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08 August 2023
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Story EDZANI NEPHALELA
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Photo EDZANI NEPHALELA
Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Xhariep Municipality Corporate Services Director, and Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, sign a memorandum of understanding to enrich various communities in the Xhariep Municipality areas through leadership training.
The University of the Free State (UFS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Xhariep Municipality that is aimed at positively impacting communities through strategic partnerships. The organisations plan for their collaboration to make a significant difference by training 35 of their employees via the UFS Business School – 15 will undertake the Foundation Skills Short Learning Programme, and 20 the Bachelor’s degree in Management Leadership.
This joint effort will equip these employees with essential skills and knowledge and empower them to carry out their responsibilities efficiently and effectively. Rooted in the UFS’s Vision 130, this initiative fosters positive change within the community by enhancing social justice and innovation.
Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, emphasised the university's dedication to human resource development and empowering individuals. “We were very excited when we got this engagement with you, and I hope it will be fruitful for you, because that’s the intention. We are also reaching out to other municipalities because we are doing it for our country, and the sooner we do it, the better the services you will deliver to people.”
Xhariep Municipality expressed gratitude for the collaboration, recognising its significance in empowering its employees. Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Corporate Services Director at the municipality, thanked the university for accepting the partnership. “As a municipality, we are interested in capacitating our employees to perform their duties optimally. It is through these partnerships that we reach our intended targets. This is the first two projects, and many more will be coming as our partnership progresses, and we intend to use this opportunity to the best of our abilities.”
Jafta said that such partnerships encourage a more interconnected and interdependent world. “As organisations work towards common goals, they create a ripple effect that can lead to a brighter and more promising future and play a vital role in shaping a positive and sustainable future.”
Distinguished academic bids farewell to UFS
2008-09-05
Prof Nel and his wife, Olivia |
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The Director of the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Phillip Nel, is leaving the University after 33 years of service.
Prof Nel has decided to scale down his involvement with the UFS and CAS to spend more time with his wife, Olivia, and his family and doing more research.
“There comes a time that one must go and this is it for me, but from time to time I wonder whether I have done all that I was meant to do”, said Prof Nel. “I strongly believe that no one is irreplaceable and I know that the Centre for Africa Studies is in good hands.”
His successor, Prof Anwar Osman, an internationally renowned academic himself, assumed the directorship of CAS on 1 September 2008.
“My intention is to build on the groundwork done thus far and to broaden the teaching and research base of the Centre to include the natural sciences as well, truly making CAS a beacon for multidisciplinary study”, said Prof Osman.
“The future success of this centre will be a lasting testament to Prof Nel’s visionary leadership.”
Although he will be leaving the ranks of the full-time employed at the UFS, Prof Nel will still be involved with CAS’s research programme and still has a number of active research projects, such as the SANPAD Project, entitled Communities in Communion, which involves the dynamics of sacred sites and individual and community cultural and spiritual identity construction.
He launched CAS in 2007 to promote a stronger focus on African issues in all activities at the UFS and to fulfil an academic role by linking the realities of Africa to education, research and community service programmes.
Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
4 September 2008
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