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SASL Star: Peet Jacobs

22 September 2021 | Story Michelle Nöthling | Photo Supplied

Peet Jacobs is no stranger to the Deaf community in and around the UFS and Bloemfontein. He has been working at the University of the Free State (UFS) for the past six years, and he is still amazed at the amount of support our institution provides to Deaf students in particular, and to South African Sign Language (SASL) in general. “They provide excellent interpreting services,” Peet says, “not only in face-to-face classes, but also on different online platforms, as well as interpreting pre-recorded lectures and videos.” And as a SASL interpreter, Peet is an integral part of this service.

But signing is not merely a day job for Peet. He carries his skill into the community in his spare time, where he assists as an interpreter at hospitals, doctors’ rooms, and psychiatrists’ offices – to name but a few. What gives Peet the deepest satisfaction, however, is when he can combine his love of Sign Language with his love of the Bible and his God. It was actually Peet’s devotion to his religion that inspired him to learn Sign Language in order to enable him to carry the Word of God into the Deaf community. Peet now also presents Bible courses in SASL and assists a non-profit organisation to produce SASL Bible-based publications, which are translated and recorded in video format.

Peet aspires to become an authority on SASL subject-specific vocabulary related to subject in higher education. “Sign Language is a language in its own right,” Peet points out. “The uniqueness of Deaf culture and the variety of dialects within SASL give the language diversity and colour.” Peet goes on to emphasise how important it is that SASL is recognised as an official language in our country. “This recognition will give dignity to a group of people who have been marginalised in South Africa. This will also pave the way to providing more inclusivity and service to the Deaf community.”

Until then, Peet will continue to serve the best way he knows how: through signing.

News Archive

Financial planners graduate

2011-06-10

Adv. Wessel Oosthuizen, Director of the CFPL, and Gerhard Meyer, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa.
Photo: Stephen Collett

At this year’s graduation ceremony, the Centre for Financial Planning Law (CFPL) at our university awarded 377 diplomas (305 to students in the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning, and 72 to students in the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning).

Three students in the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma passed the diploma with distinction. They are David Grant, Stephen Grizic and Yashika Rambujan. Ruan Schroder, Daniel Venter and Adri Viljoen passed the Postgraduate Diploma with distinction. Adri Viljoen is also the overall top student in the Postgraduate Diploma, while David Grant is the overall top student in the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma.

During another highlight at this event, Adv. Wessel Oosthuizen, Director of the UFS’s CFPL, was awarded the Chairman's Award for outstanding lifetime contribution to the Financial Planning Industry. This award is made by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa to a person who has made a significant and extraordinary contribution to the financial planning industry. As this is only the second year that the award is being made, it is an exceptional honour.

For five years, the UFS was the only institution to offer a full qualification in order to become a Certified Financial Planning Professional. The university is still the largest institution in this regard. The Centre for Financial Planning Law (CFPL) at the UFS is also the only institution in South Africa to offer the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law, which is a purely specialisation diploma.

To date, the CFPL at our universityhas awarded 3 657 Postgraduate Diplomas and 659 Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning.

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