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05 August 2023 | Story Lacea Loader

All academic activities on the campuses of the University of the Free State (UFS) will resume face-to-face on Monday 7 August 2023.

This decision by the university’s executive management comes after campus-wide protests on 2 August 2023, and the subsequent decision to continue the academic programme online until 4 August 2023.

The university can confirm that a large number of UFS-registered students funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) who have been excluded from payment, have received their allowances on Friday 4 August 2023. The university is aware that a small number of students have not yet onboarded successfully with eZaga – an online digital banking service tasked with disbursing direct payments to NSFAS beneficiaries. These students have been requested to urgently onboard successfully with eZaga in order to receive their allowances.

On a sectoral level, the university would also like to confirm that a statement has been issued by Universities South Africa (USAf) in which NSFAS and the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation are, among others, requested to urgently resolve the matter of the direct payment of allowances to students. The UFS fully supports the statement and is hopeful that an amicable and urgent solution to the matter can be found.

Protection Services and the South African Police Service remain on high alert and are monitoring the situation on the campuses closely. The necessary security measures are in place to ensure the safety of students and staff.

Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, will address our staff and students on 8 August 2023 about last week’s protest action. Please monitor the communication platforms for more information on this important engagement session.

message from Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, to staff and students about last week’s protest was also shared on 3 August 2023.

News Archive

An out-of-this-world experience
2015-12-14

Film premiere hosts Professor Matie Hoffman, manager of the Naval Hill Planetarium and the planetarium’s operations manager, Tina Mangope.

The Naval Hill Planetarium in Bloemfontein premiered two new short astronomy films on 4 December 2015, with marvellous cosmic visuals explaining how the earth and all the planetary formations in our galaxy and the universe were created.

The two films, aptly titled ‘Cosmic Collisions’ and ‘Journey to the Stars’, were both made to enhance people’s knowledge about the universe and the vast dynamics within it. They were donated to the Bloemfontein-based planetarium by the American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with several other US space science intuitions, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

“These two fantastic state-of-the-art films are scientifically accurate and very expansive,” said Professor Matie Hoffman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of the Free State. Hoffman is also the planetarium’s manager.

Nestled in the bushy landscape of historic Naval Hill - also home to the iconic statue of Nelson Mandela and the Franklin Game Reserve - the Naval Hill Planetarium was opened in 2013. It is the first digital planetarium in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is situated at the old Lamont-Hussey Observatory Building, which was closed in 1972.



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