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18 May 2020 | Story Dr Marinkie Madiope | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)
Dr Marinkie Madiope.
In IsiZulu, there is a saying that goes, ‘indlela inbuzwa kwa ba phambili’, which can be loosely translated into, ‘direction is asked for, from those who’ve walked the path’. According to the illustrious Credo Mutwa, in his seminal masterpiece, Indaba my Children, 

“these are the stories that old men and old women tell to boys and girls seated with open mouths around the spark-wreathed fires in the centres of the villages in the dark forests and on the aloe-scented plains of Africa. Under the gaze of the laughing stars the Old One sits, his kaross wrapped around his age-blasted shoulders, staring with rheumy eyes at the semi-circle of eager expectant faces before him – faces of those who have taken but a few steps along the dark and uncertain footpath called Life – faces of the ones yet oblivious to the pain of life’s bitter scourges – faces yet unmarked by furrows of bitterness, ill-health and anger – the fresh, pure, open faces of…children. The fire dances in the middle of the round clay fireplace like a virgin revelling in the simple joy of being alive. It devours the dry twigs and logs that a little girl is constantly feeding it, leaving nothing but glowing ashes. It mocks the silent sky with a redly luminous column of smoke against its starry face and by sending up short-lived stars of its own”|

As the birthplace of humankind, the motherland, homeland, and ancestral origin of everyone on the planet, Africa is a blessed, special, and beautiful continent. It is an expansive abode of rich diversity, striking complexities and ornate nuances and peculiarities, both in its people and in its biomes.

With approximately 2 100 languages spoken by more than 3 000 ethnic groups in our population of just over 1,3 billion individuals spread across 55 countries, Africa is culturally, philosophically, and linguistically a very wealthy land.
Our shared, priceless heritage is littered with shining examples of the excellence, resilience, ingenuity, fortitude of character, strength, spirit, and love of our people. We have adapted to desertification, unshackled ourselves from slavery, replenished ourselves from years of famine, battled deadly viral diseases, nursed ourselves out of internecine conflicts, liberated ourselves from colonial oppression, and together, through it all, held fast the inherited role we collectively hold as custodians of humanity.

As Enock Maregesi spiritedly states:
“We are the children of Nelson Mandela; we are the children of Kwame Nkrumah; we are the children of Haile Selassie; we are the children of Samora Machel; we are the children of Robert Mugabe; we are the children of Patrice Lumumba; we are the children of Julius Kambarage Nyerere. We know who we are!”

And in this reverent knowledge of who we are, where we come from and what we have experienced to bring us to this present day where we celebrate our languages, our customs, our traditions, our ethnicities, our similarities and differences, our uniqueness, our Africa, and by virtue of that, our Africanness, we not only remember, but resonate with the heart-stirring words of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, “I am not African because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me!”

We are grateful for the providence with which our continent has been virtuously spared from the unprecedented eventualities that have become synonymous with the leap year of 2020. The onset of the global lockdowns following the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, averted a situation that could have escalated into a third world war; decreased the worldwide carbon emissions and pollution drastically; and served as a clarion call to unite humanity in the common goal of the preservation of human life. In spite of the hardships that came with re-adjusting our focus back to self-sufficiency, self-preservation through social distancing, and redefining what we term as essential, all of humankind has joined in remembering. Remembering how to do for self, remembering to care for those in need, remembering to cherish and respect the planet, and most importantly, remembering their African ancestry.

As we dutifully charter forth through the eternal passage of time, continuously evolving in conscious intelligence, consistently preserving human existence and steadily riding the throes of modernisation by globalisation, we invite all of humankind to take heed of our guidance, and ask for direction from those who have walked the path before. Let us illuminate the way forward for our planet by using the knowledge and ways that have been laboriously and painstakingly preserved for us by our forebearers though centuries of oppression, apartheid, discrimination, and derogation. 

We overcome. We inspire. We rise. We adapt. We thrive. It is our legacy to steer humankind back home, back to basics, back to mother earth. The historic events that have marked the first half of 2020 have highlighted to the world the inescapable importance of the cardinal African values of Ubuntu and a sustainable co-existence with nature. 

No, we are not African because we are born in Africa, we are Africans because Africa is born within us. Let us construct for the world a new model of being, a model of old, a model of nature, a model of our African nature.

