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14 December 2022 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Supplied
Prof Serges Kamga
Prof Serges Kamga, newly appointed Dean: Faculty of Law.

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Prof Serges Kamga as Dean of the Faculty of Law for a five-year term during its quarterly meeting on 25 November 2022. 

Prof Kamga is a full Professor of Law currently working at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs (TMS) at the University of South Africa (UNISA).

“Prof Kamga’s excellent research reputation nationally and internationally, his extensive networks and partnerships will contribute to further raising the profile of the Faculty of Law nationally, on the continent and globally.  As an established NRF-rated researcher, he will also be able to enhance the research output of the faculty,” says Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor. 

“Prof Kamga will lead and manage the Faculty of Law in support of the UFS’ Vision 130 and the ultimate intent for the coming years to be a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged university that contributes to development and social justice through the production of globally competitive graduates and knowledge, and that impactfully supports societal development,” says Prof Petersen.  

Prof Kamga is co-director of the Cross-Cultural Human Rights Centre at the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. At times, he has acted as head of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute currently Thabo Mbeki School at UNISA and has had engagements at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Young African Leaders Initiative, and as managing consultant at African Legal Sources at the University of Pretoria. In 2021, he received the prestigious Ali Mazrui Award for Scholarship and Research Excellence from the University of Texas at Austin in the USA.

He holds an LLD degree in Human Rights Law from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Prof Kamga has also worked as a researcher at the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC). As a researcher, he has published in accredited journals and presented papers at various national and international conferences. 

“Prof Kamga’s experience in these positions, as well as his extensive knowledge and understanding of the South African and global law fraternity, places him in good standing to lead the faculty to become a formidable and impactful force nationally, on the continent, and abroad. He will also lead the faculty to exploit opportunities and deal with the challenges that the rapidly changing higher-education environment has to deal with,” says Prof Petersen.

Prof Kamga will assume duty on 1 February 2023.

News Archive

Winter school for international visitors
2011-07-28

 

Here are, from the left, front: Vinita Verma (India), Gayatai Sharma (India), Ambar Istiyani (Indonesia); back: Frank Nieuwenhuizen (Netherland); Vicky Hölsgens (Netherland) and Dewi Cahya Ambarwati (Indonesia)
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

A group of activists, postgraduate students and staff from civil society organisations are currently visiting our Bloemfontein Campus to discuss issues of diversity and development. The group of 19 people from countries such as India, Indonesia, Uganda, the Netherlands and South Africa are part of the 2011 annual international winter school on Pluralism and Development, which is hosted by our International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice. It is the first time that the winter school is held in South Africa since its launch in 2004.

The first class of the winter school started on 11 July 2011 and participants attend daily lectures where they engage in critical thinking about issues such as sustainable development, identity, reconciliation and pluralism. On Thursday 21 July 2011 our Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Jonathan Jansen presented a lecture on reconciliation to participants where he spoke lengthily about South Africa’s traumatic past. Classes will come to an end on 5 August 2011.

During their stay at our university participants also visited Gauteng where they spent time at the Apartheid museum, Constitutional Hill and Freedom Park. Later this week they will visit our Qwaqwa Campus.

Indonesian participant, Ms. Dewi Cahya Ambarwati, said she is looking forward to the Qwaqwa visit, where she will show off her traditional dance. Ambarwati said during their visit to Freedom Park, she managed to trace back Indonesian ancestors in the museum’s slavery section. Another participant, Mr. Frank Nieuwenhuizen from the Netherlands, said the winter school is enriching because it makes you realise what it means to deal with differences.

The international Winter School on Pluralism and Development is an initiative of the Kosmopolis Institute of the University of Humanistic Studies, in cooperation with the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos).

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