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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 withdraws interdict against SASCO and ANCYL

2003-11-25

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Prof Frederick Fourie, announced today that a court order against the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) had been withdrawn.

The withdrawal of the court order follows after a written statement by SASCO and the ANCYL in which they “unconditionally withdraw or retract statements threatening to render the institution ungovernable” and give their “commitment not to proceed with our threats to establish our own democratic SRC and occupy the current SRC offices”.

The UFS management obtained the court order in October after SASCO and the ANCYL refused to accept the outcome of the recent student referendum and SRC elections and threatened to disrupt the campus.

Prof Fourie also welcomed the undertaking by SASCO and the ANCYL to act in accordance with the prescribed procedures to resolve any grievance that the organisations may have, saying the UFS management remains committed to a constructive dialogue with all student organisations to manage a campus of diversity, tolerance and non-racialism.

In September students voted in a referendum to test support for a system of proportional representation (PR) for the SRC. A vast majority of students voted against the PR system, a system favoured by SASCO and the ANCYL..

Following allegations of fraud in the referendum, the UFS management asked the auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers to conduct an independent audit of the ballot papers.

The auditors found that a total of 180 ballot papers out of 3513 – only 5.12% - of the votes cast - appeared to have been altered by means of erasing and then changing the student number.

According to the auditors, with all potentially altered and suspicious ballot papers excluded, a huge majority of 60,8% of students voted against the proportional representation system.

A few days after the referendum, the actual SRC election was held. However, at no stage were there any complaints from any organization about the integrity of the SRC election itself.

Despite this and the findings of the auditors, SASCO and the ANCYL refused to accept the outcome.

Law student Quintin du Plessis was elected SRC president. He welcomed the stance taken by SASCO and the ANCYL to pursue their objectives through the existing structures and said the SRC was always willing to engage with these organisations on issues of student governance.

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