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Protection Services enhances student safety

17 May 2023 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish

Shining the light on the darkness, which is crime.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Protection Services works around the clock to safeguard students in order to reduce risks of crime on and around the three UFS campuses. On 12 May 2023, the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Brandwag Sector Community Policing Forum (CPF), and Protection Services organised a safety awareness campaign from 19:00 to 21:00, which is the peak period for crime incidences in the neighbourhood.

“Continuous awareness to enhance student safety in the Brandwag area highlights the commitment of the UFS, SAPS, and the community through the CPF structure towards student safety,” said Jacobus van Jaarsveld, Deputy Director: Threat Detection, Investigations, Compliance and Liaison in Protection Services.

Mitigating risks and maximising safety

Students and staff are the most valuable assets of the UFS. Protection Services has various initiatives and a dedicated team that ensures the physical safety of all who study and work at the institution. The safety, health, and well-being of the university community remains the university’s priority. Off-campus safety and security are at the top of the list, hence Protection Services, in collaboration with external stakeholders, remains steadfast in its attempts to create a safe environment.

Continuous awareness campaigns

On 16 May 2023, Protection Services continued to spread safety awareness in the Universitas neighbourhood (with the assistance of students), where many UFS students live – first in Badenhorst Street and then in Stofberg Street. Throughout the year, these patrols and awareness initiatives will continue, expanding to the South and Qwaqwa campuses.

The UFS value framework includes compassion as a core virtue. As a result, we as a university take pleasure in our dedication to fostering environments that are not only favourable for excellent teaching, learning, and scholarship, but also emphasise the well-being and happiness of the campus community. Vision 130, an expansion of the strategic purpose to reposition the institution for 2034 when the university will celebrate its 130th anniversary, demonstrates our value of care.

Contact details:

If you need any assistance, call Protection Services on its toll-free number 0800 204 682, which is available 24/7.

Off-campus security liaison vehicle spotted in the safety convoy

Off-campus security liaison vehicle spotted in the safety convoy

The SAPS Visible Policing Unit present to raise awareness about safety

The SAPS Visible Policing Unit present to raise awareness about safety

Present in the fight to build safer neighbourhoods was the Sector 2 CPF

Present in the fight to build safer neighbourhoods was the Sector 2 CPF

Students living off campus engaged with the team during the anti-crime drive

UFS Protection Services together in arms with the SAPS and members of the CPF

Ensuring that students who live off campus remain a priority

Keeping the neighbourhood safe and secure is of the utmost importance

Keeping the neighbourhood safe and secure is of the utmost importance

Targeting crime hotspots and conducting a needs analysis of the students living in those areas to ensure their well-being

Working around the clock to serve and protect the lives of students living off campus

Promoting a crime-free off-campus environment

News Archive

#Women’sMonth: Men should help change narrative on violence against women – Prof Solomon

2017-08-23

The panellists at a discussion on Issues
Affecting Women at the UFS Sasol library were
Zane Thela, Head of the Gender and Sexual
Equity Office Programme, Pumla Mgobhozi, founding
member of Embrace a Sister, and
Prof Prof Hussein Solomon, Senior Professor in the
Department of Political Studies.
From the left, are: Thela, Mgobhozi, Prof Solomon,
and Betsy Eister, Director: Library and
Information Services.
Photo: Jóhann Thormählen

The fight to eradicate violence against women is one which men should be involved in. According to Prof Hussein Solomon, Senior Professor in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), men have to help change the narrative of physical abuse and sexual violence which they perpetrate against women and children.
“Let them (men who might be offended by the #men are trash) reject violent masculinities, and in the process let them redefine what being a man is about. Let fathers teach their sons that no means no.”

Panel discussion on Issues Affecting Women
Prof Solomon was part of a panel discussion on Issues Affecting Women, organised by the UFS library, in collaboration with the Gender and Sexual Equity Office and Embrace a Sister, as part of Women’s Month in the UFS Sasol library on 3 August 2017.
The other panellists were Zane Thela, Head of the Gender and Sexual Equity Office Programme at the UFS, and Pumla Mgobhozi, founding member of Embrace a Sister. Prof Solomon’s book Understanding Boko Haram, focusing on the kidnapping of 200 young women in Nigeria was also launched.

Don’t accept things as they are
Prof Solomon says that responses by the SA government have no credibility and a lot more could be done. “What is clear is that outrage alone will not end this violence.”
Even at SA universities there are many examples of how women are mistreated. “We need to ask: What more can we do as a university to assist these (female) students.”

According to Thela, it is sad that these issues are only talked about seasonally (like during Women’s Month).
Thela says people should raise their children differently in order to change the narrative. “Then men won’t think they have to prove themselves to women.”
And we shouldn’t accept things as they are: “The most dangerous statement in society is to say: ‘It has always been done this way."

Role of women in their fate
Mgobhozi emphasised that women have a hand in the way they are being seen and treated in society. She therefore asked: “What is the role of women in making sure that we dismantle patriarchy”.
According to her women, especially black women, should dismantle the status quo. She added that cultures and parents often influence the way women are seen.
“Women should fight these social problems together,” Mgobhozi says.

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