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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

Moot Court competition bigger success than ever before

2009-10-27

Here are the members of the winning team in the Afrikaanse section: André Stander and Wilmie Stander.
Photo: Stephen Collett

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Law of Procedure and Law of Evidence again presented the First-year Moot Court Competition this year. This interuniversity competition was presented for the fifth time this year. The Universities of the Free State, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Rhodes, North-West, Zululand and KwaZulu-Natal (both campuses), as well as an international institution, the Charlotte Law School in North Carolina in the USA also participated in the competition.

The last-mentioned participant was indeed a highlight for the Department of Law of Procedure and Law of Evidence. The students of the Charlotte School also initiated a community service project for a school in a disadvantaged community. According to Adv. Mariëtte Reyneke from the Department of Law of Procedure and Law of Evidence, the students of the UFS’s Faculty of Law will also participate in this project. The team’s participation is a result of negotiations to work together between Prof. Neels Swanepoel, departmental head, and the Charlotte School of Law early in 2009 as part of the university’s internationalisation priority.

“We are really excited about the growth of the competition that started out with three universities to where it is today. We believe that it is a cause for celebration,” said Adv. Reyneke.

Only first-year students may participate. The competition will take place in the High Court and the final rounds in the Court of Appeal. The judges are compiled from retired judges, practising judiciary, magistrates as well as retired lectures of law. Only a small number of law practitioners get the opportunity to appear in the Court of Appeal and to do this in your first year in front of a judge is an excellent exposure and career forming. This is also the only competition in the country where students can participate in either an English competition or an Afrikaans competition.

Sixteen English teams (9 universities) and 7 Afrikaans teams participated in this year’s competition.

At the prize giving function the UFS team was crowned overall winners of the Afrikaans section and a team from the University of Pretoria as overall winners of the English section of the competition.

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