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29 March 2021
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1. Its support of and confidence in the leadership of the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Francis Petersen and his team, and duly recognises the efforts and results achieved at the University during the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the current nationwide student protest on the payment of student debt.
2. In this context, the Council also distances itself and deplores the statements made by the leadership of the
Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC), on national television on Monday 15 March 2021, as it pertained to the demand for the immediate resignation of the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, and the statements pertaining to the Chancellor, Prof Bonang Mohale, and Chairperson of the Council, Dr Willem Louw. The Council notes that Mr Katleho Lechoo, President of the ISRC subsequently retracted the utterances.
3. The Council strongly affirms its confidence in the relationship between the leadership of the UFS and the ISRC and expresses its appreciation for the University leadership’s commitment to continuously engage with students about matters of concern to them. The Council furthermore encourages positive and constructive engagement by the ISRC with the University leadership, as this contributes to shared-understanding of the challenges faced by the South African higher education sector and the governance of the UFS.
AfriForum abandons urgent application to seek temporary interdict against the UFS
2016-03-29
The urgent application by AfriForum to seek a temporary interdict against the University of the Free State (UFS) in relation to its newly approved Language Policy in the High Court in Bloemfontein has been abandoned.
This was conveyed in a letter from AfriForum's attorneys to the attorneys acting for the UFS today.
The step follows correspondence in which the university refused to agree to any interim order against the Language Policy (approved by the university's Senate and Council in March 2016). Instead, the UFS proposed through its attorneys that both sides seek an expedited date to have the legality of the Language Policy determined by June 2016, in order for it to be timeously implemented in 2017 (should the court challenge be dismissed).
The senior leadership of the UFS welcomes the abandonment of the attempt by AfriForum to procure an urgent court order. The UFS is also glad that the timetable it proposed instead to have the validity of the Language Policy determined by the High Court on a final basis by June 2016, has been acceded to by AfriForum. The university community and public will be kept informed of further developments.