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27 September 2022 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

2022 UFS Thought-Leader Series

PRESENTS

a panel discussion titled

A look into the Future of South Africa

Join online at livestream.ufs.ac.za

The University of the Free State is pleased to present the UFS Thought-Leader panel discussion titled, A look into the future of South Africa, which is part of the 2022 Thought-Leader Series. As a public higher-education institution in South Africa with a responsibility to contribute to public discourse, the University of the Free State (UFS) will be presenting the panel discussion in collaboration with the Free State Literature Festival and News24. This event will bring together expert thought leaders such as Moeletsi Mbeki, Pieter du Toit, and Dr Mareve Biljohn to share insights on the social, political, economic, and business landscape of South Africa and what it means for our future. The panel discussion will be facilitated by Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

Panel discussion presented on 6 October 2022

South Africa is at a precipice – unemployment is at an all-time high, almost half the population receives income from the state every month, there is an absence of policy systems with no leadership in the country at all levels, and complete distrust exists between government and communities. The current national administration has no interest in creating an environment for entrepreneurship and growth. The expectation of investment to grow the economy is far-fetched. An increase in privatisation is taking place and gaining moment in areas such as security and provision of electricity, among others. As we approach the end of 2022 and reflect on the year that was, what opportunities are there to regain the confidence of our nation, establish much-needed credibility globally, and charter our country into a prosperous and successful terrain – where do we see ourselves? These are some of the aspects we look forward to discussing with the esteemed panel.

Date: Thursday 6 October 2022
Time: 10:00-12:00
Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus
RSVP: https://events.ufs.ac.za/e/ThoughtLeaderFutureofSouthAfrica

Refreshments will be served.

For further information, contact Alicia Pienaar at pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za.

Some of the topics discussed by leading experts in 2021 included, among others, reimagining universities for student success; corruption in South Africa – the endemic pandemic; South African politics and the local government elections; is South Africa falling apart: where to from here; predications for 2022; and why vaccinate? This year’s webinar series commenced on 31 May 2022 with the topic Crime in South Africa – who is to blame?  This was followed by webinars held in July and September, respectively titled Are our glasses half full or half empty? and What needs to be done to POWER up South Africa?

Facilitator:

Prof Francis Petersen
Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS

Panellists:

Moeletsi Mbeki
Deputy Chairperson
The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)

Pieter du Toit
Assistant Editor
In-depth news
News24 

Dr Mareve Biljohn
Head: Department of Public Administration and Management
University of the Free State

Bios of speakers:

Moeletsi Mbeki

Mr Moeletsi Mbeki is a political analyst, author, and entrepreneur. He is a director of several companies, Chairman of KMM Investments (Pty) Limited, KMM Review Publishing (Pty) Limited, MGM Capital Investments (Pty) Limited, and Executive Chairman of Pomegranate Media (Pty) Ltd. Mr Mbeki is the author of Architects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing. He edited Advocates for Change: How to Overcome Africa’s Challenges. Both books have been translated into Chinese. He recently co-authored A Manifesto for Social Change: How to Save South Africa with his niece, Dr Nobantu Mbeki. He is Deputy Chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) – an independent think tank based at the University of the Witwatersrand – and is a member of the council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which is based in London. After returning to South Africa from exile in 1990, he was appointed Head of Communications for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), and Media Consultant for the African National Congress. During most of the 1980s, he was a senior journalist for Zimbabwe Newspapers in Harare. As a result of the outstanding work that he did for the Zimbabwe Newspapers Features Department, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University for the 1988-1989 academic years. Mbeki began his journalism career in London in 1979 as a contributor to the Africa, New African, and Africa Now magazines and the BBC Africa Service. He studied Building, Building Management, and Sociology in England, obtaining an MA degree in Sociology from the University of Warwick in 1982. He worked in the construction industry in the United Kingdom and in Tanzania during the 1970s.

Pieter du Toit

Pieter du Toit is Assistant Editor at News24, where he is Head of Investigative Journalism. He was previously a crime reporter, parliamentary correspondent, and news editor at Beeld and Netwerk24. He is the author of two books – Enemy of the People, which is about state capture – and The Stellenbosch Mafia. His third book, The ANC Billionaires, will be published next month.

Dr Mareve Biljohn

Maréve IM Biljohn is a senior lecturer and Head of the Department of Public Administration and Management at the University of the Free State. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Public Administration (University of the Free State), Master of Public Administration (Stellenbosch University), BPA (Honours) Public Administration (Stellenbosch University), BAdmin (Honours) Industrial Psychology (University of the Western Cape), and BAdmin (University of the Western Cape). Prior to her appointment at the University of the Free State, she worked for a district municipality in the Western Cape, South Africa. Her research interests and expertise are in the fields of social innovation in service delivery, citizen participation in local government service delivery, and citizen participation in the governance of local government service delivery. She has presented her research at several local and international research conferences and published her research in local and international journals. Her work includes, among others, publications on:

  • Social innovation as an alternative approach to South African local government service delivery.
  • Determinants for citizen and third-sector participation during social innovation in local government service delivery.
  • Considerations for South African local government for using SI in open and closed governance systems.

