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Is South Africa falling apart – where to from here?

12 August 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

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 webinar as part of the Free State Literature Festival’s online initiative, VrySpraak-digitaal.

The aim of the webinar series is to discuss issues facing South Africa by engaging experts at the university and in South Africa. Some of the topics for 2021 include, among others, reimagining universities for student success; corruption; local elections, the state of business – particularly in the Free State.

In 2020, the webinar series saw the successful participation of leading experts engaging on COVID-19 and the crisis facing the country socially, economically, and politically. This year, in lieu of the Free State Arts Festival, the UFS will present the webinar virtually over a period of five months.

Fourth webinar presented on 24 August 2021
What South Africa will look like after the recent unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, is yet unknown. As the country is attempting to normalise while tallying the human, political, and economic cost of the riots – what we know for sure is that the events of the past few weeks have dispelled the impression of South Africa as exceptional, with a triumphant future. Moreover, the inconsistent response from government during and after the unrest laid bare the divisions within the ruling party. As South Africans are reeling from the aftermath of the looting, a lacklustre response from leaders with unreliable, conflicting messages has brought little comfort to those most in need.

What happens now? What will it take for South Africans to advance a cohesive vision to provide a sustainable future for the next generation?

Date: Tuesday, 24 August 2021
Topic: Is South Africa falling apart – where to from here?
Time: 12:30-14:00
RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za by 20 August 2021

Facilitator:

Prof Francis Petersen
Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS

Panellists:

• Prof Bonang Mohale
UFS Chancellor
Professor of Practice
Johannesburg Business School, and
Chairman Bidvest Group Limited

• Nikiwe Bikitsha
Board Member: Nelson Mandela Foundation
CEO and co-founder: Amargi Media

• Qaanitah Hunter
Political Editor: News24

• Prof Anthony Turton
Affiliated Professor
UFS Centre for Environmental Management

Bios of speakers:

Prof Bonang Mohale

A Professor of Practice at the Johannesburg Business School’s College of Business and Economics, and Chairman of the Bidvest Group Limited, Prof Mohale is a published author and respected business leader who has held chairmanships and directorships at some of South Africa’s top companies. He currently serves on the boards of Swiss Re Africa Limited, Rand Merchant Bank Limited (RMB), the Automobile Association of South Africa, and SBV. Prof Mohale was the former Chief Executive Officer of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA). In 2001, he received the President’s Award for his servanthood in South African industry, and in 2019 the Free Market Foundation’s Luminary Award. Prior to joining BLSA, Prof Mohale was the Chairman of Shell Downstream South Africa (Pty) Limited, and Vice-President of Shell Upstream.

Ms Nikiwe Bikitsha

Nikiwe Bikitsha is a former journalist who has been at the forefront of major national and international developments in a news and current affairs broadcasting career spanning twenty years. Nikiwe is a Fulbright Hubert H Humphrey Fellow – the Humphrey programme is a mid-career Fulbright exchange fellowship awarded to people who have demonstrated leadership. Nikiwe holds an MA in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand, and an MSc degree in African Studies from the University of Oxford. She serves as trustee on the board of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, is a member of the Deloitte Global Advisory Council and an independent non-executive director of Deloitte Africa. Despite leaving journalism, Nikiwe remains a keen observer of society.

Ms Qaanitah Hunter

Qaanitah Hunter is an award-winning political journalist and author. She is the political editor of News24 and author of Balance of Power: Ramaphosa and the future of South Africa. Qaanitah has won a number of awards for her work, including the Nat Nakasa award for brave and courageous journalism in 2019. She is currently a master’s student at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has reported fearlessly on state capture, the Zuma years, and the political transition thereafter. Her constant probing and investigations have played a pivotal role in holding truth to power. Her writing on South African politics and investigations has featured prominently on many national media platforms, often setting the agenda in the country. Qaanitah is well-versed in issues of governance and her well-rounded and balanced political reporting has contributed to her astute analysis of news and current affairs. She has fought strongly against censorship and intimidation among journalists and has been a strong advocator for the freedom of the press. Qaanitah believes that the prospect of any democracy to persevere is pinned on how free the media is and its ability to hold those in power accountable.

Prof Anthony Turton

Prof Anthony Turton is an Affiliated Professor in the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State (UFS). He specialises in strategic planning, transboundary water resource management, policy and institutional issues, conflict resolution (mitigation), political risk assessment for large infrastructural projects, and research programme design. He is also the Director of Nanodyn Systems Pty Ltd. Prof Turton’s focus is on resources, more specifically the need to overcome water and energy constraints to our future economic growth and prosperity, both as a country and the entire SADC region. As an environmentally aware person, he believes that we are reaching the limits to our current developmental approaches and will be forced to make changes in the near future, whether we like it or not. By understanding and anticipating this, Prof Turton assists organisations in staying ahead of the game by isolating fundamental drivers at work and by identifying emerging opportunities.

News Archive

UFS Odeion School of Music (OSM) launched

2011-09-15

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Odeion School of Music will be launched at the first Dean’s Concert in the Odeion on the Bloemfontein Campus on Friday, 16 September 2011.

The former Department of Music, in the Faculty of Humanities, has been transformed and will henceforth be known as the Odeion School of Music (OSM). This follows in the path of the corporate transition currently taking place at the university, which aims to reflect the progressive and dynamic striving towards excellence, as endorsed by the UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, and his management group.

Two years ago the faculty formulated a new mission with the aim to become an international faculty of excellence. An important component of it has been to create a pro-active marketing strategy and policy towards internationalisation and curriculum development.

The name Odeion School of Music portrays not only an excellent asset in the Free State, but also nationally and internationally. The school’s new name bears the respected Odeion brand and a number of successful and respected ensembles operate under this brand. These include the acclaimed residential Odeion String Quartet, as well as the Music Department’s student ensembles, the Junior Odeion String Quartet, the Odeion Sinfonia, and the Odeion Choir.

According to Prof. Nicol Viljoen, the Chairperson of the OSM, the name change was motivated by the following objectives:

The idea of a school within the Faculty of Humanities not only reflects an academic profile that does justice to the intention of the Department to reposition itself, but also simulates the current identity of the unit. This encompasses diverse thematic entities not only from an academic perspective, but also from a community and cultural perspective. The unit does this through providing services, which include arts entertainment, the provision of facilities, as well as a strong emphasis on community development.
With regard to an international perspective, it provides attractive possibilities not only from the perspective of a marketing and publicity profile, but also with regard to the identity of the unit.
Hypothetically the new name allows more flexibility to complement the profile with reference to newly anticipated developments. These include the application of prestigious international experts as artistic fellows, membership to progressive European, jointly developed degree programmes and curriculum development initiatives, the founding of a chair in Orchestra Conducting, a master’s degree in Arts Management, as well as the incorporation of bio-kinetics in the teaching methodologies of performance practice, to name but a few.
From a management perspective it could also consolidate the perspective of scarce skill specialisation.
To give momentum to the establishment of the OSM, Mr Marius Coetzee was appointed as Innovation Manager. He is a former Project Manager of the European Degree in International Music Management – a joint degree initiative between three Universities from Norway, the Netherlands and Finland, funded by the EU in Brussels. His aim will be to develop and investigate aspects such as internationalisation, marketing, pro-active recruitment strategies, curriculum development and innovative teaching methodologies.

Mr Coetzee said music conservatories, from both European and American perspectives are managed and maintained as highly successful and substantial brands. From the European perspective some examples include the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Finland), the Liszt Academy in Budapest (Hungary), the Grieg Academy in Bergen (Norway) and the former Sweelinck Academy in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Similar to the South African milieu, the majority of music conservatories in the USA and Canada are resident within an academic university.

However, unlike the South African reality, the majority of these institutions have a value-added identity portrayed by a specific name. Such an example is the renowned Peabody Conservatory of the University of Baltimore or the Jacobs School of Music at the Indiana University Bloomington, to name but a few.

The Dean’s Concert will highlight performances of students in the school. The concert will probably become a regular event in future Spring Music Festivals.

Media Release
15 September 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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