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20 February 2023 | Story Gerda-Marié van Rooyen | Photo Supplied
Nthabiseng (JahRose) Jafta, a Publishing Coordinator at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently received the Silver Medal Award and other accolades at the Eurasian Literary Festival held in Egypt. She says writing is a way of life for her and she writes anywhere and anytime.

Nthabiseng (JahRose) Jafta, a Publishing Coordinator at African Languages Press in the Library and Information Services at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently received the Silver Medal Award and other accolades at the Eurasian Literary Festival held in Egypt. Jafta, an MA scholar (Creative Writing) at Rhodes University, describes herself as an international performing poet, artpreneur, teacher, festival curator, content developer, and creative strategist born in the Free State.

Being an introvert, she says her love for writing gives her a voice. “I can echo my thoughts and colour my grey sky,” she explains poetically. She feels writing is as natural to her as breathing. She is comfortable writing anywhere and anytime. “There’s no physical area needed. We type on WhatsApp in the taxi. We catch brainwaves whenever they appear.” Jafta's creative juices seem to be overflowing, as she confessed to even getting an idea while contemplating her love for writing. “Life throws you prompts from all spheres, but you have to be present to recognise its call. And sometimes the piece decides if it wants to be happy, erotic, or sad.”
 
Her literacy cap serves Jafta's career as a publisher and her creative writing when time allows. “I read and write. Publish what I read or write. I also happen to recite, read, and sing what I write. It’s all in alignment.” This Deputy President of the National Writers Association of South Africa and founder of the Poetic Blues Virtual Festival writes in her mother tongue, Sesotho, and English. She also has additional experience in the poetry industry, as she was previously the Curator of the Macufe Poetry Festival. She also attended the International Writing Centre at Beijing Normal University part time. Her poems have also been translated into Mandarin and published in Chinese literary magazines.

Jafta says besides the growing catalogue of more than 40 publications, she also has an upcoming multilingual poetry compilation featuring Spanish, Danish, Mandarin, Arabic, KiSwahili, IsiZulu, and Sesotho translations from English. This poet believes poetry is a gift that feeds lyrics to melodies. “And that song carries us to humanity's highs and lows. Prose is how we navigate that gift daily. They are rainbows on melting clouds, events plants rejoice on their rhythmic drops.”

News Archive

Team on the way to SIFE world cup
2007-07-16

 

A team of students from the University of the Free State (UFS) has won a national competition in business skills and entrepreneurship, and will be representing South Africa at the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) World Cup in New York later this year.

The SIFE World Cup will be held in New York from 10 to 12 October, and will feature student teams from 40 countries.

Antonia Gumede, a UFS student, says the competition involves students developing sustainable business models based in the community, which are evaluated in terms of entrepreneurship, financial literacy, business ethics, market economics and success skills.

Gumede says the UFS entry won first prize in all five categories at this year’s national competition.

The UFS team consisted of seven students and two faculty advisers, and included a diverse group of students studying in fields such as accounting, psychology, social science and actuarial science.

The UFS won the national SIFE competition for three years in a row – 2002, 2003 and 2004. This year (2007), the UFS team emerged as the winner for the fourth time.

The Co-ordinator of Community Service in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Tessa Ndlovu, attributes the success of the team to the university’s policy of community service learning, which she says motivates students to get involved in academically grounded projects that contribute to the well-being of the community.

“The financial, academic and emotional support from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, as well as the faculty’s contribution to community service learning on the campus, contributes to the success of the team,” added Ndlovu.

The UFS SIFE team has been sweeping the board nationally. They first won the competition in 2002 and went on to represent the country at the SIFE World Cup in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), where they came fourth out of 33 countries.

In the following year (2003), the SIFE UFS team was once again crowned the national champion and went on to represent South Africa internationally, coming second in Mainz, Germany.

SIFE teams spend the academic year conducting projects that specifically meet the communities’ unique needs. These efforts assist aspiring entrepreneurs, struggling business owners, low-income families and children by teaching them how to succeed in a global market economy.

“Teams have the tremendous asset of learning from business experts who serve on their Business Advisory Boards. These people not only provide mentorship and guidance to them in terms of their projects, but also introduce them to other leaders in the community and give them access to needed resources,” said Nldovu.

“It is an unparalleled feeling to know that the contribution we as students make in our communities actually matters,” added Gumede.

Media release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@mail.ufs.ac.za  
16 July 2007
 

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