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#UFSWomen: Prof Aliza le Roux on being bold and fearless

17 August 2021 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)

Prof Aliza Le Roux copy — Bold and fearless - Prof Aliza le Roux.

Prof Aliza le Roux is Associate Professor in Zoology and Entomology, and Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus.

A researcher at heart, and with a passion for researching wild mammals, small carnivores, and primates, Prof Le Roux says she is extremely curious and loves to know about a lot of different things.

I decided that I wanted to do something with wildlife, so I completed a BSc degree at Stellenbosch University. One day a professor said: “I just got back from doing research – we were catching lizards along the Orange River” – and I remember thinking, ‘yes, I can see that as my life’. Research is a fantastic career for anyone with curiosity and perseverance. You must have a good dose of bull-headed persistence. We all have the baseline intelligence, but anyone who has studied up to PhD will tell you that it is the persistence that carries you through.

Is there a woman who inspires you and who you would like to celebrate this Women’s Month, and why?

What drew me into a career in research was Dian Fossey, an American researcher who was known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups. She had the guts to go out there and be there in the wilderness as the only woman there, doing stuff under extremely difficult conditions.

Recently, it will be Simone Biles – she does the most mind-blowing stuff with gymnastics – who said she could not go forward with competing in the Olympics because of health reasons. I cannot imagine what guts it takes to say no at such a high-profile sporting event. The ability to say no is something that few of us possess, so right now she is a person I would love to celebrate. I am inspired by women who have the guts and the fact that you believe enough in yourself to do something, despite what others might have to say about it.

What is your response to current challenges faced by women and available platforms for women development?

There is never enough support or platforms available for the development of women while you have domestic violence and GBV at such insane rates in this country. It’s still a women’s problem, whereas its men perpetrating this and women implicitly supporting it in the way we raise young men and respond to things such as rape accusations.

It’s a societal problem, and I personally will not be happy until I see this changing in the country. You can look at the massive inequalities and gender biases and the things that are stacked against women, and then feel overwhelmed and step back and say this is too big a problem, I can’t do anything about it. You might not be able to tackle the big problem, but you can chip away at it. Everybody must contribute in a small way.

What advice would you give to the 15-year-old you?

Be bold. Be fearless. I slowly started becoming like that at that age, but I could have started earlier. I should have told her I was gay; that would have helped.

What would you say makes you a woman of quality, impact, and care?

There’s a healthy dose of guts and believing in yourself – that is the only way to make an impact. You cannot make an impact if you are doubting your own value, and this is difficult, because we are raised in many instances to be meek, raised to not be leaders but followers, and it’s difficult to overcome that and realise that you are bringing something unique to this world.

The university is taking some very good steps with the mentorship programmes that it supports. But I would love to see more mentorship for students. Young men and young women in our care being inspired to talk and rethink how they treat women and what equality really means. We need to create more reflective people.

News Archive

Address by the first Inaugural President of the Central SRC

2005-08-03

The UFS Central SRC

Address by the first Inaugural President of the Central SRC of the University of the Free State, Mr Tello Motloung on Wednesday 3 August 2003

The Chairperson of the UFS Council, Judge Faan Hancke,
The Vice-chancellor and Rector of the UFS, Prof Frederick Fourie
The Vice-Rector Student Affairs of the UFS, Dr Ezekiel Moraka
The Presidents of the main campus SRC and the Vista campus SRC
Colleagues in the Central SRC, campus SRCs, students and fellow South Africans

Please receive my heartfelt revolutionary greetings

Vice-chancellor and rector what I bring here with me assisted by facts, is just the work of my imagination. Like a love letter addressed to a sweetheart miles away, even though you do not know how she feels, what she wants to hear, and do not even know what she looks like.

I value speech as just an honest intimation, that’s why I got into a habit of establishing a dialogue with people, looking at each other’s face, and persuading one another of what we are saying.

Vice-chancellor, today marks an important milestone in the history of the existence of the UFS. Today reflects the confidence and trust that students of the UFS have placed in us. They are confident that the Central SRC has both the will and the capacity to take our university forward as we confront the challenge of transformation.

Students are confident that they are correct to trust the Central SRC as the principal agent of change in our university that is genuinely committed to the objective of building a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic university. We need to frankly ask ourselves, as CSRC members, whether are we up to all these challenges?

All Central SRC members have to understand this fully, internalize it, and ensure that everything we do, does not betray the confidence and trust of students, or disappoint their expectations. I say this knowing that all Central SRC members have committed themselves to serve the students of the UFS, black and white, and no one among us (CSRC) needs any special lectures about this central commitment.

The UFS should be an omnibus, welcoming everybody on board. But we should be a bus with a clear direction. We will certainly lose our way if we, as an institution, don’t have a clear road map spelling out where we are heading to.

There should be clear guidelines on the role of students in the transformation process. Students should also be viewed as role players in transformation along with the University management, and not just opposing forces. There is no right time, other than this one, to move away from the politics of opposition to politics of transformation.

However, we need the support of management to do so. The University should value the role and contribution of student leaders, hear our legitimate claims and consider them as part of political and policy decision making.

Vice-chancellor and Rector, it remains our task to ensure that the UFS is transformed into an institution that is seen to be playing a vigilant role in developing students academically, intellectually, socially, culturally, politically and otherwise. The process of transformation is not ending tonight, it is just beginning tonight.

Judge Hancke, Prof Fourie, Dr Moraka, fellow students and fellow South Africans, I lead students at this university with a sense of pride and duty, and I know very well that I lead men and women, students who are all determined that we reach our destination safely and on time.

A navy divided within its ranks will be destroyed and vanquished by the enemy, but the navy united in purpose and action, loyalty and commitment will not sink but sail on to victory.

It is befitting to mention that every drop of my blood is telling me that the UFS is my home. I firstly became a student here, I became the SRC treasurer in my first year here, I became the deputy president here, and I became the first president of the Central SRC of the UFS.

Therefore you should never doubt my commitment towards the transformation of this university. To paraphrase what was said by students at another institution, “If there is no UFS in heaven, then I am not going.”

Let me conclude by thanking my ancestors for teaching me that even if I wined and dined with kings and queens, I am not a king myself, so I should not turn my back on people who made me what I am today.

Most importantly, I would like to thank the Almighty God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving me time and power to lead this university.

It will be theoretically irresponsible if I ended my speech without indicating that “Only a Kovsie knows the feeling”.

I thank you.

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