Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Getting to know our 2019 Abe Bailey dynamic duo

02 September 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Xolisa Mnukwa

Shannon Arnold and Samkezi Mbalane — Shannon Arnold (left) and Samkezi Mbalane (right), the 2019 UFS recipients of the prestigious International Abe Bailey Travel Bursary.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has selected MPhil (African Studies) student and self-proclaimed ‘radical feminist’, Shannon Arnold, and former Golden Key UFS Qwaqwa Campus Chapter President and Political Studies and Governance honours student, Samkezi Mbalane, to represent the institution this year on the Abe Bailey Travel Bursary tour

The Abe Bailey Travel Bursary is a leadership-development programme that honours and targets university students or junior lecturers with a strong academic background, and who have shown exceptional qualities of leadership and service during their university careers as well as in a wider social context. Recipients of the bursary are expected to function as an integral part of a select and highly skilled group of individuals who will be embarking on a five-stage tour in December, starting in Cape Town (South Africa) and finishing in London (United Kingdom).

“Success comes from a feeling of satisfaction in what I have done for myself” – Shannon Arnold

Shannon Arnold, who is originally from Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, completed her undergraduate and honours studies in Political and International Studies and English Literature at Rhodes University. She moved to the UFS and is currently completing her transdisciplinary MPhil in African Studies, focused on Peace and Conflict in Post-conflict African Societies from a gendered perspective.

“Moving to the Free State was an interesting cultural transition,” Arnold remarked.
She further expressed how “pleasantly enlightened” she was by the UFS’s active and direct approach to transformation, and how it allowed her to spearhead and coordinate crucial student-movement initiatives such as the total shutdown protest which saw women and students march from the UFS Bloemfontein Campus to the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2018. Arnold believes that her passion, work, and experiences with community and service-based organisations against South Africa’s plight of gender-based violence has branded her a leader and qualified her for becoming an ‘Abe’.

Arnold grew up in a community-minded family and has thus been aligned with politics from a very young age. She is inspired by the thought of manifesting a reality where women in South Africa are able to pursue their own choices. She looks forward to exposing herself to foreign cultures on the tour to the UK, engaging with people who have like-minded convictions.

“The desire and compassion to motivate and uplift others is what inspires me.” – Samkezi Mbalane

Eastern Cape, Mount Fletcher-born Samkezi Mbalane, who graduated from the UFS with his undergraduate degree in Political Studies and Governance (Cum Laude), labels his life journey as ‘very difficult, yet fascinating’.

Having been raised by a struggling single mother, he reflects on being dependant on other people in his immediate community for basic needs. He lived in a foster home for three years (Grade 10 to 12) as a means of survival. Mbalane explained that such experiences motivated him to pursue a career in politics, as he dreams of playing a pivotal role in the creation and implementation of South African governmental policies that will one day effectively benefit the poor.

Mbalane believes his claim to leadership came through ‘hard work and persistence’. He has served in various leadership positions, including President of the Golden Key Society UFS Qwaqwa Campus Chapter, Prime at Steve Biko Residence, active member of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, Enactus, and the Secretary General of the Student Parliament. Mbalane deemed being selected an ‘Abe’ as an “iconic opportunity for all aspirant leaders in South Africa.”

He looks forward to working with people from different cultural backgrounds and career fields, but mostly, to seeing the world outside South Africa from a unique perspective.

News Archive

Census 2011 overshadowed by vuvuzela announcements

2012-11-20

Mike Schüssler, economist
Photo: Hannes Pieterse
15 November 2012

Complete Lecture (MP3)

Census 2011 contains good statistics but these are overshadowed by vuvuzela announcements and a selective approach, economist Mike Schüssler said at a presentation at the UFS.

“Why highlight one inequality and not another success factor? Is Government that negative about itself?” Mr Schüssler, owner of Economist.co.za, asked.

“Why is all the good news such as home ownership, water, lights, cars, cellphones, etc. put on the back burner? For example, we have more rooms than people in our primary residence. Data shows that a third of Africans have a second home. Why are some statistics that are racially based not made available, e.g. orphans? So are “bad” statistics not always presented?”

He highlighted statistics that did not get the necessary attention in the media. One such statistic is that black South Africans earn 46% of all income compared to 39% of whites. The census also showed that black South Africans fully own nearly ten times the amount of houses that whites do. Another statistic is that black South Africans are the only population group to have a younger median age. “This is against worldwide trends and in all likelihood has to do with AIDS. It is killing black South Africans more than other race groups.”

Mr Schüssler also gave insight into education. He said education does count when earnings are taken into account. “I could easily say that the average degree earns nearly five times more than a matric and the average matric earns twice the pay of a grade 11.”

He also mentioned that people lie in surveys. On the expenditure side he said, “People apparently do not admit that they gamble or drink or smoke when asked. They also do not eat out but when looking at industry and sector sales, this is exposed and the CPI is, for example, reweighted. They forget their food expenditure and brag about their cars. They seemingly spend massively on houses but little on maintenance. They spend more than they earn.”

“On income, the lie is that people forget or do not know the difference between gross and net salaries. People forget garnishee orders, loan repayments and certainly do not have an idea what companies pay on their behalf to pensions and medical aid. People want to keep getting social grants so they are more motivated to forget income. People are scared of taxes too so they lower income when asked. They spend more than they earn in many categories.”

On household assets Mr Schüssler said South Africans are asset rich but income poor. Over 8,3 million black African families stay in brick or concrete houses out of a total of 11,2 million total. About 4,9 million black families own their own home fully while only 502 000 whites do (fully paid off or nearly ten times more black families own their own homes fully). Just over 880 000 black South Africans are paying off their homes while 518 000 white families are.

Other interesting statistics are that 13,2 million people work, 22,5 million have bank accounts, 19,6 million have credit records. Thirty percent of households have cars, 90% of households have cellphones and 80% of households have TVs.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept