Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS hosts global conference on albinism to advance legal and healthcare inclusion

04 November 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Stephen Collett

Albinism Conference — The University of the Free State (UFS) brought together global voices, ideas, and lived experiences at the Albinism Beyond 2030: Legal and Healthcare Pathways to Inclusion International Conference, hosted from 23 to 24 October 2025 at the Bloemfontein Campus.

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted a global conference on legal and healthcare pathways to inclusion for people with albinism.

The Albinism Beyond 2030: Legal and Healthcare Pathways to Inclusion International Conference, hosted from 23 to 24 October 2025 at the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, brought together global voices, ideas, and lived experiences related to albinism.

Jointly organised by the Faculty of Law’s Disability Rights Unit and the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Department of Dermatology, the two-day conference convened scholars, medical experts, policymakers, human rights advocates, and persons with albinism from across Africa and beyond. Together, they explored how law and healthcare can intersect to advance equality, dignity, and social inclusion.

“The conference invites us to move from awareness to accountability, transforming commitments into sustained, measurable change that ensures persons with albinism live, work, and thrive with equality, safety, and dignity in every sphere of life,” said Laetitia Fourie, Project Coordinator of the UFS Disability Rights Unit.

From conversation to collaboration

In his address, Prof Serges Kamga, Dean of the Faculty of Law, spoke of the university’s responsibility to confront discrimination with compassion and justice. “Persons with albinism are victims of a clear attempt to wipe them out of the face of the earth,” he said. “Hosting this conference reflects who we are – a university rooted in care, inclusion, and social justice.”

He added that the collaboration between the Faculties of Law and Health Sciences reflects one of the UFS’s strategic goals: breaking down barriers between disciplines. “This is not just a conference for lawyers or for doctors,” he said. “It’s a shared platform for dialogue, research, and future projects that connect us nationally, regionally, and globally.”

The sense of collaboration was echoed by Prof Frans Maruma, Head of the Department of Dermatology, who emphasised that the goal of the conference was not just discussion, but measurable change. “We can speak, but if those talks are not translating into actions, we might as well pack and go,” he said. “This is where we begin crafting ideas that flourish into tangible outcomes – policy, research, and healthcare reforms that ensure persons with albinism are fully documented, supported, and cared for.”

Turning inclusion into action

Representing the university’s leadership, Dr Molapo Qhobela, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Strategic Initiatives, International and Institutional Affairs, reminded delegates that inclusion must live through action. “This gathering comes at a pivotal moment when our societies must move beyond awareness towards action, beyond empathy towards equity,” he said.

Dr Qhobela reflected on the UFS’s unique model of inclusion, which sees the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS), the Disability Rights Unit, and the Faculty of Health Sciences form a connected ecosystem of care; combining access, advocacy, and research. “The right to health cannot exist without the right to justice, and the right to justice cannot exist without care,” he said.

Special guests included Maluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism; Antoine Gliksohn, Executive Director of the Global Albinism Alliance; Commissioner Bonface Massah, Executive Director of the Africa Albinism Network and Commissioner of the Malawi Human Rights Commission; Nomasonto Mazibuko, Founder and Executive Director of the Albinism Society of South Africa; Patrick Wadula, National Chairperson of the National Albinism Task Force; Prof Charlotte Baker, Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies at Lancaster University; Commissioner Elspeth Nomahlubi Berlinda Khwinana from the South African Human Rights Commission; Commissioner Kamohelo Teele from the Commission for Gender Equality; and Visual Art Activist Athenkosi Kwinana.

Their participation, alongside local and international academics, students, and community representatives, underscored the significance of this dialogue – not as a once-off event, but as a collaborative movement uniting research, healthcare, and human rights.

From law to health to art, Albinism Beyond 2030 showcased the power of partnership in shaping inclusive futures. A key feature of the conference was Kwinana’s art exhibition, titled Ndijongile, which offered a vivid and personal reflection on the experiences of persons with albinism. The conference was a shared commitment to ensure that no person with albinism is left unseen, unprotected, or unheard.

