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13 August 2020 | Story Eugene Seegers | Photo Charl Devenish
Gugu believes in empowering students to successfully complete their higher-education journey.

Gugu Wendy Tiroyabone is Head of Advising, Access and Success in the Centre for Teaching and Learning. She says she is on a journey to become a champion womxn, with her advocacy for student access with success in higher education being the vehicle that is propelling her. Gugu says her superpower is “knowing how to win without being loud”.

1. Please tell us about yourself: Who are you and what do you do at the university? 
Self-awareness, simplicity, and service is who I am and what I, Gugu Wendy Tiroyabone (née Khanye), embody. My Zulu name, loosely translated, means ‘precious’, and I firmly believe that the work I do at the UFS Centre for Teaching and Learning — academic advising and RPL — align with my name, serving students in this invaluable experience of being afforded the opportunity to access higher education and ultimately being guided to success.

2. Is there a woman who inspires you and who you would like to celebrate this Women’s Month, and why?
Mmm … tricky to single out only one. There are a few — top of the charts is most certainly my mother, a servant leader — in everything she does; she is there to listen, hear and understand, empathise, heal, build, and is committed to the growth of others. Aunty Basetsana (Bassie) Kumalo is another womxn I celebrate – television personality, businesswomxn, and philanthropist — a brand that inspires me to be the best version of me so that I can reach my dreams.

3. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your life that have made you a better woman?
I would say one of the biggest challenges I faced in my early 20s would have to be low self-confidence and a low self-esteem. Those who know me would disagree, but unfortunately it gets the best of us and it was my reality. I struggled with acceptance, and when I took some time out to check in with myself, I learned that knowing how to win without making a noise is my superpower; since realising this, I refuse to live below my potential.

4. What advice would you give to a 15-year-old you?
You don’t have to change your dreams to realise them; rather, as you grow, adapt and adopt your approaches to the season/year — these small adaptations will propel you towards fulfilling your dreams. Someone else can make your dreams come true, but only you can realise your dreams.

5. What would you say makes you a champion woman, or a champion woman of the UFS?
I would like to believe that I am still becoming a champion womxn, not there just yet. But my advocacy for student access with success in higher education is what is driving me towards being a champion womxn – without meaningful access, student success is hollow. So, we need to work collectively as a sector and institution to achieve this.

 

 

 

 

News Archive

Innovation the focus of 28th Sophia Gray Memorial Lecture
2016-09-06

Description: Stratford furniture design Tags: Stratford furniture design

Stratford never lost his passion for designing
furniture. Pictured here is some of his furniture
exhibited at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum.
Photo: Francois van Vuuren: iFlair Photography

Al Stratford, designer, inventor and architect, presented the 28th Sophia Gray Memorial Lecture on 25 August at the Reservoir at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum in Bloemfontein. The event, hosted by the Department of Architecture at the University of the Free State, was also the opening of an exhibition of Stratford’s work.

In his career of 40 years, Stratford has patented many products and won several awards in industrial design and architecture. He is known in South Africa for his development of innovative building technology such as the Winblok Precast Concrete Window System. In 2009 and 2010, he also served as president of the South African Institute of Architects.

The title of his lecture was: Reductive Innovation in Architecture. Throughout his career, Stratford endeavoured – through his designs and inventions – to apply the principle of “reduction” to the building material he used and technology he examined.

Stratford designs and builds smart buildings
Stratford says a home is the paradigm of self-expression. His career as architect started with the building of five houses in Gonubie, near East London. Everything he knew about architecture at that stage, he had taught himself by reading on the subject at the local library. Later on, he achieved great heights in his career by designing and building, among others, the Stratford Guesthouse; the sustainable and resourcefully designed campus buildings for the University of Fort Hare (an institutional building not utilising any electrical air-conditioning); the Edenvale Baptist Church; and a community hall.

His technology is widely used in the building industry

“The arrogance in me gets humiliated when I
see what other people and God has done.”


His technical drawing skills, acquired at an early age during his training as motor mechanic, are still practised years later, particularly in his inventions. Stratford is the inventor of technology commonly used in the building industry today. Of these, the Winblok window system which he patented in 1981, is one of his best known patents. The use of these windows is characteristic of many of the buildings he designed and built. Other technology he invented and patented, includes the Winstep stairs, the Windeck flooring system, and the StratFlex furniture technology.

Furniture designs win him awards
He likes to quote architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: “A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is easier.” Stratford started designing and manufacturing his own furniture and never lost this passion. In 2013, he won the Innovation Award at the Design Indaba for his “flat pack” furniture technology.

The humble Stratford – designer, inventor, industrialist, and architect – says he is simply playing around with God’s creation. “The arrogance in me gets humiliated when I see what other people and God has done.”

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