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09 September 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath
The university of the Free State is pleased to invite you to a lunchtime webinar titled, The impact of political influences on university governance structures. 
  
The political turmoil that disrupted different regions in South Africa in July 2021 has resulted in a renewed focus on the collective responsibility of higher education institutions to assist in solving the key challenges of poverty, inequality, unemployment, and violence in societies. We believe a specific area that needs to be explored more deeply, is how political complexities influence university governance structures. Join our panel of experts for what promises to be an insightful discussion.

Facilitator:

Vuyo Mvoko
Anchor: SABC

Panel:

Prof Mohamed Saleem Badat
Research Professor: College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Prof Thuli Madonsela
Law Trust Chair, Professor: Social Justice and Law,  Stellenbosch University 

Prof Chitja Twala
Vice-Dean: Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State

Prof Hermann Giliomee
Internationally renowned historian
 
Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Time: 14:30
RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za by 20 September 2021


Biographies of facilitator and speakers:


Mvoko is the anchor of The Watchdog, a prime-time current affairs show that attracts the biggest names in politics and public policy. It airs weekdays 20:00-21:00 on the SABC News channel (404 on the DSTV platform).
A seasoned journalist with almost 30 years of experience, he previously occupied several senior editorial positions, including stints as political editor for broadcasters such as the SABC and ENCA. He has also written columns for publications such as Business Day, Forbes Africa, and The Herald. 

Mvoko holds BA and MA degrees, and as part of the ‘SABC 8’, was the co-recipient of the 2016 Nat Nakasa Award for ‘courageous and fearless journalism’.

Saleem Badat is Research Professor in the College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is the former vice-chancellor of the university currently known as Rhodes University and was the first chief executive officer of the Council on Higher Education. Between 2014 and 2018, he was the programme director of International Higher Education and Strategic Projects at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New York. 

Saleem’s books include The Forgotten People: Political Banishment under Apartheid, Black Student Politics: Higher Education and Apartheid, and Black Man, You are on Your Own; the co-authored National Policy and a Regional Response in South African Higher Education, and the co-edited Apartheid Education and Popular Struggles in South Africa. His book chapters, journal articles, policy reports, and newspaper opinion pieces concern questions of equity, redress, and social justice in and through universities, and the decolonisation and transformation of universities in colonised societies. 

Prof Thulisile ‘Thuli’ Madonsela is the Law Trust Chair in Social Justice and a Law professor at Stellenbosch University. She is also the founder of the Thuma Foundation, an independent democracy leadership and literacy public benefit organisation, and is a widely published author.
 
A multiple award-winning legal professional with more than 50 national and global awards, and an advocate of the High Court of South Africa, Prof Madonsela served a seven-year term as the Public Protector of South Africa. She is credited for transforming the institution by enhancing its effectiveness in promoting good governance and integrity, and anticorruption in state affairs. Prof Madonsela has a global reputation for integrity, and strongly advocates for fearlessly enforcing accountability and justice in the exercise of public power and the use of public resources. 

Named one of the TIME100 most influential people in the world, Prof Madonsela is one of the drafters of the South African Constitution, and co-architect of several laws that have sought to anchor South Africa’s democracy. Among the laws she has helped draft are the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA), the Employment Equity Act (EEA), and the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act. She is also a co-architect and founding Chairperson of the African Ombudsman Research Centre and is also co-founder and one of the inaugural leaders of the South African Women Lawyers Association (SAWLA). 

Among numerous accolades, Prof Madonsela is a Paul Harris Fellow, recipient of Transparency International’s Integrity Award, the German Africa Prize, and African Anticorruption Crusader Award. She also spent a year at Harvard as an Advanced Leadership Fellow and is a Tallberg Global Leader, among others.

