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UFS Qwaqwa Campus celebrates Africa Day with a multicultural fanfare

28 June 2023 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Supplied

The UFS Qwaqwa Campus Africa Day event celebrates African heritage and diversity.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus concluded Africa Month with a multicultural array of performances at their Africa Day Celebration event on 27 May 2023.

The Qwaqwa Campus is renowned for its traditional flair, and each of the 17 performers captivated the audience with cultural ingenuity, creating an atmosphere of excitement and energy in the campus’ Mandela Hall. Students came together to honour Africa’s rich cultural heritage through traditional music, dance, poetry, cuisine, and fashion. The Department of Student Affairs and the Office for International Affairs collaborated to make the celebrations a resounding success.

According to the campus’ Student Life Senior Officer, Simbongile Jojo, the event served a greater purpose beyond artistic expression. “The celebration allowed students to share their rich cultures and heritage. It also encouraged students to take an interest in expanding their knowledge of other cultures, fostering a sense of multicultural solidarity and unity.”

Celebrating and embracing cultures outside one’s own

In addition to the music, dance, and spoken word, external fashion designers were given a platform to showcase their garments, adding an extra flair to diversity and artistic expression.

The Director of Student Affairs on the campus, Zoleka Dotwana, said her division prioritised student cohesion and celebrating and embracing cultures outside their own. “What a fantastic arts and culture event. Amid the freezing weather conditions, I haven’t seen such enthusiasm and social cohesion among students since the first-year welcoming week. The event was about celebrating Africa as a collective of citizens from various corners and doing so with pride. Our partnership with the International Office came in handy as well. I would like to highlight that Qwaqwa students are exceptionally talented. How I wished we had more time for them to enjoy themselves.

The Qwaqwa Campus introduced colleges for on- and off-campus students in 2023, and Dotwana said the model was already bearing fruit in bringing the student community together. “It was encouraging to see the participation of off-campus students and witness how proud students were in parading their cultures. I was surprised to find out that we have Tsonga students on the campus.”

News Archive

Central SRC constitution for UFS approved by Council

2005-07-20

University of the Free State Fact Sheet

1. The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) on 10 June 2005 unanimously approved the establishment of a Central Student Representative Council (CSRC) to constitute a legitimate basis for the democratic participation of students of all three of its campuses in the governance of the university.

2. In a major breakthrough and transformation step for student governance, the Central SRC will include representatives of the main campus in Bloemfontein, the Vista Bloemfontein campus and the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS.

3. The need to establish the Central SRC follows the incorporation of the Qwaqwa campus into the UFS in January 2003 and the incorporation of the Vista campus in Bloemfontein into the UFS in January 2004.

4. The constitution of the Central SRC is the outcome of a consensus reached during a lengthy process of negotiation between the SRCs of the three UFS campuses, indirectly involving diverse student formations such as Sasco, ANCYL, YCL, Pasma, SASO, SADESMO, AZASCO, SCO, HEREXVII, KovsieAlliance, ACDP, etc. Independent constitutional and political experts facilitated key parts of the negotiation process.

5. In this process, the UFS management went out of its way to ensure the participation of all student formations, especially Sasco and the ANC Youth League, as well as the duly elected SRC officials of the three campuses.

6. With the establishment of a Central SRC, the UFS has adopted a federal student governance model whereby the CSRC is the highest representative student body on matters of common concern for all students. The three campuses of the UFS will retain SRC structures for each campus with powers and responsibilities for matters affecting the particular campus.

7. The central SRC will have 12 members made up of delegates of the different campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. In total, the main campus will have 5 representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have 4 representatives and the Vista campus will have 3 representatives. This ratio ensures a strong voice for the smaller campuses in the central SRC.

8. This arrangement will be reviewed after a year to make allowance for the phasing out of undergraduate (pipeline) students at the Vista campus, as was agreed in the negotiations preceding the incorporation of that campus into the UFS.

9. From these 12 members a central SRC president will be chosen on a quarterly basis to represent the general student body at Executive Management, Senate and Council.

10. The historic official inauguration of the first Central SRC is scheduled to take place in early August 2005.

11. This event, like the adoption of a broadly negotiated new constitution for the main campus SRC, represents a breakthrough in that all three campus SRCs delegations and all relevant student organizations have been part of the process and have accepted the outcome of the process.

20 July 2005

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