Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
11 July 2022 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Pexels
Dr Maramura
Dr Tafadzwa Maramura says she carved her path by remaining focused and resolute on her journey.

The African proverb ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ conveys the message that it requires many people to provide a safe and healthy environment for children. The village gives the child the security needed to develop and be able to realise their hopes and dreams. 

Dr Tafadzwa Maramura believes that the same applies vice versa. “It takes a good child to be raised by a village. You need to understand that the village can only do so much, the rest lies on your shoulders as the child,” she says.

The journey of a child raised by a village
The senior lecturer reflects on the journey that led her to serve in the Department of Public Administration and Management at the University of the Free State. At the age of three, she lost her father, who was an army general in Zimbabwe. Soon after, her academic journey would begin at a boarding school. Her widowed mother then moved her to a mission school due to financial constraints, seeing that she had two more children relying on her for survival. Since her father served in the government, she qualified for a state scholarship, which saw her launch her academic career in South Africa as an undergraduate student. 

“I came to South Africa in 2010 and pursued a Bachelor of Social Science degree in Development Economics at the University of Fort Hare. Once my honours were conferred, I acquired my master’s within a year. Thereafter, I enrolled at the North-West University, where I completed my PhD within two years.”

Dr Maramura was the Vice-Chancellor’s valedictorian for her bachelor, honours, and 
master’s degrees. Graduating cum laude was another way of ensuring that she pays it forward to the village that raised her. Not only was she funded by the Zimbabwean government, but she also received financial aid from South Africa throughout her studies. 

Once a child, now part of the village 
Today, as founder of a foundation based in Zimbabwe, she pays the fees of orphaned and disadvantaged primary school learners. “I wish everyone could adopt a child, pay their fees, buy their schoolbooks – because we only have each other, we do not have anyone else. That’s also part of what I call co-creating.”

The Brightest Young Minds in Africa alumna goes above and beyond focusing on academics, as she believes that “if you are the only one holding the light, everyone else will have to follow behind you to make sure that they can see ahead. However, if you share that light, then it means many more can see, therefore making it easier to solve societal challenges as a collective”.

She argues that the amount of money you spend on lunch could pay a child’s school fees for a term, and the cash that you use to buy a jacket or a pair of shoes, could cover a child’s fees for a month.
Making a difference in the lives of young children is her way of playing the role of the village now that she is an adult. “I make sure that wherever I am, I make an impact in the lives of others.”

Dr Maramura says she plans to make sure that life is better for the next young African female, by setting up a mentorship programme for the next generation of leaders. In addition to that, her goal is to become an associate professor, rise in academic rank, and develop a research unit that can speak to issues of sustainable service delivery.

On how to be a good child 
You do not need to be a figure of authority to make an impact. According to Dr Maramura, all you need is a desire to co-create, and making sure that the public is in a different place after you have left the relevant office you hold or the organisation you serve. “Make sure that you can co-exist, because humans don’t live in a vacuum, we exist among each other.”

Serving the people makes all the difference. She suggests that everyone asks themselves what they are doing for their community, class, or family. 

News Archive

President’s advisor commends UFS job creation project
2007-11-07

One of President Thabo Mbeki’s international business advisors, Dr Percy Barnevik, has commended the Mangaung University of the Free State Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP) in Bloemfontein as an example of community-based job-creation efforts.

“I am encouraged with what is going on, but you have to step up the speed dramatically. We don’t want to see 5000 jobs per month, we want to see 25000”, Dr Barnevik emphasized.

The Swedish-born business executive is a member of President Mbeki’s International Investment Council which met this weekend in George. Dr Barnevik is also involved with the Indian charity organisation Hand in Hand in their programmes to eliminate rural poverty.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is involved in the National Programme for the Creation of Small Enterprises and Jobs for the Second Economy as part of the government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA).

As part of government’s job creation efforts, the UFS was appointed as a training provider for small enterprises and community based organisations.

According to the Programme Co-ordinator at the UFS, Dr Aldo Stroebel, the University of the Free State is therefore using the partnership model of MUCPP as a vehicle for training and development as well as a model that can potentially be rolled out nationally to other provinces as part of the programme to create small enterprises and jobs in the second economy.

As a result of the UFS’s involvement, 150 people were trained last year in identifying and mentoring existing self-help groups, small enterprises and community based organisations, to strengthen their ability to establish and grow small enterprises in an effort to create jobs in the Second Economy.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@mail.ufs.ac.za  
12 November 2007
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept