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15 July 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fracture lines in societies worldwide. South Africa is no different. The poor are less able to protect themselves from the danger posed by the virus. Workers in factories, mines, and the service sector went back to their places of work following the lifting of the strictest lockdown measures, while office workers, typically better paid, can generally work from home. Living conditions in informal settlements make social distancing all but impossible, while the middle class can largely stay at home and stay safe to a much larger extent. With many businesses shutting down, downsizing or rethinking their business models, it is often small and medium, as well as informal sector businesses that are most affected.  

The impact of COVID-19 comes on the back of a society and economy that was already under significant pressure following years of low economic growth and poor government performance. Many commentators have already questioned the social compact South Africans made in the mid-1990s, which marked the end of the apartheid regime. These divisions have become more glaring, with some civil society organisations considering challenging the Minister of Finance’s adjustment budget in the Constitutional Court, because the budget might result in a roll-back of the progressive realisation of the socio-economic rights mandated in the Constitution.

In this first of four webinars, academics from the UFS as well as invited experts reflect on the constitutional commitment South Africans made to one another two and half decades ago. Is it time for a new deal? Should we collectively recommit ourselves to our existing deal? Do we interpret that deal in the same way today as we did more than two decades ago? How does the economic reality we face, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, affect that deal? What are the economic realities we face, and whose are they? And how should we think about human development in the context of our deal? 

Come and join us from 14:00 to 15:30 on 21 July. 

RSVP to Sibongile Mlotya at MlotyaS@ufs.ac.za no later than 19 July, upon which you will receive a Business for Skype meeting invite.

Speakers:
Prof Danie Brand on ‘New deal’ or collective recommitment? The Constitution under COVID-19 and beyond

Prof Melanie Walker on Human development and the capability approach in COVID-19 times

Prof Lochner Marais on Reflections on continuities and discontinuities after COVID-19

Prof Philippe Burger on Viewing the realisation of socio-economic rights in a post-COVID-19 South Africa through an economic lens

 

Please also mark the following dates in your diaries for the second through fourth Reflection webinars:
Gender Inequalities and Gender-based Violence 28 July 14:00-15:30
The quality of our democracy under COVID-19 and beyond 13 August 14:00-15:30
Urban living post-COVID-19 27 August 14:00-15:30

News Archive

UFS receives exclusive copy of Pasture Science research volume
2010-04-22

 
From the left are: Dr Malcolm Hensley (Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences, UFS), Prof. Brian Roberts, Ms Cathy Giesekke (UFS Sasol Library) and Prof. Neil Heideman (Acting Dean: Natural and Agricultural Sciences, UFS).
Photo: Lize du Plessis


The University of the Free State (UFS) became the proud recipient of a copy of a Pasture Science research volume.

The 508-page volume was presented by Prof. Brian Roberts, an adjunct professor at the James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, to the UFS Sasol Library. It consists of 43 papers on his agricultural research work in the Free State from 1956 to 1975.

He said the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS had the power and expertise to lead the way in food security in South Africa and in building a sustainable society. He also stated that not enough people were taking food security seriously.

“Whatever else you regard as priority, none is more basic than support for the nation’s food producers,” he said.

The papers in the bound copy are arranged in two groups. The first section focuses on Pasture Management. “This series forms a useful overview of Pasture Science,” he said.

The section on Grassland Science covers all aspects of the maintenance, improvement and utilisation of veld and cultivated grasslands.

The second part is a series of publications arising from his fieldwork in the Free State, Eastern Cape and Lesotho.

“Having read with great interest the curriculum vitae of the Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, I felt a strong inclination to contribute somehow to the transformation process and the emerging future UFS,” said Prof Roberts.

Although he acknowledged that change could not happen overnight he was, however, positive that medium-term results could be achieved in that regard.

“One way of doing this is to focus staff and students’ attention on working towards a sustainable society, an on-going curriculum challenge which should, at an early date, replace the past preoccupation with race – an issue that has dogged progress for too long,” he said.

Prof. Roberts was a foundation lecturer in Pasture Science at the UFS 36 years ago before he left for Australia where he plays a fundamental role in land-use planning.

He is also recognised as the father of Landcare, an Australian partnership between the community, government and business to protect and repair the environment.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
21 April 2010
 

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