Latest News Archive

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

#WomenOfKovsies: Being a woman is being resilient – Esihle Mhluzi

01 September 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa

“I was determined to be more than just ‘the girl on crutches’; I wanted my brilliance to speak for itself,” said Mhluzi in response to the question, “What inspires you?”

As part of its #WomenOfKovsies campaign for 2019, which profiles inspiring women on our three campuses, the UFS celebrates LLB Law student, Esihle Mhluzi. She has served on a few SRC executive committees, UFS women empowerment organisations, and is also the Chairperson of the Universal Access Council for 2019.

Mhluzi says she was ‘graced’ with a physical impairment at the age of 10. She uses the word ‘grace’, because she appreciates what it means for the world and for women today to be in a body like hers. She also recently started pursuing a career in modelling, forming part of the top five of Miss Capable SA, and is currently one of the ﬁnalists for Face of Free State Fashion Week 2019.

Mhluzi explains that her decision to pursue modelling was propelled by her rationale to inﬁltrate spaces that were not necessarily designed for girls who ‘looked’ like her. She found that society seldom embraces and ‘accepts’ young women of her calibre on prestigious modelling platforms. Her mission is to ensure that she becomes the voice for the many women she represents. “With my additional modelling career path, I envisage us – women – running towards victory hand in hand,” said Mhluzi.

For her, being a woman means “being empty of yourself in order to create a better life for your fellow sister”. She believes a woman’s purpose is to extend grace and create safe spaces for each other to exist, heal, overcome, and conquer the world together, being in control of your narrative, and starving the noise. “Being a woman means having the audacity to be unapologetic in your brilliance,” she enthuses.

Mhluzi, who describes herself as ‘multifaceted’, believes that Women’s Month should be celebrated in order to pay homage to the phenomenal women who went before us. She highlights the importance of picking up where they left off.

“I look forward to the day when being a woman simply means BEING.”

News Archive

Quantity Surveying and Construction Management department aspires to excellence

2017-08-14

From the left: Prof Danie Vermeulen, Dean of the
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences;
Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, Head of the Department
of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management;
Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor
at the UFS; and Dr Franco Geminiani, chairing the
panel from the South African Council for the Project
and Construction Management Professions.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Achieving programme accreditation from the respective professional bodies is the ultimate goal for the Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at the University of the Free State (UFS). This is according to Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, the head of this department. This hallmark of quality reflects the university’s aspiration towards excellence.

Construction Management programmes reviewed
The university recently received a visit by a panel, representing the South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) to re-accredit programmes offered by the Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management. During the accreditation visit, the panel evaluated the programmes to determine whether they met the minimum requirements according to a set of pre-determined criteria.

When reviewing the programmes: BSc and BSc Hons Construction Management respectively, as well as the Project Management stream of the Masters programme in Land and Property Development Management (MLPM), the panel looked at programme design and outcomes including curriculum, study material and exam papers, institutional support, student recruitment, admission, development, retention and throughput, staffing recruitment and development, teaching and learning strategies, quality assurance, facilities, infrastructure and resources, professional development, industry and practical exposure and postgraduate policies, procedures and regulations, including research activities.

If the minimum requirements are achieved, the Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at the UFS will receive accreditation for its programmes from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2022.

It will also mean that we are certified
as producing quality employable
graduates who are well prepared to
enter the industry and make a difference.

Currently, the department has full accreditation by the SACPCMP (until March 2017) and the SACQSP (until December 2017).

Later this month, a panel from the South African Council for Property Valuation Profession (SACPVP) will review the accreditation of the Valuation stream of the MLPM programme. The South African Council for Quantity Surveying Profession responsible for accrediting the Quantity Surveying programmes will visit the university in 2018.

Certified as producing quality students
Prof Kajimo-Shakantu said: “If we maintain our accreditation, it will reflect that the UFS is among the best, with programmes which are recognised by professional bodies that set competence standards for professional registration of students. It will also mean that we are certified as producing quality employable graduates who are well prepared to enter the industry and make a difference. The programmes contribute to the development of the much-needed critical skills in the built environment.”

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