Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
24 September 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo Charl Devenish
Heritage Day
Rejoyce Ncube is representing the Zulu culture (left), Itumeleng Mopasi is representing the Xhosas, while Itumeleng Mopasi also represents the Zulu culture during Thursday’s feasting.
Staff members of the Faculty of Health Sciences working in the Muller Potgieter Building celebrated Heritage Day on Thursday (23 September 2021) by feasting together on different traditional meals and enjoying their diverse cultural backgrounds.

For Ms Rejoyce Ncube, an Assistant Officer in Undergraduate Medical Programme Management, Heritage Day is an important reminder of who we are as South Africans. She has been wearing different cultural attire since the start of Heritage Month.

“I love wearing different attires. It is so unique and colourful.  It is also important because, when you look at the young people, they do not always know the difference between the cultures.

“As much as I am Zulu, I wear attires from different cultures. I need Tsonga and Ndebele attire.  It is just to make people aware that we are all South African and also to teach the young people that they have a history behind who they are. I love the uniqueness, the colours, and the designs,” says Ncube.

Heritage Day important to teach young people about different cultures in South Africa
According to her, Heritage Day is important to teach young people about the different cultures in South Africa and the history behind them. Ncube says she also tries to cook a traditional African dish for her family every Sunday.

Ms Joyce Phindela, an Assistant Officer in the School of Clinical Medicine, says Heritage Day helps her to remember who she is and where she comes from. Says Joyce: “I am Xhosa, but mostly grew up in the Sotho and Coloured community and I went to an all-Afrikaans school. This is what is meant by being South African and what makes us unique.”

“Heritage Day gives me an opportunity to represent who I am and to teach other people about my culture. I also get to learn from other people and their cultures, because on a normal day we do not learn from each other. I can teach this to my kids one day.”

Some of the traditional treats shared included dombolo, samp and beans, droëwors, koeksisters, and melktert.

Dr Lynette van der Merwe, Undergraduate Medical Programme Director in the School of Clinical Medicine, indicated that the staff working in the Muller Potgieter Building consider themselves part of a diverse, multicultural, multilingual family who try to make one another’s lives enjoyable by being friendly, courteous, supportive, and kind.  Sharing and learning from one another and realising that we all have unique stories to tell about our varied backgrounds bring us closer together and help us grow in unity.

Heritage Day
Heritage Day
Rejoyce Ncube
Rejoyce Ncube
Joyce Phindela
Joyce Phindela
Itumeleng Mopasi
Itumeleng Mopasi

News Archive

Q and A with Prof Hussein Solomon on ‘Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Africa’
2015-05-29

 

Political Science lecturer, Prof Hussein Solomon, has launched his latest book, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Africa: fighting insurgency from Al Shabaab, Ansar Dine and Boko Haram, on Wednesday 26 May 2015 at the UFS.

In his book, Solomon talks about the growing terrorist threat in Africa, with the likes of Al Shabaab, Ansar Dine, and Boko Haram exploiting Africa's vulnerabilities to expand their operations. Explaining both the limitations of current counter-terrorist strategies and possible future improvements, this timely study can be appreciated by scholars and practitioners alike.

Q: If you speak of Al Shabaab, Ansar Dine, and Boko Haram expanding operations, do you see possibilities for their expansion even into South Africa, or is expansion mainly focused on northern African countries?
 
A: All three movements are operating out of their respective countries. Al Shabaab has attacked Kenya and Uganda and tried to attack the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. So yes, there is a danger that they are here and, more importantly, newer groups like ISIS are recruiting in SA already.
 
Q: If the traditional military response is ineffective, what would be a better approach then?
 
A: What is important is that the force of arms needs to complement the force of ideas. What is being waged is an ideological battle, and, just as the West defeated Communism ideologically in the Cold War, we need to defeat radical Islamism ideologically. In addition, the military response needs to complement the governance and development responses.
 
Q: External players like the US have insufficient knowledge of the context, what would be the knowledge about context necessary for anyone concerned about the terror problem in Africa?
 
A: Allow me to give you some examples. The US trains African militaries to fight terrorist groups, but, when they return to their countries, they stage a coup and topple the civilian government. The US does not seem to understand that arming a predatory military and training them makes them more predatory and brutal, which results in civilians being recruited by terrorists, as happened in Mali. Similarly, the US sent arms to the Somali government, and members of that government sold those arms to Al Shabaab terrorists, the very people they were supposed to fight. So the Americans do not understand the criminalisation of the African state, which undermines good governance and promotes terrorism.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept