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08 April 2021
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Story Thabo Kessah
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Photo UFS Photo Archive
Dr KPD Maphalla with former UFS Chancellor, Dr Franklin Sonn, during the graduations in April 2007.
The University of the Free State is sad to learn of the passing of alumnus and award-winning Sesotho literary giant, Dr KPD Maphalla.
The literary works of Dr Khotso Pieter David Maphalla, like many other African writers and artists, were influenced and characterised by his own era of powerful forms of oppression and exclusion from dominant literary discourses. In his own right and through his writings of poetry, novels, short stories, and kodiamalla (dirge), he articulated a deliberate political and social protest and pushed for a place for African languages in literature at the height of apartheid.
“He entered the professional scene with his ground-breaking novel, Kabelwamanong, in 1982 at the age of 27. His career actually started in 1971 while he was still at school. Since his first novel, he has produced at least two books annually, covering the genres of poetry, novels, dramas, and short stories. As a dramatist, Dr Maphalla has written a number of excellent and educative radio dramas for the then Radio Sesotho (now Lesedi FM),” said his long-time friend and Head: African Languages at the University of the Free State, Dr Nyefolo Malete.
“It was for this writing prowess that he received recognition from the UFS when he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by the Department of African Languages during a momentous ceremony on the Qwaqwa Campus in 2007,” added Dr Malete.
Dr Malete also revealed that, despite losing the use of his right hand after suffering a stroke following a car accident in the late 1990s, Dr Maphalla continued writing using his left hand. “He was adamant that, what he referred to as his ‘supposed disability’, would not deter his passion for writing.”
Dr Maphalla’s work has also produced numerous scholarly studies by the likes of Profs Moleleki Moleleki (protest poetry), Thapelo Selepe (lament and protest poetry), and Dr Seema Seema (process of cross-cultural communication). He was a committed Qwaqwa community member, who was also instrumental in the founding of Qwaqwa Community Radio (2000) and Metjodi Writers (2006), among others. He has written more than 70 books, many of which have been prescribed texts in schools.
Some of the awards he has won include:
South African Centre for Digital Language Resource (SADiLar) Sesotho Lexicographic Unit (Sesiu sa Sesotho) Lifetime Award for outstanding literary works and for promoting Sesotho literature (2019).
The Literature Festival and the University of the Free State Award for enormous contribution to Sesotho literature by a South African writer (2019).
Lifetime Achiever Award in Literature awarded by the Department of Arts and Culture (2005).
M-Net Book Prize for Sesotho poetry (2005). The first and thus far the only Sesotho author to have received this honour.
M-Net Book Prize for best novel (1996).
De Jager-HAUM Literary Award for his volume of short stories, Mohlomong Hosane (1993).
Thomas Mofolo Trophy for Best Novel, Best Poetry, and the Overall Award (1992).
Thomas Mofolo Trophy for Best Poetry (1991).
Dr JJ Moiloa Floating Trophy for Best Sesotho Poetry Book of the Year, Kgapa tsa ka (1985).
Andrew Mellon Foundation renews ongoing support for UFS projects
2017-04-10
Dr Saleem Badat and Annemia van der Heever.The University of the Free State (UFS) was first awarded a grant by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation (AWMF) in 2015 to fund several projects between 2015 and 2016 under the International Higher Education Strategic projects fund. The programme’s director, Dr Saleem Badat, visited the UFS on 23 March 2017 as part of his annual first-quarter feedback sessions, with not only the UFS but other universities around the country that benefited from the programme. Top of the agenda was a meeting with principal investigators of projects funded by the foundation, to discuss the UFS’s institutional priorities for funding, alongside the university’s management, to discuss possible intra-institutional projects to be undertaken with other universities.
During his visit, Dr Badat met with Prof Nicky Morgan, UFS Acting Vice-Chancellor and Rector, as well as the AWMF representative, Annamia van der Heever, Director: Institutional Advancement. He discussed future plans with managers of the Programme for Innovation in the Artform Development, #Movements project, Inclusive Professoriate Grant and the Curriculum reform programme which involved seven other universities.
The AWMF, through its projects, is instrumental in developing and maintaining strong higher education institutions that produce knowledge and high-quality graduates, and advances social justice. The projects further aim to deepen and broaden public understanding and support for the arts and humanities, diversity and inclusion. “The Foundation each year presents universities with wonderful opportunities to improve teaching, learning and research in the humanities. We are working hard with the Faculty of Humanities on possible submissions for 2017,” said Van der Heever.
During 2017 between $10.8 million and $12 million will be available for grants by the Foundation’s International Higher Education and Strategic Projects programme. The Vice-Chancellor’s Office will continue to serve as a contact point and administrative support for UFS projects currently funded by AWMF. Institutional Advancement will assist project leaders to draft submissions to the Foundation this year and in the future. In 2018 AWMF will celebrate 30 years of involvement in supporting higher education in South Africa.