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13 March 2025 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Tanya Allen
Founders 2025
Celebrating the legacy and achievements of the UFS Business School were, from the left, front: Prof Liezel Massyn, Dr Cornelie Crous; second row: Prof Hendri Kroukamp, Prof Frederick Fourie, Prof Niel Viljoen; third row: Prof Ben Anderson, Prof Tienie Crouse; back: Prof Philippe Burger and Prof Nicolene Barkhuizen.

During a special event held at the Business School on the Bloemfontein Campus on 10 March 2025, the University of the Free State (UFS) paid tribute to the founders and those who helped build the UFS Business School to its current standing.

Those recognised include Prof Frederick Fourie, Prof Niel Viljoen, Prof Helena van Zyl, Prof Tienie Crous, Prof Hendri Kroukamp, and Prof Ben Anderson.

Prof Liezel Massyn, Associate Professor and Programme Director of the Bachelor of Management Leadership (BML) programme in the UFS Business School, welcomed the group of guests. "I remember, as a young academic growing within the faculty, seeing the five leadership principles come to life in practice. These practices demonstrate that a true leader challenges the status quo, inspires a shared vision, empowers others to take action, and leads by example. We have seen this throughout the development and growth of the Business School,” she said.

UFS Business School: a place with heart

According to Prof Philippe Burger, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, it was more than a third of a century ago – with the establishment of the Centre for Management Development – that this dream of creating a business programme to support the business community through training and educating people started.

“The UFS Business School is the one business school where a whole career development opportunity is provided. One could come in with just a school qualification and do from a higher certificate to a bachelor's degree, a postgraduate diploma, an MBA, and ultimately even a PhD.”

He continued, “The BML degree offered is unique because it provides individuals in their thirties and forties – who may have missed out on higher education but are ready to step into middle management – the opportunity to get that educational background. It also provides a learning space for those pursuing a bachelor’s degree without having to sit among school leavers. It is something we treasure in the Business School,” he said.

Prof Burger believes the UFS Business School is a place with heart. “It's a place where we care about our students.”

Prof Nicolene Barkhuizen, Director of the UFS Business School, opened her speech with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” “The best lessons come from the past,” she said, stating that it was a great privilege to celebrate the exceptional leaders who helped build the UFS Business School.

“Your legacy lies not only in what you have achieved, but in the inspiration you're leaving behind. Your contributions have set new standards of excellence, and your legacies will continue to inspire future generations.”

Her call to action was clear, “Honour the past, not just with admiration, but with action. The true essence of leadership is not only in remembering history but also making it.

Impressive reach of the Bachelor in Managerial Leadership

For former UFS Rector and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Economics and Finance, Prof Frederick Fourie, establishing the Business School was an incredible achievement, despite scepticism about whether the Free State needed it without a strong corporate presence. “But we persevered and created something special that primarily served the needs of businesses in the Free State,” he said.

A key milestone for him was the introduction of the Bachelor of Managerial Leadership (BML) – the vision of Prof Ben Anderson, co-founder and Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute.

Prof Fourie reminisced on the lives that have been transformed – individuals who previously did not have the opportunity to earn a degree but now do, and who go on to become managers, senior managers, directors, and even government leaders. “This makes our Business School unique,” he said, expressing his pride in the MBA and the BML.

The qualification was developed in collaboration with DePaul University in Chicago, known for its expertise in adult learning.

Prof Anderson reflected on the collaborative effort that shaped the programme and highlighted the contributions of 27 corporates and industry representatives in its design, with an emphasis on a transdisciplinary approach that integrates knowledge from various fields to provide a broad and holistic view of managerial leadership. He also acknowledged the programme’s impressive reach, extending beyond South Africa into the broader African continent. He expressed pride in the impact of its graduates in both the public and private sectors.

For Prof Niel Viljoen, the founding director of the Business School and later Vice-Rector: Operations, the greatest highlight was the opportunity to make a lasting difference in people's lives. “It is a wonderful privilege, and we were able to do it for many years and are still doing it now.” He also recalled the first course presentations – from the Management Development Programme to the first MBA class. “It was full of jokes from morning till evening. We once forgot a lecture for the MBA! Moments like those stay with you, because there’s only one first time for everything.”

He also cherished the support from the university leadership, colleagues, and the Free State business community, all of whom played an important role in the school’s success.

Prof Tienie Crous, who became Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences in 1999, also recalled the agreement with DePaul University. As one of the first four participants in an MBA summer school there, he described how the experience broadened their perspectives and exposed them to a well-run business school. Inspired by this, they returned to teach classes themselves. The faculty also later sent senior colleagues to the United States for six weeks annually to gain industry insights.

