Latest News Archive

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

Gender-based violence: ‘we can make a difference if we work together’

03 December 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Tsamayang_web read more — Tsamayang Sethunsa says women needs to be taught that they must be firm when they say no.

“Gender-based violence is everyone’s responsibility and I believe it can be reduced if we all work together, says Tsamayang Sethunsa, Crime Investigating Officer at Protection Services.

Although he considers this a difficult battle to win, there are some actions that we can take to start fighting this evil in society.

Enhance awareness campaigns

“We must continue to enhance our awareness campaigns throughout the year and not restrict it to the short period of time during the 16 Days of Activism against violence to women and children campaign. Awareness campaigns need to run on a regular basis and must become part of our daily lives.”

He adds that we need to be proactive. “In this regard, I am a firm supporter of ongoing research to enable advocacy groups, investigators, victims, and perpetrators to understand what we are dealing with and to come up with mitigation plans that will address the problem at its roots,” he says.

“I also believe a focus on the victim is a good beginning, but we do not need to forget about the perpetrator, as that is where the problem is. We need to conduct specific research where perpetrators are interviewed and assessed as to understand what made the person commit the crime. You do not wake up in the morning and decide to hurt or kill someone you are supposed to love. There must be a trigger and we need to address it through ongoing engagement with men as the common perpetrator in these crimes.”

It is all right to cry and to let the pain out

“It is also important that men are taught to speak out about challenges they face on a daily basis. Tell them it is all right to cry and to let the pain out instead of keeping things in, resulting in violent outbursts,” he adds.

Tsamayang is also of the opinion that there is a need to revisit the rehabilitation methods of correctional service centres and to determine if these methods are working.

He says the issue of repeat offenders is also a growing concern for him as an investigator.

Furthermore, he is convinced that young children need to be taught about gender-based violence from an early age. “Women also need to be taught that they must be firm when they say no, and to report any criminal activity immediately when it happens. They must also learn to protect themselves,” he says.

News Archive

Moshoeshoe Memorial Lecture to focus on Leadership challenges

2006-03-27

Lecture to focus on Leadership challenges

n Thursday 25 May 2006 – Africa Day – the University of the Free State (UFS) will host the inaugural King Moshoeshoe Memorial Lecture in honour of this great African leader and nation-builder.

Prof Njabulo Ndebele, internationally renowned writer and academic, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT), will deliver the inaugural lecture at the Main Campus in Bloemfontein on the topic: Reflections on the Leadership Challenges in South Africa.

“I see the lecture as part of a larger debate on leadership models, particularly the concept of African leadership, as well as the ongoing discourse about nation-building and reconciliation,” says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

According to Prof Fourie, the Moshoeshoe project was launched at the UFS in 2004 to coincide with South Africa’s first decade of democracy and was part of the University’s centenary celebrations, having been founded in 1904.

“Through this project the UFS seeks to honour a great African leader and demonstrate our commitment to transformation so as to create a truly inclusive and non-racial university,” said Prof Fourie.

“As the founder of the Basotho nation, King Moshoeshoe is widely credited for his exceptional style of leadership, displaying the characteristics of diplomacy, reconciliation and peaceful co-existence in his efforts to unite diverse groups into one nation,” said Prof Fourie.

As part of its ongoing Moshoeshoe project, the UFS commissioned a television documentary programme on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe. This was completed in 2004 and broadcast on SABC 2 later that year.

For further information, Me Tumi Tabane can be contacted at (051) 401-2828 or tabaneme.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za.

Abridged curriculum vitae of Njabulo S Ndebele

Professor Njabulo S Ndebele is currently Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UCT.

Njabulo Ndebele began his term of office at UCT in July 2000, following tenure as a scholar in residence at the Ford Foundation’s headquarters in New York. He joined the Foundation in September 1998, immediately after a five-year term of office as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the North in Sovenga, at the then Northern Province. Previously he served as Vice-Rector of the University of the Western Cape. Earlier positions include Chair of the Department of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand; and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dean, and Head of the English Department at the National University of Lesotho.

An established author, Njabulo Ndebele recently published a novel The Cry of Winnie Mandela to critical acclaim. An earlier publication Fools and Other Stories won the Noma Award, Africa’s highest literary award for the best book published in Africa in 1984. His highly influential essays on South African literature and culture were published in a collection Rediscovery of the Ordinary.

Njabulo Ndebele served as President of the Congress of South African Writers for many years. As a public figure he is known for his incisive insights in commentaries on a range of public issues in South Africa. He holds honorary doctorates from Universities in the Netherlands, Japan, South Africa and the United States of America. He is also a Fellow of UCT.

Njabulo Ndebele is also a key figure in South African higher education. He has served as Chair of the South African Universities Vice-Chancellor’s Association from 2002-2005, and served on the Executive Board of the Association of African Universities since 2001. He has done public service in South Africa in the areas of broadcasting policy, school curriculum in history, and more recently as chair of a government commission on the development and use of African languages as media of instruction in South African higher education. He recently became President of the Association of the AAU and Chair of the Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA).

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
26 March 2006

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