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01 June 2021 | Story ANDRÉ DAMONS | Photo ANDRÉ DAMONS
Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of Surgery at the School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences UFS – who is also heading the Universitas Academic Hospital COVID-19 Task Team – shows off the crazy socks donated by Cipla and handed over by representatives from the School of Clinical Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Investec Private Banking supports the #CrazySocks4Docs initiative in the undergraduate medical programme with the theme, ‘Socks to start a conversation’, to encourage breaking down the stigma around mental health among doctors. On Friday 4 June, they provided medical students with a complimentary pair of socks to wear on the day.

Investec will be running a social media campaign until 9 June.  Once the students have received their socks from Investec, they need to post a picture of themselves with their socks on either Instagram or Facebook or both, using the hashtags #2021UFS #Investec# #CrazySocks4Docs #StartTheConversation #YoungProfessionals.
The prizes for the best social media posts are five Takealot vouchers worth R1 000 each. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers around the world have not only battled this deadly disease, but also their own mental-health issues brought on by their daily experience of this pandemic. 

COVID-19 has placed healthcare workers’ fears, fatigue, burnout, depression, and anxiety even more in the spotlight. Collectively, we have become more aware of how grateful we are to healthcare workers for standing in the front line for us.

It is for this reason that the annual #CrazySocks4Docs initiative is so important – to show support for healthcare workers. Dr Geoffrey Toogood, an Australian cardiologist and advocate for mental health, came up with the idea of the #CrazySocks4Docs Day – an initiative that aims to create awareness for the vulnerability of doctors and other healthcare workers to mental illness and to destigmatise help-seeking behaviour in the medical community.

This year, the #CrazySocks4Docs Day is on 4 June. 

The Ithemba Foundation, which brought this campaign to South Africa, launched a competition on the campuses of all medical schools, with a prize of R1 000 for the student with the most likes for her/his sock selfie.

Raise awareness about the pressure healthcare workers face

Dr Lynette van der Merwe, Undergraduate Medical Programme Director, School of Clinical Medicine at the University of the Free State (UFS), says on the first Friday of June every year, everyone in the healthcare community, as well as the public, are encouraged to wear fun, funky, colourful, or mismatched socks to raise awareness about the pressure healthcare workers face. 

“Medical professionals are just as vulnerable to the same mental-health issues – fear, anger, fatigue, burnout, anxiety, and depression – as anyone else.  The COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted healthcare workers and the stigma around admitting that ‘I am not OK.’ Just as much as we need healthcare professionals to heal us, we also need to take care of them and support their mental-health needs,” says Dr Van der Merwe. 

According to her, the UFS School of Clinical Medicine has been part of the #CrazySocks4Docs initiative since 2019, and this year will be no different.  

This year

This year, Investec Private Banking will support the #CrazySocks4Docs initiative in the undergraduate medical programme with the theme, ‘Socks to start a conversation’, to encourage breaking down the stigma around mental health among doctors.  They will provide medical students with a complimentary pair of socks to wear on the day.
Investec will be running a social media campaign until 9 June.  Once the students have received their socks from Investec, they need to post a picture of themselves with their socks on either Instagram or Facebook or both, using the hashtags #2021UFS #Investec# #CrazySocks4Docs #StartTheConversation #YoungProfessionals.
The prizes for the best social media posts are five Takealot vouchers worth R1 000 each.

Investec Private Banking has been the bank of choice for SA’s top medical professionals for more than 30 years.
Investec partners with medical interns or medical officers working in community service for the Department of Health, as well as medical specialists or registrars working towards becoming specialists.

Cipla has partnered with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) for the 2021 #CrazySocks4Docs campaign to raise awareness about the fact that our doctors are simply human and are dealing with a lot of ‘stuff’.  By encouraging healthcare professionals and the public to wear their funky socks on Friday 4 June 2021, people will be standing (literally) in solidarity alongside our healthcare workers.  This is essential in a country with a chronic shortage of doctors and specialists and a massive disease burden. 

