Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Months
January February March May April June July
Previous Archive
14 May 2025 | Story Precious Shamase | Photo Teboho Mositi
Motlalepula
Pictured: On the left, Prof Prince Ngobeni, Qwaqwa Campus Principal, with Motlalepula Tsotetsi, Principal of Maluti TVET College.
The University of the Free State (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus has formally cemented its commitment to regional engagement by handing over signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to key local stakeholders during a significant ceremony. The partnerships with Maluti TVET College, the HaMagriza’s Indigenous Restaurant and Co-working Hub, and the Agape Foundation signal a collaborative effort focused on enhancing education, fostering community upliftment, and driving regional development.

The handover, which took place in the Senate Hall of the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, was intentionally designed as a personal demonstration of the university’s dedication to building strong, enduring relationships. Prof Cias Tsotetsi, Vice-Principal: Academic and Research on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, emphasised the significance of the face-to-face engagement.

“We chose not to simply email the signed MOUs,” explained Prof Tsotetsi. “We wanted to meet face-to-face and hand them over in person, because this is about building genuine, lasting relationships. These stakeholders align with the university’s vision of becoming a hub for research, a student-centred environment, and a regionally engaged institution.”

Representatives from each partner organisation expressed enthusiasm for the opportunities unlocked by these newly formalised agreements.

Motlalepula Tsotetsi, Principal of Maluti TVET College, hailed the MOU as a pivotal moment. “Although we have collaborated with various stakeholders in the past, this marks the first formal partnership with the University of the Free State. Given our proximity, it’s long overdue, and we welcome this development.”

Echoing this sentiment, HaMagriza Director, Sabata Lepele, highlighted the importance of mutual recognition and cooperation. “As Tom Ford wisely said, ‘Collaboration is the key to success.’ This partnership creates a shared space that benefits both the university and the broader community. We’re honoured to be part of it.” He further emphasised that this milestone was significant to their journey, embodying a synergy between academia and the community to achieve remarkable outcomes. Lepele expressed HaMagriza's commitment to fostering innovation, creativity, and community development through this collaboration, anticipating the co-creation of initiatives that will benefit both the university and the surrounding region. He also conveyed excitement about working together to share the unique culture and heritage of Qwaqwa.

Daniel Moloi, Director of the Agape Foundation, also warmly welcomed the formal partnership, expressing his organisation’s eagerness to collaborate with the UFS on initiatives designed to address pressing community challenges.

This ceremony marks a significant step forward in the UFS Qwaqwa Campus’ community engagement strategy, reaffirming its dedication to fostering inclusive development through strategic alliances within the local landscape. The university aspires to be a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged institution, viewing these partnerships as vital vehicles for achieving societal impact that extends beyond the continent.

News Archive

IRSJ marks five years of championing social justice
2016-08-12

Description: IRSJ 5 year Tags: IRSJ 5 year

Members of the Advisory Board of the IRSJ,
Prof Michalinos Zembylas (Open University
of Cyprus), Prof Shirley Anne Tate (Leeds
University, England), and Prof Relebohile
Moletsane (University of KwaZulu-Natal),
listen to a speaker on the programme.
 Photo: Lihlumelo Toyana

The Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) marked its fifth anniversary with a function on 27 July 2016 in the Reitz Hall of the Centenary Complex on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). Earlier that day, the Advisory Board of the IRSJ, chaired by Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, hosted their annual meeting.

A new book was also launched, co-authored by JC van der Merwe, Deputy-Director at the IRSJ and Dionne van Reenen, researcher and PhD candidate at the IRSJ. It is entitled Transformation and Legitimation in Post-apartheid Universities: Reading Discourses from ‘Reitz’. The function featured not only reflections on the IRSJ, but a four-member panel discussion of the book and higher education in 2016.

The IRSJ came into being officially at the UFS in January 2011. Prof André Keet, Director of the IRSJ, said: “With a flexibility and trust not easily found in the higher education sector, the university management gave us the latitude and support to fashion an outfit that responds to social life within and outside the borders of the university, locally and globally.”

The IRSJ has not hesitated to be bold and
courageous in reforming ... traditional policies."

 

Prof Jansen went on to mention three things he finds appealing about the IRSJ: “Thanks to Prof Keet and his team’s vision and understanding of how important it is for students to have a space in which they can learn how to be, learn how to think, and learn how to contribute, the IRSJ has become a place where students can learn about things that they might not learn in the classroom. Second, it created, for the first time, a space where members of the LGBTIQ community could gather in one place. And third, it speaks to the intellectual life of the university, as evidenced by the research and publications produced over the past few years.”

Prof Jansen added: “The IRSJ will only be successful to the extent that we have safe spaces, courageous spaces, in which not only black students talk to themselves, but where black and white students talk together about their difficulties. If you’re entangled, you can’t get out of [that] unless you speak to the other person.”

Read More

Prof Michalinos Zembylas of the Open University of Cyprus and member of the Advisory Board, said of the IRSJ: “The works produced by the institute in this short time have been valuable to this community and beyond, because they recognise the complexities of education, ... while pushing the boundaries of how to translate theoretical discussions into practical, everyday conditions. ... For example, the IRSJ has not hesitated to be bold and courageous in reforming some traditional policies in this university—remnants of an ambivalent past that reproduced inequality and disadvantage.

In reflecting on how the IRSJ came into being during her opening remarks, Dr Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic at the UFS, said that it has always been “dedicated to transformation.” She added that it “gathered the energy and creativity of some of our most promising student leaders.” She concluded: “For me, the greatest success of the Institute, besides publications and local and international networks, is the fact that something that started in the margins is being asked today to come closer to the centre, to play a larger role in the structural transformation of the university.”

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept