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Student Governance Leadership Series tackles ethical leadership

12 March 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Supplied

Student Governance dialogue session — The UFS Student Governance office aims to motivate engaged scholarship among students and academia, to act as a reservoir of excellence in governance, and shape an excellent landscape of leadership.

“I’m anticipating philosophical discussions that will unpack moral courage, ethics in leadership, and governance,” said UFS Manager for Student Governance, Buti Mnyakeni, in opening the Division of Student Affairs’ first annual Student Governance Leadership Series (SGL) at the University of the Free State (UFS).

The Student Governance office intends to encourage engaged scholarship among students and academia to produce a broader landscape of equipped student leaders from the university.

UFS Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, and Community Engagement, Prof Puleng LenkaBula, joined by former SRC President, Phiwe Mathe, and student leaders Sam Masingi and Amanda Charles, provided rich and provoking contributions under the theme The concept of good governance. On the first day of the series, the discourse kicked off with problematising the concept, and further led to egocentrism, and Afrocentric modalities of governance.

The panel also unpacked the exclusivity of governmental systems by discussing institutional and managerial culture, which according to them, results in detached knowledge and ways of thinking.

Day two of the series focused on discussions around moral courage in the era of ethical decay. Attorney of the High Court and International Economic Law Lecturer at the UFS, Mmiselo Qumba; former Vice-President of the SRC, Bokang Fako; former president of the SRC, Richard Chemaly; and freelance writer, broadcaster, author, and communicator, Ace Moloi, engaged extensively on the influence of personal values on shared ethical standards as a vehicle that can lead to a socially just community and society.

The SGL series established a platform to encourage current and prospective student leaders to reflect, connect, and be innovative in their design thinking as leaders in their respective governance structures.

The Programme Director for the event, Adv Thanduxolo Nkala – an accredited mediator in commercial and court-annexed mediation – reflected on the dialogues as “rich and robust.”

News Archive

Is Al-Qaeda operating in South Africa?

2014-09-29

Our Department of Political Studies and Governance recently hosted a seminar with investigative journalist De Wet Potgieter – author of the book, ‘Black Widow White Widow’.During the seminar, Potgieter reflected on the research he has conducted for the book, revealing the unsettling presence of Al-Qaeda in South Africa.

The ‘White Widow’ in the book’s title refers to Samantha Lewthwaite, a British woman who was found in South Africa with a fraudulent passport. She was later linked to the Westgate shopping mall attack which took place in Nairobi, Kenya on 21 September 2013. In this mass shooting at least 67 people died and over 175 people were wounded. The Islamist group al-Shabaab – which is also linked to Al-Qaeda – claimed responsibility for the incident.

In contrast, the ‘Black Widow’ is the disclosed identity of an Afrikaans-speaking self-styled spy, who after being widowed became a counter-terrorist operative.

Potgieter’s book divulges details of Al-Qaeda paramilitary and urban warfare training on a secluded farm in the Little Karoo and reveals details of the support they receive from various local extremist groups. Potgieter’s investigation spans across two years and suggests possible future attacks from, or on, South African soil.

“South Africa plays a role in the bigger picture for Al-Qaeda Islamic terrorism,” Potgieter said. “For instance, the Navy Seal team who killed Bin Laden found reports pointing to active Al-Qaeda/Islamist presence in South Africa. South Africans need to know we are under siege by a small, well-trained Al Qaeda terrorist cell. Yet, operations – of which I know, but cannot disclose much – are also underway to contain these matters,” Potgieter added.

Potgieter’s sources suggest that Al-Qaeda has been active in South Africa since the 2010 FIFA World Cup already. The South African government seems to turn a blind eye, though, despite CIA and MI6 requests and enquiries on the matter.

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