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Agreement between UFS rectorate and Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) on 16 March 2021

16 March 2021 | Story Lacea Loader

UPDATE: 16 March 2021 at 20:37

During a meeting between members of the Rectorate and representatives of the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) on 15 and 16 March 2021, the following was agreed upon:

1. SUSPENSION OF THE ACADEMIC PROGRAMME

All academic activities have been suspended on all UFS campuses from 17 to 22 March 2021. No online/face-to-face lectures/tests/assignments will take place until 23 March 2021, and the full academic programme will resume on this date.

This decision will allow the university management an opportunity to address outstanding matters regarding the admission of senior undergraduate students.

2. FACE-TO-FACE REGISTRATION

Any senior undergraduate and first-year student who is unable to register successfully online, can do so on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses from 17 to 19 March 2021.

► Registration stations:

Bloemfontein Campus:

- Examination Centre (EXR)

Qwaqwa Campus:

- Faculty of Education: Mandela Hall
- Faculty of the Humanities: E0013 + 14
- Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences: E009 + 10 – EMS
- Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences: Fulufhelo Gazelle

► Operating times on both campuses:

17 March 2021: 13:00-15:00
18 and 19 March 2021: 8:00-15:00

The following must be noted:

Senior undergraduate students must be in possession of a valid student card (previous year) and will be allowed to enter the campuses without an access permit in order to register.

First-year students must be in possession of a firm offer from the UFS in order to register – no campus access permit is needed.

3. NUMBER OF STUDENTS ON CAMPUSES

The university management is aware of the challenges that some students are experiencing with the continuation of their studies off campus in terms of, for instance, access to campus facilities and connectivity.

It is, however, important to take note that the institution is obliged to adhere to national regulations linked to Level 1 of the national lockdown, also taking into account the university’s teaching and learning approach, as well as the capacity to adhere to physical distancing protocols.

The university management will continue with the return of students to the campuses in a responsible way, as the safety, health, and well-being of students and staff remain the key priorities.

With this in mind, the university will reconsider its blended learning arrangements for 2021 to allow more students to return to campus within the parameters of the national lockdown regulations. These arrangements will be communicated to students soon.

4. ACADEMICALLY ELIGIBLE STUDENTS

The university will compile a list of students who have outstanding debt and who are still awaiting funding confirmation from NSFAS. Confirmation will be provided before midnight on 16 March 2021 if these students can register provisionally without payment of the first amount.

5. MEAL ALLOWANCES

The payment of meal allowances for NSFAS students will be implemented by the end of March 2021. It should be noted that NSFAS is only expected to transfer funds in April, but the UFS will lay out the funds for food allowances in the meantime.

6. ACADEMIC EXCLUSION

During the meetings on 15 and 16 March 2021, the ISRC tabled the matter regarding students who are academically excluded for the 2021 academic year. This matter is being addressed by the university management and engagement in this regard will continue.

7. VICTIMISATION OF STUDENTS BY PRIVATE SECURITY

During the meetings on 15 and 16 March 2021, the ISRC tabled the matter regarding students being victimised, harassed, and assaulted by private security.

The ISRC will submit more information, after which the allegations will be investigated.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

News Archive

But do you forgive yourself, Eugene de Kock? asks Candice Mama

2015-03-16

From the left are: Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Candice Mama and Prof André Keet, Director of the UFS Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice.
Photo: O'Ryan Heideman

Candice Mama: Audio

Candice Mama and her family met with her father’s assassin. Eugene de Kock. Prime Evil. Commander of the apartheid government’s covert Vlakplaas police unit. And what followed from this meeting was one of our country’s most poignant gestures of reconciliation. One by one, each family member expressed their forgiveness of De Kock, and soon afterwards, he was granted parole.

Candice recently visited the Bloemfontein Campus to talk about ‘An Unexpected Encounter with Eugene de Kock: A Journey of Transformation’. The event was a collaborative effort between the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice and Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation Studies.

“What makes it possible to cross the boundary from loss and pain to bond with the person who hurt you?” Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, asked Candice. “I had to educate myself about the when, where, and how, to get a context for Eugene de Kock,” she answered. With the encouragement of her mother, Candice became an avid reader from an early age. She devoured information, so that she could build a picture of this man within a specific historical and political context. What also contributed to this moment of reconciliation for her was De Kock humbling himself and taking full responsibility for his actions.

This meeting was not without inner conflict for Candice, though. “Why am I crying for hím?” she asked herself as she listened to him speak. “Why am I laughing?” she chastised herself as De Kock preened shyly for a group photograph with the family. “Is there something wrong with me to connect with him?” She questioned her values and beliefs. But instead of a monster, Candice saw the true essence of a repentant human being.

But how do you know he didn’t fake it, many people asked. Because it was “one of the most sincere and honest encounters I’ve experienced,” she said. During their meeting, Candice saw a man “crushed by the world”. Everything he believed as a young man, he realised, was a lie.

“Do you forgive yourself?” Candice asked the one question De Kock feared most. And in that moment, he was humanised for her. “When you’ve done the things I’ve done,” De Kock replied, “how do you forgive yourself?”
It remains an open question. But this act of forgiveness gives an entire country hope.

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za.

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