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18 July 2020 | Story Amanda Thongha
Staff, students and other stakeholders of the University of the Free State (UFS) can look forward to a virtual music show honouring the values and beliefs of former President Nelson Mandela. Musicians such as Simple Stories, Sibongile Mngoma, Boitumelo Mohutsioa, and Lucy Sehloho have prepared performances that will be showcased on UFS communication platforms on 31 July. Concluding Mandela Month celebrations, the pre-recorded show will also feature performances by poets Braithan Moratwa and Zilungile Muqayi. The show is coordinated by the Division of Student Affairs at the UFS.  

Angelo Mockie, Senior Officer: Arts, Culture and Dialogue at Student Affairs, says the show was primarily produced to convey a message of hope, solidarity, and support to the UFS community. “We chose Mandela Month to publish it, because those are the values that he believed in. Now more than ever, we need to stand together as a community to find ways of adapting to the new normal.”

In a message to UFS staff acknowledging the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela, Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, said Madiba’s example of compassion and courage made him one of the best-known leaders in the world.
“His life was a true inspiration and his devotion to democracy, equality, learning, and caring for others have earned him the respect of communities around the world.

This year, the significance of Mandela Day will be even more important than ever before, as we demonstrate caring by looking after ourselves, our families, and those around us, while we navigate through the pandemic. Caring provides purpose, but also the motivation to fulfil that purpose. The COVID-19 pandemic should enable us to imagine a world that is fairer, safer, more stable, secure, and one that can prosper.”

Taking Action

Heeding the call to take action and inspire change on Nelson Mandela’s birthday, you can read the following articles about the UFS making every day a Mandela Day:

The shelter and the students – a triumph of social impact

South Campus delivers much-needed educational support during pandemic

News Archive

Newton Fellow at UFS focuses on land and labour
2017-10-28

Description: ' 000 Rory Pilossof Tags: Rory Pilossof 

Dr Rory Pilossof
Photo: Charl Devenish

Dr Rory Pilossof is a senior lecturer in economics at the University of the Free State (UFS), a Postdoctoral Fellow at the International Studies Group at UFS, and a Research Fellow at the University of Kent in the UK.

He became interested in his research field when he studied land reform and land issues in Zimbabwe for his PhD at the University of Sheffield. From there, his research interests have expanded to look at other issues connected to land, such as whiteness and labour.

Dr Pilossof's study field links up with the important issue of land reform in Southern Africa due to its past colonialism and post-colonial politics of land and land ownership. These intersect with a wide range of labour issues that are pressing in the region. He has a keen interest in elite transitions and changes in economic structure in Southern Africa since the 1960s.

Dr Pilossof was nominated to the South African Young Academy of Science in 2017, and received an NRF Y1 rating during 2017. He is also a member of the Amsterdam-based International Institute for Social History’s ‘Global Collaboratory on the History of Labour Relations’. He is a participant in the Leverhulme Trust-funded initiative ‘Comparative History of Political Engagement in Western and African Societies Programme’ at the University of Sheffield.

Dr Pilossof's primary research focuses on issues of land, labour and changing social and economic structures in Zimbabwe and South Africa. He is also interested in finding alternative ways of looking at change. To this end, he has studied various newspapers and periodicals in the region.

Currently, he spends most of his research time as part of a three-year British Academy-funded Advanced Newton Fellowship into labour relations and occupational structures. In future, he wants to expand his research in the labour field by looking at labour and migration in the region over the course of the 20th century.

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