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21 April 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo Supplied
Lerato Mbongo and Opheleleyo
Double belted! Opheleleyo Qwabe and Lerato Mbongo revel in the moment.

Their friendship began in high school, where they were constantly told by teachers that they would not make it to university, but these best friends never gave up. On Thursday 21 April 2022, they received their honours degrees in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences together during the afternoon ceremony of the University of the Free State’s April Graduations.

Lerato Mbongo and Opheleleyo Qwabe, who have been friends since Grade 9, said being picked on in class for not being the brightest learners brought them together and motivated them to work harder.Mbongo obtained a Bachelor of Agriculture Honours majoring in Wildlife Management, and Qwabe received a Bachelor of Agriculture Honours majoring in Agricultural Economics.

“We’ve always dreamed big, but if you had told us back then that we would one day be two-time graduates, we wouldn’t have believed it. During one of our Maths lessons back in Grade 9, our teacher went around asking the ‘smarter’ kids what they wanted to study after matric, but when he got to us, he said there was no point in asking because we wouldn’t make it that far anyway,” Qwabe said.

The friends, who both started at the university’s South Campus, said they were grateful for the UFS Preparation Programme, as it boosted both their marks and their confidence. “The programme helped us to believe in ourselves again, and also played a big role in helping us discover what we wanted to study. The courses we enrolled in really unlocked an unstoppable passion in us and helped us realise that nothing is impossible. Today, here we are celebrating 10 years of friendship, and our honours degrees. We’ve conquered once again, and we're sharing our victories together,” Mbongo said.

News Archive

New SADC Groundwater Management Institute will strengthen UFS footprint in Africa
2015-07-30

Prof Danie Vermeulen
Photo: Anja Aucamp

The new SADC Groundwater Management Institute (SADC GMI) will be fully operational in 2016, says Prof Danie Vermeulen, Head of the Institute for Groundwater Studies (IGS) at the University of the Free State.

The SADC GMI will have its offices in the IGS building on the Bloemfontein Campus. The UFS will be responsible for the financial side of the operation. The IGS, SADC member states, and the World Bank are co-operating on this project, which will build sustainable groundwater management across regional borders.  Universities in the region tendered for the project, but the proposal by the IGS towered above the rest, Prof Vermeulen says.

The SADC GMI will strengthen the capacity of institutions to establish sustainable groundwater management. It will promote the management and development of groundwater infrastructures, and advance knowledge about national and trans-boundary groundwater. With the establishment of the new institute, research will be conducted, knowledge shared, and capacity built.

Prof Vermeulen says research has shown that groundwater is a primary source of water for more than 70% of the 250 million people in the drought-prone SADC region. The rapid expansion of commercial farming and industry is putting great pressure on water resources; 67% of all water is used in agriculture.

The new institute is an important instrument for the UFS to strengthen its footprint in Africa.  “The SADC GMI is about distributing knowledge across the SADC region. It is important for the UFS to extend into Africa. The official collaboration between the UFS, the World Bank, and the SADC countries enables us to reach the goal,” Prof Vermeulen says.

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