Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
13 October 2020 | Story Prof John Mubangizi | Photo Sonia du Toit
Prof John C Mubangizi is Dean: Faculty of Law, University of the Free State.
South Africans are sick and tired of corruption. They are angry, frustrated and despondent. And they have every reason to be. South Africa has many problems: crime, unemployment, poverty, gender-based violence, inequality, low economic growth and now – in common with many other countries – COVID-19. The list goes on and on. What makes corruption the biggest threat among all these is that it cuts across all of them and impacts on their gravity in different ways. 

The South African Constitution envisages a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights. The way things are going, that society is never likely to happen. That is because corruption has been, and continues to be, the greatest threat to any possibility of realising that constitutional dream. In South Africa, like everywhere else where corruption is rampant, it occurs both in the public and private sectors, where it affects democracy and human rights by deteriorating institutions and diminishing public trust in government. It impairs the ability of government to fulfil its obligations and ensure accountability in the delivery of economic and social services like healthcare, education, clean water, housing, and social security. This is because corruption diverts funds into private pockets – which impedes delivery of services – thereby perpetuating poverty, inequality, injustice and unfairness. The problem is aggravated when government is the main culprit. “Government” here, of course, refers to the dictionary meaning of the term, namely, “the group of people with the authority to govern a country or state”.

Corruption existed in ancient Egypt, China and Greece

There are those who argue that corruption is as old as mankind and, therefore, it is here to stay. Indeed, corruption is known to have existed in ancient Egypt, ancient China and ancient Greece. In Robert Bolt’s 16th Century play A Man for All Seasons, Richard Rich’s opening remark is “But every man has his price.” In the 1836 play The Government Inspector, Nikolai Gogol cleverly satirised the human greed, stupidity and extensive political corruption in Imperial Russia at the time. And in a recent article in The Conversation (28 August 2020), Steven Friedman wonders why South Africans express shock at corruption when “it is perhaps the country’s oldest tradition.” He locates the advent of corruption in South Africa at the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in 1652, through to the ensuing colonialism and apartheid. He argues that in reality, “corruption has been a constant feature of South African political life for much of the past 350 years. It is deeply embedded and it will take a concerted effort, over years, not days, to defeat it”. 

Agreed, but does it have to be that way? At the time of Jan van Riebeeck and during the 350 years of colonialism and apartheid, we did not have the legal framework that we have now. Here is a brief overview of that framework.

Read full article here

Opinion article by Professor John C Mubangizi, Dean: Faculty of Law, University of the Free State


News Archive

UFS researchers receive awards from the NSTF
2008-06-04

The recipients of the two awards are, from the left: Prof. Jan van der Westhuizen, UFS Department of Chemistry, Dr Susan Bonnet, UFS Department of Chemistry, Prof. Thinus van der Merwe, FARMOVS-PAREXEL, Prof. Maryke Labuschagne, UFS Department of Plant Sciences, and Prof. Ken Swart, FARMOVS-PAREXEL.
Photo: Lacea Loader

  

UFS researchers receive awards from the NSTF   

The University of the Free State (UFS) last week received two prestigious awards from the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) during its tenth gala-awards ceremony held in Kempton Park.

Prof. Maryke Labuschagne from the Department of Plant Sciences at the UFS was the female recipient of the research capacity-development award over the last ten years. She received the award for her successful mentoring of black researchers and students. The award, sponsored by Eskom, includes a prize of R100 000 which will be used for research purposes.  

A team consisting of Prof. Jan van der Westhuizen and Dr Susan Bonnet from the Department of Chemistry at the UFS and Prof. Kenneth Swart and Prof. Thinus van der Merwe from FARMOVS–PAREXEL received the innovation award for an outstanding contribution to science, engineering and technology from either an individual or a team over the last ten years.
 
Prof. Labuschagne, an expert in the field of plant breeding and food security in Africa, received the award for her contribution to the training and development of black students and researchers in this field. Various black students successfully completed their postgraduate studies under her guidance at the UFS during the past ten years, with positive results.

Research by her South African students has led to a firmly entrenched research relationship between the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and the UFS, while research by her local and international students has culminated in no less than 82 publications over the last decade.

It has also led to the establishment of collaboration agreements with universities and research institutes in Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – among others with the University of Malawi where Prof. Labuschagne and her students are involved in the International Programme in the Chemical Sciences (IPICS) of the Uppsala University in Sweden. The project focuses on the study of genetics and chemistry of tropical roots and tuber crops in Malawi. This has led to collaboration with international research organisations and has generated overseas funding.

The combined team from FARMOVS–PAREXEL and the UFS won an award for the synthesis of drug analogues used as reference products during the analysis of the drug concentration in blood, from existing and new drugs registered nationally and internationally.

The project resulted in capacity building in synthetic organic chemistry, mass spectrometry and chromatography: Five master’s degrees were completed, seven are in progress, and six postgraduate students commenced with Ph.D.’s.

The skills transferred during this project are already being applied to examine the properties of indigenous medicinal plants as part of the recently established UFS novel drugs and bioactive compound cluster.

Applied Biosystems, the Canadian manufacturer of mass spectrometers, donated equipment to the value of more than R10 million for this project. As a result the UFS is one of the few universities in the world that can offer postgraduate training in bioanalytical chemistry.

Prof. Hendrik Swart, head of the Department of Physics at the UFS, and Dr Martin Ntwaeaborwa, senior lecturer at the Department of Physics were finalist in the research- capacity developer and black-researcher categories respectively.
The NSTF awards gives recognition to the outstanding contributions of individuals and groups to science, engineering and technology. This includes all practising scientists, engineers and technologists across the system of innovation, including, for example, teachers and students in mathematics, science and technology. The NSTF represents government, science councils, professional bodies, higher education, business and civil society.

Altogether nine individuals and three organisations were presented with the NSTF Awards trophy by the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel:  051 401 2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
4 June 2008

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