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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

News Archive

‘This university gives me hope’

2013-10-02

4 October 2013
Photo: Stephen Collett

“This is a university that gives me hope. It has a willingness and a capacity to care,” Brand Pretorius said at a farewell function at the UFS.

He served the university as honorary professor in the Department of Business Management since 1991 and delivered the Brand Pretorius lecture for the past two decades. His recent lecture dealt with the topic “Guidelines for sustainable personal success in business – lessons I learnt”.

He retired as CEO of McCarthy and as an executive director of the Bidvest Group on 1 March 2011. Currently he serves as a non-executive director on the boards of the Barclays Africa Group, Reunert, RGT Smart, Tata Africa Holdings and Tongaat Hulett. He is the non-executive chairman of Italtile Limited.

Pretorius said at the farewell function the UFS is still a source of inspiration and pride. The leadership has a lot of courage and commitment and embraced change. “They embraced the fact that we are living in a different world.

“The vision of the UFS is inspirational. It wants to be recognised for academic and research excellence. The university became a pioneer in reconciliation in a very difficult world. Change comes with pain, and the UFS dealt with it in a worthy manner.

“I am proud of this institution because it still strives for high standards, the right principles and values and it has respect for all people.”

Pretorius said the university’s heart is in the right place. “It is a beacon of hope of what the rainbow nation will be in South Africa one day. Reconciliation is a sign that this is happening.”

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