Africa’s liberation, the formation of Southern Africa’s borders, and free internal migration policy. 

Debate on African Boarders
Tuesday 21 May 2019
15:00-17:30
Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

Annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture
Wednesday 22 May 2019
17:30
Equitas Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

Meal In A Jar
Thursday 23 May 2019
14:00
Joe Solomon Primary School, Heidedal

2019 Africa Day Reflection and Celebration (Livestream)
Friday 24 May 2019
11:00-14:00
Reitz Hall, Centenary Complex, Bloemfontein Campus

News Archive

Kovsies salute its Guinness World Record Holder
2012-02-03

 

Volksblad journalist Christal-Liza Thomas interviewed Hermann van Heerden.
Photo: Amanda Tongha


He had to wait three months for the Guinness World Record office to verify his world-record attempt but it is now official. Kovsie-student Hermann van Heerden is a Guinness World Record holder.

On 01 February 2012 the B.Ed. Kovsie student proudly showed his certificate to Prof. Jonathan Jansen and others at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). In October 2011 Hermann, who was born with spina bifida, a developmental congenital disorder, wheeled himself into the record books by holding a stationary wheelie in his wheelchair for 10 hours and 1 second.

He achieved this record as part of celebrations marking a decade of existence for the Unit for Students with Disabilities (USD) at the UFS.

With the support of his fellow Kovsies, Hermann embarked on his record attempt on 11 October last year. He started at 03:15 and held his wheelie until 13:16.

The minimum time set for Hermann to achieve a Guinness World Record was four hours and he bettered this by six hours. During his attempt, the Kovsie student did not have any food or water and was not allowed a bathroom break.

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