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19 March 2021 | Story Cobus van Jaarsveld

As students are returning to campus, Cobus van Jaarsveld, Assistant Director: Threat Detection, Investigations and Liaison at Protection Services, believes it is important that they ‘know’ and practise safety at the UFS:

1) Know the number of your Department of Protection Services:

• Bloemfontein Campus: +27 51 401 2911(also in cases of GBV)
• Qwaqwa Campus: +27 58 718 5032 / 5029 / 5033
• South Campus: +27 51 505 1298

Protection Services staff are the experts on campus safety, and they are able to point out the safest routes on and around campus, especially after dark. They can also assist with any safety concerns you may have.

As a student, you are smart; use your senses:
o Never let a stranger in your room or apartment
o Never walk alone after dark.

2) Know how to use alcohol

Although drinking and driving is a big NO, there are some other cardinal facts about drinking that you need to take note of:

• Never consume a drink provided by a stranger
• Never leave a drink unattended
• Never drink too much too quickly
• Always leave a party with a buddy

3) Know the basics of personal finance

You will be bombarded with offers from credit card companies, clothing stores, etc. Know how to budget. If you do not know how to budget, please contact the Student Counselling and Development office to assist you. This skill will not only make your life easier at varsity, but also once you start earning an income.

Be aware of fraud. If something looks too good to be true, it often is.

Watch your wallet. Theft or robbery is a possibility.

4) Know how to be safe on the internet

You are spending a lot of time on the internet. Unfortunately, criminals are also spending time in cyberspace with the aim of taking advantage of unsuspecting people like you. This may include cyberstalking, which may lead to emotional or physical harm, or it may result in them taking your information or money through phishing scams. Do not become a victim and ensure that you
- never use the same password twice;
- never use unsecured Wi-Fi to access private accounts;
- always use passwords that are difficult to guess;
- never reveal important information such as your banking login details to strangers calling on the phone; and
- never mention your location online.

5) Know basic self-defence

Avoid being the victim of any form of harassment or assault. Learning basic self-defence techniques will help you to protect yourself from physical attacks.

Protection Services offer self-defence classes from time to time. Make use of the opportunity and equip yourself with these self-defence techniques. Also buy yourself pepper spray, which can give you time to escape.

“Lastly, be aware of your surroundings. Walk with a purpose, without headphones, and always pay attention,” says Van Jaarsveld.



News Archive

Sites of memory. Sites of trauma. Sites of healing.
2015-04-01

Judge Albie Sachs – human rights activist and co-creator of South Africa’s constitution – presented the first Vice Chancellor’s Lecture on Trauma, Memory, and Representations of the Past on 26 March 2015 on the Bloemfontein Campus.

His lecture, ‘Sites of memory, sites of conscience’, forms part of a series of lectures that will focus on how the creative arts represent trauma and memory – and how these representations may ultimately pave the way to healing historical wounds. This series is incorporated into the five-year research project, led by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, and funded by the Mellon Foundation.

Sites of memory and conscience – and healing

“Deep in solitary confinement, I read in the Bible: ‘the lion lay down with the lamb … swords will be beaten into ploughshares.’” And with these opening words, Judge Sachs took the audience on a wistful journey to the places in our country that ache from the past but are reaching for a better future at the same time.

Some of the sites of memory and conscience Judge Sachs discussed included the Apartheid Museum, Liliesleaf, District Six Museum, and the Red Location Museum. But perhaps most powerful of them all is Robben Island.

Robben Island

“The strength of Robben Island,” Judge Sachs said, “comes from its isolation. Its quietness speaks”. Former prisoners of the island now accompany visitors on their tours of the site, retelling their personal experiences. It was found that, the quieter the ex-prisoners imparted their stories, “the gentler and softer their memories; the more powerful the impact,” Judge Sachs remarked. Instead of anger and denouncement, this reverence provides a space for visitors’ own emotions to emerge. This intense and powerful site has become a living memory elevated into a place of healing.

After Judge Sachs visited the National Women’s Memorial in Bloemfontein some years ago, he came to an acute realisation as he read the stories, experienced the grief, and saw the small relics that imprisoned commandoes from Ceylon and St Helena sculpted. “It’s so like us,” he thought, “our people on Robben Island making a saxophone out of seaweed, our people carving little things. It was so like us. It was another form of inhumanity to human beings in another period.”

The Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court next to the Old Fort Prison is also a profound site of trauma and healing. Bricks from the awaiting trial lock-up were built into the court chambers. “We don’t suppress it, we don’t say let’s move on. We acknowledge the pain of the past. We live in it, but we are not trapped in it. We South Africans are capable of transcending, of getting beyond it,” Judge Sachs said.

Transforming swords into ploughshares

Judge Sachs had great praise for Prof Gobodo-Madikizela’s research project on Trauma, Memory, and Representations of the Past. “You convert and transform the very swords, the very instruments, the very metal in our country. In a sense, you almost transform the very people and thoughts and dreams and fears and terrors into the ploughshares; into positivity.”

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