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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

Prof Moffett’s third book provides comprehensive guide to Basotho medicinal plants

2017-07-26

Prof Rodney Moffett’s three books documenting Basotho
plants, animals, and the history of the Free State and Lesotho.
Photo: Thabo Kessah

Prof Rodney Moffett has recently published his third book, Basotho Medicinal Plants – Meriana ya Dimela Tsa Basotho. This latest offering deals only with medicinal uses and is based on the data from his first book, Sesotho Plant and Animal Names and Plants Used by the Basotho.

“The latest book came about after a Sesotho language advisor in the Free State Department of Education suggested that there was a need for the medicinal uses of plants by the Basotho to be documented in the vernacular. In a situation where there is an almost total lack of scientific literature in the vernacular, the greatest value of this book therefore, is that it provides a comprehensive guide to the medicinal uses of plants in Sesotho,” said Prof Moffett, Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Plant Sciences on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Book lists names of plants in Sesotho
“It comprises two parts. Part one lists the medicinal categories and plants used, and part two lists the medicinal uses arranged according to the Sesotho names of the plants. It is easy to read, as the information is presented alphabetically with the Sesotho name first, followed by the scientific name and usage thereof. Because a plant often has more than one Sesotho name, the scientific name is included to identify it.”

Prof Chris Nhlapo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and Prof Ntsamaeeng Moteetee from the University of Johannesburg are impressed with the book, respectively saying that it assists in documenting the deep indigenous knowledge of the “proud tradition of the Basotho Nation” and it is “an important contribution to the documentation of medicinal plant uses”.

The title of Prof Moffet’s second book was A Biographical Dictionary of Contributors to the Natural History of the Free State and Lesotho.

Prof Moffett was honoured with a Lifetime Researcher Award during the Academic and Research Awards on the Qwaqwa Campus in November.

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