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15 September 2022 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo UFS Photo Gallery
Representatives of the UFS Law Clinic and the Free State Centre for Human Rights
Representatives of the UFS Law Clinic and the Free State Centre for Human Rights recently visited Thaba 'Nchu and Dewetsdorp to empower women by educating them about their Constitutional rights.
With September being Heritage Month, South Africans are reflecting on where we come from. During this time, many look back at how far we have travelled, and how much further we still need to go. 

Gender-based violence, a constant stain on the fabric of our society, means any celebratory moments are tempered by the need to interrogate where we are going wrong. Dr Rita Ozoemena, Senior Lecturer at the Free State Centre for Human Rights (FSCHR), has reminded South Africans that we can take comfort from at least one certainty: “The Constitution is a living heritage of all South Africans that has provided for the protection of all persons, including women’s rights,” she said.

Living traditionally ever after

At a recent community engagement programme the University of the Free State Law Clinic and the FSCHR visited Thaba 'Nchu and Dewetsdorp to empower women by educating them about their rights as protected in the Constitution. Experts explored the theme ‘Women’s Rights and Customary Law Marriages’.

Having a living heritage in the form of the Constitution gives a voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless, the audience heard. In the case of customary law, Dr Ozoemena said, “Lobola forms part of the conclusion of a customary marriage. The ‘handing over’ of a bride is an aspect of custom and practice. Young girls under the age of 18 cannot be married under customary law.” 

She added that women of legal age who wish to live ‘traditionally ever after’ need to “ensure that their marriage complies with the requirements set out in Section 3 of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, and also make certain that the customary marriage is registered with the Department of Home Affairs to avoid unintended consequences.”

Customary law is our heritage

On 27 and 28 October 2022 the FSCHR will host a conference titled ‘African Customary Law and Transformation: Towards a Gender Responsive Approach’. Since African customary law is an integral part of the post-1994 South African legal system, the conference will focus on the South African transformation project and how it has influenced the development of African customary law in marriage.  

Robust discussions will hone in on topics around feminist jurisprudence in African customary law; customary marriage in South Africa and its future; the role of rituals in customary law; gender equality and African customary law; and women and traditional leadership.

News Archive

Alexander Ramm Cello Recital with Pieter Jacobs (piano)
2016-04-15

Description: Ramm Tags: Ramm

Alexander Ramm

“Ramm plays with enormous musical authority. Unlike many young instrumentalists, he is not intimidated by the reflective or the elegiac; nor is he nervous about the length of pauses, or the creation of inter-phrase silence. He has a phenomenal technique and he demonstrated it to full effect in this captivating performance.” (Cape Times)

Alexander Ramm belongs to the new generation of cellists recognised for his appealing artistic creativity and unprecedented technical skills. Alexander started his musical education at the age of seven at the Glier music school (Kaliningrad) with Svetlana Ivanova. Her extremely serious attitude to music studies and pedagogical talent revealed the rare musical capabilities of this young cellist.

After moving to Moscow at the age of ten, he was accepted to the class of Maria Zhuravleva at the Chopin Moscow College of Music Performance. From 2007, he continued his professional education at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of the renowned musician and the People’s Artist of the USSR, Natalia Shakhovskaya, an outstanding performer and pedagogue who taught most prominent Russian cellists. Since 2012, he has become a postgraduate student at the Hanns-Eisler Hochschule fur Musik under the guidance of the famous cellist, Frans Helmerson.

From the age of nine, when he made his debut as a soloist with the Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra, Alexander brilliantly performs with solo programmes and as a soloist with leading orchestras in Russia and worldwide.

He is prizewinner at several international competitions:
1st prize: 4th Moscow Competition for young cellists (2003)
1st prize: 1st Cambridge International Boston Competition (Massachusetts, 2005)
Grand-Prix: Moscow Festival of Romantic Music (Moscow, 2006)
4th prize: 5th UNISA International String Competition (South Africa, 2010)
1st prize: 3rd Beijing International Music Competition (Beijing 2010)
1st prize: 1st All-Russia Music Competition (Russia, 2010)
Prizewinner: Janigro Cello Competition (Croatia, 2012)
Prizewinners: Swedish Duo Competition with duo partner Anna Odintsova (2012)
3rd prize: Paulo Cello Competition (2013) – becoming the first Russian prizewinner in the history of this prestigious contest
2nd prize: XV International Tchaikovsky Competition (2015)

Alexander participated in masterclass festivals at Courchevel Academy and Holland Music Sessions, where he took lessons from the famous musicians such as F. Muller, R. Latzko, M. Kliegel and U. Wiesel. In 2011, he took part in the well-known Verbier festival, where he studied with H. Hoffmann, F. Helmerson, M. Suzuki, L. Power and F. Radosh. At the end of the festival, he was awarded the Neva Foundation top-level prize for gifted students.

Alexander cooperates with such outstanding conductors as V. Gergiev, V. Spivakov, A. Levin, K. Orbelyan, V. Polyansky, S. Kochanovsky, M. Fedotov, A. Slutsky, A. Sladkovsky.

He will be accompanied by Pieter Jacobs, a graduate of the University of Pretoria, who then furthered his studies at Yale in the United States, where he pursued his performing career with considerable success as a soloist and chamber musician in Boston, Cambridge and New Haven before returning to South Africa to perform and teach at the University of Pretoria. Pieter is regarded as one of SA’s foremost pianists and chamber musicians.

Programme:
Grieg: Cello Sonata, Op. 36 in A minor (1883)
Barber: Cello Sonata, Op. 6 in C minor (1932)
Prokofiev: Cello Sonata, Op. 119 (1949)
Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango for cello and piano

Date: 22 April 2016
Time: 19:30
Venue: Odeion
Costs: R130 (adults), R90 (pensioners), R70 (UFS staff members), R50 (students and learners), R50 (group booking of 10+). Tickets available at Computicket.

More information: Ninette Pretorius +27(0)51 401 2504.

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