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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

UFS scoops up MACE special award for consistent excellence

2016-12-02

From the left: Martie Nortjé, Lerato Sebe, Thabo Kessah,
Lacea Loader, Lelanie de Wet, Leonie Bolleurs,
Leslé-Ann George, and Mamosa Makaya from the
UFS Communication and Brand Management team
at the MACE Excellence Awards, where they received
two Merit Awards, two Excellence Awards, four Gold Awards,
one Platinum Award, and one Severus Cerff: Special Award.

The Department of Communication and Brand Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) won ten awards during the Excellence Awards of the national association of Marketing, Advancement, and Communication in Education (MACE), held on 24 November 2016 in Cape Town. Hundred and sixty two awards were presented at the event.

At the awards ceremony, the department further received the Severus Cerff Award for demonstrating consistent and outstanding excellence in the 2016 Excellence Awards Programme.

The awards ceremony is part of the MACE Annual National Congress, which took place from 23 to 25 November 2016. The MACE Congress is a platform where experts from the fields of marketing, advancement, and communication share experiences and best practices. This year’s programme included speakers such as Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman, Founder of Gift of the Givers, Ruda Landman, Non-Executive Director of Media24 Limited, and Jonathan Shapiro, well-known cartoonist.

Lacea Loader, Director of the Department of Communication and Brand Management, said, “I am extremely proud of our achievements and I’m privileged to work with such a high-performing team. The fact that we received the Severus Cerff Award for consistent excellence is an additional, exceptional accomplishment.”

Other awards include a Platinum Award, four Gold Awards, two Excellence Awards, and two Merit Awards. Martie Nortjé, Assistant Director: Branding and Merchandise, received a Platinum Award for KovsieGear, the university’s merchandise shop. The Platinum Award is given to all the entries receiving a Gold Award of Excellence in a category, and the best entry in a division receives the award.

Leonie Bolleurs, Assistant Director: Internal Communication, received the Gold Awards for the Sound [W]right UFS student tone and voice guide, the Spaces and Places Video, the Student Bursary Fund Campaign: Photographs as well as the Excellence Awards for the Student Bursary Fund Campaign: Video and the Expanded Footprints Publication. Loader was awarded with the Gold Award for the Facilitation of the review of the UFS Language Policy. This award is given to the highest-scoring entry in every category.

Thabo Kessah, Senior Officer: Internal Communication at the Qwaqwa Campus, and Loader each received a Merit Award for the Ke Eo Taba Qwaqwa Newsletter and Prof Jonathan Jansen’s Commemorative Book: For such a time as this.

Earlier this year, KovsieGear received Gold at the 2016 Prism Awards of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA). The B Safe Take Action campaign also recently received an award at the African Excellence Awards in Cape Town.

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