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05 February 2025 | Story Vuyelwa Mbebe | Photo Supplied
Regional Committee SAACHS
The Kovsie Health staff members who also serve on the SAACHS regional committee: Shibashiba Moabelo, Riana Johnson, Sarien de Necker, Theresa de Vries, and Emmerencia Sibanda.

The University of the Free State (UFS) took centre stage at the annual South African Association of Campus Health Services (SAACHS) Conference, held at the Windmill Casino Conference Centre in Bloemfontein from 8 to 10 January 2025. 

The conference was themed ‘Student Centredness’ and brought together representatives from 22 higher education institutions to explore critical issues related to student health and wellness.

SAACHS is a national association comprising tertiary institutions that offer primary and occupational healthcare services on campuses across South Africa. This year’s conference covered a range of pressing topics, including HIV support for students, strategies to assist pregnant students, telehealth collaborations, caregiver self-care, student health-seeking behaviours, food insecurity, and best practices in campus health emergency medical services.

Sr Riana Johnson, Deputy Director of Kovsie Health and regional chair of the Free State and Northern Cape SAACHS committee, emphasised the impact of the UFS’s involvement. “The strong representation of UFS speakers highlighted the strides we have made in campus health services and the invaluable contributions our institution brings to these crucial discussions,” she said.

As key organisers, Johnson and her team – including Sr Sarien de Necker and colleagues from the UFS and the Central University of Technology (CUT) – were instrumental in securing speakers, selecting relevant topics, and managing conference logistics. Their efforts ensured the smooth running of an event that encouraged knowledge-sharing and collaboration among campus health professionals.

“The conference provided a vital platform for networking and exchanging ideas,” Johnson said. “UFS’s active participation helped strengthen partnerships with institutions such as the Department of Health and promoted shared solutions to student wellness challenges.”

She added that hosting the event underscored the UFS’s leadership in campus health and allowed other institutions to learn from its initiatives. Discussions and collaborations at the conference enhanced awareness campaigns and reinforced a collective commitment to student well-being.

Looking ahead, Johnson believes the insights gained will shape the future of Kovsie Health. “Exploring new health technologies and expanding student-centred health initiatives are among our top priorities,” she concluded. “The knowledge shared at this conference will undoubtedly influence how we evolve our services to meet the needs of our students more effectively.”

News Archive

New SRC Sport talks about campus pride
2014-10-21

Media Studies and Journalism student, Dominique de Gouveia, can attest to the fact that you need to take all the small steps before you make the giant leap.

As Residence Committee member for Sport since her first year, Dominique found the transition to the Student Representative Council (SRC) merely a case of now putting on the striped blazer. Having worked closely with Lourika Hugo, previous SRC Sport, there was not really much that she had to take grasp of.

“Our varsity has almost the same sport fixtures every year, so once you understand it, it should not be that difficult to follow through,” says Dominique confidently.

“You need to set goals in order to achieve them. I quickly realised that this is what I want to do. Sport is very big on our campus among the students and in my term I want other channels to realise the importance of sport.”

“The motto of previous SRC Sport, Tshepo Moli, was ‘transformation in sport’, which can indeed make a social impact on our varsity.”

“Through sport, our varsity can take pride in showing diversity.”

The variety of sports Dominique enjoys playing and watching, shows just how much she really loves what she is doing.

“My favourite sports have to be soccer and squash. But after watching the Varsity Netball this season, it made me wish that I had learnt how to play netball as far back as high school.”

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