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09 September 2020 | Story Lacea Loader

 


The South African Economy: 'Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis'


As a public higher-education institution in South Africa with a responsibility to contribute to public discourse, the University of the Free State (UFS) will be presenting the 3rd UFS Thought-Leader Series as part of the Vrystaat Literature Festival’s online initiative, VrySpraak-digitaal and in collaboration with Vrye Weekblad


This year, higher-education institutions globally are situated within a challenging context of COVID-19. Aware of, and grounded in the reality that the world will not return to the normality of pre-COVID-19, our responsibility as scholars still remains to contribute to public discourse and offer innovative solutions that will impact the lives of people nationally and globally to help them understand and adapt to a new world order. 

Against this background and context, this year’s debates focus on Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis with Health and Modelling, the Economy, Politics and Predictions for 2021 as the sub-themes. Placed within a COVID-19 context, and in lieu of the Free State Arts Festival, the series will be presented virtually, in the form of one webinar per month, from August 2020 to November 2020. 

Second webinar presented on 23 September 2020

The South African economy was already in the doldrums before the COVID-19 crisis. Recent data from the NIDS-CRAM study suggests that as many as 3 million people might have lost their jobs as a result of the lockdown. In addition, the government's debt burden has deteriorated. What are the prospects for the South African economy post-COVID-19, post-Crisis?

 
Date: 23 September 2020
Topic: The South African Economy: Post-COVID-19, Post-Crisis
Time: 11:00-12:30

RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za by 18 September 2020 

Facilitator:

Editor: Vrye Weekblad 
Biography

Introduction and welcome:

Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS

Panellists:

Chairperson: Old Mutual Limited
Biography

Ms Ann Bernstein
Executive Director, Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE)

Editor-in-Chief of City Press
Biography

 


News Archive

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu visiting the UFS once again
2012-07-13

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
13 July 2012

The University of the Free State (UFS) will once again be honoured by the presence of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Wednesday 18 July 2012.

Dr Tutu will be speaking at our Bloemfontein Campus for the first session of a two-day “In Conversation With …”event that is part of the Global Leadership Summit currently being held on the campus.

This sessions starts at 09:30 at the Centenary Complex. The media is invited to attend this session.

Dr Tutu will be in dialogue with Prof. Mark Solms, Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Cape Town and owner of the Solms-Delta Wine Estate in Franschhoek.

The theme for this conversation, facilitated by Prof. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, will be “Living Reconciliation: Winds of Change in Franschhoek and Transformation at Solms-Delta Wine Estate”. This is based on the transformation introduced by Solms on his farm in the Franschhoek Valley.

Prof. Gobodo-Madikizela is a Senior Research Professor on trauma, forgiveness and reconciliation at the UFS.

As owner of Solms-Delta Wine Estate in Franschhoek, Prof. Solms led an initiative to transform the lives of farm workers on the estate through the Wijn de Caab Trust. This initiative was extended to empower the wider community of farm dwellers when Prof. Solms co-founded the Delta Trust and the Franschhoek Valley Transformation Charter. This organisation aims to break trans-generational cycles of social division and inequality in the valley.

The dialogue with Dr Tutu will highlight the significance of these initiatives as examples of deepening the link between socially responsive scholarship, commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship in contemporary South Africa.

Last year, the UFS awarded Dr Tutu an honorary doctorate in Theology, marking a milestone in the history of the university.

At 12:30, Dr Tutu will visit the Red Square in front of the UFS Main Building, where he will join in the fundraising festivities for the university’s official Nelson Mandela Day event and deliver a short address.

Schools in the vicinity, UFS staff and students and the public are invited to take part in the R5 coin laying ceremony in front of the Main Building.

The money collected at this event will be used to benefit the No Student Hungry (NSH) campaign as well as Bloemfontein Child Welfare.
 

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