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07 May 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish
Noko Masalesa
Noko Masalesa, Director of Protection Services, in conversation with students and stakeholders to plan a safe way forward.
Safety and security are human rights that constitute social justice. At the centre of the agenda at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Social Justice Week held on the Bloemfontein Campus from 17-22 April 2019 were discussions about off-campus safety. Stakeholders agreed on an upgrade to security measures in order to ensure the success and wellbeing of the student population.

A call to students

Prof John Mubangizi, Dean of the Faculty of Law, in his capacity as representative of the UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, expressed his view on institutions of higher learning no longer functioning as ivory towers. “For any initiative to succeed, collaboration is necessary between key roleplayers,” he said.

He aptly pointed out that: “We cannot underscore the importance of safety and security, not only for the university but also for the communities around us. What the university does benefits the community and vice versa. I pledge the university’s commitment to play a leading part to ensure that the collaboration works,” said Prof Mubangizi.

Beefing up security: Who is involved?

In view of the collaborative effort Prof Mubangizi alluded to, the engagement was twofold. First was the roundtable discussion facilitated by Protection Services which then escalated into a public dialogue where students had the opportunity to interact with external delegates.

The South African Police Services, Community Police Forum, Private Security, Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, Provincial Commissioner, and Deputy Minister of Police were well represented in this critical conversation. Internally, members of Protection Services, Housing and Residence Affairs, Student Affairs, Institute for Social Justice and Reconciliation, Student Representative Council, and the Department of Criminology heard the plight of off-campus safety faced by students.

Changes in the horizon

The discussions culminated with recommendations which will see the future of student safety take a different direction. According to Skhululekile Luwaca, former SRC president, these include “the municipality’s commitment to immediately address issues such as street lights and enforcing by-laws, ensuring an integrated accreditation system, and drafting a policy for off-campus accommodation, running more crime awareness campaigns, and giving police patrols more visibility.”

In addition to resolving to set up a student safety forum with all the stakeholders, the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has invited the UFS to join Reclaim the City – a safety forum where practical solutions to crime are devised and implemented on a weekly basis.


News Archive

Prof Combrink gives 32nd DF Malherbe Memorial Lecture
2014-06-04

Since 2006, Prof HJB Combrink is the project leader of ‘Die Bybel: ’n Direkte Vertaling’. Prof Combrink addressed an audience on the subject of the project at the 32nd DF Malherbe memorial lecture. During the memorial lecture, he quoted DF Malherbe in order to create the context between the recent Direct Translation and the 1933/53 translation which involved Malherbe.

“Some of the younger generation forget that they are standing on the shoulders of workers who served in the muddy ditches of vilification to procure the foundations of a cultural language, and speak belittling and with shrugged shoulders about the first attempts, or show a lack of good comprehension, while judging the verses and tales from the Patriotic period according to aesthetic norms.”

Prof Combrink said that the Direct Translation transpired in a different context than the 1933/53 and the 1983 translations. The direct translation was approached differently and is therefore more inclusive concerning the relevant processes and phases.

“The making of a direct translation was and undoubtedly remains a great challenge,” Prof Combrink said. “It is not always easy to find the correct Afrikaans expression for a Greek or Hebrew idiom or loaded term.”

“It is an ongoing exercise trying to sit in two chairs at the same time. (However), the Bible Society could frankly say that this direct translation is an honest and well-informed attempt to portray all of the communication clues from the Greek and Hebrew source texts in good Afrikaans.”

Prof Combrink was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Wonderboom, Pretoria (1968–1970), lecturer at RAU, UP and SU (New Testament, 1970–2001), and Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Stellenbosch University for two terms (1992-1994 and 1998–2000). 
 

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