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Apartheid's Legacy – ghosts, psyche, and trauma

29 September 2023 | Story Samkelo Fetile

The University of the Free State (UFS) is set to host a compelling book launch event, exploring the lasting legacy of apartheid. This thought-provoking gathering is organised by the Deputy Vice-Chancellors (Research and Internationalisation; Institutional Change, Strategic Partnerships and Societal Impact), the Directorate for Institutional Advancement, and the Faculties of Law (Centre for Human Rights) and The Humanities, with a cocktail reception to follow.

The overarching question guiding the event is a thought-provoking one: Even though apartheid has formally ended, to what extent does its legacy persist? This enquiry sets the stage for an exploration of diverse facets of this legacy by three distinguished authors – Premesh Lalu, Wahbie Long, and Saleem Badat. Their recently published works, namely Undoing Apartheid (Polity Press, 2022), Nation on the Couch: Inside South Africa’s Mind (MF Books, 2021), and Tennis, Apartheid and Social Justice: The First Non-Racial International Tennis Tour, 1971 (UKZN Press, 2023), respectively offer textured insights into the enduring shadows cast by apartheid on contemporary realities.

These authors will engage in a conversation with Sarah Nuttall, Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at Wits and the former Director of the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER), who served in that capacity from 2012 to 2022.

Date: 12 October 2023

Time: 16:30-18:30

Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, UFS Bloemfontein Campus

For those interested in attending, RSVP by 6 October 2023 through the event registration. For further information, contact Alicia Pienaar at pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za.

The Speakers

The speakers include Premesh Lalu, Research Professor and former founding director of the Centre for Humanities Research (CHR) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC); Wahbie Long, Professor in the Department of Psychology and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town (UCT); and Saleem Badat, Research Professor in the Department of History at the UFS, former Programme Director of International Higher Education and Strategic Projects at the Andrew Mellon Foundation in New York, and former Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University.

As South Africa grapples with the lingering impact of its apartheid history, this event promises an insightful exploration of the continuing reverberations of this historical trauma, inviting participants to reflect on the ways in which it continues to shape the present.

News Archive

Van Niekerk shines in Ostrava and breaks 300 m world record

2017-06-29

Description: Van Niekerk shines in Ostrava Tags: Van Niekerk shines in Ostrava

Wayde van Niekerk is in great form leading up to the
World Championships in London in August.
Photo: Khothatso Mokone

Usain Bolt believes Wayde van Niekerk could well be his successor. Bolt, who has won eight Olympic and 11 world gold medals in his career, doesn’t doubt that the Kovsie athlete could take over the reins as an athletic superstar.

This after Van Niekerk broke another world record by Michael Johnson – 30.85 seconds in the 300 m which Johnson set in Pretoria in 2000 – at the IAAF Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on 28 June 2017. He took the honours in the 300 m in a time of 30.81 seconds. In 2016, Van Niekerk also improved on Johnson’s 400 m world record (43.18 s) with a time of 43.03 s at the Rio Olympics.

Unique honour over four distances
Because the 300 m event is not run very often, the record will be regarded as the world’s best by the IAAF. According to the IAAF, the 24-year-old Van Niekerk is now also the first man to run a sub-10 for the 100 m, sub-20 for 200 m, sub-31 for 300 m, and sub-44 for 400 m.

The legendary Bolt, who is in his final season, admitted that Van Niekerk could take over from him. “I think he really wants to be a sprinter, because he's set a personal best in the 100 m this year,” he said to AFP.

“He's shown that he's ready for the challenge. He's really down to earth, he's really humble, he's a great person. He listens and wants to be good, and if he continues like this he'll take over track and field."

Great run prior to Czech Republic
The 300 m world record follows after Van Niekerk also ran a personal best time of 9.94 in the 100 m in Velenje, Slovenia, on 20 June 2017. The 400 m world record-holder also became the South African record-holder in the 200 m again when ran a 19.84 in the 200 m at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, Jamaica, on 11 June 2017.

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