Latest News Archive

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

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

Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment

2015-05-29

Ground-breaking research has attracted international media attention to Francois Deacon, lecturer and researcher in the Department Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS, and Prof Nico Smit, from the same department. They are the first researchers in the world to equip giraffes with GPS collars, and to conduct research on this initiative. Recently, they have been joined by Hennie Butler from the Department of Zoology as well as Free State Nature Conservation to further this research.

“Satellite tracking is proving to be extremely valuable in the wildlife environment. The unit is based on a mobile global two-way communication platform, utilising two-way data satellite communication, complete with GPS systems.

“It allows us to track animals day and night, while we monitor their movements remotely from the computer. These systems make possible the efficient control and monitoring of wildlife in all weather conditions and in near-to-real time. We can even communicate with the animals, calling up their positions or changing the tracking schedules.

“The satellite collar allows us to use the extremely accurate data to conduct research with the best technology available. The volume of data received allows us to publish the data in scientific journals and research-related articles.

“Scientific institutions and the public sector have both shown great interest in satellite tracking, which opens up new ground for scientific research for this university. Data management can be done, using Africa Wildlife Tracking (AWT) equipment where we can access our data personally, store it, and make visual presentations. The AWT system and software architecture provide the researcher with asset tracking, GPS location reports, geo-fencing, highly-detailed custom mapping, history reports and playback, polling on demand, history plotting on maps, and a range of reporting types and functions,” Francois said.

Data can be analysed to determine home range, dispersal, or habitat preference for any specific species.

Francois has been involved in multiple research projects over the last 12 years on wildlife species and domesticated animals, including the collaring of species such as Black-backed Jackal, Caracal, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Lion, Cheetah, Cattle, Kudu, Giraffe, and Black Rhino: “Giraffe definitely being the most challenging of all,” he said.

In 2010, he started working on his PhD, entitled The spatial ecology, habitat preferences and diet selection of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) in the Kalahari region of South Africa.

Since then, his work has resulted not only in more research work (supervising four Masters students) but also in a number of national and international projects. These include work in the:

Kalahari region (e.g. Khamab Nature Reserve and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)
Kuruman region (Collared 18 cattle to identify spatial patterns in relation to the qualities of vegetation and soil-types available. This project took place in collaboration with Born University in Germany)
Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate and Kolomella Iron Ore – ecological monitoring
A number of Free State nature reserves (e.g. Distribution of herbivores (kudu and giraffe) and predators (camera traps)

Francois is also involved with species breeding programmes and management (giraffe, buffalo, sable, roan, and rhino) in Korrannaberg, Rustenburg, Hertzogville, Douglas, and Bethlehem as well as animal and ecological monitoring in Kolomella and Beesthoek iron ore.

Besides the collaring of giraffes, Francois and his colleagues are involved in national projects, where they collect milk from lactating giraffes and DNA material, blood samples, and ecto/endo parasites from giraffes in Southern Africa.

With international projects, Francois is working to collect DNA material for the classification of the nine sub-species of giraffe in Africa. He is also involved in projects focusing on the spatial ecology and adaptation of giraffe in Uganda (Murchison Falls), and to save the last 30 giraffe in the DRC- Garamba National Park.

This project has attracted a good deal of international interest. In June 2014, a US film crew (freelancing for Discovery Channel) filmed a documentary on Francois’ research (trailer of documentary). Early in 2015, a second crew, filming for National Geographic, also visited Francois to document his work.

More information about Francois’ work is available at the GCF website.

Read Francois Deacon's PhD abstract

Direct enquiries to news@ufs.ac.za.

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