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11 July 2022
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Story Andre Damons
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Photo Stephen Collett
Welcome home, coach.
Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), met with the current Springbok coach and UFS alumnus,
Jacques Nienaber, at the team’s hotel in Bloemfontein on Sunday (10 July 2022).
Prof Petersen showed his support for the
Springboks and Nienaber during the meet-and-greet. The Springboks were narrowly beaten by Wales (13-12) on Saturday. This was Nienaber’s first time back in Bloemfontein after taking over in 2020 as head coach of the Springboks from Rassie Erasmus, who is also an alumnus of the UFS.
“Kovsies has been a leading institution in shaping and producing sports stars and administrators in various sporting codes, including rugby. We are proud of Jacques and wish him all the best with the important role as Springbok head coach,” says Prof Petersen.
Nienaber was born in Welkom and attended school at Grey College in Bloemfontein before studying at the UFS. He was previously also a physiotherapist for the Cheetahs rugby team.
Ecofeminism a possibe solution to impending famine
2016-05-12
Dr Inge Konik (right) is pictured with her postdoctoral supervisor, Prof Bert Olivier, Senior Research Professor at the Department of Philosophy.
Photo: Valentino Ndaba |
In view of the environmental and social problems faced in South Africa today, researchers such as Dr Inge Konik are hard at work mapping these issues and seeking long-term solutions. Dr Konik, a lecturer in the Department of Journalism, Media and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) shared her views in a presentation on 6 May 2016. She spoke about revaluing indigenous ways of life and subsistence-focused lifeways, linking this to materialist ecological feminism, or ecofeminism for short.
Dr. Konik’s presentation, hosted by the Department of Philosophy at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was entitled: “Transversal reflections on ecological feminism and ubuntu.” The research underpinning the presentation derived from Dr Konik’s doctoral thesis which was supervised by Ariel Salleh (University of Sydney) and Andrea Hurst (NMMU).
Dr Konik’s research suggests that ecofeminism - which is a convergence between environmentalism and feminism - may hold the answers to the question of how we may work against environmental and social injustices. She also proposed that society look back toward subsistence communities of the past, and those currently being marginalized in our industrial societies, and linked the values evidenced in the practices of these communities to the African philosophty of ubuntu. In order to solve complex contemporary challenges Dr Konik suggests that we combine these seemingly disparate theoretical frames - ubuntu and ecofeminism - by applying a transversal approach, which involves openness to dialogue between traditions.
“My focus was on ecological feminism and critical theory and very specifically on South Africa, given the challeges South Africa faces - the environmental and social challenges and what kind of frameworks would be helpful,” said Dr Konik, who will officially become a postdoctoral research fellow at the department as of July 2016.
Prof Pieter Duvenage, Head of the Departement, stated that compelling research outputs are anticipated from Dr Konik as a fellow.