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23 September 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin
Prof Mongane Wally Serote said South Africa was created with people from all over who made this their home.
The Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) prides itself in creating spaces for intellectual discourse. This was illustrated in a Heritage Day lecture webinar presented by National Poet Laureate, Prof Mongane Wally Serote. The lecture was in collaboration with the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

The lecture took place on 23 September 2020. Dr Stephanie Cawood, director of CGAS was the programme director. 

Diversity is our biggest heritage

Prof Serote presented the webinar under the theme Going to Basics: The Reconstruction and Development Programme of the Source. “As South Africans, we came from everywhere and created a home here –- we are the microcosm of the world,” Prof Serote said as he started his lecture. He also said that diversity is the biggest heritage the country has, and that it is a cultural expression emanating from our most complex and difficult history.

The Constitution of our country is a piece of valuable evidence in the commitment to overcome our historical adversities. “Understanding our history seeks to persuade us as a nation, and to understand that change, is constant in the dynamism and dialectics of time,” said Prof Serote. He explained this by saying that, as a nation, we must become masters of knowledge of the constant systems of change and the management thereof.

“Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, we have quickly arrived at making fundamental changes and transformation,” he said. This is because the world is changing dramatically and very fast. “The biggest and most important lesson is that we dare not forget that humanity is one,” he said.

Social cohesion and nation building a shared responsibility 

As much as the webinar commemorated Heritage Day, it was also a poignant reminder of the role that universities have to place in society at large. “We at the UFS pride ourselves on providing space for debates. This is what we are hosting here today,” said Dr Chitja Twala, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS.  Dr Twala also said that Heritage Day is one of the milestone days on which “Africans pride themselves”.

The Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nocawe Noncedo Mafu, referred to Dr Twala’s sentiment, saying that events such as these should be hosted “to foster social cohesion and nation building, which cannot succeed if it remains a project solely and exclusively owned by government”.  Deputy Minister Mafu reiterated that social cohesion and nation building should be a concern for the rest of the society. “I am therefore thrilled with this lecture and notably the partnership with the two universities," she said.

The national theme for Heritage Month 2020 is ‘Celebrating South Africa’s Living Legends.’

News Archive

Research conducted on economic impact of recent international soccer and rugby matches for Bloemfontein
2004-09-09

The Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently conducted a survey on the economic impact of the international soccer and rugby games that were played in Bloemfontein earlier this year.

The research focused on the soccer match between Bafana Bafana and the Cape Verdic Isle and the rugby match between the Springboks and Ireland .

“The survey was done as a result of a research agenda about local economic development in Bloemfontein ,” said Dr Lochner Marais, researcher at the centre.

“We conducted the research by doing 402 interviews with soccer supporters and 376 interviews with rugby supporters from outside Bloemfontein ,” said Dr Marais.

The centre distributed questionnaires, collecting the following information on the soccer and rugby supporters: their age, gender and origin, the number of nights spend in Bloemfontein , their household expenditure in Bloemfontein and their rating on the quality of service.

“It is estimated that 10 800 soccer supporters and 27 000 rugby supporters came from outside Bloemfontein . Of the rugby supporters 14,4% were female and 85,6% were men. For the soccer international the percentage was 33% females and 67% males,” said Dr Marais.

The highest number of people who came to watch the soccer game in Bloemfontein (35,8%) was from the Northern Free State . The rugby supporters mainly came from Gauteng (21,8%) and the Northern Free State (18%).

When visiting Bloemfontein soccer supporters spend R912 per household, whilst rugby supporters reached deeper in their pockets and spent R1 807 per household.

“The survey indicated that the two international matches resulted in approximately R58 million been spent in Bloemfontein . Rugby supporters were accountable for the largest part (R48 787 205) spent. The largest chunk of the money spent was on accommodation (R14 593 279). On average soccer and rugby supporters from outside Bloemfontein spent 1,4 and 1,9 nights in Bloemfontein ,” said Dr Marais.

Rugby and soccer supporters were also asked to rate the quality of service received from amongst others hotels, guest houses, restaurants, and transport and entertainment facilities. Soccer supporters rated their satisfaction with services higher as rugby supporters. The rugby supporters gave the services at hotels a 3,9 rating, whilst soccer supporters awarded 4,6 rating out of a possible five.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
9 September 2004
 

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