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17 July 2020 | Story Nitha Ramnath | Photo iStock
The UFS initiated a new community engagement programme to help communities take charge of their lives.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is launching a new community engagement programme to help communities take charge of their lives during and after the national lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The E-Community Engagement Programme will run for the duration of the lockdown to ensure that the UFS continues to serve all people. This programme is one of more than 120 community development programmes and projects that the UFS is involved with this year.

Rev Billyboy Ramahlele, Director: Community Engagement, says this strategy is the result of the Institutional Transformation Plan, which seeks to deepen the university’s commitment towards the betterment of our communities by creating sustainable partnerships for development. “This programme is dedicated to assisting communities to take charge of their lives during and after this pandemic and will focus on sustainable livelihoods and family support”, he says.

With these community development programmes and projects, about 3 000 UFS students spend at least 127 000 hours per year engaging in 73 service-learning modules. This excludes the clinical work done by our medical and education students in the community through community-based education and inter-professional learning. The university’s 22 student volunteer associations play an important role in community development projects. Our academics and researchers contribute their intellectual resources through their involvement, teaching, and research in different aspects of community life.

The E-Community Engagement Programme refers to an alternative online/virtual community engagement platform aimed at facilitating continuously negotiated collaborations and partnerships between the UFS and the interest groups that it interacts with, aimed at building and exchanging the knowledge, skills, expertise, and resources required to develop and sustain society. Such alternative engagement stems from adapting physical face-to-face (f2f) community engagement to an e-environment. As a result of the uncertain state of restricted f2f engagement during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of participation, dialogue, engaged learning, and teaching by university staff and students is on citizens actively participating in the development of their own lives and that of their surrounding communities.

Details of the E-Community Engagement Programme will soon be published on the UFS website, and will be presented on radio and online in partnership with Motheo FM, Mosupatsela FM, Kovsie FM, Mangaung Municipality, Towers of Hope, Princess Gabo Foundation, Rock Foundation, Bloemshelter, and all our faculties.


News Archive

Shimlas: Unbeaten Varsity Cup Champions!
2015-04-14

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    Photo: Johan Roux
    Spotlight Photo: Spektor Photography
    Photo gallery

The UFS Shimlas rugby team made history on Monday 13 April 2015 when they won their first ever Varsity Cup tournament, beating North-West University (NWU) Pukke 63-33 in the final.

Not only did Shimlas make history by winning their first-ever tournament title since the inaugural tournament in 2008, but they did not lose a single game in the 2015 Varsity Cup, thus claiming the cup in front of their home crowd at Shimla Park in Bloemfontein.

Shimlas outscored their traditional intervarsity rivals with nine tries to four. Pukke put the first points on the scoreboard with a penalty kick. The home side started off slowly in the first half. However, Shimlas’ lock, Johan van der Hoogt, did score the first try of the match followed by flyhalf and player that rocks, Niel Marais’s successful conversion kick. Yet, the men from the North-West retaliated full force for the greater part of the first half and, two tries later, had a 18-8 lead over the UFS team. 

Shortly after the first strategy break, Shimlas No.8, Niell Jordaan, crossed the try line following a driving maul, but the visitors received another penalty and succeeded with the kick at goal. The last ten minutes before half time saw Shimlas taking advantage, with the Pukke skipper being sent to the sin bin. Wing Maphutha Dolo hit a gap in NWU’s defense, and scored the try that put Shimlas in the lead again. Not long after, Marais sparked in making a play, offloading to flank Daniel Maartens to score a final try before half time, securing a 26-20 lead.

The second half had not been in play too long when the home side crossed the try line again, scoring their fifth try. Marais was again central in creating the play that saw Shimlas outside centre, Nico Lee, putting the points on the board.

NWU fought back again, scoring a pushover try from a scrum. But Shimlas would not give up the lead again, and a well-timed pass from Marais had Lee crossing the line for his second try.

More Shimlas tries piled up from Marais, Dolo, and Maartens, leaving the Potchefstroom side behind 63-25, giving them little opportunity to score again. One desperate consolation try by Pukke in the final seconds did manage to close the gap on the scoreboard, but it was not nearly enough to snatch the title from the hungry and undefeated Shimlas.

FNB Player that Rocks: Niel Marais
Shimlas point scorers:
Tries: Johan van der Hoogt, Niell Jordaan, Maphutha Dolo (2), Daniel Maartens (2), Nico Lee (2), Niel Marais
Conversions: Niel Marais (6)

 

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