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Prof Rodwell Makombe on Qwaqwa migrants and their connection to home

22 February 2021 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah

Prof Rodwell Makombe_web read more — Prof Rodwell Makombe’s literary research focuses on a Facebook page that ‘reconstructs home away from home’.

Home is a complex concept, as it is not a physical place. This is according to Prof Rodwell Makombe’s recently published research article titled, Online images and imaginings of home: The case of Qwaqwa Thaba Di Mahlwa Facebook page.

“The article looks at how migrants from Qwaqwa, now living in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and elsewhere, imagine Qwaqwa as home. Because they spend a lot of time away from home, they always have a longing and a sense of loneliness, as they live in places that are not home. They also have to find ways of reminiscing about their homeland. This study is about how they reconstruct home away from home. There are two approaches towards the idea of home. Firstly, home can be conceptualised as a familiar place and a place of origin that offers stability. Secondly, home is within them and they carry it with them wherever they go,” said Prof Makombe.

‘Qwaqwa Thaba Di Mahlwa’

The study focused on a Facebook page created by Qwaqwa migrants, called ‘Qwaqwa thaba Di Mahlwa’. “We looked at the images that were posted on this page and how they seek to construct Qwaqwa as a home. When a person posts a picture from Qwaqwa, everyone from Qwaqwa associates with the picture and are reminded of certain things from home. Migrants make homes out of this Facebook page and the page becomes a place where all can rally together and construct their home,” he added.

The study is part of a broader book project titled Visual Cultures of the Afromontane, funded by the Afromontane Research Unit.

Prof Makombe is an Associate Professor in the Department of English on the Qwaqwa Campus. His areas of research include cultural studies, postcolonial literatures, and cultures of resistance. The article was co-written with Dr Oliver Nyambi.

LISTEN: Prof Rodwell Makombe on Qwaqwa migrants and their connection to home

University of the Free State · Prof Rodwell Makombe on Qwaqwa migrants and their connection to home

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UFS Dean presents lecture at the University of Cambridge

2009-10-09

Here at the main entrance (the "Chimney") of the Jesus College, after the certificate ceremony, are from far left: Prof. Barry Rider, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge and Hosei Project leader, a group of students (Masters degree in Law) of the Faculty of Law from the Hosei University who received competency certificates after successfully completing the Hosei Summer School Project at the Jesus College, Prof. Henning, and Ms Li-hong Xing, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for International Documentation on Organised and Economic Crime, Cambridge and Hosei Project Administrator.
Photo: Supplied

Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) and Head of the Centre for Business Law at this faculty, delivered three papers during this year’s Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime that took place at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge. The theme of this 27th symposium was: “The enemy within – internal threats to the stability and integrity of financial institutions”.

Prof. Henning’s presentations were about: “Conflicts of interest and duty – a persistent threat”, “Data security and identity fraud” and “The responsibility of management for the prevention and control of financial crime-related risks”.

Over and above the three papers he delivered, Prof. Henning was also part of the secretariat of the symposium and he acted as chairperson at some of the workshops.

The UFS’s Faculty of Law was once again very much involved in the organisation and participation of the symposium. Since 1992, the Centre for Business Law of the Faculty of Law has been one of a few organising institutions of this popular and well-known symposium.

Prior to the symposium, Prof. Henning also acted as guest professor at the week-long Hosei Summer School Project that is presented by the Faculty of Law of the Hosei University (Tokyo Japan) in cooperation with the University of Cambridge. He presented two extended workshops for LLM students on International Business Law and Comparative Company Law.

Prof. Henning is also a Professorial Fellow at the Jesus College and a principal lecturer in International Mercantile Law at the Hosei University Summer School.

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