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Kovsies to honour students during December graduation ceremonies

19 November 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Sonia Small

Graduations — The UFS will honour all graduates during the upcoming graduation ceremonies to be held in the Callie Human Centre on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus from 9 to 11 December 2019.

The University of the Free State (UFS) will confer a number of qualifications on graduates at the upcoming graduation ceremonies on the Bloemfontein Campus from 9 to 11 December 2019.

A total of 1 216 graduates across all UFS faculties will gather at the Callie Human Centre to be addressed by Chief Director: Teaching and Learning Development in the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Dr Whitty Green; 2019 Kovsie Ambassador Award winner, Ms Louzanne Coetzee; and former Managing Director of De Beers Consolidated Mines and member of the UFS Council, Mr David Noko.

Judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal and Chancellor of the Central University of Technology (CUT), Justice Mahube Molemela, will also be addressing the audience during the 2019 December graduation ceremonies.

For more information about the upcoming celebrations, visit the UFS graduation ceremonies page.
Graduates can read through the Bloemfontein Graduations: Preparing for Graduations Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which contains the necessary information for graduates to note during the graduation processions.

Graduation ceremonies for the different faculties will take place on the following dates:

Bloemfontein Campus

9-11 December 2019

9 Dec 2019
14:30: South Campus: Open Distance Learning
Certificates and diplomas
Graduations Programme: South Campus: Open Distance Learning

10 Dec 2019
09:00: Faculties of Education, the Humanities, Law and Theology and Religion
All certificates, diplomas, Bachelor’s degrees, and Honours degrees
Graduations Programme: Faculties of Education, The Humanities, Law, Theology and Religion

14:30: Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences and Natural and Agricultural Sciences
All certificates, diplomas, Bachelor’s degrees, and Honours degrees
Graduations Programme: Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences and Natural and Agricultural Sciences

11 Dec 2019
09:00: Faculty of Health Sciences
All certificates, diplomas, Bachelor’s degrees, and Honours degrees

14:30: All Faculties
Master's and doctoral qualifications
Graduations Programme: Master's and Doctoral Candidates in All Faculties

Family and friends who are unable to attend your graduation ceremony can still watch you graduate through our livestream link at which becomes active at 08:45 and 14:15 on the day of the ceremony.

News Archive

UFS’s Unit for Children’s Rights instrumental in helping human trafficked victim

2010-03-29

Adv. Beatri Kruger.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

“Wheeling and dealing is part of our daily life. But what if the ‘product’ bought or sold is not a spanner or a cell phone, but a living human being? Disturbing news came to the fore... apart from other places in the country, and for that matter all over the world, it was discovered that people are treated like commodities here in Bloemfontein as well,” said Adv. Beatri Kruger from the Unit for Children’s Rights at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Adv. Kruger was instrumental in completing and availing the first comprehensive Research Report on Human Trafficking in South Africa to the public on 23 March 2010. As a member of the Reference Group advising on interim research reports on human trafficking, she contributed to the report. The report proves to be an extremely valuable tool for, among others, government departments and non-governmental organisations that use it as a guideline in planning interventions to combat human trafficking.

The Unit for Children’s Rights is also one of the founding members of the Free State Human Trafficking Forum (FHF). To react on and fight the disturbing reality of human trafficking more efficiently, a number of concerned role players such as Child Welfare and other non-governmental organisations, police officials, prosecutors, social workers, health practitioners, private businesses, churches and community organisations joined forces and formed the FHF. The Unit for Children’s Rights hosts monthly meetings at the UFS to facilitate the coordination of this multi-disciplinary counter-trafficking team.

Adv. Kruger is very excited about some of the successes of the FHF; such as the story of Soma (not her real name). This Indian woman was recruited in India by an Indian couple who are staying in South Africa, by promising her a good job in South Africa. However, instead of finding the promised job, Soma was extensively exploited for labour purposes. With the help of a “good Samaritan” she managed to escape from the perpetrators and fled to the police. Soma was removed to ensure her safety and accommodated in a safe place in Bloemfontein. Counselling and other services were rendered to her by an organisation which is also a member of the FHF. One of the challenges facing Soma and the service providers was that Soma speaks a foreign dialect and for weeks a trusted interpreter could not be found.

This obstacle rendered communication with her to the bare minimum. The perpetrators were arrested but unfortunately the new comprehensive counter-trafficking law is not in force yet. Therefore the perpetrators could only be convicted of some offences in the Immigration Act. However, due to good police investigation followed by shrewd consultations, the perpetrators agreed to pay for the victim’s return flight to India as well as for the flight ticket of the investigating officer to escort her to safety. The Unit for Children’s Rights did networking with Ms Maria Nikolovska of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), who agreed to assist in the safe reintegration of Soma in India. Soma is now on her way back home.

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