Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April July May June August September October November December
Previous Archive
12 January 2023 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied
Siphilangenkosi Dlamini
Siphilangenkosi Dlamini, University of the Free State student participating at the 2022 Africa YouLead Summit, was elected chairperson of the African Youth Business Council.
Siphilangenkosi Dlamini, a final-year undergraduate student in Political Governance and Transformation, is flying the University of the Free State flag high, leading initiatives on the continent that promote youth-led entrepreneurship and enterprise innovation, job creation, housing, and feeding for Africa’s youth population.

Participating in the annual Africa YouLead Summit in Arusha, Tanzania, where he was also appointed the Interim Chairperson of the African Youth Business Council with effect from 1 February 2023, Dlamini said: “The event was an opportunity to contribute with solutions to issues affecting young people across the continent, including political unrest and food security. We are urging leadership across the continent to not just make young people stakeholders but to contribute to the solutions and sustainable development.”

Dlamini is also serving as the Executive Chairperson of the United Nations in South Africa, a position he has held since January 2022.

The summit, organised by YouLead and held in December 2022, brought together young leaders from across Africa to discuss issues of importance to the continent and to share ideas and experiences. YouLead is a non-profit organisation empowering young people to become leaders in their communities and to drive positive change under the flagship of the African Union, East African Community, and the Southern African Development Community. 

Leading a South African delegation, Dlamini represented the UFS, with the theme for the 2022 summit being ‘Digital access and the future of work’, where he participated in a panel discussing regional security and peacekeeping.

During discussions, Dlamini said: “As the youth of Africa, we strive to move away from policy rhetoric to actual groundwork so as to domesticate the agenda of peace and security by operationalising structures at the grassroots, local efforts, and collaboration at the African Union level. One thing is sure, we are going to be radical about this agenda."

Dlamini said: “I was fortunate to also participate in the Under 40 Business Forum, with young people leading talks about empowerment and entrepreneurship.”

An entrepreneur himself, Dlamini is author of the book Magic and Other Authentic Experiences and Chief Executive Officer of Lihawu Logistics. 


Dlamini believes the summit was a valuable opportunity “to learn and to be inspired to take action and make a difference in their communities and beyond”.

News Archive

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages
2006-05-22

During the colloquium presented in Belgium by the Province Antwerp were from the left Prof Pol Cuvelier (University of Antwerp), Prof Theo du Plessis (Director: Unit for Language Management at the UFS), Mr Ludo Helsen (Permanent Deputy: Province of Antwerp) and Mr Jean-Pierre Rondas (Flemish radio journalist).

________________________________________________

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages at international conference

Prof Theo du Plessis, Director of the Unit for Language Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), was the main speaker at a colloquium titled “Routes:  Where to now? - Een traject van het Nederlands naar het Afrikaans en de Afrikatalen”, which was recently presented by the Province Antwerp in Belgium.

 The aim of the colloquium was to discuss the future cooperation in the field of language between the Province Antwerp and South Africa. 

 The Province Antwerp is already involved with projects in South Africa.  One of these projects is the Multilingual Information Development Programme (MIDP), a partnership project between the UFS and the Free State Province that is mainly funded by the Province Antwerp. 

 The project has been running since 1999 and was recently in the news with the presentation of a symposium on multilingualism and exclusion on the Main Campus of the UFS.  It is hoped that the Routes colloquium will indicate new stages on which can be added to the already successful cooperation in the area of language.

 Prof Du Plessis’s presentation titled “Nederlands, Afrikaans en die Afrikatale – kan samewerking slaag? Die geval MIDP in die Vrystaat”, investigated the successes that have been made with the MIDP.  He discussed two possible approaches to cooperation in the areas of language, that of a sentimentalistic  approach against an instrumentalistic approach. 

Cooperation in the first approach makes language the aim.  In the second approach language is used as a means to a greater aim.  According to Prof du Plessis the first approach is driven by a romantisised idea about the relation between the Flemish and Afrikaans speaking people, which may unfortunately polarise the position of Afrikaans in South Africa even further.

 He argues that, given the time that we are in, the second approach will deliver more constructive results as language can among others be used for to further  democracy in South Africa.   This can happen by cooperation in the institutionalising of multilingualism in our society.  The more languages are used in education, law and government administration, the more we can be assured a successful democracy.

 The Routes colloquium was facilitated by the well-known Flemish radio journalist, Jean-Pierre Rondas. About twenty South African and Flemish language specialists took part in the colloquium.  Dr Fritz Kok, outgoing chief executive officer of the ATKV took part in the opening ceremony and Dr Neville Alexander from the University of Cape Town and well-known activist for multilingualism in South Africa was also one of the main speakers.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept