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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

Zubeida Jaffer short film to feature on SABC3
2014-10-08

 

Zubeida Jaffer
Photos: Adrian Steirn, 21 Icons South Africa

The nation-building initiative known as 21 ICONS South Africa, was recently thrilled to announce that Zubeida Jaffer will feature in their second season due to her professional excellence as a journalist and author.

Jaffer is a well-known South African reporter and author and has been a writer-in-residence at the UFS for three years now. The 21 ICONS project was inspired by Nelson Mandela and has created a movement for positive change. By sharing the stories of iconic South African men and women, the intention is to inspire new generations to follow in their footsteps.

One icon is featured per week in a visual celebration of engaging and entertaining portraits and short films, along with an essay biography across multiple media platforms such as print, broadcast, outdoor and social media. Jaffer’s short film will be broadcasted on 2 November 2014 at 20:27 on SABC3 and her collectable portrait will be published in City Press on the same day.

Jaffer’s short film discusses her truth as a journalist and activist who was a key figure in the struggle movement in the Western Cape during apartheid. In an intimate conversation with Adrian Steirn (creator, photographer and director of 21 ICONS, Jaffer talks about her journey as a journalist who always seeks to uncover the truth and give people who don’t have a voice an outlet to express their views, opinions and thoughts.

Other iconic South Africans that have featured on 21 ICONS, were among others, Francois Pienaar (former Springbok rugby captain who won the 1995 Rugby World Cup), Pieter-Dirk Uys (satirist who used comedy and caricature to oppose the apartheid government) and Frene Ginwala (the first female speaker in the National Assembly of South Africa).

With the country celebrating 20 years of democracy, the message that everyone can do something to make a difference – which is portrayed in these powerful and inspiring stories that make up the second season of 21 ICONS – has been well-received by South Africans.

Be sure to get your City Press early and tune in on the evening of 2 November 2014 to see Jaffer’s feature on 21 ICONS.

Jaffer is also the publisher of the Journalist website (http://www.thejournalist.org.za/) launched earlier in 2014, of which the UFS is the founding member. The Journalist is “an independent, non-profit organisation working with the academic community and a range of credible online entities to make their knowledge more accessible to the wider public.”


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