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#UFSGraduation: UFS gives Qwaqwa student more than just a degree

20 April 2023 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Supplied

Kunene new — Simphiwe Kunene revelling in the moment during the April 2023 graduations.

“The University of the Free State has given me more than just a degree; it has given me skills, attributes, and so much more, but above all else, the university gave me an opportunity.”

This is according to former Qwaqwa Campus SRC member Simphiwe Kunene, who walked across the stage to receive his Bachelor of Education in Intermediate Phase Teaching during the April 2023 graduations on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Support enabled Kunene to juggle multiple roles

Kunene, who has been involved in student life since his first year, said the support received from various individuals and structures at the UFS enabled him to juggle his multiple roles successfully, and groomed the sharp leader he considers himself to be today. As a first-generation student from the rural town of Nquthu in KwaZulu-Natal, Kunene said he “never imagined some of the achievements and support I received from the university. My journey may have been uneasy, but it has also been filled with many beautiful memories and significant moments. My life has been one of many firsts, and so I want to create many others like me."

While pursuing his studies, Kunene was a tutor and a residence assistant, and held positions in the CSRC and ISRC. “My story, like many others before me, has been riddled with challenges and adversities that sought to deter me from completing my studies. Relocating to a new environment is always difficult, and studying there is even more challenging. The challenges have been bigger, but the support from the university was way bigger. The dream has always been bigger.”

His most memorable moments are being elected as ISRC Secretary General and winning an A-Step award for best tutor in the Faculty of Education. “From a very young age, I've always wanted to change the world in one way or another. I figured that perhaps one way to do that was to be a teacher, and the Qwaqwa Campus offered me the platform to help me realise that dream of mine.”

With this degree, Kunene hopes to impact the lives of his learners just like the warm embrace of education has impacted him.

“I am convinced that this degree – which is the first in my family – will drive out the scourge of poverty and restore dignity to the community, myself, and my family. For me, education is supposed to transform the lives of those it touches. I am a teacher, and that's my calling. My mission is to transform lives. I want to make education fashionable. This degree is the very foundation on which this premise is built.”

Driving quality, impact, and care

He is now pursuing an honours degree with specialisation in Management and Governance in the Faculty of Education and is working as a facilitator in the Centre for Teaching and Learning. “I will forever be grateful for the support and opportunities afforded to me by this great university. I can say without fear of contradiction that lives have been changed with quality, impact, and care.”

News Archive

Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings

2007-06-29

Trafficking in Human Beings:
National and International Perspectives

Date: 17th August 2007
Address: CR Swart Auditorium, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Every year thousands of children and adults become victims of trafficking and abuse in South Africa and throughout the southern African region. Victims are trafficked for a myriad of reasons: sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography; illegal labour, including child conscription; domestic servitude; illegal adoptions; body parts/organs; and forced marriages.

The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department of Criminal and Medical Law, University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Centre for Continuing Legal Education at UFS, will host a Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings. The conference will bring together key role-players from the South African government as well as crucial international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.

Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is a serious violation of the human rights of the victims, as well as an extremely profitable source of income to organized crime, and needs the attention and intervention of both governmental and non-governmental institutions in South Africa.

Speakers will include representatives from the United National Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Law Reform Commission, the Unit for Children’s Rights-UFS, and NGOs Molo Songololo and Terre Des Homes, that work with child trafficking victims in South Africa and around the world.

The media are invited to report on the conference, and interview speakers and presenters Attached find programme. For more info contact the following persons.

1. Beatri Kruger - 051 401 2108 / email: krugerh.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
2. Susan Kreston - 051 401 9562 / email: krestons.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
3. Elizabeth Snyman – 051 401 2268 / email: snymane.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za

Programme

Trafficking in human beings:
National & international perspectives

Presented by The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department Of Criminal & Medical Law , Faculty of Law, in Conjunction with The Centre for Continuing Legal Education, University of the Free State.

Funded through the Generosity of the United States Department of State

17 AUGUST, 2007 – CR SWART AUDITORIAM

8:00-8:30 Registration & Tea
8:30-8:45 Opening & Welcome
Prof. JJ Henning, Faculty of Law
8:45-9:40 Overview & Global Perspective
Prof. Susan Kreston - Unit for Children’s Rights, Faculty of Law-UFS

9:40-10:00 TEA

10:00-10:45 International Perspectives & the Role of Organized Crime in Trafficking
Wiesje Zikkenheiner, Associate Expert
United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, Pretoria
10:45-11:45 Identifying and Assisting Victims of Trafficking
Marija Nikolovska, Project Officer
International Organization for Migration, Pretoria

11:45-12:30 LUNCH

12:30-1:15 Prosecuting Trafficking Without Trafficking Laws
Adv. Nolwandle Qaba, Sexual Offences & Community Affairs Unit
National Prosecuting Authority, Pretoria
1:15-2:15 Recommendations for New Legislation in South Africa
Lowesa Stuurman - South African Law Reform Commission, Pretoria

2:15-2:30 TEA

2:30-2:50 The Role of Terre Des Homes in Fighting Trafficking in Children
Judith Mthombeni– Terre Des Homes, Pretoria
2:50-3:50 Trafficking in Children in South Africa – A Front Line Perspective
Patrick Solomon - Molo Songololo, Cape Town
3:50-4:00 Closing Remarks
Adv. Beatri Kruger
Department of Criminal & Medical Law - UFS

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