Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
06 May 2020 | Story Nitha Ramnath


The quality of the following University of the Free State (UFS) Accountancy programmes is internationally recognised, as it has been accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) after a thorough review of the modules offered:

• Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc)
• Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Accounting (BComHons in Accounting)
• Postgraduate Diploma in General Accounting (PGDip [General Accountancy])

The implications of this accreditation are that graduates of these programmes will be eligible for direct admission to the Strategic Professional level (i.e. the highest level) of the ACCA qualification structure – a level aimed at preparing students for future leadership positions. Graduates of the BCom Accounting (BCom [Accounting]) programme will receive exemption from all of the ACCA’s ‘applied knowledge’ examinations as well as many of its ‘applied skills’ examinations.

According to the ACCA website: “We’re a thriving global community of 219 000 members and 527 000 students based in 179 countries that upholds the highest professional and ethical values.” 

Internationally recognised accreditation

Haneke van Zyl, the Programme Director: General Accountancy and Research at the UFS, commented: “As this designation is internationally recognised, the ACCA accreditation of our programmes is vital in the School of Accountancy’s quest to acknowledge our diverse student body and to provide a wide range of opportunities to our Accounting students.  We believe that each of our students should be empowered to become the best versions of themselves – and this accreditation will open more doors for them.”  

As a result of this accreditation, ACCA will also actively assist UFS graduates of the aforementioned programmes to pursue ACCA membership through programmes such as ‘Accelerate’, which subsidises the various fees payable by aspirant members of ACCA.

Prof Frans Prinsloo, the Director of the School of Accountancy at the UFS, added: “We are very proud of the quality of our programmes – which are now accredited by all the leading professional bodies that operate in South Africa, i.e. the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the SA Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and most recently, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).  This is testament not only to the quality of the school’s curricula and teaching and learning resources, but vitally important also to the calibre of academic staff – who are not only highly qualified and experienced in facilitating teaching and learning, but also committed to their students’ success.” 
 
Van Zyl added: “We have drawn on the curriculum structures of these leading professional bodies to inform our curricula – thereby ensuring the continued relevance of our graduates in the fast changing world of work that is being transformed by the 4th Industrial Revolution. Far from becoming obsolete in this environment, appropriately qualified accountants will become key providers of credible information for organisational decision-making – a function without which no organisation can be successful and thrive.” 

Prof Prinsloo acknowledged the hard work of the colleagues in developing all the required documents needed to obtain the ACCA accreditation: “The accreditation is the result of a combined effort by the colleagues from the School of Accountancy, guided by the responsible programme director, Mrs Haneke van Zyl. It is testament to the hard work and effort that the lecturers involved in the programmes have put in.”


News Archive

Student leaders 2012/13 announced
2012-08-30

Ready for the task - Sabelo Khumalo, SRC President of the Qwaqwa Campus and William Clayton, SRC President of the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Johan Roux
31 August 2012

The 2012/13 elections for the Student Representative Councils (SRC) of the University of the Free State were completed successfully and show meaningful support for the changes in student governance adopted by students across campuses over the past two years.

The SRC elections at the Qwaqwa Campus were completed on 23 August 2012, while the elections at our Bloemfontein Campus took place on 27 and 28 August 2012.

The SRC Elections at our Bloemfontein Campus showed a voter turnout of 4516 votes (30.8%), with the elections at the Qwaqwa Campuses showing 1753 votes (46%) – both campuses reached the required quorums and the IEA (Bloemfontein Campus) and IEC (Qwaqwa Campus) declared the elections free and fair and announced the results as a true reflection of the will of the student bodies at the campuses.

The full SRC at Bloemfontein Campus now consists of 62% black and 38% white, and 53% female and 47% male members.

In the Qwaqwa elections, SADESMO achieved 46, 38% of the vote, with SASCO, PASMA and NASMO each achieving 30,23% and 8,39% and 14,26%, respectively.

The successful elections at Bloemfontein Campus show that the detailed transformation of student governance introduced by students at the Campus in 2010 and adopted by the university in 2011, succeeded in mobilizing greater participation of students in governance and representation. These changes in the main included a shift to independent candidacy for elective portfolios (12 seats) and organizational candidacy in nine sub-councils that holds ex officio seats on the SRC. Changes also included the establishment of student representative seats in faculty governance and management forums and the adoption of a reviewed Central SRC Constitution. Ex officio seats hold full and equal constitutional authority in the SRC.

Students at Qwaqwa Campus introduced additional portfolios to its SRC, including ex-officio seats for academic affairs, arts and culture, commuter students, Rag Community Service, religious affairs, residences and sports.

A joint sitting of the Campus SRCs will establish the Central SRC 2012/13 on 9 September 2012.

As a further opportunity for participation in and the development of student governance and representation, the current Central SRC herewith also announces its recent adoption of a student governance advisory programme, namely the UFS Student Elders Council (SEC).

The SEC is established as a combined programme between the Central SRC and the Dean of Student Affairs and will consist of selected senior student leaders from all campuses who completed their terms of office, apply and are appointed to the Elders Council by the Central SRC.

The Council will serve as an advisory structure to the Central SRC and other student structures in support of the continuous development of student governance and representation of the student body at the university.

The SEC will advise the Central SRC to be constituted following the constitution of the respective Campus SRCs.

The SRC members at the Bloemfontein Campus are:

President: Mr William Clayton

Vice-President: Mr Bonolo Thebe

Secretary: Ms Karis-Robin Topkin

Treasurer: Mr Pieter Coetzee

Arts & Culture: Ms Chanmari Erasmus

Accessibility & Student Support: Ms Gene McCaskill

First-generation Students: Ms Tanya Calitz

Legal and Constitutional Affairs: Ms Nokuthula Sithole

Media, Marketing & Liaison: Ms Neo Chere

Sport: Mr Tshepo Moloi

Student Development & Environmental Affairs: Ms Thabisile Mgadi

Transformation: Ms Koketso Mofokeng

Dialogue & Ex officio: Associations Council: Mr Anesu Ruswa

Academic Affairs & Ex officio: Academic Affairs Council: Ms Nombuso Ndlovu

Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Residences Council: Mr Johann Steyn

City Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Commuter Council: Mr Michael van Niekerk

Postgraduate Affairs & Ex officio: Postgraduate Council: Mr Fadeyi Akinsuyi

International Affairs & Ex officio: International Council: Ms Tumelo Moreri

Student Media Affairs & Ex officio: Media Council: Mr Jamal-Dean Grootboom

RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Fundraising Council: Mr Jaco Faul

RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Community Service Council: Ms Keneue Mahloana

The SRC members at the Qwaqwa Campus are:

President General: Mr S Khumalo

Deputy President: Mr P T Lenka

Secretary General: Mr D Khethang

Treasurer General: Mr S I Sithole

Media & Publicity: Mr S N Ntombela

Politics & Transformation: Tbc

Student Development & Evironmental Affairs: Tbc Academic Affairs: Mr T Molawude

Arts & Cultural Affairs: Mr T Nkohli

Off-Campus Students: Mr B Mtshali

RAG, Community Service & Dialogue: Ms S F Mlotya

Religious Affairs: Ms D C Khau

Residence & Catering Affairs: Ms Z Mzolo

Sports Council: Mr S Mngomezulu

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept