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UFS leads South Africa’s first Community Development Conference

19 November 2025 | Story Precious Shamase | Photo Blackhood Photography

The University of the Free State (UFS) proudly hosted South Africa's inaugural Community Development Conference, a landmark national event. Held at the scenic Golden Gate Hotel and Chalets, the conference drew an overwhelming oversubscription of 205 delegates, bringing together a diverse community of practitioners, academics, government representatives, and civil society under the theme: "Grounding the future: Community voices and practice pathways for inclusive development."

In his opening and welcome address, Prof Mogomme Masoga, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities, expressed deep gratitude for the extensive support received. "Thank you to the government departments represented here - Social Development, CoGTA, Health, and others - as well as to the many non-profit organisations that have lent their unwavering support," he said, emphasising the importance of inter-sectoral collaboration.

National and international collaboration

The UFS worked in strategic partnership with the University of Johannesburg (UJ), the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) to bring this significant platform to life. This collaboration reinforced the message that community development is "everyone’s business", a sentiment reflected in the broad and diverse participation.

International representation included delegates from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Austria, Nigeria, Lesotho, and Eswatini, alongside participants linked to institutions in Germany and North America. Nationally, delegates travelled from across South Africa – including the Western Cape, North-West, Northern Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal - demonstrating the conference's wide-reaching relevance and appeal.

Keynote address: Managing the developmental state

A major highlight of the second day was the keynote address delivered by Onkematse Kabasia, Head of the Department of Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal. His presentation, titled "South Africa's path to a developmental state: A managerial analysis of the Department of Social Development's transition," offered a compelling exploration of the shifts required within government departments to effectively manage and advance the objectives of a developmental state.

Kabasia outlined the managerial challenges and institutional reforms necessary to transition from a predominantly welfare-oriented system to one that actively drives inclusive social and economic development. His insights sparked robust discussion among academics, practitioners, and government delegates, highlighting the crucial role of efficient public-sector management in strengthening the community development sector ahead of the 2026 National Community Development Conference.

Charting the path to 2026

More than a standalone event, the inaugural conference forms part of a strategic lead-up to the 2026 National Community Development Conference. Its core purpose was to elevate community voices, promote ethical practice, and build collaborative pathways toward a professionalised, effective community development sector in South Africa.

The programme offered a rich and balanced mix of academic papers, interactive panel discussions, and practical workshops, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of the conference theme.

A notable highlight from the first day included an address by Norman (Pankie) Matomela on "CoGTA and Community Work," followed by an insightful national perspective on community development presented by Peter Netshipale. These contributions laid a strong foundation for the discussions that followed.

Advancing action research and policy implementation

A key takeaway from the conference was the strong collective commitment to Action Research and the translation of policy into effective practice. Delegates expressed a shared resolve to move beyond theoretical discussion toward tangible, results-oriented community development.

Participants agreed that effective community development requires:

Action research: The use of participatory methodologies that engage communities directly and deliver practical, context-specific solutions.

Policy implementation: The successful operationalisation of high-level policies - such as those discussed by keynote speakers Kabasia and Matomela - into on-the-ground interventions that drive inclusive development.

This emphasis on results and accountability underscores the conference's role as a crucial step toward a more professionalised and impactful community development sector in South Africa.

News Archive

Eugene de Kock, FW de Klerk and forgiveness – Prof Gobodo-Madikizela’s take on gestures of reconciliation

2015-02-06

What Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Senior Research Professor in Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation Studies at the University of the Free State, found over the years talking to Eugene de Kock, was a man tortured by his past. By the deeds he has committed.

“As a result he was confronting these – not as a cog in a machine – but as a person who actually did the deed himself,” Prof Gobodo-Madikizela said during an interview [https://soundcloud.com/primediabroadcasting/dr-gobodo-on-de-kock-parole] with Pippa Hudson on Cape Talk. A man taking personal responsibility.

Against the backdrop of De Kock recently granted parole, what, then, is the nature of forgiveness?

“Often people think when they forgive, you forgive and forget. That’s not the point,” Prof Gobodo-Madikizela says. “Forgiving, in fact, I found is the wrong word. We are using forgiveness for a range of responses. What I find useful in this kind of work is to think about how people change, how people are transformed. In other words, to think about our empathic connection to people who are our former enemies.” In other words: to reach a place where both parties can see each other as fellow human beings. “Somehow when a person expresses remorse – in the way Eugene de Kock has done – it opens a door for the different kinds of relationships to that traumatic past,” Prof Gobodo-Madikizela says.

In an article for the Sunday Times, Prof Gobodo-Madikizela refers to the motion to immortalise F W de Klerk by renaming Table Bay Boulevard after him. In this piece, she clearly points out that De Klerk is not without blood on his hands. She agrees with Mayor Patricia de Lille’s support of this tribute to De Klerk, though, when De Lille refers to ‘the spirit of reconciliation that Tata Madiba believed in’.

Justice Minister Michael Masutha – who granted De Kock parole – and De Lille “are right in evoking the memory of Nelson Mandela through these important gestures of reconciliation,” Prof Gobodo-Madikizela remarks. The need to return to Nelson Mandela’s vision, she adds, remains urgent.

Read Prof Gobodo-Madikizela’s full article, published in the Sunday Times, here.
For Prof Gobodo-Madikizela’s response to Eugene de Kock, FW de Klerk and reconciliation, read here.

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za

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