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2020 Kovsie ACT programme rounds off on an electrifying note!

04 February 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Charl Devenish

Kovsie Eco vehicle parade — A highlight for first-year and senior students is the ACT eco-vehicle building and parade through the streets of Bloemfontein.

Sunny skies, cheerful faces, and an overall great atmosphere surfed the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus on Saturday, 1 February 2020 for the final series of events in the Kovsie ACT 2020 line-up.

The eco-vehicle parade kick-started the activities for the day and saw various student teams displaying their personalised pit-stop ‘sculptures’ along the streets of Bloemfontein. UFS residence teams Sonverlief (Houses Sonnedou, Veritas, Madelief); Soetmarmentum (Houses Soetdoring, Marjolein, Armentum); and Beykasium (Houses Beyers Naudé, Akasia, Imperium) came in first, second, and third respectively, obtaining the highest scores out of nine teams for their pit-stop sculpture constructions.

Following the parade, there were a number of fun but competitive eco-vehicle races between the teams. This included the Drag Race, Obstacle Course Race, Formula E Race, Endurance Race, and the Slalom Course Race that took place on the Mokete Square.

In the evening, students were serenaded by artists such as Early B and Spoegwolf. They danced to performances from the latest Amapiano music sensation, Kabza de Small, and legendary deep-house music duo, Black Motion, at the Rag Farm.

Assistant Director of UFS Student Life and Director of the Kovsie ACT office, Karen Scheepers, earlier urged students to get more involved in student-life programmes such as Kovsie ACT, in order to equip themselves with a variety of skills and a fulfilling university experience.

A number of senior and first-year students who were part of the action on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus this past Saturday, can attest to Scheepers’ advice.
“I’ve been looking forward to starting university for the longest time, and I am glad that I ended up at the UFS. I don’t feel alone, I feel like I can actually do this,” said first-year Psychology student, Thulisa Shezi.

“University isn’t as bad as everyone thinks it is, it’s just a matter of staying motivated, doing your work, and surrounding yourself with the right people in the process.” – Fourth-year Business Management student, Earl van der Westhuisen.

News Archive

International organised crime expert speaks at our university

2011-07-25

Prof. Johann Henning, Dean of our Faculty of Law and Prof. Barry Rider.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Prof. Barry Rider, respected amongst others for the vital role he is playing in the struggle to combat money laundering and organised and economic crime delivered a lecture, Stewardship in Islamic Financial Law, at our university as part of the Faculty of Law’s Prestige Series of seminars.

He has taught mainly at Cambridge and London Universities and has delivered a valuable contribution as an academic in various fields of law. He has read papers and taught at more than 300 universities and conferences in more than 63 countries. He has also authored more than 35 legal handbooks and has made a substantial contribution to several more specialist publications. He is editor of, amongst others, The Company Lawyer, the International and Comparative Corporate Law Journal and the Journal of Financial Crime. His main areas of research are in financial law and the control of economic crime.

Prof. Rider has a relationship of more than twenty years with our university. In this time, he received the Doctor Legum (honoris causa) for his involvement with the drafting of money laundering and insider trading legislation. The university has also appointed him as Professor Honorarius in the Faculty of Law (only the second in its more than hundred-year history) for his vast and pivotal role in international law reform as an academic law reformer.

As part of his appointment as Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Law, Prof. Rider often delivers lectures in the faculty. During his recent visit, Prof. Rider’s lecture on Islamic Financial Law shed light on the importance of this topic in today’s economy, as money generated from Islamic businesses make up $750 billion to $trillion of the world’s economy. After 9/11, the West wanted to understand more about Islamic Financial Law.

The Islamic Financial Law system is determined by the Koran. For instance, Muslim business people cannot allow any payment of interest, as it is forbidden by the Koran.

Prof. Rider’s lecture on this very relevant topic was very insightful. As consultant to the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) he spoke with authority on the topic. He is the only British academic lawyer assisting this body.

Prof. Rider currently serves in an advisory capacity at the international law firm Bryan Cave LLP. Apart from the IFSB, he is also consultant to the Asian Development Bank.

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