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13 October 2023 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo PHOTO IAN VAN STRAATEN
Dr TK Mopeli lecture Group photo
Members of the Mopeli Royal Household with University of Free State Management.

The life and legacy of Dr TK Mopeli were remembered and celebrated during the TK Mopeli Memorial Lecture held on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus on 28 September.

As the campus celebrated 20 years as one of the delivery sites of the UFS, the memorial lecture was a fitting tribute to one of the leading champions who played a pivotal role in the founding of the Qwaqwa Campus. Dr Mopeli (1954-2014) is the former Chief Minister of the South African Bantustan of Qwaqwa. The Qwaqwa Campus was established in 1982 as a satellite of the historically black University of the North (UNIN), now the University of Limpopo. In 2003, the UFS underwent integration, which saw the Qwaqwa Campus merging with the Bloemfontein Campus to form a single, comprehensive university.

He also played an integral role in building more than 600 schools in Qwaqwa and Botshabelo in the Free State.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr Elias Malete, Senior Lecturer and Academic Head of the Department of African Languages in the Faculty of The Humanities at the University of the Free State, said Dr Mopeli contributed immensely to the education of black people.

“According to the work of other scholars such as Mbeki, the purpose of education is to create consciousness by revealing the truth through facts, to enable an appreciation of beauty, and to give people the capacity to create what is good for themselves, the world, and humanity. Dr TK Mopeli was a leader who invested in his people,” he said.

Members of the Mopeli Royal Household formed part of the lecture, as Dr Malete described Dr Mopeli as a humble leader, passionate about the advancement of his people and the preservation of the Basotho nation.

“Effective leadership must have the capacity to transform individuals, communities, and societies. When Dr TK Mopeli took over as a leader, black people were landless. Their physical spaces had been reduced to bantustans, and businesses in Qwaqwa were owned by white people. His leadership oversaw the development of the agriculture sector, industries, and tourism. Things began to get better.”

Dr Malete thanked the UFS for commemorating Dr Mopeli’s history as part of the celebrations. “He wasn’t a boastful man, but we need to sing his praises. Let us pay homage to this legend and unsung hero of the Basotho nation whose tireless efforts and monumental contributions will remain valuable to his people.”

News Archive

The management teams of the University of the Free State and the Vista University Bloemfontein campus set the wheels rolling for the incorporation of
2003-05-22

The management teams of the University of the Free State and the Vista University Bloemfontein campus set the wheels rolling for the incorporation of the Vista Bloemfontein campus into the UFS.

The incorporation process will be dealt with in two phases. The first phase would be preparing for a possible incorporation on 1 January 2004, including possible streamlining and review of programmes. The second phase would be part of developing the long term vision or optimal reconfiguration of the Vista facility (within the UFS as a multi-campus institution) in the interests of higher education in the Free State and the communities surrounding the two campuses in Bloemfontein.

At a meeting at the UFS both parties reached consensus about the process and set about establishing task teams to deal with critical issues, such as governance and management, financial management, human resources, information systems, library services, student support and administration, academic planning and academic programmes.

Prof Talvin Schultz, Head of the Vista Bloemfontein campus, committed this campus to making the process of incorporation into the UFS an exemplary process. UFS Rector Prof Frederick Fourie said the Free State should continue its tradition as a province where things happen and where higher education transformation has proceeded faster than elsewhere in the country.

Both emphasised the need for an inclusive process of consultation with staff, students and the community on key aspects of the incorporation.

They indicated that all planning should take into account a possible date of incorporation of 1 January 2004, pending finalisation by the respective Councils. The Councils of both institutions need to give feedback to the Minister of Education on the date of incorporation by the end of June, and the task teams must deliver an initial report on progress before then.


Prof Talvin Schultz (Vista Bloemfontein campus) and Prof Frederick Fourie (UFS)

 

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