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14 May 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Supplied
Africa Month 2025
Africa: Our identity, our journey, our future.

Each May, countries across the continent mark Africa Month, reflecting on the formation of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 (now the African Union) and the shared vision for a united, thriving Africa. In 2025, the AU draws attention to justice and reparations for Africans and people of African descent. At the University of the Free State (UFS), the commemorative period invites reflection on African identity, futures, and connectedness through learning, dialogue, and cultural expression.

Throughout the month, a range of campus events will celebrate African identity, highlight voices from within the UFS community, and foreground indigenous knowledge systems and the arts – all integral to the institution’s vision of shaping a future grounded in African values and global relevance.

Prof Lynette Jacobs, Acting Director of the Office for International Affairs, believes the continent’s greatest potential lies in its people, cultures, and ways of knowing. “Africa is the heart of humankind … What excites me most is the growing recognition that Africa’s richness lies not only in its resources but also in its people, cultures, and knowledges, both ancient and contemporary,” she says.

Prof Jacobs highlights the university’s role in fostering ethical leadership and driving innovation rooted in African priorities. “We need to produce locally grounded graduates who can hold their own amongst the world’s best; we need to foster ethical, service-oriented leadership; and to serve as hubs for interdisciplinary research. By nurturing innovation, collaboration, and critical thinking, institutions like UFS can help shape an Africa that is not only self-reliant but also a key contributor to global progress.”

Portia Mtawarira, the SRC representative for international students on the Bloemfontein Campus, echoes this belief. “I envision Africa as a continent where we embrace and celebrate diversity – a future where people come together for a common goal: to improve access to quality education, fight social injustice and corruption, reduce unemployment, and promote globalisation and internationalisation,” she says.

She adds that UFS provides a space where this kind of leadership can grow. “The university has created platforms where students can develop the skills needed to become ethical leaders, problem-solvers, and change-makers … It’s now our responsibility to go back into our communities and put into practice the knowledge we’ve acquired here.”

From international collaborations and mobility networks to the everyday spirit of mutual support on campus, Prof Jacobs says she sees interdependence as the African spirit embodied at UFS. “It reflects the deep awareness across African societies that our progress is bound together, and that solutions emerge from solidarity, not divisiveness.”

As UFS continues on its Vision 130 journey, Africa Month affirms the institution’s enduring commitment to connection, celebration, and co-creating a future shaped by African excellence.

 

Africa Month Events Calendar:

 

Intercultural Sports Day

The offices of SRC International Students and SRC Sports will host an Intercultural Sports Day that will celebrate cultural diversity through sports.

Date: 16 May 2025

Time: 13:00–17:00 

Location: Bloemfontein Campus

 

Africa Day Memorial Lecture

The Centre for Gender and Africa Studies will host its annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture presented by Prof Cyril Obi, Program Director at the Social Science Research Council, New York. The theme of the lecture is ‘Caught between De-Democratisation and Re-Democratisation: Grappling with Africa’s Complex Conjunctures through the Lens of Political Dialectics’.

Date: 21 May 2025

Time: 18:00

Venue: Equitas, Bloemfontein Campus


 

Africa Day commemoration podcast panel discussion

The Office for International Affairs will host its annual Africa Day commemoration podcast panel discussion featuring UFS Chancellor Prof Bonang Mohale and the former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor. The theme is ‘Africa’s Future: Higher Education and Global Impact’. 

Date: 22 May 2025 

Time: 19:00–20:30 

Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein

Click to view document Click here to RSVP

News Archive

Faculty of Health Sciences celebrates various successes
2015-01-12

The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State achieved a number of successes in the course of 2014. This included awards, presentations and keynote addresses at conferences, as well as publications in various journals.

Some of the highlights are:

• Dr Madelein Koning from the Department of Internal Medicine received the Vice-Chancellor’s award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning during November. Prof Alan St Claire Gibson said the award is richly deserved, given Dr Koning’s many years of high-quality teaching and input to particularly the fifth-year MB ChB students.

• Prof Schalk Wentzel, Head of the Department of Urology, was elected President of the South African College of Urology, and Prof Alicia Sherriff from the Department of Oncology was elected President of the South African College of Oncology.  Prof William Rae was appointed to the College of Radiologists. These are the highest and most prestigious offices an academic clinician can hold or be elected to in the specialty of their choice. Prof Rae also published an article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. 

• Prof Nats Mofolo, Head of the Department of Family Medicine, gave a keynote address at the Free State Health Indaba hosted by the Free State Department of Health.

• Dr Holtzhausen from the Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine chaired and delivered a presentation at the 6th Clinical Sport and Exercise Medicine Conference of SA held in Cape Town from 22 to 24 October 2014. He was also the convener of the conference. His presentation was titled ‘Safer exercise in apparently healthy individuals and those with possible risk factors for chronic disease and injury’.

 

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