Latest News Archive

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

University of the Free State's position on Gender-Based violence

05 September 2019 | Story Prof Francis Petersen (UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor)

In light of the ongoing violence against women, and recent surge in femicide in South Africa, the University of the Free State (UFS) recommits itself to challenge, fight and eradicate all forms of gender-based violence on its campus and in the country.

The recent rape and murder of 19-year-old Media and Film Studies student at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Uyinene Mrwetyana, and the murder of University of the Western Cape (UWC) student, Jesse Hess, are painful reminders of the pervasive nature of misogyny and patriarchal violence that impedes the freedom of women/womxn in South Africa. The UFS stands in solidarity with UCT and UWC, and all other South African universities that are currently steeped in this national crisis pertaining to gender-based violence.

The UFS perceives this as an enduring manifestation of patriarchy that results in women’s/womxn’s subordination, inequality, and violation of bodily integrity. These horrific events underscore the extent to which attempts to address women’s/womxn’s inequality and gender-based violence nationally, and more pertinently at universities, have failed. Recent discussions have underscored the issue of ‘belonging’ as a concern in Higher Education contexts. Belonging is often couched in the language of ‘access’ and ‘transformation’. However, these terms often provide limited substantive change for students who experience a sense of marginalisation and alienation at South African universities. Decolonisation discourse challenges the nature of hegemonic knowledge production that excludes voices of alterity.

Epistemic violence is central to decolonisation discourse referring to the nature of hegemonic knowledge production that excludes voices of alterity. The extent to which knowledge production manifests in universities is, however, not only white and Western, but also male and masculine. South African universities are therefore confronted again with the urgency of recognising and responding to the issue of women’s/womxn’s subordination, with specific emphasis on their safety and freedom.

The UFS is committed to creating a university space where all our students feel that they belong, by broadening current epistemologies and including women’s/womxn’s voices and lived experiences. More pertinently and in a practical manner, curriculum change should include diverse intellectual perspectives and incorporate an ethics of care in teaching practices. The UFS acknowledges that more must be done as a space of higher learning to investigate the causes that underlie the continuance of sexual violence against women/womxn.

On Friday 6 September 2019, the UFS held a day of mourning, standing in solidarity with other universities in their attempt to respond to the present crisis. In mourning Uyinene and Jesse’s death and all other victims and survivors of gender-based violence, the university will critically self-reflect on the multi-layered demand for transformation and consciousness needed for deep change.

The UFS calls on the Department of Higher Education, civil society, the business sector and all others to actively contribute to efforts that will eradicate gender violence. As the UFS, we call specifically on the City of Bloemfontein, the mayor, members of local government, South Africa Police Service and all inhabitants to assist us in making the city safe for all.

Prof Francis Petersen
Rector and Vice-Chancellor
University of the Free State
5 September 2019

News Archive

Historians must place African history on world stage – Dr Zeleza

2017-05-30

From the left: Panellists Rev Henry Jackson,
Prof Irikidzayi Manase and Arno Van Niekerk at a book
launch and panel discussion on Africa Day hosted by the
UFS Sasol Library.
Photo: Mamosa Makaya

“African historians must take seriously the challenge of placing African history in world history, and in the history of our species, Homo sapiens.”

With these words, Dr Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Vice Chancellor of the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, stressed the continent’s challenge.

According to him the contest should continue to recover and reconstruct Africa’s long history. Liberating African knowledges can be done by: “Provincialising Europe that has monopolised universality, universalising Africa beyond its Eurocentric provincialisation, and engaging histories of other continents on their own terms.”

University celebrates Africa Month in various ways
Dr Zeleza delivered the ninth Africa Day Memorial Lecture, titled The Decolonisation of African Knowledges, at the University of the Free State (UFS). The lecture, hosted by the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS), took place on 24 May 2017 in the Equitas Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus and was one of the ways in which the UFS celebrated Africa Month.

Scholars should immerse themselves in these thoughts
Dr Zeleza focused on two issues, which he said were interconnected. They were the unfinished project of decolonising African knowledges and the continent's positioning in global knowledge production.

He said Africa’s scholars and students should “immerse themselves in the rich traditions of African social thought going back millennia”. According to him the continent’s research profile still remains weak in global terms.

“It is imperative that the various key stakeholders in African higher education from governments to the general public to parents, and to students, faculty, staff, and administrators in the academic institutions themselves, raise the value proposition of African higher education for 21st century African societies, economies, and polities.”

“Colonialism is associated with injustice
and inequality, but what happens when
our liberators become our oppressors?”

Library celebrates with panel discussion and book launch
The UFS Sasol Library celebrated Africa Day by presenting a book launch and panel discussion on 25 May 2017, on the pertinent and current political theme of land redistribution with a comparative basis of land invasions in Zimbabwe.

Prof Irikidzayi Manase discussed his book White Narratives: The Depiction of Post-2000 Land Invasions in Zimbabwe, accompanied by Rev Henry Jackson who wrote Another Farm in Africa. A perspective of the economic implications of land redistribution in South Africa was discussed by panellist Arno Van Niekerk: Senior Lecturer of Economics at the UFS Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Inequality still an African problem
The content of the books are a stark reminder of the burning issues of inequality and loss of identity of those who lost their farms in Zimbabwe, a collection of memoirs by white farmers and their families. Rev Jackson gave a religious perspective on reconciliation, forgiveness and the question of land ownership, saying that healing of injustice begins with forgiveness of past transgressions.

Van Niekerk highlighted that while land issues were important, “social cohesion is affected by the economic decisions that will be made”. In closing, Prof Manase called for serious consideration of what the future may hold. “Colonialism is associated with injustice and inequality, but what happens when our liberators become our oppressors?”

The panel discussion was attended by staff and students of the university, and was lit up by robust discussions on possible historical and future solutions to the question of land, decolonisation and political power struggles in Southern Africa and lessons to be learned from Zimbabwe.

UFS celebrates Africa Month (24 May 2017)

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