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A Stand Against Injustices towards Transgender and Gender-diverse Persons

16 May 2022 | Story Anthony Mthembu

According to the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office (GEADO) at the University of the Free State (UFS), an alarming number of transgender and gender-diverse persons at South African institutions of higher learning are consistently met with a great deal of neglect and exclusion. Therefore, it is imperative to constantly shine light on the injustice and violation of their human rights in order to enable spaces that acknowledge their lived realities and uphold their human dignity.

The importance of the march

As such, the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office will be hosting a transgender march on the Bloemfontein Campus on 17 May 2022.

“The aim of this march is to raise awareness about issues of transsexuality and gender-diverse individuals. We hope to accentuate the voices of transgender individuals and gender-diverse persons on our campuses,” expressed Delisile Mngadi, Assistant Officer in the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office. The march will commence at 09:30 from the Main Gate and will end at the Centenary Complex. In addition, members of the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office argue that the purpose of the march is to remind members of the UFS community and the society at large that the stories, the voices, and experiences of transgender and gender-diverse individuals do matter.

An invitation to staff and students

Members of the UFS community, regardless of how they identify, are invited to take part in the march. “It is also important that cishetero persons attend the march; this shows that they stand in support of all gender-diverse persons, and it is also a great opportunity to learn. Another reason why it is important for cisgender persons to attend the march is because violence and discrimination targeted at transgender persons remain a daily reality on our campuses, which inadvertently maintains heteronormative notions and patriarchal power that validates transphobia and homophobia,” Mngadi indicated.

UFS staff and students who will be in attendance can expect to hear speeches from a few invited dignitaries. In addition, Mngadi, along with other members of the office, maintains that this is an opportunity for staff and students to engage with one another. The march is particularly important because it will teach staff and students “to be aware of the diversity that exists within our institution, a diversity that transcends language, religion, and ethnicity – to name just a few. People will also learn to respect this diversity, and most importantly, to understand that all lives matter”, said Mngadi.

News Archive

Kovsies to celebrate excellence at 2014 December Graduation Ceremony

2014-12-02

Live streaming: http://apps.ufs.ac.za/ufslivestreaming/

On Thursday 11 December 2014, the University of the Free State (UFS) will award degrees and qualifications during our Summer Graduation Ceremony at the Bloemfontein Campus.

The graduation will take place during two ceremonies in the Callie Human Centre, where master’s and PhD degrees will be awarded during the first ceremony at 09:30. Diplomas, certificates and undergraduate qualifications will be awarded to students from the School of Open Learning and the Faculty of Health Sciences at 14:30.

Radio personality, Redi Thlabi, and cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Susan Vosloo, will address the graduates.

Apart from her radio show on 702 and CapeTalk, Thlabi has also hosted local television news shows and anchored for international broadcasters like SKY and the BBC. In addition, she has presented two of her own TV shows: ‘Redi’ on Mzansi Magic and ‘South to North’ on Al-Jazeera.

Her first book, Endings and Beginnings (Jacana) received popular acclaim and is currently being turned into a screenplay for a movie.

Dr Susan Vosloo, a Kovsie alumnus, graduated in 1980. She completed her internship in Pretoria and spent the following year in Critical Care Medicine at Universitas Hospital, Bloemfontein, before starting her surgical training in Johannesburg.

She is currently in independent private practice at the Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town, having also worked from 1998 – 2012 at the Vincent Pallotti Hospital in the same city.

Dr Vosloo maintains close ties with our university and has quite a number of addition roles to that of surgeon:

• member of the Council of the UFS;
• UFS Council Representative in the Senate;
• member of the Standing Advisory Committee of the School of Medicine, UFS;
• member of the Provincial Department of Health;
• Africa representative for the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society; and
• founding member of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

Prof Boelie Wessels will also be awarded his 10th academic degree from the UFS since 1974. Adding his Honorary Doctorate degree to the list, it will make this his 11th degree. Prof Wessels is 84 years old and has 18-plus academic qualifications from various institutions – a phenomenal achievement.

Furthermore, Moses Lubinga and his wife, Stellah, will be the first married couple to be awarded their PhDs at the same graduation ceremony at the UFS. Mr Lubinga will receive his Doctorate in Agricultural Economics, while Mrs Lubinga’s PhD is in the field of Economic and Management Sciences.

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