Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Months
January February March April July May June August September October November December
Previous Archive
03 October 2023 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons
Dr Asha Malan
Dr Asha Malan, Head of Vascular Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), was elected as the President-elect for the Vascular Society of Southern Africa – the first woman in South Africa to be elected for this position in the Society’s 40-year existence.

Dr Asha Malan, the Head of Vascular Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), has made history by being elected as the President-elect for the Vascular Society of Southern Africa. This milestone marks the first time a woman in South Africa has attained this prestigious position in the Society’s 40-year existence.

Dr Malan, an exemplary surgeon and a trailblazer, is not only one of the seven qualified female vascular surgeons in the country but also holds the distinction of being the youngest and first female to head an academic unit in South Africa. Her election took place at the recently concluded 2023 Vascular Society of Southern Africa (VASSA) Congress, a significant event for the UFS Division of Vascular Surgery, under her leadership as the congress chairperson. The Congress was hosted at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, Cape Town, in collaboration with the World Federation of Vascular Societies (WFVS) and the European Society of Vascular Surgery (ESVS).

Reflecting on her achievement, Dr Malan remarked, “It is not only an honour to be the first woman in 40 years to lead this Society, but an honour to be elected for this role.  VASSA has established a well-recognised international footprint and has invested significantly in promoting the growth of vascular surgery as a specialised surgical field in South Africa.” 

She added, “Representing the Society in this capacity allows me to continue serving its members and the Southern African community, creating awareness not only about the growing burden of vascular diseases but also the advancements in the field to address these challenges.” 

First gathering since 2018

The 2023 VASSA Congress marked the first gathering of Vascular Surgery specialists in South Africa since 2018, a gap caused by the pandemic. The event was attended by approximately 300 delegates, including nursing staff, radiographers, vascular technologists and other allied health professionals with a keen interest in Vascular Surgery. VASSA sponsored nursing staff, a radiographer and a vascular technologist from Universitas Academic Hospital to attend the meeting. 

The high-quality, four-day programme featured talks from local and international experts covering various aspects of vascular surgery, such as aortic surgery, peripheral arterial disease, carotid pathology, dialysis access and venous disease.  Notably, the academic programme saw the participation of 32 international speakers. Guest speaker, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, the founder of the Gift of the Givers Foundation, delivered an inspiring talk during the ethics session titled “Humanitarian efforts within the Healthcare Sector – Sharing the Responsibility”.  

Presentations

During the Congress, Dr Malan and several Vascular Surgeons from the Department of Surgery represented the UFS. Dr Malan shared her experiences in developing a dedicated unit for the management of complex thoraco-abdominal aneurysmal disease, a talk that garnered significant interest and applause from both local and international experts. 

In her presentation, Dr Malan took the audience through her journey to several different international units to gain expertise in open thoraco-abdominal aortic surgery. She also highlighted the UFS Division of Vascular Surgery’s achievement of being the first academic Vascular Surgery unit in South Africa to perform a complex endovascular aortic aneurysm repair.  In addition, Dr Sam Letsoara and Dr Wikus Mulder, Vascular Surgery Fellows in training, presented the local evolution of endovascular therapy as well as an audit of endovascular management of blunt thoracic aortic injury at Universitas Academic Hospital, respectively.  Dr Sam Agbo, a registrar in the Department of Surgery, also presented his MMed research, evaluating the cost of open versus endovascular management of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

The Congress significantly contributed to the promotion of Vascular Surgical awareness and care, not only in South Africa, but across Africa and globally. It stands as a testament to the dedication and expertise of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the University of the Free State.

News Archive

Council votes on appointment of senior staff
2004-11-18

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) today voted on the filling of three senior vacancies, including one post at Dean level and two at the level of Vice-Dean.

The Council voted as follows:

Dr Natie Luyt will be offered the post of Dean: Student Affairs Prof Engela Pretorius will be offered the post of Vice-Dean: Faculty of Humanities Dr Choice Makhetha will be offered the post of Vice-Dean: Student Affairs

“There are special challenges for the UFS in the short and medium term regarding transformation of our residences, and a certain combination of management qualities and skills is desirable. As a result of the diversity of the UFS’s student community it is therefore important to us to follow a team approach to deal with the challenges. With the combination of Drs Luyt and Makhetha, I believe we will be able to manage student affairs effectively and skillfully,” says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

“It is wonderful that we are able to celebrate the outcome of this process that has brought forward such excellent candidates who reflect our country’s diversity. It shows that we can achieve the goals of quality and diversity at the same time,” says Prof Fourie.

Prof Pretorius obtained all her qualifications (BA, BA (Hons) (cum laude), MA (cum laude) and D Phil) from the UFS, except for the Certificate in Gender Policy Management (cum laude) which she obtained in 2000 from WITS. She joined the Department of Sociology at UFS in 1980 and has headed the Department since 2001. She acted as Vice-Dean: Faculty of Humanities since July 2004. She has some thirty publications to her credit, published both nationally and internationally and has delivered 20 national and international papers. She is a member of the South African Sociological Association and is a member of the Council of the association and of the Editorial Board of Society in Transition, the society’s journal. She is also a member of the South African Academy for Science and Art and the Federation of African Women Educationalists in South Africa (FAWESA). Project involvement includes the Australian Women’s Executive Development Programme and the project Executive Development of Senior Women in South African Higher Education Institutions. She is also an NRF panelist.

Dr Luyt obtained his qualifications (BA, BA (Hons) (cum laude), MA (cum laude) and D Phil) at the UFS and started his career at the same institution in 1980 as lecturer in Political Science. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1983 and appointed as Director: Student Affairs in 1997. He has been acting as Dean: Student Affairs since 2003. Dr Luyt completed several work-related training courses, among others a course in ethnic and multiculturality at the Swiss Institute for Federalism and a course in conflict management at the South Tyrolean Economic and Social Institute.

Dr Makheta also obtained all her qualifications (BA, BA (Hons), MA in Political Science and Ph D in Political Science) at the UFS and started working as a student assistant in Political Science at the same institution in 1999. She was promoted to junior assistant in 2000, coordinator and facilitator of Political Science in 2001, assistant/acting Director: Student Affairs in 2001 and acting Director: Student Affairs in 2003. Dr Makhetha is currently a Senior Political Analyst at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The UFS Council also approved the promotion of nine professors to the rank of senior professor. They are Proff Louise Cilliers (Department English and Classical Languages), Dap Louw (Department of Psychology), Philip Nel (Department Afro-Asiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice), Dirk van den Berg (Department of History of Art and Visual Culture Studies) Dingie van Rensburg (Director: Centre for Health Systems Research and Develoment), Andries Raath (Department of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law), James du Preez (Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology), Johan Grobbelaar (Department of Plant Sciences) and Louis Scott (Department of Plant Sciences).

This is the first group ever of senior professors at the UFS. The post level was created to provide better career and earnings opportunities for high quality academics and to increase the attractiveness of an academic career to young people.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
 

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept