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Academic programme to continue online with immediate effect

02 August 2023

Sporadic disruptions of academic activities occurred yesterday and this morning on the Bloemfontein, South and Qwaqwa Campuses.

In recent weeks, the university management has made various attempts to keep the campuses open for face-to-face learning and teaching amid challenges experienced with the disbursement of students’ National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances through eZaga, an online digital banking service, tasked with dispersing direct payments to NSFAS beneficiaries.

These attempts include, but are not limited to, the attendance of meetings by UFS representatives with NSFAS, arranged by Universities South Africa (USAf); meetings with NSFAS attended by Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal; constant engagements with NSFAS by the university’s Financial Aid Office; a meeting with the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, to discuss the matter – this was postponed to a later date; constant engagements with the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) on matters relating to NSFAS, etc. These attempts are, however, not acceptable to our students.

To minimise the risk to the academic programme, as well as the fact that this is a sector-wide challenge, the academic programme, (activities, classes, and assignments) will continue online as far as possible from 2 to 4 August 2023. Further information about students’ online academic programme will be communicated by the respective faculties.

The university management would like to thank our academic staff for their commitment during this time, and for ensuring that the academic programme continues through online delivery.

The university is not closed; all other activities will continue as normal. All campuses are also accessible. The situation on the campuses is being monitored closely and the necessary security measures are in place to ensure the safety of students and staff.

The university’s protocol during protests provides guidance to students and staff on how to act during protests.

Students and staff will be updated on the situation.

News Archive

Lecture honours one of SA’s greatest women leaders

2008-08-22

A member of the national executive committee of the ANC Women’s League, Yolanda Botha, has called on all South Africans to cherish the legacy of Charlotte Maxeke, one of South Africa’s greatest women leaders.

Ms Botha was delivering the first Charlotte Maxeke Memorial Lecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein last night, in honour of the pioneering role played by Maxeke in the struggle for human rights, democracy and freedom. The lecture series is a partnership between the Free State Provincial Government and the university.

She was born Charlotte Makgomo Manye on 7 April 1874 at Ramokgopa in the Polokwane district in Limpopo. In 1905 she graduated from the Wilberforce University in Ohio in the USA with a B.Sc. degree, making her the first black South African woman to graduate with a science degree.

She married the Rev. MM Maxeke, a prominent AME minister who had also been educated overseas, and together they collaborated on the compilation and publication of the first AME church hymn book in Xhosa.

Later she became a founder member and president of the Bantu Women’s League, forerunner of the ANC Women’s League. She was an early opponent of the pass laws for black women and an organiser of the anti-pass movement in Bloemfontein.

Charlotte Maxeke died in 1939. Two years later, an ANC conference held in Bloemfontein, passed a “resolution on the women’s section”.

Elaborating on the challenges that women still face, Ms Botha said poverty remains a challenge affecting the majority of women. She called on all women to unite and engage with government to develop a comprehensive strategy for food security and agricultural support programmes to eradicate poverty.

Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za

22 August 2008

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