Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
15 September 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Unsplash
Kidnapping and human trafficking are a real threat to people worldwide. Should you find yourself in such a situation, your main focus must be on your own safety and survival.

Kidnapping and human trafficking are a real threat to people worldwide, and recent incidents reported on social media highlight the need for staff and students to remain vigilant, says Cobus van Jaarsveld, Assistant Director: Threat Detection, Investigations and Liaison from Protection Services at the University of the Free State.

Van Jaarsveld adds that should you find yourself in such a situation, your main focus must be on your own safety and survival. 

He provides some tips to avoid being kidnapped, as well as some actions to take when you are kidnapped. These tips come from sources that deal with incidents such as these on a daily basis, including WorldAware, the South African Police Service, and Interpol.

When walking to your destination, keep the following in mind:

• Be aware of your surroundings at all times.
• Tell a trusted person where you will be, who you will be with, and when you expect to return.
• If you sense that someone is following you when you get off a bus, taxi or train, walk towards a well-populated area.
• Do not wear headphones or read while walking or standing on the street.
• When on the street, walk facing oncoming traffic. It will be harder for someone in a vehicle to abduct you.
• Do not hitchhike.
• Try to maintain a low profile.
• Modify your fashion style, toning down colours and accessories.
• Wear comfortable clothing; women should avoid wearing high heels and slippers, which are difficult to run in when attempting to escape. If you are going out with high heels, always have a pair of comfortable flat shoes handy.
• Avoid wearing clothing with long straps such as scarves, necklaces, and purses. These items can be used to strangle you or to tie you up.
• Try to not overload yourself with packages.
• Stay off the street if you are alone and upset or under the influence of medications or alcohol.
• Avoid using outside ATMs at night or in unfamiliar surroundings.
• Avoid isolated or poorly lit restrooms and be extra careful on stairwells.
• Do not get into an elevator with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable. If this is unavoidable, stand near the controls and locate the emergency button.

Prof Beatri Kruger, Research fellow at the Free State Centre for Human Rights in the UFS Faculty of Law, has conducted extensive research on the topic of human trafficking over the years. She adds to Van Jaarsveld’s safety tips and says it is important to memorise emergency telephone numbers. “Save them on your cellphone, especially the 0800 222 777 number, which is the Human Trafficking national helpline available 24/7 free of charge.”

Alternatively call the mobile phone emergency number 112 or Protection Services toll free line 080 020 4682.

“It is also important to arrange a code word with family or close friends – so that when you say or text that word and where you are, they will know to immediately come to you.”

In this day and age, Prof Kruger also urges everyone to empower themselves with reliable information on what trafficking is and what methods traffickers use to lure, deceive, trap, and control you. She suggests the website of the national Freedom Network: http://www.nationalfreedomnetwork.co.za/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NationalFreedomNetwork/ for more information. 

• Distribution of fake news 
 
Staff and students are requested to refrain from distributing fake news on any communication platform, as the distribution of fake news places an additional burden on the limited capacity of law enforcement agencies. 
 
Currently, a message is being distributed on social media and via WhatsApp, containing content with unconfirmed allegations that was originally distributed in 2017 (a company by the name of Forex, kidnapping females for human trafficking and selling their body parts). 
 
Protection Services supports the university's sentiment – as communicated in the Strategic Plan – that the well-being and safety of its staff and students need to receive top priority.   
 
They are currently looking into an alleged incident that occurred on 14 September 2020; all steps are being taken to ensure the safety of our students and staff. 

News Archive

Three receive PhD degrees in Architecture at Winter Graduation ceremony
2015-07-08

Dr Hendrik Auret, Dr Gerhard Bosman and Dr Madelein Stoffberg.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Three graduates from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Architecture received their PhD degrees at the 2015 Winter Graduation ceremony on the Bloemfontein Campus. According to Prof Walter Peters from Architecture, this is the first time in the history of the UFS that three PhD degrees in Architecture have been awarded simultaneously. It is country-wide a rare occurrence for three PhDs to be awarded in Architecture at one graduation ceremony.

“Previously, the UFS has only ever awarded a single PhD in Architecture, and that was in 1987, to Leon Roodt, a former head of the department. The first UFS honorary doctorate in Architecture was conferred on Gerard Moerdijk, architect of the Afrikaner church and the Voortrekker Monument. Gawie Fagan and Prof Bannie Britz, late head of the Department of Architecture, were other recipients of an honorary doctorate in Architecture,” said Prof Peters.

At the 2015 Winter Graduation ceremony, the UFS conferred PhDs in Architecture on Hendrik Auret from Roodt Architects in Bloemfontein as well as on Gerhard Bosman, and Madelein Stoffberg from the UFS Department of Architecture.

Dr Hendrik Auret

As an Architecture student at the university, Dr Auret obtained the degree BArchStud in 2004, a BArchStud (Hons) in 2005, and a March (Prof) in 2006, all cum laude. His Master’s design dissertation was judged the best from all South African Architecture learning sites, earning him the coveted ‘Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year’ award.

The work of the Norwegian architect and theorist, Christian Norberg-Schulz, served as the basis of Dr Auret’s PhD thesis, Care, place and architecture: a critical reading of Christian Norberg-Schulz’s architectural interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy, which considered the cogency of Norberg-Schulz’s architectural ‘translation’ of the German philosopher Heidegger’s thinking.

Dr Gerhard Bosman

On obtaining his BArchStud. and BArch degrees at the university in 1993 and 1995 respectively, Dr Bosman immediately joined the part-time staff of the Department of Architecture. As a lecturer in Building Construction, he developed an interest in vernacular and indigenous methods and techniques. Consequently, he built the first family home in Bloemfontein, for his wife, Debbie, and their two children, of earth construction, which been previously but erroneously considered inferior.

Despite that negative perception, Dr Bosman persuade the university to allow him to undertake post-graduate studies at the International Center for Earth Architecture (CRATerre-ENSAG) within the Ecole d' Architecture de Grenoble, France, from which institution,he was awarded the DPEA-Architecture de Terre qualification in 2000. In 2001,Dr Bosman was appointed to the full-time staff.

In 2003, when the opportunity arose, he became involved with SANPAD, the South Africa-Netherlands Research Project on Alternatives in Development, which lead ultimately to his PhD thesis: The acceptability of earth-constructed houses in central areas of South Africa.

Dr Madelein Stoffberg

In 2005, Dr Stoffberg enrolled as an Architecture student at the UFS, obtaining her BArchStud degree in 2007, the BArchStud (Hons) in 2008 and the March (Prof) in 2009, the latter cum laude. Immediately on graduating, Dr Stoffberg was appointed to her position as a part-time junior lecturer in the Department of Architecture.

During her studies, her attention was drawn to the concept of the spatial triad of Henri Lefebvre. Fascinated with the conceptand by the development of community centres as a contemporary architectural typology, she began her PhD degree.  

Entitled Lived reality, perception and architecture: two community centres interrogated through the lens of Lefebvre’s spatial triad, Dr Stoffberg investigated the relationship between the spatial understanding of the project architect and the community of two completed buildings in Port Elizabeth. She established a mismatch in perception, representation, and use of space, which could be bridged, however, by way of a qualitative research approach, instead of a quantitative one.


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