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30 May 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Africa Memorial lecture
From left; Dr Stephanie Cawood, Director of CGAS; Prof Francis Nyamnjoh; Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities, and Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic
Ubuntu is a word we all know and, to some extent, relate to. Prof Francis Nyamnjoh aimed to delve and explore this African philosophy when he presented the 2019 Africa Day Memorial Lecture with the topic Ubuntuism and Africa: Actualised, Misappropriated, Endangered and Reappraised. 

The memorial lecture is hosted annually by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS) to coincide with Africa Month celebrations. Prof Nyamnjoh holds a PhD from the University of Leicester in the UK. He is currently a professor of social anthropology at the University of Cape Town and has been a scholar in sociology, anthropology and communication science at universities in Cameroon and Botswana. The lecture took place on 22 May 2019 in the Equitas Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

“When I saw the topic I thought this was very contemporary. We at the university decided to include the Ubuntu principle in our learning and teaching strategy,” said Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic. 

Ubuntu as a binding factor for interconnectedness 

We live a world in which we cannot stand alone as the principle of Ubuntu tells us that we are who we are because of our interconnectedness with other people. “It is important to recognise that you stand on others to be tall,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 

“We are the product of ongoing conversations on interconnectedness."

“I have argued that, in the spirit of Ubuntu, Africans, their identities and mobilities are part and parcel of the experience of being human in a world on the move. And their contributions are needed in today’s world more than ever. 

“I have broached the context of globalisation and histories of unequal encounters that have shaped relations in Africa and beyond under global capitalism."

“Even as it is increasingly seriously tested by opportunism, Ubuntuism, sometimes a reality and sometimes an ideal, brings hope and redemption, and offers a feasible framework for participatory and inclusive emancipatory social change,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 


News Archive

Roosmaryn and Vishuis win residences' cross-country league
2010-09-17

According to Sarina Cronjé of KovieSport at the University of the Free State (UFS), this year’s residences’ cross-country league consisted of six meetings.

The meetings took place in inter-residence format, according to the penalty-point system. All the participants contributed points towards the team total, e.g. first position = 1 point and second position = 2 points, etc. The team with the least points wins. Each residence team consisted of four athletes. If less than four athletes in a team finished, that team was awarded 100 penalty points per athlete for each one less than four athletes. A residence could enter an indefinite number of teams.

Upon completion of the six meetings Roosmaryn won the women’s division, followed by Marjolein in second position and Roosmaryn’s B team in third position. In the men’s division, Vishuis came first, followed by Veritas in the second position and JBM in the third position.

The last meeting, in the form of a 4 x 1 km relay, took place on 1 September 2010. There the team of Kagiso triumphed in the men’s division. Roosmaryn once again won the women’s division. 

-  Sarina Cronjé
 

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