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10 July 2020 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Charl Devenish
The handover was done by Thomas September, ABSA Head Regional Coverage: Relationship Banking. With him are a student, Emily Ndlovu, Ntokozo Nkabinde (Institutional Advancement) and Tshenolo Thibeletsa (ICT).

“I am still in disbelief. Before I had this laptop, I was borrowing my cousin's laptop to do my academic tasks.”

These are the words of final-year Biochemistry and Food Science student, Xoliswa Khumalo, one of 200 students who recently became recipients of a generous donation of laptops from ABSA. In its endeavour to make a contribution towards saving the 2020 academic year, ABSA identified deserving students.

Xoliswa continued: “This laptop will help me type my assignments, since all of them need to be typed. I will also be able to view my slides and watch videos of my lectures. Now I do not have to wait for my cousin to watch movies. I am free to use mine for as long as I want.”

Another recipient is Itumeleng Katjedi, a second-year Economics student. “Thank you very much for the contribution to making my education journey much easier and simpler. I will be sure to strive to get the best grades,” she said.

“The University of the Free State (UFS) wishes to express its sincere appreciation to ABSA for investing in the future of those students who have little or no financial means to complete their studies remotely.  Much has changed and many lives are directly and indirectly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, in a letter to ABSA’s Dr Reaan Immelman, Head: Education Delivery Citizenship.  

“These are challenging times, not only for our country, but also for higher education institutions, as we work towards ensuring that the academic year is completed without any of our students being left behind.  The UFS is deeply thankful for the 200 laptops, which will make an immeasurable contribution to alleviating inequalities between the different student cohorts.  For these students, this gesture will not only advance their academic success; it will position them for the future world of work. ABSA will always be remembered as the co-creator of their future,” he adds in the letter.

Students from across the length and breadth of South Africa continue to receive their laptops via courier services, and those near the campuses are able to collect them while observing the COVID-19 regulations.

News Archive

Women’s Day Lecture by Zanele Muholi
2014-08-04

 
The Gender Studies programme at the Centre for Africa Studies presents the 2014 Women’s Day Lecture with guest speaker Zanele Muholi.

Muholi, a photographer and visual activist, will show new photographs as well as a new video produced in Durban as part of a presentation exploring Born Frees (the generation born post-apartheid South Africa known as Mandela’s great-grandchildren), and how each person expresses themselves queerly at the time of troubling hate crimes in South Africa. The young adults she depicts are those born in 1990–1994, and openly gay/lesbian/trans within South African borders.

Date: Friday 8 August 2014
Time: 12:00 – 14:00
Venue: CR Swart Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus 

Zanele was born in Umlazi, Durban, and currently lives in Johannesburg. She is known for her work on black lesbians and corrective rape in South Africa. Her work emphasises the importance of queering the normative gaze by representing black lesbians in ‘straight’ portraits in a collection of work titled Faces and Phases. Muholi’s work focuses on queer politics, gender politics and politics of race.

In the 2013 Human Rights Watch documentary titled We Live in Fear, Muholi speaks about the way in which ‘corrective rapes’ have become a binding factor for the LGBT community in South African townships and the importance of documenting lesbians who have become victims of these hate crimes. In 2009 Muholi founded the non-profit organisation Inkanyiso which focuses on visual arts and media advocacy for and by the LGBT community. Muholi is an Honorary Professor of the University of Arts/Hochschule für Künste Bremen.

To attend the lecture, please contact Nadine Lake at LakeNC@ufs.ac.za or +27(0)51 401 3813.

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