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25 October 2022 | Story Kekeletso Takang and Samkelo Fetile | Photo Supplied
Talking about gender diversity in institutions of higher learning during the UFS Pride lecture were, from the left: Bokang Fako, Tshifhiwa Ramabulana, Advocate Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane, and Siyanda Magayana.
South Africa is notably one of the most progressive countries on the African continent when it comes to advancing sexual rights. However, despite the constitutional provisions in place, gender identity remains a source of discrimination for many. 

The Free State Centre for Human Rights at the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with the UFS Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office and intersectional feminist student body The Collective, held a Pride Month Lecture on 17 October 2022 at the Albert Wessels Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus to commemorate the very first Pride parade in Africa, which occurred on 13 October 1990. The Collective is a student organisation founded in 2019, the purpose of which is to foster a community for marginalised students. 

The lecture was facilitated by Bokang Fako, Founder and Chairperson of The Collective and Student Assistant at the Free State Centre for Human Rights, and included guest speaker Advocate Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane (they/them) of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at the University of the Witwatersrand and panellists Tshifhiwa Ramabulana (he/him) and Siyanda Magayana (she/her). Ramabulana is a queer writer pursuing an LLB degree at the UFS, and Magayana is a Senior Officer at the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. 

Where it all began

The first Pride parade in South Africa took place on 13 October 1990 and was led by Simon Nkoli, an anti-apartheid activist who was also one of the country’s most prominent LGBTQIA+ activists. The march was organised by the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW), an organisation that raised awareness and established a community of support for black queer people during the apartheid era. October has since been recognised as South African Pride Month and has been celebrated every year. 

“Pride is not a party, it is essentially us protesting that the world doesn’t want us to exist in our fullness,” Advocate Mokgoroane said. They reiterated this by highlighting the need for the development of a sense of co-conspiratorship. Mokgoroane referred to Mathoko’s House, a place of refuge and a haven for many. “Mathoko, based in KwaThema, Ekurhuleni, offered counselling and emotional support to those who took shelter at the house, this is the co-conspiratorship needed in this climate. In the digital and social media era we find ourselves in, where are the likes of Mathoko? Are we only relying on hashtags?” 

Gender diversity in institutions of higher learning 

“For many gender-diverse people, the concept of binary gender – having to choose to express yourself as male or female – is constraining,” Magayana said. She further explained that for gender-diverse people, their identity is about presenting something more outwardly authentic to the world, whether they believe themselves to be differently gendered, or have no gender at all. 

Magayana said some cultures do not recognise gender diversity beyond masculine and feminine. “In residences you find that certain students from different cultures would refuse to associate themselves with LGBTQIA+ students because, according to their culture, it is unacceptable.” She added that this is an issue that must be dealt with, because it is unacceptable that residences are fixated on a binary culture. “The programs at residences are not accommodative – what if I do not identify as male or female? Where do I go?” 

A safer time

Ramabulana explained that there have been many incidents of tangible and intangible discrimination, including hate crimes where gay, lesbian, or transgender people are at huge risk of violence and death. However, he added, LGBTQIA+ people are a lot safer today than in the past. “Although there are myopic, monolithic views of who we are, we are indeed living in a safer time. So, with that said, I will not go deep into my experiences of violence, but I want to encapsulate what the activism and efforts were aimed at, and that is queer joy.” He explained that queer joy is the queer community being able to be free and peacefully celebrate their existence and expanded on how safe he feels in public spaces, and how the law now caters for the different diversity of identities that have always been present among human beings. 

Ramabulana said the UFS is seen as one of the most representative universities in South Africa. “The UFS has made great strides in inclusion, from unisex residences to encouraging conversations around pertinent issues surrounding gender equality,” he said.

News Archive

UFS boasts with most advanced chemical research apparatus in Africa
2005-11-23

Celebrating the inauguration of the NMR were from the left Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS),  Dr Detlef Müller (Development Scientist and Manager:  Africa and Asia of Bruker in Germany, the supplier of the NMR), Prof Jannie Swarts (head of the head of the Division Physical Chemistry at the UFS) and Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean:  Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS). Photo: Lacea Loader

UFS boasts with most advanced chemical research apparatus in Africa 

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Chemistry now boasts with some of the most advanced chemical research apparatus in Africa after the latest addition, a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, was inaugurated today by the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie.  The NMR is used to analyse molecular structures. 

Last month the Department of Chemistry celebrated the installation of the most advanced single crystal X-ray diffractometer in Africa.  The diffractometer provides an indispensable technique to investigate among others the solid state of compounds for medicinal application.

“Three years ago the UFS executive management realised that, if we want to build a university of excellence, we should invest in research.  We started to think strategically about chemistry and decided to bring the apparatus at the Department of Chemistry on a more competitive standard.  Strategic partnerships were therefore secured with companies like Sasol,” said Prof Fourie during the inauguration ceremony.

“The installation of the NMR symbolises the ability of the UFS to turn academic areas around.  I hope that this is the beginning of a decade of excellence for chemistry at the UFS,” said Prof Fourie.

”The catalogue value of the Bruker 600 MHz NMR is approximately R11 million.  With such an advanced apparatus we are now able to train much more post-graduate students,“ said Prof Jannie Swarts, head of the Division Physical Chemistry at the UFS.

”The NMR is the flagship apparatus of the UFS Department of Chemistry that enables chemists to look at compounds more easily at a molecular level.  Research in chemistry is critically dependent on NMR, which is a technique that can determine the composition of reactants and products in complicated chemical reactions, with direct application is most focus areas in chemistry,“ said Prof Swarts.

”Parts of the spectrometer consists of non-commercial items that were specifically designed for the UFS Department of Chemistry to allow the study of unique interactions in e.g. rhodium and platinum compounds,” said Prof Swarts.

According to Prof Swarts the NMR enables chemists to conduct investigations on the following:

To evaluate for example the complex behaviour of DNA in proteins as well as the analysis of illegal drugs sometimes used by athletes. 
It provides an indispensable technique to investigate compounds for medicinal application for example in breast, prostate and related bone cancer identification and therapy, which are currently synthesised in the Department of Chemistry.  
It can also be applied to the area of homogeneous catalysis where new and improved compounds for industrial application are synthesized and characterised, whereby Sasol and even the international petrochemical industry could benefit. This analytical capacity is highly rated, especially in the current climate of increased oil prices.
The NMR can detect and identify small concentrations of impurities in feed streams in the petrochemical industry, e.g. at Sasol and also the international petrochemical industry.  These minute amounts of impurities can result in metal catalyst deactivation or decomposition and can cause million of rands worth in product losses.
It is indispensable for studying the complexity of samples that is non-crystalline. These materials represent the vast majority of chemical compounds such as solvents, gasoline, cooking oil, cleaning agents and colorants as examples. 

According to Prof Swarts the general medical technique of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in use at larger hospitals, is based on NMR technology.

”The NMR apparatus enabled the Department of Chemistry to characterise complex molecules that were synthesised for the multi-national company, FARMOFS-PAREXEL, and to negotiate research agreements with overseas universities,” said Prof Swarts. 

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:  (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
22 November 2005
 

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