Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
18 October 2022 | Story Nombulelo Shange
UFS Womxn’s Forum
Kelebogile Olivier, Criminology Lecturer and UFS WF Secretary, Lutho Gwarubana, CAC (Central Act Committee) Member and Engineering Sciences student, and Nombulelo Shange, Sociology Lecturer

UFS Womxn’s Forum members recently came together to support the KovsieAct’s donation drive for the Jagersfontein Community. The handover took place took place at the KovsieAct office of the University of the Free State Bloemfontein on Thursday 13 October 2022. The Jagersfontein community recently experienced a series of natural disasters when two dams collapsed less than weeks apart in the month of September, flooding the community and engulfing people’s homes with sludge. The collapse, caused by a combination of harmful mining practices, poor government regulation and municipal negligence, caused many to lose their homes and livelihood.

KovsieAct has been running a collection drive on all three University of the Free State Campuses: the South Campus, Qwaqwa Campus and Bloemfontein Campus. UFS WF wanted to support this donation drive, because it is more than just a structure that organises around university work and projects; it is a structure that cares deeply for the community and the variety of social justice issues that oppress people of colour and womxn inside and outside of the UFS WF structure. The forum understands that to emancipate and empower those within their structure, they must empower the communities they come from first. especially when they are faced with challenges like ecological injustice, poverty, crime and violence; issues that disproportionally affect women and people of colour in South Africa and across the world.

Members of the forum came together, pulling together what little resources they have, as well as their time and passion, to run their own mini-donation drive. They were able to collect various homeware items, including pots, plates, cutlery and many other things. An ongoing knitting project that forms part of the forum, but that has participants who are both members and not members of the UFS WF, donated beautifully crafted artistic baby blankets and beanies for all ages. This project is led by UFS WF executive committee member, Nelia Oosthuysen, from the Office of International Affairs. Oosthuysen runs this project alongside the UFS’s remarkable and talented women, including Lourette Wilson, Yolanda Liebenberg, Zaynab Mobara and many others. Oosthuysen adds:

I run this project alongside the UFS Women’s Forum, as well as a few external remarkable and talented group of dedicated women who want to make a difference in the world! Our contribution is inspired by Mother Theresa’s work and her famous quote that says: “Charity isn't about pity; it is about love … Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Nelia Oosthuizen

Image above: Nelia Oosthuysen from the Office of the International Affairs and UFS WF Ex-Officio.

Geraldine Meyer and Oosthuysen show off some of the blankets

Image above: Geraldine Meyer and Oosthuysen show off some of the blankets

The donations were received by KovsieAct staff and Engineering Science student, Lutho Gwarubana, who works closely with the office and shared his deep concern for Jagersfontein both as a person who cares deeply about positive community upliftment and as an Engineering Science student. He believes professions such as his study area have an ethical, professional and social responsibility to ensure that their work takes place even in the most marginalised communities in order to improve lives, while also preventing similar disasters in the future. Gwarubana adds”

I think that the collaboration between KovsieACT and the UFS WF will have a good impact on the lives of individuals in the Jagersfontein community. As a young engineering student and member of KovsieACT, I hope to gain information that can help prevent such tragedies and be a beneficial impact in our community.   

Gwarubana’s desire to be in service of others is nurtured and guided by Teddy Sibiya, Senior Assistant Officer at Kovsie Support Services. Sibiya is leading the KovsieAct donation drive and was also there to accept the UFS WF donation. Sibiya added:

It is indeed a privilege to have organizations of this calibre at our university, with people who are prepared to give towards the active, civic, teaching mission and unselfish upliftment of our community. The UFS Womxn’s Forum, a foundation known for empowering communities in various ways, has once again proven its diligence in caring for the community when it donated towards the Jagersfontein relief. The collaboration of different organisations really allows the University he Free State to care for neighbouring communities.

 

News Archive

Little ‘Devil’s Worm’ on Top 10 New Species list
2012-05-29

 

Halicephalobus mephisto (Devil’s Worm)
Photo: Supplied
29 May 2012

A minuscule little worm found and researched with the assistance of researchers at the university has made it onto the list of Top 10 New Species of the world. The list was published by the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) at Arizona State University and a committee of scientists from around the world. It lists the top ten new species described in 2011.

An article on the new worm species appeared in the authoritative journal Nature in June 2011.
 
Prof. Esta van Heerden, leader of the university’s research team, says, “In our wildest dreams, we could not have imagined that we would get so much reaction from the worm’s discovery. We had to do so many checks and balances to convince Nature that the worm could survive in the old and warm water. We were very excited when the article was accepted but the media reaction was unbelievable.”
 
The tiny nematode, Halicephalobus mephisto (Devil’s Worm) of about 0,5 mm in length, is the deepest-living terrestrial multi-cellular organism on earth. It was discovered in the Beatrix gold mine near Welkom at a depth of 1,3 km.
 
The IISE says in a statement the species is remarkable for surviving immense underground pressure as well as high temperatures. The borehole water where this species lives has not been in contact with the earth’s atmosphere for the last 4 000 to 6 000 years.  
 
This top-10 list includes a sneezing monkey; a beautiful, but venomous jellyfish; a fungus named after a popular TV cartoon character; a night-blooming orchid; an ancient walking cactus creature; and a tiny wasp. A vibrant poppy, a giant millipede and a blue tarantula also made it onto the list.
 
The international selection committee made its choice from more than 200 nominations. They looked for species that captured the attention because they were unusual or because they had bizarre traits. Some of the new species have interesting names.
 
Prof. Van Heerden says, “We are very thankful for the exposure that the university gets as a result of the inclusion on the list and we enjoy the international cooperation immensely.”

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