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31 August 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
SRC election term extended

SRC elections 2020/21 were due to take place before the end of August 2020 as prescribed by the ISRC constitution. However, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the consequent lockdown regulations and extension of the UFS 2020 academic year, the current SRC term will be extended until March 2021.

The decision to extend the term of the SRC was taken by the Rectorate following a recommendation made by the Division of Student Affairs (DSA), after consultation with
the ISRC. 

The consultation process with the ISRC produced three options:
  • Proceed with SRC elections in August 2020;
  • Extend the current SRC term to align with the extended 2020 academic year; or
  • Elect a Transitional Student Council (TSC) from September 2020 to March 2021.
In view of the above, and considering current conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic,
online SRC elections are scheduled for March 2021. 

This extension implies that the terms of all the sub-structures of the ISRC will be extended accordingly.

This communication serves as official notice to the Student Body about the extension of the
2019/2020 ISRC term and all its sub-structures as per the prescripts of the ISRC Constitution.

The DSA, with particular reference to the Student Governance Office (SGO), remains
committed to engaging with all parties of legitimate interest about matters arising from,
related to, and/or about SRC elections in all its permutations. 

Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact the SGO:
Coordinator: Kamogelo Dithebe (DithebeKS@ufs.ac.za)
Faculty Coordinator: (MunzheleleD@ufs.ac.za)
Administrator: Rethabile Motseki (MotsekiR@ufs.ac.za)

News Archive

UFS cardiac team does pioneering work
2017-10-29

Description: ' 000 Cardiac Pioneers Tags: Cardiac Pioneers 

“With the use of endomyocardial biopsies, the team hopes to treat viruses unique
to Southern Africa, as well as other underlying causes of dilated cardiomyopathy.”

Photo: iStock

Members of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Cardiac team had various achievements at national and international level this year. The Robert WM Frater Cardiovascular Research Centre in the Faculty of Health Sciences has commenced with a pioneering research project regarding idiopathic dilating cardiomyopathy.

With an Afrocentric research focus, Prof Francis Smit, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the UFS and Head of the Frater Centre, describes dilating cardiomyopathy as a heart muscle disease that is quite common, particularly among people of African descent. The disease weakens the heart muscle, which in turn leads to heart failure.

“To date there is no curable treatment for this condition, and 50% of patients who have shown heart failure, died within a period of five years. The causes of this condition have been unknown in the majority of patients. But over the past few years major strides have been made, where virus infections of the heart muscle, or myocarditis, have been identified as a possible underlying cause. Various genetic diseases are also linked to it,” says Prof Smit.

According to Prof Mokoali Makotoko, Head of the Department of Cardiology, more than 1 500 new cases of heart failure are identified at the Universitas Academic Hospital annually, of which approximately 30% are attributed to cardiomyopathy. “With the use of endomyocardial biopsies, the team hopes to treat viruses unique to Southern Africa, as well as other underlying causes of dilated cardiomyopathy.”

The study is a project that flows from Prof Makotoko’s PhD. The project is being run with Prof Heinz-Peter Schultheiss of the Charité University and the Institute for Cardiac Diagnostics and Therapy in Berlin, Germany.

 "More than 1 500 new cases of heart failure are identified at the Universitas Academic Hospital annually, of which approximately 30% are attributed to cardiomyopathy."

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