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25 April 2023
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Story Rulanzen Martin
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Photo Charl Devenish
When Lefa Rabase matriculated from the Diphetoho Secondary School in Bothaville in the Free State, he was – like many matriculants – unsure about what to study. He initially applied to study education, following a familiar pattern, as many
others in his neighbourhood were pursuing studies in education.
On Friday 21 April 2023, Rabase graduated with a BSc degree in
Forensic Sciences, and is currently enrolled for an honours in Forensic Sciences. However, his journey at the University of the Free State (UFS) started when one of ‘his guardian angels’, Noeline Basson, a former
employer of his father, and Elfrieda van den Berg, Marketing Manager in the
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences,
made it possible for him to not only get into the UFS but to also reach this momentous milestone.
“They were like my parents, if I can put it that way,” Rabase said. Basson and Van den Berg have been by my side from the first year. “They are still part of my life, and I would like to thank them for that.” Rabase admits
that his journey to graduation was not easy but says that by working hard and believing in yourself, every student can navigate the complex life of being a university student.
Valuable advice for businesses in difficult times
2013-04-15
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Prof Helena van Zyl, Director of the Business School, and Dr Reuel Khoza. Photo: Stephen Collett 15 April 2013 |
Dr Reuel Khoza, Chairman of the Nedbank Group, shared the group’s valuable rules for managing a bank in difficult times in an MBA lecture on the Bloemfontein Campus. Dr Khoza is a visiting professor at the UFS Business School.
He focused in the lecture on the group’s business and leadership model and highlighted some do’s and don’ts:
- Do not surprise your stakeholders on the downside – communicate transparently, particularly when there is bad news.
- Retrenching staff to contain costs should be a last resort – the damage to corporate culture from retrenchments is immense. Follow and support your customers – get as close to them as possible because business changes slowly, but customer behaviour can change in an instant.
- Integrated central capital and funding management.
- Entrench well-established reporting, KPIs and measurement systems.
- Ensure strong independent risk management.
- Manage your cost base – anticipate downturns and re-base your costs to avoid crisis-cost management.
- Take advantage of opportunities – an economic downturn creates a situation where valuations fall and assets are sold off, which can be a great opportunity for acquisitions.
- Keep innovating – innovation does not have to be a costly exercise, as the right culture can promote and encourage experimentation and collaboration.
- Whatever you do – avoid a price war, as expedient pricing decisions may hurt the business in the longer term.