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17 May 2023 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo SUPPLIED
Matsimela Setenane
Matsimela Setenane speaking about his book Haeso ke Naheng at the launch event on the Qwaqwa Campus.

In celebration of African linguistic diversity and the power of indigenous creative expression, the UFS African Languages Press, in collaboration with the Academy for Multilingualism on the Qwaqwa Campus, kick-started Africa Month with the launch of the African Languages Press on the campus, as well as the Multilingual Hub, and finally, its first product, a book titled Haeso ke Naheng by former UFS Qwaqwa Campus student Matsimela Setenane.

The African Languages Press was launched on the Bloemfontein Campus in May 2022.

In her opening remarks, Dr Tholani Hlongwa, Deputy Director of the Academy of Multilingualism, said the Languages Press and Multilingual Hub would work together to publish high-quality original content in African languages. “We will promote writing in African languages and position the UFS as a hub, promoter, and preserver of African languages in South Africa. We want to support upcoming authors by providing high-quality editorial services and bridge the gap left by the mainstream publishing industry by increasing the publication of African languages, among other things.” 

A creative expression of the Sesotho language

Haeso ke Naheng, a fictional Sesotho novel, looks at the life of Thabo, an orphan who witnessed the takeover of his place of birth. He grows up to be a revolutionary Sesotho warrior who fights to reclaim his birthplace. His story resonates with his life; the author told the audience during the book launch. “Through writing this book, I discovered a lot about my origins as a Mosotho man. It is our responsibility as young people to continue digging to discover who we are so that we, too, will have knowledge to pass on to our children”, he said.

Setenane was born and bred in Qwaqwa and obtained his BSc degree majoring in Physics and Chemistry qualification from the Bloemfontein Campus in 2019. His love for Sesotho literature has grown over the years, and he hopes to produce more literature that celebrates the creative expression of his culture. He is currently busy with his first poetry anthology, which is also in Sesotho.

A platform to reignite free expression in indigenous languages

The guest speaker for the launch was Dr Edwin Mohatlane, who praised the UFS for the strides it's taking towards preserving and promoting African indigenous languages. “This is a milestone in the development of our languages. Our languages are doomed to extinction because of our attitudes towards them. I hope that the African Languages Press and the Multilingual Hub will be used to promote the literary and aesthetic talents in our languages”, he said.

News Archive

Doing what must be done – Fourth Reconciliation Lecture by Colm McGivern
2015-03-17

Colm McGivern
Photo: Johan Roux

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Fourth Reconciliation Lecture: Audio

McGivern: speech (pdf)

The UFS Annual Reconciliation Lecture brings leaders, scholars, and the broader community together in a shared vision for social change and conflict transformation. This event is organised by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Senior Research Professor in Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation Studies. In 2012, Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature, was the first speaker to deliver the lecture. This year, at the Fourth Annual Reconciliation Lecture held on the Bloemfontein Campus, Colm McGivern, Director of the British Council in South Africa, continued the legacy.

Doing what must be done
'I get down on my knees and do what must be done
And kiss Achilles' hand, the killer of my son.'
(Ceasefire by Michael Longley)

Using this poem to powerful effect, McGivern showed what reconciliation asks of each and every citizen: to do what must be done. “I think that peace and reconciliation are mutually dependent,” he said. “You can’t maintain one over the long run without attending to the other.”

South Africa’s history has tracked along a similar path to that of Northern Ireland. “And lessons from other places can be powerful and instructive,” McGivern said. Sometimes reconciliation needs a focal point for people to clearly see its power, as Madiba has for South Africa. But at other times, reconciliation needs everyday citizens to “kiss Achilles’ hand’”.

McGivern mentioned Candice Mama and her family, who  have recently forgiven Eugene de Kock,. Or as Gordon Wilson did after his daughter, Mary, died holding his hand in the 1987 Enniskillen bombing in Ireland. In a TV interview mere hours later, Wilson forgave the killers of his daughter, and  hope rippled across Ireland.

Learning from others
“People’s capability,” McGivern said, “to reconcile their own differences, however stark, can be boosted by learning from others in other places, internationally or perhaps just beyond their own identity group.” A powerful truth now being pursued in a joined initiative between the British Council and Teaching Divided Histories.

As an example, McGivern referred to the short film, ‘In Peace Apart’ where one Catholic and one Protestant girl decide to swop school uniforms. Harnessing the potential of moving images and digital media, the initiative enables teachers to explore contentious issues of history and identity in the classroom. This international field of conflict education draws lessons “from activities in Sierra Leone, India, Lebanon, and, of course, South Africa.”

Resuscitation of the national spirit of magnanimity
Here in South Africa, Archbishop Desmund Tutu has “called for a resuscitation of the national spirit of magnanimity and common purpose”, McGivern quoted. In the book, 80 Moments that Shaped the World, South Africa appears four times, McGivern pointed out. And as Archbishop Tutu wrote in the foreword of the book, “no act is unforgivable; no person or country is beyond redemption and the world needs more people to reach out to one another.”

 

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za.

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