News Archive

New SRC: Records of support and a victory for women

2014-09-04

Ms Mosa Leteane and Ms Louzanne Coetzee
Photo: Johan Roux

Photo Gallery

YouTube

While campuses across South Africa regularly report falling voter turnout in campus elections of student representatives, the University of the Free State, in its recently completed SRC elections, registered record levels of support across our campuses with a total voter turnout of 44%. At the Bloemfontein Campus 34,4% of students voted (5052 votes) and 53,3% (1583 votes) at the Qwaqwa Campus.

Also, for the first time under the new SRC constitution, students elected a woman to lead the student body – Ms Mosa Leteane was elected as President. Another first was the election of a blind woman to the SRC – Ms Louzanne Coetzee. She will be responsible for student accessibility of our Bloemfontein SRC. This marks a victory for women in student governance.

Mr Tulasizwe Sithole was elected as the President of the SRC at our Qwaqwa Campus.

The election of Ms Leteane as President underscores the progress achieved for gender equality with near half of her SRC consisting of women (48%).

These successes are all the more significant, since this is the 4th year of elections under newly adopted SRC constitutions that allow for broader participation of diverse student constituencies in student governance.

This means that the crucial 3-year mark to test a new approach and method in governance and elections was not only successfully reached, but also in its 4th year shows the constitution as one that sustains its impact to deepen democracy and citizenship among our 30,000-strong student body.

“The results of the SRC elections across campuses show that our students are not only ready to lead our campus communities on issues relating to justice, freedom and democracy beyond our societal legacies of race and gender, but do so also for the student movement nationally. We’re immensely proud of our students, who show courage and resilience to choose leaders not for expediency, but for significance, and to lead not for some, but for all”, the Dean of Student Affairs, Rudi Buys, said.

The Qwaqwa SRC was installed on 2 September 2014, while the Bloemfontein SRC will be installed on 5 September. The Central SRC will be established on 14 September by joint sitting of the two SRCs.

The SRC members 2014/15 at the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses are as follows:

Bloemfontein Elective portfolios:
President: Ms Mosa Leteane
Vice Pres: Mr Waldo Staude
Secretary: Ms Dineo Motaung
Treasurer: Ms Maphenye Maditsi
Arts & Culture: Mr Stefan van der Westhuizen
Accessibility & Student Support: Ms Louzanne Coetzee
First Generation Students: Ms Mpho Khati
Media, Marketing & Liaison: Ms Lethabo Maebana
Legal & Constitutional Affairs: Mr Lindokuhle Ntuli
Sport: Ms Dominique de Gouveia
Student development & Environmental Affairs: Mr Victor Ngubeni
Transformation: Mr Tumelo Rapitsi

Bloemfontein Ex officio Portfolios
Dialogue & Ex officio: Associations Student Council: Mr Piet Thibane
Academic Affairs & Ex officio: Academic Affairs Student Council: Mr Jonathan Ruwanika
Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Campus Residences Student Council: Ms Melissa Taljaard
City student Affairs & Ex officio: Commuter Student Council: Ms Kerry-Beth Berry
Post graduate Affairs & Ex officio: Post Graduate Student Council: Ms Masabata Mokgesi
International Affairs & Ex officio: International Student Council: Mr Makate Maieane
Student Media Affairs & Ex officio: Student Media Council: Mr Samuel Phuti
RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Fundraising Council: Mr Johan du Plessis
RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Community Service Council: Mr Manfred Titus

Qwaqwa Elective portfolios:
President General: Mr Thulasizwe Sithole
Deputy President: Ms Zethu Mhlongo
Secretary General: Mr Vukani Ntuli
Treasurer General: Mr Langelihle Mbense
Media & Publicity: Ms Nongcebo Qwabe
Politics & Transformation: Ms Nkosiphile Zwane

Qwaqwa Ex officio Portfolios
Student Development & Environmental Affairs: Mr Ndumiso Memela
Academic Affairs: Mr Simon Mofekeng
Arts & Cultural Affairs: Ms Samkelo Mtshali
Off-Campus Students: Mr Khanyisani Mbatha
RAG, Community Service & Dialogue: Mr Njabulo Mabaso
Religious Affairs: Mr Mfundo Nxumalo
Residence & Catering Affairs: Ms Ntombifuthi Radebe
Sports Council: Mr Luvuno

Back

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