On this Africa Day, go forth African child, and remember your sacred duty. Live your glorious destiny. Show the way for the rest of humanity. Mayibue!!!

Dr Marinkie Madiope is the Principal of the South Campus of the University of the Free State.

News Archive

In January 1, 2003, the Qwa-Qwa campus of the University of the North (Unin) was incorporated into the University of the Free State (UFS).
2003-02-07


FREDERICK FOURIE

IN January 1, 2003, the Qwa-Qwa campus of the University of the North (Unin) was incorporated into the University of the Free State (UFS).

While this is merely the beginning of a long and complex process, it does represent a major milestone in overcoming the apartheid legacy in education, realising the anti-apartheid goal of a single non-racial university serving the Free State.

The incorporation is also part of the minister's broader restructuring of the higher education landscape in South Africa - a process which aims to reshape the ideologically driven legacy of the past.

In contrast to the past educational and social engineering that took place, the current process of incorporating the Qwa-Qwa campus of Unin into the UFS is informed by three fundamentally progressive policy objectives, clearly outlined in the education white paper 3: (A framework for the transformation of higher education):

To meet the demands of social justice to address the social and structural inequalities that characterise higher education.

To address the challenges of globalisation, in particular the role of knowledge and information processing in driving social and economic development.

To ensure that limited resources are effectively and efficiently utilised, given the competing and equally pressing priorities in other social sectors.

Besides informing the way the UFS is managing the current incorporation, these policy objectives have also informed the transformation of the UFS as an institution over the past five years.

In 2001, former president Nelson Mandela lauded the success of the UFS in managing this transformation, by describing the campus as a model of multiculturalism and multilingualism. This was at his acceptance of an honorary doctorate from the UFS.

Indeed our vision for the Qwa-Qwa campus as a branch of the UFS is exactly the same as it is for the main UFS campus - a model of transformation, academic excellence, community engagement and financial sustainability, building on the histories and strengths of both the Qwa-Qwa campus and the UFS (Bloemfontein campus).

Realising this vision will be a giant leap forward in establishing a unified higher education landscape in the Free State.

In more concrete terms, the UFS is working towards this vision by focusing on the following areas of intervention: access and equity; academic renewal; investment in facilities; and sound financial management.

These interventions are being made not to preserve any vestiges of privilege or superiority, but precisely to increase access for students from poor backgrounds and to promote equity and representivity among all staff.

The current growth phase of the UFS has seen student enrolment almost double over the past five years, in particular black students, who now constitute approximately 55 percent of the student population of nearly 18 000 (including off-campus and online students).

But it has not just been a numbers game. Our approach has been to ensure access with success.

Our admissions policy, coupled with the academic support and "career preparation" programmes we offer, have resulted in significant successes for students who otherwise would not have been allowed to study at a university.

This will be continued at Qwa-Qwa as well.

Our academic offerings too have undergone dramatic change. We have become the first university in the country to offer a degree programme based on the recognition of prior learning (RPL).

This is not just a matter of academic renewal but of access as well, especially for working adults in our country who were previously denied a university education.

As for the sound financial management of the UFS (including the Qwa-Qwa campus), this is being done not for the sake of saving a few rands and cents, but for the greater value to our society that comes from having sustainable institutions.

It is sustainable universities that can make long-term investments to fund employment equity, provide information technology for students, upgrade laboratories, construct new buildings, develop research capacity, and provide a safe environment for students and staff, as is happening now at the UFS.

As a result of such management, a practical benefit for prospective students at the Qwa-Qwa campus of the UFS will be lower academic fees in some cases compared with the Unin fees.

As is the case with all these processes, there are concerns from staff and students at Qwa-Qwa and the broader community of the region that the Qwa-Qwa campus serves.

To get the campus viable and to ensure its continuation in the short term, tough choices had to be made by the minister of education regarding which programmes to offer and fund.

But we have been encouraged by the community's understanding that these concerns can be addresed over time as the campus becomes financially viable.

Meetings between the top mangement of the UFS and community representatives, staff and students at Qwa-Qwa have laid the basis for building a climate of trust in such a complex process.

We should not be captives of the past divisions but build this new unified higher education landscape that can meet our country's developmental needs.

It should be a higher education landscape that is based on broadening access, promoting equity and social justice, developing academic excellence, and the effective and efficient management of scarce resources. This should be our common common objective.

Professor Frederick Fourie the rector and vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS)

 

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