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12 May 2025 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Ruhan Fourie
Dr Ruhan Fourie, former postdoctoral fellow in the UFS International Studies Group and current researcher at Stellenbosch University’s Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology, was recently awarded the prestigious Desmond Tutu-Gerrit Brand Prize.

Dr Ruhan Fourie, a former fellow of the International Studies Group (ISG) at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently received the prestigious Desmond Tutu-Gerrit Brand Prize for Debut Work for his book, Christian Nationalism and Anticommunism in Twentieth Century South Africa (Routledge, published in South Africa by Christian Literature Fund).

A media release by the Andrew Murray-Desmond Tutu Prize Fund stated that the prizes primarily serve as motivation and recognition for writers to produce quality publications of theological and Christian work in all official languages of our country. The awards are given in recognition of extraordinary contributions to unity, reconciliation, and environmental justice in our country.

Currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology at the Stellenbosch University Faculty of Theology, Dr Fourie says the award is especially meaningful because of the book’s academic tone. “I hold public accessibility to scholarly work dear; so, to receive this recognition for a more scholarly work outside academia is very encouraging. When I got the call that I’d won the prize, it was met with great surprise and joy,” he says.

 

Challenging Cold War assumptions

In the book, he explores the deep-rooted fears that Afrikaners held about communism during the twentieth century. These fears are often assumed to be Cold War products, primarily shaped by the apartheid state. However, Dr Fourie’s research, undertaken as part of his postdoctoral fellowship in the UFS International Studies Group, challenges this simplified narrative. He approached anticommunism more broadly than merely opposition to the state-centred communist doctrine by focusing on the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), which had the widest reach and deepest influence in the everyday lives of Afrikaners.

The book argues that while the DRC played a constant role in shaping an anti-communist imagination among twentieth-century Afrikaners, its influence shifted over time. “It ultimately concludes that anticommunism functioned as a vehicle for nationalist unity (and uniformity), a paradigm for Afrikaner identity, and a legitimiser of the volk’s perceptions of its imagined moral high ground throughout the twentieth century,” he notes.

Dr Fourie credits his time as a postdoctoral fellow (2022-2023) in the UFS ISG as a key part of developing his book. He describes the ISG as a place offering strong institutional support, valuable mentorship, and the academic freedom he needed to shape his ideas into a full monograph. As part of a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged institution such as the UFS – which is committed to development and serves as a hub of impactful knowledge – Dr Fourie found the right space to grow both his research and his contribution to the field of South African history.

 

Impact of UFS' academic environment

He spent a significant part of his emerging academic journey at the UFS. Besides the time he spent on his postdoctoral fellowship at the ISG, he also completed his PhD between 2018 and 2021 – marking a total association of six years with the university. “The ISG’s culture of scholarly rigour, academic freedom, mentorship, and institutional support under the guidance of Prof Ian Phimister, paired with collegiality and collaboration among peers, left a formative impression on me as an aspiring academic,” he comments.

Looking ahead, Dr Fourie is currently working on a project – a biography of anti-apartheid cleric Beyers Naudé. While based on solid academic research, the biography is being written for a wider audience and is aimed at trade publication, an approach that will bring Naudé’s life and legacy to both scholarly and general readers. His interest in Naudé runs deep; his master’s thesis on Naudé’s life was awarded a prize for the best Afrikaans thesis, an early indicator of the path his academic work would follow.

News Archive

Research into surrogate milk important to wildlife conservation
2017-05-08

Description: Prof Garry Osthoff Tags: Prof Garry Osthoff

Prof Gary Osthoff from the UFS Department of
Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology,
will soon work on a milk formula for elephants.
Photo: Supplied

Research is being done at the University of the Free State (UFS) to analyse and synthetically imitate the unique milk of various wildlife species. This research is not only of scientific value, but also serves the conservation of South Africa’s wildlife species. At the forefront of this research is Prof Garry Osthoff from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.

Orphaned rhino calf pulled through with surrogate milk
“There is still a lot of research to be done. Naturally the research is of scientific importance, but with surrogate milk having the same composition as the mother’s milk of a specific species, orphaned calves or cubs of that species could be pulled through during a difficult time of weaning. Bearing in mind that exotic animals fetch thousands and even millions of rands at auctions, it goes without saying a game farmer will do everything possible to provide only the best nourishment to such an orphaned animal. In such a case, synthetically-manufactured milk would be the right choice,” says Prof Osthoff.

The fruits of his research were recently demonstrated in Germany when a rhino calf was left orphaned in the Leipzig Zoo. Prof Osthoff’s article: “Milk composition of a free-ranging white rhinoceros during late lactation” was used as a directive for applying surrogate milk for horse foals (which is already commercially available), since the composition of horse and rhino milk largely corresponds. The surrogate milk was used with great success and the rhino calf is flourishing. He mentions that such an orphan is often given the wrong nourishment with the best intentions, resulting in the starvation of the animal despite the amount of cow’s milk it devours.

With surrogate milk having the same
composition as the mother’s milk of a
specific species, orphaned calves or
cubs of that species could be pulled
through during the difficult time
of weaning.

Milk formula for baby elephants in the pipeline
With baby elephants left orphaned due to the increase in elephant poaching for their ivory, several attempts have been made to create a milk formula in order to feed these elephants. To date, many elephants have died in captivity from side effects such as diarrhoea as a result of the surrogate formula which they were fed.

Prof Osthoff recently received a consignment of frozen milk which he, together with researchers from Zimbabwe, will use to work on a milk formula for elephants. They are studying the milk in a full lactation period of two years. During lactation, the composition of the milk changes to such an extent that a single surrogate formula will not be sufficient. Four different formulas should probably be designed.

Prof Osthoff says that of the different species he has researched, elephants are the most interesting and deviate most from the known species.

Although his research to develop surrogate milk is adding much value to the wildlife industry, and although he finds this part of his work very exciting, his research focus is on food science and nutrition. “What is currently authentic in milk research is the study of the fat globules with content, the structure and composition of the casein micelle, and the prebiotic sugars. The knowledge which is gained helps to improve the processing, development of new food products, and development of food products for health purposes,” says Prof Osthoff.

 

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