The awarded author, Dr Zakes Mda, received his honorary doctorate at the University of the Free State at the December Graduation Ceremony. Pictured here with him is Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the UFS.

Live streaming will be available: http://www.ufs.ac.za/ufslivestreaming/ 

On Thursday 5 December 2013, the University of the Free State (UFS) will award more than 300 degrees and qualifications during the Summer graduation at the Bloemfontein Campus.

The graduation will take place during two ceremonies in the Callie Human Centre, where master’s and PhD degrees will be awarded during the first ceremony at 10:15 and diplomas, certificates and undergraduate qualifications awarded to students from the School of Open Learning and the Faculty of Health Sciences at 14:30.

An honorary doctorate from the UFS will also be bestowed on the author, Dr Zakes Mda, during the morning ceremony.

Dr Mda is a South African literary icon and public intellectual with extraordinary local and international influence. Mda’s contribution to world literature and contemporary South African public life resonates powerfully with some of the fundamental principles of the Academic and Human Projects articulated in the strategic thrust of the University of the Free State, which makes him an ideal candidate for an honorary doctorate from our university.

Some of his most famous works include Ways of Dying, Heart of Redness, The Madonna of Excelsior, The Whale Caller, Cion, Black Diamond and his recent memoir: Sometimes There is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider.

The Springbok rugby player, Jannie du Plessis, will address graduandi during both ceremonies.