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A partnership to boost isiZulu and Sesotho has been penned

11 November 2022 | Story Edzani Nephalela and Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane | Photo iStock

The UFS and UKZN have formalised an agreement on a Language Collaboration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance the development of the Sesotho and IsiZulu as academic languages.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has forged an exciting new partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) to promote the two provinces’ most widely spoken languages, Sesotho and IsiZulu.

This historic collaboration will see these institutions employing their skills, expertise, and resources to advance the development of the Sesotho and IsiZulu as academic languages through the development of terminology for various disciplines and research collaborations among other activities.

The UFS formalised the agreement by signing a Language Collaboration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UKZN. The MOU process, facilitated by Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director of the UFS Academy for Multilingualism, and Nikile Ntsababa, UFS Registrar, was sealed by Dr Engela Van Staden, UFS Vice-Rector: Academic.

The objectives of the collaboration are to:

• allow the UFS open access to all the UKZN isiZulu materials and UKZN open access to all UFS Sesotho language terminology, corpus materials, terminology banks, and applications for various disciplines;

• develop the Sesotho terminology for various disciplines;

• assist in identifying and closing any gaps in the UFS’s development of isiZulu terminology and in the UKZN’s development of isiZulu, and further develop the relevant language terminology of various disciplines in order to fill any existing gaps;

• share expertise through hosting webinars, seminars, colloquia, and workshops on Sesotho and isiZulu terminology development;

• explore research opportunities regarding the development of Sesotho and isiZulu terminology for various disciplines; and

• share expertise and resources in all human language technology development initiatives.

“The UKZN has championed the intellectualisation of IsiZulu over the years. We do not want to reinvent the wheel,” Dr Ngubane said. “Our focus now is on the acceleration of the development of Sesotho. Our vision and mission is to be the hub for the advancement of Sesotho at regional, national, and international levels. Collaboration with UKZN is instrumental in achieving this mandate.”

The Academy for Multilingualism said it considers this collaboration historic and groundbreaking because resources will now be invested in the development of Sesotho.

News Archive

Qwaqwa Campus launches new degree in Community Development

2016-11-29

Photo (from the left): Morongoe Mohaleroe
(Department of Social Development), Albert Schoeman
(Assistant Dean: Faculty of the Humanities),
Dr Elsa Crause (Campus Vice-Principal:
Academic and Research), Grey Magaiza
(Programme Head: Community Development),
Dr Margie Maistry, and Prof Darren Lortan
(both from Durban University of Technology).

From 2017, the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State will offer a new professional degree in Community Development. This was revealed during the launch that was recently held on the campus.

Speakers acknowledged the positive contribution the new degree was expected to make in the region, especially in mobilising the civil society to join hands with the government in improving the quality of life in South Africa.

“There has always been a dire need for such a degree in this part of the country,” said Morongoe Mohaleroe, the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Director in the Department of Social Development.

“Our department is working hard at both national and provincial levels to professionalise this sector, and the qualification will definitely help in that regard,” she said.

Mohaleroe also thanked the campus for supporting her department with community-based research and studies by students.

Speaking during the launch, the Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research, Dr Elsa Crause, said the campus was proud to be the first in the country to offer this professional qualification.

‘‘What has brought us all here today, is history in the making,’’ she said to an audience consisting of a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including government and civil society structures like Save the Children and World Vision.

“Our campus will be the first in South Africa to offer this type of degree and a maximum of only 35 students will be accepted,” she added.

For more details, prospective students may contact Grey Magaiza (Programme Head: Community Development) at magaizag@ufs.ac.za or +27 58 718 5419.

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