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06 August 2025 | Story Lilitha Dingwayo | Photo Supplied
Mobi Readathon
Attending the MobiReadathon (left to right): Rasesemola Elias, Principal Librarian, Fezile Dabi District; Mzwandile Radebe, Principal Librarian, Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality; Jeannet Molopyane, Director, UFS Library and Information Services; Nomabhaso Ramugondo, Director, Free State Provincial Library Services; Elmari Kruger, Deputy Director, Motheo District Municipality; Larshan Naicker, Deputy Director, UFS Library and Information Services; Adele Bezuidenhout, Deputy Director, Fezile Dabi District Municipality; Henna Adendorff, Assistant Manager, Free State Provincial Library Services; and Thandi Gxabu, Librarian, Free State Provincial Library Services.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Library and Information Services recently hosted the 2025 MobiReadathon competition, a digital reading initiative established by the City of Johannesburg Library Services. Now a national programme involving all nine provinces, the competition was introduced to Grade 8 high school learners in the Free State for the first time, with UFS playing a central role in supporting digital literacy and community empowerment.

Held at the UFS Sasol Library on 25 July 2025, the Free State leg of the 2025 MobiReadathon brought together 50 Grade 8 learners from across the province. The room buzzed with excitement as the young readers engaged in digital reading tasks and trivia challenges via mobile devices.

“I never liked reading, and because I am not fluent in English I thought I should start reading, and this initiative has been helpful for me,” said Bohlokwa Dikoetsing, a learner at Bodibeng Secondary School.

Tshepo Kgaola, also a participant, said the most exciting part of the competition was when his team won a voucher for reading after they created a story using artificial intelligence (AI).

“This initiative is part of our digital transformation agenda for public libraries,” said Nomabhaso (Rasby) Ramugondo, Director of the Free State Provincial Library Services. Ramugondo emphasised the issue of reading with understanding in South Africa, a priority that she hopes to see eradicated through programmes like the MobiReadathon. “We had asked Jeff Nyoka from the City of Johannesburg Library Services to come and do a presentation about digital literacy,” she explained. “It was then that a team of digital transformers was established to come up with initiatives like the Reja Buka Reading Festival that will help learners – and that is how the collaboration on the MobiReadathon came about in Free State.” 

“The essence of this collaboration is to promote reading development,” said Tebogo Msimango, Senior Librarian for E-learning Programmes at the City of Johannesburg. Just like Ramugondo, Msimango explains the need to promote digital reading due to the issue of learners not being able to read for meaning.

“The outcome I would like for this initiative is for learners to discover themselves and come to an understanding that with reading, one could go far,” Msimango said. “These collaborations also help with making the learners realise that they could also come into the university space, and a good example is the tour that they were taken on around the library.”

UFS Library Services played a pivotal role in facilitating the event, offering logistical support. As part of its community engagement initiatives, the university continues to collaborate on programmes that uplift local youth and promote literacy through innovation.

News Archive

“Leisure can be of great geographical importance”
2013-09-26

 

Prof Gustav Etienne Visser
Photo: Supplied
26 September 2013
 

Prof Gustav Etienne Visser (43) is Professor in Human Geography at the University of the Free State. He has been with the university’s Geography Department since January 2002 and became a full professor in 2009.
Visser completed his MA in Geographical Research at the Stellenbosch University in 1996 and finished his PhD in Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2000. His thesis was titled: Spatialities of social justice: reflections on South African Cities.

Visser was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand before his appointment at the UFS. He now teaches Urban Geography to third-year students and Tourism and Development to MA students.

His research interests so far have been Identity-based consumption and urban morphological change, Tourism and development nexus and Critical reflections on South African Geographical Research.

Visser’s publications summary is as follows:

- Four books – edited collections
- 28 book chapters
- 71 refereed articles
- Nine academic commentaries and research notes
- 14 research reports
- and 38 conference papers

His latest research on how people’s leisure time influences our urban spaces, is fundamentally relevant to everyday life.

“We tend to forget to think about it, but how people spend their leisure time is part of their lifestyle,” says Visser.“ And our urban surroundings are influenced by the lifestyles of its inhabitants.”

When asked about his own leisure time and activities, Visser humorously responds “There is no such thing.”

However, he is passionate about eating, cooking and wine.
“I must also watch a series every day – Dexter is definitely my favourite.
“Furthermore, I also travel abroad for about three months of the year, which is mainly for my research concerning urban spaces.”

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