She has also authored and co-authored book chapters, titled ‘Leading self in South Africa’s VUCA local government environment’, and ‘Social innovation to enhance service delivery by local government’

News Archive

Bloemfontein's quality of tap water compares very favourably with bottled water
2009-08-04

The quality of the drinking water of five suburbs in Bloemfontein is at least as good as or better than bottled water. This is the result of a standard and chemical bacterial analysis done by the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Centre for Environmental Management in collaboration with the Institute for Groundwater Studies (IGS).

Five samples were taken from tap water sources in the suburbs of Universitas, Brandwag, Bain’s Vlei, Langenhoven Park and Bayswater and 15 samples were taken of different brands of still and unflavoured bottled water. The samples were analysed at the laboratory of the IGS, while the interpretation of the analysis was done by the Centre for Environmental Management.

“We wanted to evaluate the difference in quality for human consumption between tap water and that of the different brands of bottled water,” said Prof. Maitland Seaman, Head of the Centre for Environmental Management.

“With the exception of two samples produced by multinational companies at their plants in South Africa, the different brands of bottled water used for the study were produced by South African companies, including a local small-scale Bloemfontein producer,” said Prof. Seaman.

According to the labels, the sources of the water vary from pure spring water, to partial reverse osmosis (as an aid to standardise salt, i.e. mineral, content), to only reverse osmosis (to remove salts). (Reverse osmosis is a process in which water is forced under pressure through a pipe with minute pores through which water passes but no – or very low concentrations of – salts pass.)

According to Prof. Seaman, the analysis revealed some interesting findings, such as:

• It is generally accepted that drinking water should have an acceptable level of salt content, as the body needs salts. Most mineral contents were relatively higher in the tap water samples than the bottled water samples and were very much within the acceptable range of drinkable water quality. One of the bottled samples, however, had a very low mineral content, as the water was produced by reverse osmosis, as stated on the bottle. While reverse osmosis is used by various producers, most producers use it as an aid, not as a single method to remove nearly all the salts. Drinking only such water over a prolonged period may probably have a negative effect on the human physiology.

• The pH values of the tap water samples (8,12–8,40) were found to be slightly higher (slightly alkaline), like in all south-eastern Free State rivers (from where the water is sourced) than the pH of most of the bottled water samples, most of which are sourced and/or treated in other areas. Two brands of bottled water were found to have relatively low pH levels (both 4,5, i.e. acidic) as indicated on their bottles and as confirmed by the IGS analysis. The health implication of this range of pH is not significant.

• The analysis showed differences in the mineral content given on the labels of most of the water bottles compared to that found by IGS analysis. The possibility of seasonal fluctuation in content, depending on various factors, is expected and most of the bottling companies also indicate this on their labels. What was a rather interesting finding was that two pairs of bottled water brands claimed exactly the same mineral content but appeared under different brand names and were also priced differently. In each case, one of the pair was a well-known house brand, and the other obviously the original producer. In one of these paired cases, the house brand stated that the water was spring water, while the other (identical) “original” brand stated that it was spring water treated by reverse osmosis and oxygen-enriched.

• Nitrate (NO3) levels were uniformly low except in one bottled sample, suggesting a low (non-threatening) level of organic pollution in the source water. Otherwise, none of the water showed any sign of pollution.

• The bacterial analysis confirmed the absence of any traces of coliforms or E.coli in any of the samples, as was also indicated by the bottling companies. This is very reassuring. What is not known is how all these waters were sterilised, which could be anything from irradiation to chlorine or ozone treatment.

• The price of the different brands of bottled water, each containing 500 ml of still water, ranged between R3,99 and R8,99, with R5,03 being the average price. A comparison between the least expensive and the most expensive bottles of water indicated no significant difference in quality. In fact, discrepancies were observed in the most expensive bottle in that the amount of Calcium (Ca) claimed to be present in it was found to be significantly different from what the analysis indicated (29,6 mg/l versus 0,92 mg/l). The alkalinity (CaCO3 mg/l) indicated on the bottle was also found to differ considerably (83 mg/l versus 9,4 mg/l). The concentration of Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) was not given on the product.

“The preference for bottled water as compared to Bloemfontein’s tap water from a qualitative perspective as well as the price discrepancy is unjustifiable. The environmental footprint of bottled water is also large. Sourcing, treating, bottling, packaging and transporting, to mention but a few of the steps involved in the processing of bottled water, entail a huge carbon footprint, as well as a large water footprint, because it also requires water for treating and rinsing to process bottled water,” said Prof. Seaman.

Media Release
Lacea Loader
Deputy Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
3 August 2009

 

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