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ARU researcher Ntebohiseng Sekhele guest edits journal on montane rangelands

06 April 2021 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah

Ntebohiseng Sekhele_web read more — Ntebohiseng Sekhele is the Associate Guest Editor of the recent Special Issue of the African Journal of Range & Forage Science.

The Director of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), Dr Ralph Clark, and researcher, Ntebohiseng Sekhele, recently became part of a guest editorial team for the African Journal of Range & Forage Science. The Special Issue titled, ‘Montane rangelands in a changing world’, was published on 3 March 2021.

“I feel privileged to have been part of the team that assembled this special issue. The experience was daunting at first, as I had never been part of an editorial team before. However, with the support of the guest editors and the journal’s administrator, I was able to overcome the imposter-syndrome feeling and allowed myself to learn and enjoy the ride. My ‘aha’ moments were the critical comments from the reviewers on each paper. It was amazing to witness how this feedback would enhance the quality of an article,” said Ntebohiseng Sekhele, Geography lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Journal focus

This issue focused on the applied management of montane rangelands for production in Southern Africa and the broader world. Submissions could include original research, reviews, and meta-analyses. This has culminated in contributions that centred on the impact of policy on pastoral practices by montane communities, fire management regimes, cumulative effects of poor governance on rangeland degradation, and sustainable grazing systems – including in ecological infrastructure such as montane wetlands and communal rangeland.

“The process took almost a year, as the first call for abstracts was made in December 2019 and final revisions of accepted papers were concluded in November 2020. There were 32 submissions with only 12 articles and one book review of Prof Rodney Moffett’s book, A Scientific Bibliography of the Drakensberg, Maloti and Adjacent Lowlands. Of the 12 contributions, nine focus on the Maloti-Drakensberg, with papers on Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Free State,” she revealed.

Submitted papers

“All papers advocate for the sustainable management of sensitive montane systems, which ties well with my own research that makes a contribution to the limited scholarship of natural resource-related conflicts between montane communities and their adjacent protected areas, as well as climate change impacts on natural resources,” said Sekhele, a PhD candidate through the ARU’s US-SA University Staff Development Programme (USDP). The special issue allowed for a closer link between the US and SA USDP through the involvement of Dr Kryan Kunkel – Ntebohiseng’s US co-supervisor – as one of the guest editors.

News Archive

UFS closes pedestrian entrances to improve safety on campus

2010-08-05

The University of the Free State (UFS) will remove pedestrian gates on its Main Campus in an extra effort to improve safety on this campus.

It was decided to implement this plan because the campus covers a huge area and people who are not part of the campus community hang around on the campus, sometimes causing damages. This idea is also strongly supported by students, in particular with regard to the removal of the pedestrian thoroughfares close to the hostels.

The following pedestrian gates will not be removed:

- The pedestrian thoroughfares on both sides of the DF Malherbe Gate (next to the Faculty of Health Sciences). Both the main gate and the pedestrian thoroughfares at the DF Malherbe Gate remain open 24 hours a day.
- The pedestrian thoroughfares at the Badenhorst Street Gate (close to Roosmaryn Residence). The Badenhorst Gate is not open 24 hours a day, but the pedestrian thoroughfare will remain open 24 hours a day.

The following pedestrian thoroughfares will be removed with effect from 1 September 2010:

- The pedestrian thoroughfare to the east of Pellies Park
- The pedestrian thoroughfare to the west of Pellies Park (directly behind JMB Hertzog Residence)
- The turnstile between the Kovsie Church and the Wynand Mouton Gate
- The pedestrian thoroughfare behind the tennis courts
- The pedestrian thoroughfares behind the rugby fields

A request was also directed at the Kovsie Church to close down the pedestrian thoroughfare between the Kovsie Church and the UFS. This gate will then be opened during church activities.

From 1 September 2010, the personnel of Security Services will regularly patrol the fences. Trespassers that flatten the fencing to enter the campus will be prosecuted.

Students, personnel and visitors are encouraged to make use of the main entrance gates of the UFS. These include the Main Gate (in Nelson Mandela Drive), the Wynand Mouton Gate (in DF Malherbe Drive), the DF Malherbe Gate (in Wynand Mouton Drive), the Badenhorst Street Gate (close to Roosmaryn Residence) and the Furstenburg Gate (in Furstenburg Road).

Media Release:
Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za
5 August 2010

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