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UPDATE: Situation on the Bloemfontein Campus, 23 February 2022

23 February 2022 | Story Lacea Loader

On the morning of 23 February 2022, some of the entrance gates to the Bloemfontein Campus were blocked by groups of protesting students. The gates were cleared by members of Protection Services and traffic could continue to enter and exit the campus.

Sporadic disruption of classes occurred during the course of the day, with several students being arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for disruption of classes, which is contravention of the interdict.

The disruptive behaviour stems from students’ unhappiness with the response to the memorandum handed to the university management by the Bloemfontein Campus Central Student Representative Council (CSRC) on 21 February 2022. Also on 21 February, a memorandum was handed to the management of the Qwaqwa Campus by the campus’ CSRC. The Qwaqwa Campus was temporarily closed yesterday, following violent protest action this week; the date for the reopening of the campus will be communicated in due course.

Today’s disruptive behaviour demonstrated by the group of students on the Bloemfontein Campus is condemned and will not be tolerated.

During this week and on numerous occasions before that, the university management has been in extensive engagements with the CSRCs on both campuses; concessions were made where possible, as was demanded in the two memoranda. However, the responses given, and the concessions made by the university were not accepted by the student leadership of the Bloemfontein Campus CSCR in particular, with more demands being made.

READ: Response to the Bloemfontein Memorandum of Demands Dated 21 February 2022

Concessions from the beginning of 2022:

To ensure that students register successfully for the 2022 academic year, the UFS has granted a number of financial concessions to students since the beginning of the year. The financial support given was specifically intended to fast-track the registration process of students with outstanding debt, and those awaiting confirmation of funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

These concessions included:

Allowing students who have previously registered for foundation programmes and those who have continued with mainstream programmes to register without the prerequisite of a first payment. The provision was granted to students who applied with the N+ rule and whose respective foundation programmes are included in the Department of Higher Education and Training-funded list.
Permitting students with outstanding debt of up to R25 000 and who await NSFAS funding to register provisionally.
The university also allowed conditional registration for first-time entering students, giving those who have applied for NSFAS funding until 28 February 2022 to finalise their registration. First-time entering students, both residential and non-residential, could register conditionally, provided that they pay an amount of R500.

Demands in the two memoranda received from the CSRCs on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses included matters such as private accommodation; emergency accommodation; catch-up plans for students who have not yet registered; a registration threshold increase to R30 000; NSFAS allowances; and the extension of registration for international students without study permits. The Bloemfontein Campus CSRC did not accept the university’s responses to the memorandum.

The university management will continue engaging with the SRC.

Safety measures in place:

The situation on the Bloemfontein Campus is closely monitored. Protection Services is on high alert and continues to work closely with the SAPS to ensure stability on the campus.

Issued by:
Lacea Loader
Director: Communication and Marketing
University of the Free State
loaderl@ufs.ac.za
23 February 2022

News Archive

Research into surrogate milk important to wildlife conservation

2017-05-08

Prof Gary Osthoff from the UFS Department of
Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology,
will soon work on a milk formula for elephants.
Photo: Supplied

Research is being done at the University of the Free State (UFS) to analyse and synthetically imitate the unique milk of various wildlife species. This research is not only of scientific value, but also serves the conservation of South Africa’s wildlife species. At the forefront of this research is Prof Garry Osthoff from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.

Orphaned rhino calf pulled through with surrogate milk
“There is still a lot of research to be done. Naturally the research is of scientific importance, but with surrogate milk having the same composition as the mother’s milk of a specific species, orphaned calves or cubs of that species could be pulled through during a difficult time of weaning. Bearing in mind that exotic animals fetch thousands and even millions of rands at auctions, it goes without saying a game farmer will do everything possible to provide only the best nourishment to such an orphaned animal. In such a case, synthetically-manufactured milk would be the right choice,” says Prof Osthoff.

The fruits of his research were recently demonstrated in Germany when a rhino calf was left orphaned in the Leipzig Zoo. Prof Osthoff’s article: “Milk composition of a free-ranging white rhinoceros during late lactation” was used as a directive for applying surrogate milk for horse foals (which is already commercially available), since the composition of horse and rhino milk largely corresponds. The surrogate milk was used with great success and the rhino calf is flourishing. He mentions that such an orphan is often given the wrong nourishment with the best intentions, resulting in the starvation of the animal despite the amount of cow’s milk it devours.

With surrogate milk having the same
composition as the mother’s milk of a
specific species, orphaned calves or
cubs of that species could be pulled
through during the difficult time
of weaning.

Milk formula for baby elephants in the pipeline
With baby elephants left orphaned due to the increase in elephant poaching for their ivory, several attempts have been made to create a milk formula in order to feed these elephants. To date, many elephants have died in captivity from side effects such as diarrhoea as a result of the surrogate formula which they were fed.

Prof Osthoff recently received a consignment of frozen milk which he, together with researchers from Zimbabwe, will use to work on a milk formula for elephants. They are studying the milk in a full lactation period of two years. During lactation, the composition of the milk changes to such an extent that a single surrogate formula will not be sufficient. Four different formulas should probably be designed.

Prof Osthoff says that of the different species he has researched, elephants are the most interesting and deviate most from the known species.

Although his research to develop surrogate milk is adding much value to the wildlife industry, and although he finds this part of his work very exciting, his research focus is on food science and nutrition. “What is currently authentic in milk research is the study of the fat globules with content, the structure and composition of the casein micelle, and the prebiotic sugars. The knowledge which is gained helps to improve the processing, development of new food products, and development of food products for health purposes,” says Prof Osthoff.

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