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26 March 2025 | Story Edzani Nephalela | Photo Lethabo Machabaphala
Theology MOU 2025
Prof Zorodzai Dube, Head of the Department of Religion Studies at the UFS, and Thabo Seotsanyana, representative for the African Centre of Excellence, formalised a collaboration to advance research into African spirituality.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Theology and Religion recently made history as the first institution to partner with the African Centre of Excellence in a significant collaboration advancing research and education on African indigenous spirituality.

This partnership is set to foster a deeper understanding of African indigenous knowledge, highlighting its importance and addressing misconceptions about its practices.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the parties outlines the facilitation of joint research and teaching initiatives. According to Prof Zorodzai Dube, Head of the Department of Religion Studies at the UFS, the MoU will provide UFS students with the unique opportunity to engage with African indigenous knowledge systems, particularly those related to herbs, healthcare, and traditional healing practices.

“The collaboration aims to enrich the students’ academic experience and provide them with critical insights into African indigenous spirituality,” Prof Dube said. “Furthermore, this partnership is seen as a key step toward furthering UFS’s vision to become a leading institution in research, including Africanisation and pan-African research.” He added that the faculty views this collaboration as a springboard for strengthening its position as a leader in addressing Africa-related issues in education and research.

Significance of this partnership

Thabo Seotsanyana, Curriculum Developer for the African Centre of Excellence, emphasised that this partnership will challenge long-standing misconceptions about African spirituality while fostering a deeper appreciation for its value and relevance in contemporary society. “This collaboration is a landmark event for several reasons. It emphasises the importance of African indigenous spirituality in academic discourse and provides a platform for decolonising knowledge systems.”

In his address, Seotsanyana highlighted that the African Hidden Voices is committed to transforming mindsets, particularly within African nations. He spoke about how generations have been influenced by ideologies that dismiss African spiritual practices in favour of foreign belief systems, and how this partnership aims to reverse that trend.

“We are delighted to be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with one of the most highly regarded institutions in South Africa,” Seotsanyana shared, reading a message from Imboni Dr uZwi-Lezwe Radebe, founder of African Hidden Voices. “This marks a significant milestone in our history that will be remembered for years.”

Impact on future generations

Seotsanyana highlighted that the organisation is dedicated to educating individuals about African spirituality, fostering African leadership, and embracing traditional African ways of life.

“Our mission is to nurture a new generation that understands, values, and actively engages with African spirituality,” he explained. “This initiative marks a significant step in the academic exploration and preservation of African indigenous spirituality. It aims to leave a lasting legacy that inspires future generations to reconnect with their heritage, challenge outdated views, and adopt an inclusive, spiritually enriched way of life. This aligns with the University of the Free State’s Vision 130, which promotes inclusivity and ethical values, ensuring that everyone feels represented, welcomed, and has access to the university’s resources.”

News Archive

Plant scientists address wheat rust diseases at SASPP congress
2015-02-02

Pictured from the left are: Prof Zakkie Pretorius, Dr Botma Visser and Howard Castelyn.
Photo: Supplied

In his research, Dr Botma Visser, researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State, highlighted the population dynamics of the stem rust fungus (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) in Southern Africa. In recent years, two foreign stem rust races were introduced to South Africa, and a local virulence adaptation occurred in a third.

All of these races form part of the Ug99 group, a highly virulent collection of rust races endangering wheat production in many parts of the world. Despite the fact that half of the members of the Ug99 race group is prevalent in South Africa, Dr Visser’s work has clearly shown that Ug99 did not have its origin here. This emphasised the need to include neighbouring countries in the annual stem rust surveys, to proactively identify new races that could threaten local wheat production. In his research, Dr Visser also mentioned the way in which he has optimised modern molecular tools to accurately detect Ug99 isolates.

Dr Visser is one of three scientists from the Department of Plant Sciences that addressed delegates attending the biennial congress of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP) on the Bloemfontein Campus earlier this month on progress regarding research on wheat rust diseases conducted at the UFS.

Howard Castelyn, a PhD student in Plant Sciences, presented his research on quantifying fungal growth of the stem rust pathogen in wheat varieties displaying genetic resistance. This resistance, which is best expressed in adult plants, has the potential to remain durable in the presence of new rust variants. His presentation at the congress focused on optimising microscopic and molecular techniques to track fungal development in stem tissues of adult plants. These results now allow scientists to link rust infection levels and cellular responses with particular resistance genes expressed by the wheat plant, and contributing to the understanding and exploitation of durable resistance.

Prof Zakkie Pretorius presented his research, explaining how new genetic diversity for resistance to the stripe (yellow) rust fungus (Puccinia striiformis) is discovered, analysed and applied in South Africa. This research, conducted in collaboration with Dr Renée Prins and her team at CenGen, is unravelling the genetic basis of stripe rust resistance in a promising wheat line identified by Dr Willem Boshoff, a plant breeder at Pannar. The line and DNA markers to track the resistance genes will soon be introduced to South African wheat breeding programmes.

The rust research programme at the UFS contributes significantly to the successful control of these important crop diseases.

In addition to the contributions by the UFS, rust fungi featured prominently at the SASPP, with first reports of new diseases on sugar cane and Acacia and Eucalyptus trees in South Africa. A case study of the use of a rust fungus as a biological control agent for invasive plant species in the Western Cape, was also presented.

 

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za .

 

 

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