• The following hashtags can be used on Friday 4 June 2021 along with your sock selfies: #CrazySocks4Docs #CS4D #CreateAwareness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #Care4OurCarers

• Read more about Dr Toogood’s ‘Embracing our vulnerability in medicine’ 

Sibulele Mali and Refiloe Matshaka, both third-year students at the University of the Free State (UFS), pose with their Investec crazy socks in the James Moroka Building in support of the CrazySocks4Docs.
Sibulele Mali and Refiloe Matshaka, both third-year students at the University of the Free State (UFS), pose with their Investec crazy socks in the James Moroka Building in support of the CrazySocks4Docs.
First-year student, Nicolene van Tonder, was also happy to receive a pair of socks for this special day to show her support for healthcare workers.
First-year student, Nicolene van Tonder, was also happy to receive a pair of socks for this special day to show her support for healthcare workers.
Nkabaneng Mamve, second-year student, shows off the crazy socks that she received on Friday (4 June 2021) from Investec Private Banking in support of the CrazySocks4Docs initiative.
Nkabaneng Mamve, second-year student, shows off the crazy socks that she received on Friday (4 June 2021) from Investec Private Banking in support of the CrazySocks4Docs initiative.
A happy Siliziwe Makeledi is excited to show off the new pair of black and white socks that she received from Investec.
A happy Siliziwe Makeledi is excited to show off the new pair of black and white socks that she received from Investec.
Sanam Bhagwandeen, a third-year student, choosing her pair of socks from the Investec Private Banking socks table.
Sanam Bhagwandeen, a third-year student, choosing her pair of socks from the Investec Private Banking socks table.
Buhle Dlamini, fifth-year student, takes her time in choosing the right pair of crazy socks to wear in support of the CrazySocks4Docs initiative.
Buhle Dlamini, fifth-year student, takes her time in choosing the right pair of crazy socks to wear in support of the CrazySocks4Docs initiative.
Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of Surgery at the UFS – who is also heading the Universitas Hospital COVID-19 Task Team – shows off the crazy socks donated to him and his team in the vaccination centre at the Universitas Academic Hospital.
Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of Surgery at the UFS – who is also heading the Universitas Hospital COVID-19 Task Team – shows off the crazy socks donated to him and his team in the vaccination centre at the Universitas Academic Hospital.
Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of Surgery at the UFS – who is also heading the Universitas Hospital COVID-19 Task Team – receives a donation of crazy socks from Angela Vorster, Clinical Psychologist in the School of Clinical Medicine
Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of Surgery at the UFS – who is also heading the Universitas Hospital COVID-19 Task Team – receives a donation of crazy socks from Angela Vorster, Clinical Psychologist in the School of Clinical Medicine

News Archive

Human Rights Desk takes up anti-xenophobia initiative
2015-05-06

In light of the recent violent attacks on foreigners in South Africa, the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Human Rights Desk hosted a symposium on the issue of xenophobia on Wednesday 29 April 2015 on the Bloemfontein Campus. In collaboration with volunteers from the Institute of Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ), students had the opportunity to discuss the underlying issues of the problem.

Joe Besigye, Numpumelelo Ngcobo, Phiwe Mathe, and Dr Christian Williams lead the symposium. The panel aimed at providing guidance, answers, and explanations to the different narratives offered in the wake of the conflict. The underlying reasons for the conflict were investigated, which included socio-economic factors as well as the afrocentric tone of the events. Possible aggravating factors – such as the misplacement of blame and a South African culture of entitlement – also came under scrutiny. In addition, the discussion looked at the need to take into account the perspectives of non-South Africans on African conflicts.

After the symposium, Kovsie students gathered at the Thakaneng Bridge where Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Jonathan Jansen, addressed the group. Carrying posters with ‘No to Xenophobia’ messages, the students then marched across the campus to show their support for anti-xenophobia.

The IRSJ – which the Human Rights Desk forms part of – has spearheaded the No-to-Racism/Yes-to-Equality Campaign launched in March 2015 across all three campuses. Under the guidance of the IRSJ, the Kovsie community has regularly been publicly showing their solidarity against all forms of discrimination.

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