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Incident on the Bloemfontein Campus related to off-campus emergency accommodation on 8 February 2022

09 February 2022 | Story Lacea Loader

The University of the Free State UFS) is aware of media reports on 8 and 9 February 2022 about challenges that students are facing related to off-campus accommodation and in particular an incident that took place on the Bloemfontein Campus in the early hours of 8 February 2022 when a group of students arrived late evening at Protection Services and requested emergency accommodation.

It is untrue that the university did not provide emergency accommodation to the group of students, and we wish to confirm that accommodation was indeed offered in two on-campus residences. However, the offer to provide such accommodation was not taken up by the Bloemfontein Campus Student Representative Council (CSRC) on behalf of the group. During Tuesday morning, university staff managed to obtain accommodation for the group in an off-campus emergency accommodation facility, to which they were taken by shuttle.

Several measures are in place to ensure the successful management of the accommodation process in consultation with and in agreement with various stakeholders. When the need arises, the university arranges emergency off-campus accommodation for students on all three campuses. Where a student cannot afford to pay for emergency accommodation, the university has measures in place, which include the provision of daily transport in the form of a shuttle service to the emergency accommodation and back to the campus – specifically during the registration period.

In addition, an Emergency Accommodation Committee, on which the CSRC sits, meets weekly. The CSRC is part of the committee’s decisions to accommodate the needs of students related to emergency accommodation.

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Read a book SA encourages South Africans to read one book a month

2012-09-20

Campus Principal Dr Elias Malete on the left and Tebogo Ditshego's. With them are Betsy Eister, UFS Director: Library and Information Services and Mathene Mahanke from the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation.
20 September 2012

'Read a book SA's" objective is to bring reading into the everyday lives of South Africans. Speaking at Writers’ Day on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State last Thursday, Ditshego said reading was essential. “Of all the skills that anyone can ever have, reading is the most fundamental of them all. It improves one's attention, confidence and discipline, amongst others.”

Ditshego asked why South Africa is presently faced with a 25,2% unemployment rate compared to Germany's 6-8%, despite South Africa having more and better natural resources. The answer, according to him, rests with lack of knowledge and critical skills in South Africans.

“Out of 144 countries, South Africa is ranked 133th in as far as the delivery of quality education is concerned. The reason for this is that South Africans lack knowledge, as they do not read enough. Most South Africans read for information, which is different from knowledge,” Ditshego argued.

In his welcoming remarks, Campus Principal Dr Elias Malete challenged authors to continue reminding society of their responsibilities.

“It is also your duty and responsibility to teach diplomacy lessons, to teach about effective leadership that is accountable, fair and transparent,” said Dr Malete.

Amongst the established authors who shared their wisdom with budding writers was Dr KPD Maphalla, a Sesotho literature guru and custodian of Sesotho language and culture. UFS students and learners from Sekgutlong and Tiisetsang secondary schools had the opportunity to showcase their writing skills. They also received expert advice on manuscript development and publishing from Mathene Mahanke from the Free State's Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation.

The annual Writers' Day is a joint venture of the Campus Principal and the Library and Information Services (LIS).

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