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02 May 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
UFS Debate Society
The UFS Debate Society led by example at the 2019 Jozi Rumble.
After competing in the Jozi Rumble final for six consecutive years, the UFS Debate Society won the competition – Africa’s largest intercollegiate debate open – for the second consecutive year. The tournament took place at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in April 2019.

After seven preliminary rounds, three UFS teams out of a total of 100 competing teams overall were placed in the top 16, earning them a place in the quarterfinals – where they faced each other. A composite team of UFS LLB graduate and LLM student, Lehakoe Masedi, and a partner from Wits beat all teams, qualified for the final themed ‘This house regrets the glorification of opulence in popular culture’, and won the league.

“It was one of the most validating moments of my entire debating career; everybody wants to win the Jozi Rumble, and to have done it and to be the best speaker is truly amazing,” said Lehakoe. The top-ranking speaker at the tournament added that she had been working hard, and that she is glad that her efforts are coming full circle.

The UFS sent six teams overall to the tournament, including two novice teams competing in their first-ever intercollegiate debate tournament. 

“Speaking at the Jozi Rumble debate tournament for the first time was truly an educational experience; it exposed me to the dynamics of varsity-level debating,” said Simphiwe Yana, debater in of the UFS novice teams.

The UFS speaking squad consisted of Lehakoe Masedi, 2018 Abe Bailey Bursary victor and Rhodes scholarship recipient Nkahiseng Ralepeli, Khotso Khokho, Siyanda Rixana, Morena Moabi, Simphiwe Yana, Luvuyo Shoco, Asemahle Noholoza, and Nontobeko Msimangu. Former Chairperson of the UFS Debate Society and Editor-in-Chief of the IRAWA newspaper, Tshiamo Malatji, was also present at the tournament as the Tabulation Director. 

On 11 May 2019, the UFS will travel to the University of Pretoria to defend yet another debate open title at the Pretoria Parlay Intervarsity. 


News Archive

Course on sustainable development recognised at COP 17
2011-12-07

 

Some participants of the PED Nexus Programme during a field trip are from left: Jacques van Zuydam, Chief Director: Population and Development at the national  Department of Social Development; Prof. André Pelser, course coordinator (UFS); Prof. Sosten Chiotha, Director, LEAD Southern and Eastern Africa; and Dr Nola Redelinghuys, course facilitator (UFS).

The University of the Free State (UFS) received a nod of approval at the COP 17 Climate Change Conference in Durban for a short course it presents in partnership with the Chief Directorate Population and Development, United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), LEAD International and SANParks.

The UFS received an honourable mention in a press release from the Department of Social Development for the short course entitled ‘Leadership Training in Sustainable Development: The Population, Environment and Development (PED) Nexus’. The release was issued as part of COP17. It mentions that the course is recognised in a publication of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as one of ten innovative experiences and best practices in population and development in the developing world.
 
Prof. André Pelser, UFS Professor in Sociology, says the university played a key role in the development and implementation of the course. The UFS has been presenting the course since its inception in 2005.   Similar courses under the banner of the PED Nexus, although in a totally different format, are also presented at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the University of Cape Town. A total of 21 courses have been presented nationwide since 2005, of which the UFS has hosted eight. More than 230 participants from all over the world have been trained in these eight short nine-day courses.
 
The PED Nexus Programme focuses on the interrelationships of population, environment and development and its significance for sustainable human development and is closely linked to the implementation of the national Population Policy for South Africa. The press release reads that the programme is implemented in the form of short courses that target professionals and managers in governments at all levels as well as non-governmental agencies responsible for the implementation of programmes related to sustainable development.
 
Prof. Pelser and Dr Nola Redelinghuys, also from the Department of Sociology, have recently been tasked by the National Department of Social Development to upgrade the course outline.  The next course will run from 17-25 April 2012. As in the case of pervious courses, the first six days will be hosted on our main Campus in Bloemfontein, whereafter course participants and their facilitators depart to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park for the practical part of the course. 

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