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Mokitlane Manyarela celebrates four decades of commitment to the UFS

17 October 2023 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Nonsindiso Qwabe

He has seen the many changing faces of the Qwaqwa Campus, and four decades later, Mokitlane Manyarela says he would not have it any other way.

Fondly known on campus as ‘Ntate Manyarela’, he has been with the campus for 41 years, having started on 1 January 1982 at the ripe age of 18 years. Manyarela recently received a long-service award for 36 years of service, dating back to when the campus moved to its current location from where it started at Lere la Tshepe in 1982.

He recalls arriving at the campus offices in town in 1982 seeking employment, as there were no “buildings or campus” back then.

“I started working as a general worker because there was nothing else to do. All the university’s content would come from Turfloop in those days. As time went by, I worked in the reprographic section, printing exam papers. That was my first official job until the campus moved in 1988 to where we’re now located. All the buildings that are now filling this campus were constructed right in front of my eyes,” he said.

He went on to work for various departments on the campus, such as procurement, cashiers, and finance. In 2007, he joined the transport department, and that is where he is still working as an assistant officer. “What’s made me stay this long is not getting into fights with anyone and always following instructions given to me. I’ve worked under many different bosses, and I believe that none of them have anything negative to say about me. Therefore, I can say I’ve never had a reason to leave because everything I’ve done, I have done wholeheartedly.”

Manyarela said the university also afforded his wife and children the opportunity to obtain their degrees, which is something he considers a huge achievement. “All that I have has been achieved at this institution. It’s been a wonderful journey. I have no complaints, and I am content. I’ve reached my old age here. I don’t know any other job or work environment; this place has become like home to me, and I’m prepared to still give my all to this university, even though old age is now catching up with me.”

News Archive

UFS receives research grant focusing on enablement of non-profit organisations

2011-01-20

Prof. Mabel Erasmus

The University of the Free State (UFS) has received a research grant to the value of R1,1 million from the National Research Foundation (NRF) to conduct research on community engagement, with the emphasis on knowledge as enablement – a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) focus.

This was the first time the NRF had requested applications for research with a focus on community engagement (CE). With the grant, the UFS has become one of the first recipients of a research grant that focuses on community engagement.

The overarching research question that will be dealt with is how Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the NPO sector can establish long-term, research-based collaborative engagements that will be mutually empowering and enabling through joint, reciprocal knowledge-based activities and capacity building.

The contention that this proposal is based on, is that HEIs have limited knowledge of the NPO sector and thus are unable to be fully responsive to the challenges that NPOs face. What is more, it is very likely that staff and students from HEIs do not have an adequate grasp of the experiential understanding, contextual community knowledge and practical know-how that NPO practitioners have, and hence do not appreciate the crucial contributions that they can make with regard to meaning-making processes aimed at improving some of the harsh South African realities.

According to Prof. Mabel Erasmus, Associate Professor and Head of the university’s Division: Service Learning, which submitted the research proposal to the NRF and is the grant-holder, the university would like the information generated by the research to be beneficial to both HEIs and the NPOs. “Knowledge regarding NPOs, specifically their challenges and information about what they are doing, will be invaluable to HEIs. At the same time, the research must benefit the NPOs with knowledge to improve their practice and strengthen their functioning.

“The research will take place in close collaboration with the NPOs, as their inputs are crucial. The research will thus not be ‘about’ them but ‘with’ them.”

“We do not want to send our students for community-based education or as volunteers to NPOs year after year and it does not mean as much to them as these organisations would hope for. With the research process we would like to strengthen NPOs, to build their capacity and give them our whole-hearted cooperation,” she said.

Funding received from the grant will be applied over a period of three years. Except for the study grants for five Ph.D. students and four master’s students, the grant will further make provision for a number of workshops, a local conference, a publication and presentations at international conferences on this matter. The research team of 22 persons includes academics from other HEIs such as the Central University of Technology, University of Zululand, University of Johannesburg and Monash SA. Several staff members of NPOs also form part of the team, including REACH (Bfn), Childline (FS) and others.

Prof. Erasmus said that the UFS was one of a few institutions that were currently conducting research to this extent on the link between the NPO sector and HEIs within the field of community engagement.

Media Release
18 January 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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