 

Prof Chitja Twala

Prof Chitja Twala is Associate Professor (Department of History) and Vice-Dean (Faculty of the Humanities) at the University of the Free State (UFS). He holds a PhD (History) from the same university. Twala has a substantial publication record on the history of liberation movements. He is the author of eight chapters (co-author of two) in The Road to Democracy in South Africa: Vol. 4 (1970-1990) and the Road to Democracy in South Africa: Vol. 6 (1990-1996), published in 2010, 2013, and 2019 respectively. He is the recipient of a Mellon Foundation grant and a National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) grant.  He had the following visiting/research fellowships: Harvard University (USA); Kwame Nkrumah Chair in the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana (Accra); and the University of California, Los Angeles (USA).
Hermann Giliomee was born in Sterkstroom in 1938 and grew up in the Western Cape. He first taught History at Stellenbosch University and then Political Studies at the University of Cape Town. He has been a visiting fellow at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC. He has often published opinion pieces in South African newspapers. He is married to Annette van Coller. 

News Archive

Inauguration of Prof Francis Petersen as 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS
2017-05-23

Description: Prof Petersen Inauguration Charl Devenish photo Tags: Prof Petersen Inauguration Charl Devenish photo

Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the UFS, robes Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.
Photo: Charl Devenish

“At the UFS, we want to produce graduates for the world, and we need to ensure that we use our knowledge to uplift society”
— Prof Francis Petersen, 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS)

On Friday 19 May 2017, the University of the Free State (UFS) celebrated the inauguration of its 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Francis Petersen. The formal inauguration was held in the Odeion Theatre on the Bloemfontein Campus. The ceremony was preceded by a week-long welcoming programme on the three UFS campuses.

The guest list included representatives from local and provincial government, vice-chancellors and rectors from across South Africa, and senior members of the university’s executive management.

During the inaugural address, Prof Petersen paid tribute to his predecessors for the role they played in making the university what it is today. This included former rectors and vice-chancellors who attended the ceremony, such as Prof Francois Retief and Prof Frederick Fourie, and Prof Stef Coetzee and Prof Jonathan Jansen who were unable to attend.

Prof Petersen characterised 2015 and 2016 as watershed years for the South African higher-education system. “The Rhodes Must Fall, and subsequent Fees Must Fall student and staff protests challenged us, and re-energised a critical engagement around the purpose of the university in an equal society, both as a site of complicity and as a potential agent for social change,” said Prof Petersen.

He committed himself to developing the UFS into an institution that will have an even greater impact than before.

“This institution I am striving to establish will be one that responds positively to inclusivity, diversity, and transformation, and which can incorporate these values into our curriculum, scholarship, and research in a productive way,” said Prof Petersen.

Prof Petersen emphasised the importance of the three-campus model. “The University of the Free State is ONE university with three campuses: the Bloemfontein Campus, our South Campus, and the Qwaqwa Campus. I am committed to align the activities of the three campuses, and to integrate our activities to a greater extent.

“We must work together to infuse each campus with the values we have identified as essential if we are to make our mark as a united University of the Free State: academic excellence, diversity and inclusivity, and innovation.”

The Chancellor, Dr Khotso Mokhele, had the honour of handing over the gown to Prof Petersen. Prof Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic, explained the relationship between the university and the Basotho people, and how this relationship is honoured through the official procession gowns of the UFS. The Basotho blanket is worn by kings, and the university therefore hopes that the symbolism of the gown would be a source of inspiration to Prof Petersen.

The event was concluded by congratulatory messages from former colleagues and the President of the Student Representative Council on the Bloemfontein Campus, SK Luwaca. The event was elegant and graceful – the inaugural address was thought-provoking and inspiring.

 

Official Inauguration Ceremony:

19 May 2017
Bloemfontein Campus

 Description: Official Inauguration photo small Tags: Official Inauguration photo small


"I challenge you to dream big and do big." - Prof Petersen

 

Photo Caption: Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the UFS, robes Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.
Photo: Johan Roux

Short biography of Prof Francis Petersen
Inaugural address: 19 May 2017
Transcription of the ceremony
Photo Gallery
Video

 

Welcoming Ceremonies:

The week of 11-19 May 2017 was one of the highlights in this year’s calendar for staff and students of the University of the Free State (UFS), with various ceremonies taking place to welcome Prof Francis Petersen – who assumed his duties on 1 April 2017 – as the 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector. The festivities culminated in the official inauguration ceremony at the Bloemfontein Campus on 19 May 2017.
 
