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Join the Africa Month celebrations

07 May 2024 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Supplied

UFS Celebrating Africa Month — The University of the Free State celebrates 2024 Africa Month.

May is widely recognised across African nations as Africa Month, a time dedicated to commemorating the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, a precursor to the African Union (AU). This historic milestone marked a significant shift towards continental unity and the collective pursuit of nation-building, championing the ideals of freedom and liberation from oppression.

On 25 May 2024, Africa celebrates the 61st anniversary of the founding of the OAU, now evolved into the AU. In alignment with this rich tradition, the University of the Free State (UFS) is proud to embrace Africa Day and its core principles once again in 2024, hosting a series of engaging events to highlight the importance of African indigenous knowledge in higher education, both locally and globally.

Honouring our legacy

Even preceding the formation of the OAU in 1963, countless initiatives spearheaded by Africans, both on the continent and within its diaspora, aimed to reclaim Africa’s rightful place on the global stage. South Africans have notably been at the forefront of these efforts, with figures like Pixley ka Isaka Seme delivering his seminal speech on the “Regeneration of Africa” in 1906, a sentiment echoed by subsequent generations through various initiatives geared towards decolonisation and revitalisation.

Africa Month serves as a platform to promote and cultivate appreciation for African arts and culture, fostering robust trade markets and stimulating economic growth across the continent.

Shaping the future

Vision 130 stands as the UFS’s strategic roadmap towards 2034, when the university will celebrate its 130th anniversary. One of its core values of ‘Innovation and Impact’, underscores the institution’s commitment to driving societal progress through impactful endeavours. Embracing creativity and challenging conventional norms, the UFS aims to leverage its knowledge resources to propel the development of the Free State, South Africa, and the African continent, while also contributing to global knowledge and understanding. With a firm commitment to regional engagement, the UFS seeks to be a catalyst for positive change, both locally and continentally.

Events calendar

For 2024, the theme of Africa Month is “Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century”, as designated by the African Union. In celebration of this significant milestone, the UFS is organising a diverse array of events throughout the month of May:

5km Fun Run & Walk

The Faculty of Health Sciences will host a 5km Fun Run & Walk, featuring live music, fitness sessions by KovsieFit, and exciting prizes.

Date: 11 May 2024

Time: 06:00

Venue: Francois Retief Building, Bloemfontein Campus.

World citizenship and African higher Education

The Office for International Affairs will host an event on World Citizenship and African Higher Education focusing on preparing students for a globally connected world.

Date: 22 May 2024

Time: 16:00-18:00

Venue: Centenary Complex, Bloemfontein Campus

Livestream to Qwaqwa Campus: https://events.ufs.ac.za/e/events.ufs.ac.za/e/africa2024

Africa Month book launch

The Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) will host a launch a book titled Migration, Borders, and Borderlands꞉ Making National Identity in Southern African Communities which was edited by Dr Munyaradzi Mushonga, Prof John Aerni‑Flessner, Prof Chitja Twala and Dr Grey Magaiza.

Date: 22 May 2024

Time: 14:00 – 15:30

Venue: E0014, Education building, Qwaqwa Campus

Livestream: https://livestream.ufs.ac.za/

Africa Day Memorial Lecture

The CGAS on the Qwaqwa Campus will also host the Africa Day Memorial Lecture titled “Peacebuilding in Africa: Challenges, Trends, and Futures” presented by Prof Ismail Rashid.

Date: 22 May 2024

Time: 16:00-18:00

Venue: E0014 Education Building, Qwaqwa Campus

Livestream: https://livestream.ufs.ac.za/

Faculty of Theology and Religion Africa Day celebration

The Faculty of Theology and Religion on the Bloemfontein Campus will host an Africa Day Celebration.

Date: 24 May 2024

Time: 12:00-13:00

Venue: 10 H van der Merwe Scholtz Hall, Bloemfontein Campus

News Archive

Nuclear Medicine on the forefront of cancer research

2017-07-10

Dr Je’nine Horn-Lodewyk’s tumour detection method
could be the cost-effective breakthrough needed to decrease
the mortality rate in breast cancer patients.
Photo: Anja Aucamp

The field of Nuclear Medicine in South Africa and the rest of the world are expanding rapidly due to the development of hybrid cameras and new radiopharmaceuticals. These developments have a huge impact on the diagnosis and therapy of cancer.

The most advanced of these cameras, Positron emission tomography combined with normal CTs (PETCT), are not yet widely available in South Africa due to the cost of the cameras and the radiopharmaceuticals. A more cost-effective alternative can be of great benefit. To achieve this, the focus should be on developing new radiopharmaceuticals that can be used with the current cost-effective gamma cameras, according to University of the Free State researcher, Dr Je’nine Horn-Lodewyk from the Department of Nuclear Medicine.

Fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), a radiolabelled glucose analogue, is currently the radiopharmaceutical most commonly used in PET/CT imaging for mainly oncology indications. Although it is considered the gold standard for imaging in several malignancies, it does have certain disadvantages. An 18F-FDG PET/CT diagnostic imaging study can cost between R25 000 and R35 000 for a single patient in the private sector. The 18F-FDG is also more radioactive, which requires much stricter handling and shielding to avoid high radiation dosages to staff and patients.

Successful research potential innovative solution
In the search for the ideal radiopharmaceutical for tumour detection, the South African National Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) developed a local synthesis process for ethylenedicysteine-deoxyglucose (EC-DG). EC-DG is also a glucose analogue similar to FDG. They succeeded in labelling the compound with Technetium-99-metastable-pertechnetate (99mTcO4-), the most common nuclear medicine isotope used for approximately 95% of nuclear medicine procedures, creating 99mTc-EC-DG.

In partnership with Dr Horn-Lodewyk, this compound was successfully used in various animal models and clinical scenarios, resulting in approval by the Medicine Control Council to use it in a human study. Research is also planned in order to investigate diagnostic accuracy in other cancers like lymphoma. The end result of this research can produce a radiopharmaceutical that is cost effective, does not require the use of costly specialised equipment, has no significant side-effects, no special patient preparation, renders late imaging possible, and has decreased radiation risks.

Dr Horn-Lodewyk is grateful for the support of her mentor, Prof Anton Otto, as well as Dr Gert Engelbrecht, Head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Prof Jan Rijn Zeevaart from North-West University’s Preclinical Drug Development Platform and Necsa, and Judith Wagener from Necsa. This innovative research would also not have been possible without the financial assistance of Dr Glen Taylor and Eleanor van der Westhuizen in the Directorate of Research Development.

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