Students making a difference

Prof Hendri Kroukamp, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences from 2012 to 2022, focused on defining the Business School’s niche alongside then-Director Prof Helena van Zyl. They positioned the school as a leading medium-sized institution, earning national recognition in 2016.

He said when he thinks of the Business School, the staff stand out – their professionalism and dedication to serving students. “These are not first-year students; they are adult learners. Adult learners require a completely different approach – you must, as a lecturer, ensure you are well-prepared and informed, because they will quickly pick up if you are not knowledgeable, and that can cost you credibility.”

He believes that the Business School does more than award qualifications. “We produce students who will make a difference in their communities and environments.”

Prof Helena van Zyl, the longest-serving director of the UFS Business School, was key in shaping it into a boutique business school with strong international ties. Under her leadership, the Business School achieved remarkable milestones, a testament to her impactful leadership. Beyond the UFS, she has also played an important role in the broader organisation of business schools in South Africa by leading in the promotion and advancement of the sector.

News Archive

Protection of Information bill- opinions from our experts
2011-11-28

Prof. Hussein Solomon
Senior Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of the Free State. 

In recent years, given their failure to effectively govern, the ANC has become increasingly defensive. These defensive traits have become particularly acute in light of the various corruption scandals that members of the ruling party involve themselves in.
 
Given the fact that for now they are assured of an electoral majority (largely on account of their anti-apartheid credentials), coupled with the fact that they have managed to make parliament a rubber stamp of the executive as opposed to holding the executive accountable, it is the media which has increasingly held the ruling party to account by exposing such corruption and incompetence in government.
 
The passing of the information bill, therefore, is not merely an attack on the media, but an attack on the pivotal issue of accountability. Without accountability, there can be no democracy.
 
By defining national interest broadly, by refusing to accept a public interest clause in the bill, the ANC increasingly shows its disdain to South Africa's constitution and its citizens.
 
More importantly, as former Minister of Intelligence and ANC stalwart Ronnie Kasrils pointedly makes clear, the ANC is also betraying its own noble struggle against the odious apartheid regime. It was the media which played a key role in exposing apartheid's excesses, it is the same media which is coming under attack by the heirs of PW Botha's State Security Council - Minister of State Security Siyabong Cwele and his security apparatchiks whose mindsets reflect more Stalin's Gulag's than the values of the Freedom Charter.
 
The passing of this bill is also taking place at a time when journalists have had their phones attacked, where the judiciary has been deliberately undermined and parliament silenced.
 
Democrats beware!

 
Prof. Johann de Wet
Chairperson: Department of Communication Science 
 
The ANC’s insistence on passing the Protection of State Information Bill in its current form and enforcing it by law, means that the essence of our democratic state and the quality of life of every citizen is at stake.
 
Yes, our freedom as academics, researchers, mass media practitioners and citizens comes into play. Freedom implies the right to choose and is, along with equality, an underlying principle which helps make democracy happen. While the South African state needs to protect (classify) information which could threaten its security and/or survival, the omission of a public interest clause in the Bill at this stage effectively denies a citizen the right to freedom of information.
 
 Freedom of information, along with press freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and religious freedom, are essential to democracy. These freedoms are granted because they conform to basic liberal ideas associated with (Western) democracy and which resonate with South Africa’s liberal constitution, such as (1) belief in the supreme value of the individual (and thus not of the state); (2) belief that the individual has natural rights (rights which belong to all human beings by nature – such as the right to life and to control government)) which exist independently of government, and which ought to be protected by and against government; and (3) recognition of the supreme value of the individual. 
 
One wonders how many cases of South African government corruption and mismanagement would have been uncovered by investigative journalists over the past number of years if this Bill in its current form was on the statute books. This Bill represents a backward step from the promise of democracy of having an informed public. The former National Party government had similar laws in place and one does not want to go there again. The infamous Information Scandal in South Africa of some thirty years ago, or Muldergate as it has come to be known, reminds one of what governments can do when it works clandestinely.
 
What South Africans need, is more information on what government structures are doing and how they are doing it with taxpayers’ money, not less information. While information in itself does not equal communication or dialogue, it is an indispensable part thereof, and the need for dialogue based on verifiable information is urgent for meeting vexed challenges facing South African communities. Academics in all fields of specialisation are constantly in need of untainted information to pursue answers and/or offer solutions to where South Africa should be moving in all spheres of life.

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