The Qwaqwa Campus welcoming ceremony took place on Thursday 11 May 2017, attracting a wide spectrum of community leaders from the area. Prof Petersen was welcomed by representatives from the two trade unions, National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) and UVPERSU, as well as representatives from the Student Representative Council (SRC), the Thabo Mofutsanyana Education District, and the House of Traditional Leaders. Paramount Queen Mopeli of the Bakoena Royal House bestowed a special honour upon Prof Petersen by clothing him in a traditional Basotho blanket and hat. She said, "From our heart of hearts, welcome, Prof Francis ..., and all Godspeed during your tenure."
 
The South Campus in Bloemfontein hosted a welcoming ceremony for the new Vice-Chancellor and Rector on 18 May 2017. The ceremony included a number of vocal performances and messages from various stakeholder groups. The same afternoon, the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) also facilitated a panel discussion, titled Diversity, inclusivity, and social justice and the renewed call for decolonisation, in the Albert Wessels Auditorium (AWO) on the Bloemfontein Campus.

The welcoming ceremonies culminated in an event in the Callie Human Centre on Friday 19 May 2017 at the Bloemfontein Campus, with a number of performances by musicians associated with the UFS, marimbas, drum majorettes from Jim Fouche Secondary School, the Grey College Gumboots, and school choirs from Eunice Secondary School, Brebner Primary School, and Willem Postma Primary School. Representatives from key stakeholders such as Nehawu, UVPERSU, the Campus Ministries Forum, SRC, Alumni, Convocation, and the UFS Council had the opportunity to convey their messages of welcome to Prof Petersen.
 
The formal inauguration ceremony took place in the Odeion Theatre on the Bloemfontein Campus the same day.

 

Qwaqwa Campus ceremony:

11 May 2017
Qwaqwa Campus

 Description: Prof Petersen with the queen 2 Tags: Prof Petersen with the queen 2

 

"Qwaqwa Campus is the perfect laboratory for sustainable sciences.” – Prof Petersen

 

Photo caption: Paramount Queen Mopeli of the Bakoena Royal House with Prof Petersen and his wife, Cheslyn.
Photo: Mamosa Makaya

Photo Gallery
Video

Read the full story
Transcription of the ceremony

 

South Campus ceremony:

18 May 2017
South Campus

 Description: South Campus welcoming Tags: South Campus welcoming

 

"South Campus: you aspire excellence, adding to diversity and you are innovative in what you do." - Prof Petersen

Photo caption: Flag bearers and drummers walking to the Madiba Arena.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

Photo Gallery

Read the full story
Transcription of the ceremony

 

 

Bloemfontein Campus panel discussion:

Panel discussion: Diversity, inclusivity and social justice and the renewed call for decolonisation
18 May 2017
Bloemfontein Campus

 Description: Panel discussion 18 May 2017 Tags: Panel discussion 18 May 2017


"The UFS should be a place of belonging for everyone." - Prof Petersen

 

Photo caption: from left: SK Luwaca (SRC President, Bloemfontein Campus), Prof Elelwani Ramugondo (UCT), Prof Francis Petersen (UFS), Prof Melissa Steyn (WITS), Prof Andre Keet (UFS)
Photo: Lelanie de Wet

Photo Gallery

Read the full story
Transcription of panel discussion



 

Bloemfontein Campus ceremony:

19 May 2017
Bloemfontein Campus

 Description: Bloem welcoming ceremony on 19 May 2017 Tags: Bloem welcoming ceremony on 19 May 2017


"I can just say, Wow! I've experienced a lot during the welcoming functions on all three campuses." - Prof Petersen

 

Photo caption: Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

Photo Gallery

Read the full story
Transcription of the ceremony


 

 

Description: Inauguration and welcoming of Prof Petersen combined gallery Tags: Inauguration and welcoming of Prof Petersen combined gallery

Photo gallery of Inauguration and Welcoming Ceremonies

 

 

 

 

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