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27 October 2025
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Story Sefako Mokhosoa
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Photo Supplied
Ten Grade 12 learners from Mampoi Secondary School in Phuthaditjhaba.
On 1 October 2025, the Projects and Innovation Directorate in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS) proudly hosted a certificate ceremony to honour ten Grade 12 learners from Mampoi Secondary School in Phuthaditjhaba on the Qwaqwa Campus. These learners completed a Skills Development Initiative and Workshop Series focused on digital literacy and ICT skills – a programme designed to equip rural youth with the tools they need to thrive in a digital world.
The initiative, which ran from May to August 2025, was made possible through a strategic partnership with BANKSETA to bridge the digital divide in rural communities. The learners received hands-on training in essential digital tools. Each learner also received a tablet to support continued learning and personal growth beyond the classroom.
The Director of the office in the Faculty of Education, Dr Kwazi Magwenzi, stressed that digital skills promote independence and self-directed learning. “Grade 12 is a time when learners should manage their studies, meet deadlines, and explore their options,” she said. “Digital fluency supports that autonomy. It enables learners to use online research, interactive tools, e-learning, and collaboration platforms to make learning more effective, flexible, and aligned with their pace and style. In Grade 12, where the stakes are high – with exams, tertiary entrance, and career choices – this ability helps learners become more self-directed, confident, and equipped.”
The programme not only built learners’ confidence in using ICT tools for learning and communication but also prepared them for the technologically driven environments they will encounter in institutions of higher learning.
Beyond developing digital skills, the project offered learners valuable exposure to the university environment, as their training took place on campus. Inspired by the success of this pilot, the Faculty of Education now aims to expand the initiative to reach more schools and learners across the region. The vision is to scale up access to digital education and empower more young people in rural areas with the skills necessary for academic and professional success.
This ceremony marked the conclusion of a successful training programme and the beginning of a long-term commitment to digital empowerment and lifelong learning in rural communities.
UFS’s Unit for Children’s Rights instrumental in helping human trafficked victim
2010-03-29
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Adv. Beatri Kruger.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs |
“Wheeling and dealing is part of our daily life. But what if the ‘product’ bought or sold is not a spanner or a cell phone, but a living human being? Disturbing news came to the fore... apart from other places in the country, and for that matter all over the world, it was discovered that people are treated like commodities here in Bloemfontein as well,” said Adv. Beatri Kruger from the Unit for Children’s Rights at the University of the Free State (UFS).
Adv. Kruger was instrumental in completing and availing the first comprehensive Research Report on Human Trafficking in South Africa to the public on 23 March 2010. As a member of the Reference Group advising on interim research reports on human trafficking, she contributed to the report. The report proves to be an extremely valuable tool for, among others, government departments and non-governmental organisations that use it as a guideline in planning interventions to combat human trafficking.
The Unit for Children’s Rights is also one of the founding members of the Free State Human Trafficking Forum (FHF). To react on and fight the disturbing reality of human trafficking more efficiently, a number of concerned role players such as Child Welfare and other non-governmental organisations, police officials, prosecutors, social workers, health practitioners, private businesses, churches and community organisations joined forces and formed the FHF. The Unit for Children’s Rights hosts monthly meetings at the UFS to facilitate the coordination of this multi-disciplinary counter-trafficking team.
Adv. Kruger is very excited about some of the successes of the FHF; such as the story of Soma (not her real name). This Indian woman was recruited in India by an Indian couple who are staying in South Africa, by promising her a good job in South Africa. However, instead of finding the promised job, Soma was extensively exploited for labour purposes. With the help of a “good Samaritan” she managed to escape from the perpetrators and fled to the police. Soma was removed to ensure her safety and accommodated in a safe place in Bloemfontein. Counselling and other services were rendered to her by an organisation which is also a member of the FHF. One of the challenges facing Soma and the service providers was that Soma speaks a foreign dialect and for weeks a trusted interpreter could not be found.
This obstacle rendered communication with her to the bare minimum. The perpetrators were arrested but unfortunately the new comprehensive counter-trafficking law is not in force yet. Therefore the perpetrators could only be convicted of some offences in the Immigration Act. However, due to good police investigation followed by shrewd consultations, the perpetrators agreed to pay for the victim’s return flight to India as well as for the flight ticket of the investigating officer to escort her to safety. The Unit for Children’s Rights did networking with Ms Maria Nikolovska of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), who agreed to assist in the safe reintegration of Soma in India. Soma is now on her way back home. |