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02 May 2024 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo right
UFS - Thought-Leader Webinar

2024 UFS Thought-Leader Webinar Series

PRESENTS

a webinar titled

2024 Elections: Promises, Perils, and Delivery: What the Future Holds After 29 May 2024?

The University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased to present its first webinar for the year, titled 2024 Elections: Promises, Perils, and Delivery: What the Future Holds After 29 May 2024? – which is part of the 2024 Thought-Leader Webinar Series. As a public higher-education institution in South Africa with a responsibility to contribute to public discourse, the university will be presenting the webinar as part of the UFS Thought-Leader Series, which is in its sixth consecutive year.  The aim of the webinar series is to discuss issues facing South Africa by engaging experts at the university and in South Africa.

 

Webinar presented on 23 May 2024

On 29 May 2024, South Africans will go to the polls. This election is considered by South Africans as significant and much needed since the end of apartheid in 1994. South Africa is plagued by record power cuts, poor service delivery, and high levels of unemployment, with drastic effects on businesses and the local economy. Coinciding with the celebration of 30 years of freedom and democracy, this seventh democratic election is a turning point for South Africa to determine the desired future for all South Africans.

Date:   Thursday 23 May 2024

Time: 12:30-14:00

RSVP:  Click to view document HERE no later than 22 May 2024.

Some of the topics discussed by leading experts in 2023 included, among others, Threats to South Africa’s stability and security challenges; The need for a global and regional plan / approach to respond to the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war; and Student protest action, politics, and higher education.

Facilitator:

 

Prof Francis Petersen

Vice-Chancellor and Principal, UFS

 

Panellists:

Prof Bonang Mohale

Chancellor, UFS

 

Dr Ebrahim Harvey

Political writer and commentator

 

Bios of speakers:

Prof Bonang Mohale

Prof Bonang Mohale is the Chancellor of the University of the Free State, former President of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Professor of Practice in the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) College of Business and Economics, and Chairman of two listed entities – the Bidvest Group Limited and ArcelorMittal, as well as SBV Services and Swiss Re Corporate Solutions! He is a member of the Community of Chairpersons (CoC) of the World Economic Forum and author of two best-selling books, Lift As You Rise and Behold The Turtle! He has been included in the Reputation Poll International’s (RPI) 2023 list of the ‘100 Most Reputable Africans’. The selection criteria are integrity, reputation, transparency, visibility, and impact. He is the recipient of the 2023 ME-Vision Academy’s ‘Exclusive Recognition in Successful Leadership’ Award for consistently leading self successfully, consistently leading people successfully, successfully leading as a senior executive and CEO, successfully leading society in various impactful roles, and his contribution to mentoring and inspiring future successful leaders.

 

Dr Ebrahim Harvey

Dr Ebrahim Harvey is a political writer, analyst, commentator, former Cosatu trade unionist, and Mail & Guardian columnist. He is currently a News24 columnist. He also wrote the authorised biography of former president, Kgalema Motlanthe (2012), and The Great Pretenders: Race and Class under ANC Rule (2021), which won the 2022 SA Literary Award for Non-Fiction. He holds a master’s degree in Public and Development Management and a PhD degree in Sociology, both from the University of the Witwatersrand.

News Archive

Heidedal-based foundation and UFS host inaugural music concert
2015-12-04

ROC children rock in marimba music
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

Reach Our Community (ROC) Foundation in conjunction with the University of the Free State’s Odeion School of Music (OSM) held its first-ever music concert last month. Children who form part of the foundation’s Afterschool Care programme showed their impressive music skills to their parents and guardians in attendance.

ROC provides support to orphaned and vulnerable children from early childhood through to adolescence in the Heidedal community in Bloemfontein. The foundation strives to address the challenges resulting from factors such as poverty, unemployment, HIV/Aids, single parenting, lack of guardianship, and physical and sexual abuse. In the Afterschool Care programme, the children engage in educational, cultural, and recreational activities.

Going the extra mile

Since 2008, the UFS has successfully partnered with ROC through service learning and community engagement in which students from across all seven faculties participate. Two Music Education and Practice students from the OSM took it upon themselves to continue after their curriculum requirements were met.

Amy Viljoen- now a final-year BMus student, together with fellow student, Petre du Plessis, and their lecturer and programme coordinator, Gerda Pretorius, established the music class project in Heidedal in 2014. The students embarked on weekly trips to ROC, and would spend an hour working on the recorders and marimbas with children from ROC.

This year, Viljoen and Kara-Lynn Crankshaw, a final-year BA Music student, spent eleven months teaching the children music practice and theory, culminating in a concert that both the community and students can be proud of.

“I wanted to do something that was not only meant for educational purposes, but to give back to the community,” said Viljoen.

After having to gather extra chairs because of the influx of community members at the ROC hall, the founder, Patrick Kaars, said he had not expected such a turn-out. “It exceeded my expectations, and it was a dream come true. It meant so much to the children to be exposed to music, and to explore their own capabilities and talents.”

More children will learn how to play other instruments. Currently, the instruments used for the children’s training were purchased second-hand in order to cut costs. New music education specialists, who will join the programme in 2016, will also work with Pretorius to gather additional equipment, and compile learning material.

Kaars is also thrilled about the potential expansion to the music group, now that the concert has become an annual event. The OSM is also in the process of establishing a Centre for Music Development at ROC.

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