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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.”
Students applaud Prof Jansen one last time
2016-08-11
Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the
University of the Free State, talks to a student outside the
Library of the South Campus on Tuesday 26 July 2016
during the Talk To Me session.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin
“The Talk To Me session made me feel like I mattered.”
This was one of the compliments the University of the Free State (UFS) and Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, received after the last Talk To Me sessions for the year.
On 25 and 26 July 2016, Prof Jansen gave staff and students on the Bloemfontein and South Campuses a chance to pull up a chair and have a chat with him on issues that mattered to them.
The students commended Prof Jansen on this great initiative as they felt their voices were being heard. It allowed them an opportunity to speak to him directly, as well as to make suggestions on things they were concerned about. “I really appreciate this manner of allowing students to have a chat with Prof Jansen,” a student said, giving feedback on the session.
Students were very pleased with the professionalism and organisation of the whole session, but requested that it be held more often, therefore giving more students the opportunity to converse with Prof Jansen. The majority of the students suggested that the session with Prof Jansen should run longer than just an hour as there were a large number of students who would appreciate a heart-to-heart chat with Prof Jansen.