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Roots of wisdom: Dr TK Mopeli’s legacy unites scholarship and community

10 October 2025 | Story Precious Shamase | Photo MAFF (Music Art, Food and Fashion) Photography

History was made at the University of the Free State (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus with the groundbreaking convergence of the Dr TK Mopeli Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) Memorial Lecture and Symposium. This joint inaugural event, held under the compelling theme, Roots of Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in Science and Education: The Legacy of Dr TK Mopeli, served as a powerful platform to bridge the academic sphere with the lived wisdom of local communities.

Core vision: From commemoration to critical engagement

The planning team’s core vision was clear: to create a unifying platform where the scholarship of IKS could meaningfully intersect with the lived experience. Held on 19 September 2025, the combined memorial lecture and symposium moved beyond a mere commemoration of Dr Mopeli's enduring legacy. It aimed to be a critical engagement that actively pushed the boundaries of contemporary discourse.

The theme itself was a call to action. It sought to highlight the resilience, innovation, and relevance of IKS in solving modern problems, ensuring that indigenous perspectives not only survive but actively shape scientific research, educational curricula, and community development. This focus linked the region’s heritage to future possibilities, echoing Dr Mopeli’s own dedication to education and self-reliance.

Wisdom beyond the lecture hall: Inclusive participation

Recognising that indigenous knowledge is deeply rooted in lived experience – as highlighted by keynote speaker Prof Lerato Seleteng-Kose’s presentation on the role of IKS in scientific innovation in Lesotho – the planning team prioritised authentic and inclusive participation. Their strategy deliberately mixed celebrated academics with vital community voices. This involved engaging traditional leaders, community elders, and local IKS practitioners alongside university faculty.

To bridge the gap between abstract discourse and grassroots practice, the event created a space where storytelling, rituals, and oral traditions were given value equal to formal scholarly papers, including the message from Princess Shoeshoe ‘Tsiame’ Mopeli on cultivating self-reliance. Sessions utilised local languages, most notably Sesotho, to ensure that the knowledge holders felt fully represented and heard.

Dr Elias Nyefolo Malete described Dr Mopeli as a humble leader, passionate about the advancement of his people and the preservation of the Basotho nation. in his address on An Ideational Analysis and Integration of African Folktales in Science, Technology, and Education, he further emphasised the need to treat indigenous narratives not as relics, but as dynamic sources of knowledge for education.

The road ahead: Actionable outcomes

The symposium was not designed to be an echo chamber. The planning team identified several specific, measurable deliverables aimed at tracking the long-term impact of the discussions:

Policy Influence: Generating recommendations to be shared with local and national structures to positively influence cultural heritage and education policies.

Curriculum Development: Actively informing the integration of IKS into university curricula across various disciplines, ensuring that future students engage with both the theoretical and applied dimensions of indigenous knowledge.

Community Initiatives: Establishing partnerships to support grassroots-level, community-led projects in areas vital to Dr Mopeli's vision, such as sustainable agriculture, health practices, and cultural preservation.

To ensure that these discussions translate into tangible action, a monitoring framework is being put in place. This includes creating a public repository of all presentations and community contributions and establishing follow-up meetings between the university and community stakeholders.

One of the members of the planning team, Prof Puseletso Mofokeng, concluded, “The 2025 Symposium was a historic moment, transforming the late Dr TK Mopeli's Memorial Lecture into a living, dynamic platform. It reaffirmed that indigenous knowledge is not merely a preserved artefact of the past, but a vital, evolving resource capable of guiding sustainable development and shaping a self-reliant future for the region. The event laid the groundwork for Dr Mopeli’s dream to continue living, not just in memory, but in action, policy, and education.”

News Archive

SRC elections: A first for UFS main campus

2005-08-14

Students on the main campus of the of the University of the Free State (UFS) will this week for the first time vote for the Student Representative Council (SRC) using two voting systems: proportional representation (PR) and first-past-the-post.

According to the Vice-Rector, Student Affairs, Dr Ezekiel Moraka, this year’s elections are a milestone for the UFS as it will be the first time that the main campus SRC will be elected according to the amended SRC constitution, which was approved by the UFS Council in June 2005.

“It is also a major breakthrough for student governance and transformation of the UFS main campus and constitutes a legitimate basis for the democratic participation of all students at the UFS main campus in the governance of the university,” said Dr Moraka.

The amended constitution of the main campus SRC determines that nine of the 18 SRC members must be elected by means of proportional representation and nine on the basis of an individual, first-past-the-post election.

According to Dr Moraka, the introduction of the proportional representation system follows earlier calls by some student formations, notably Sasco and the ANC Youth League, for such a system to be introduced at the UFS main campus in Bloemfontein.

The new main campus SRC constitution is the result of consensus reached during a lengthy negotiation process involving diverse student formations such as Sasco, the ANC Youth League, the Young Communist League, the ACDP, HEREXVII, KovsieAlliance, as well as the democratically elected SRC members of the main campus.

“Independent persons such as Mr Jack Klaas and Mr Kobus van Loggerenberg, a former SRC President, facilitated the negotiation process,” said Dr Moraka.

Students on the main campus in Bloemfontein will vote for a new SRC on Monday 15 August 2005.

SRC elections will also take place on the other two campuses of the UFS, which have their own SRC structures.

Students on the UFS-Vista campus in Bloemfontein will vote for a new SRC on Monday 15 August 2005 and Tuesday 16 August 2005.

At the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS, students will vote for a new SRC on Friday 26 August 2005.

The election processes on all three campuses will be closely monitored by independent electoral bodies.

After the three campuses have elected their respective SRCs a central SRC will be constituted. The central SRC will have 12 members made up of delegates of the three campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. The main campus will have five representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have four representatives and the Vista campus will have three representatives.

Main campus voting schedule:
Monday 15 August 2005 from 07:00-21:00. Ten voting stations will be set up across the campus. The results will be announced on Tuesday 16 August 2005.

Vista campus voting schedule:
Monday 15 August 2005 and Tuesday 16 August 2005 from 09:00-18:00 in the administration building. The results will be announced on Wednesday 17 August 2005.

Qwaqwa campus voting schedule:
Friday 26 August 2005 from 09:00-18:00 in the Senate Hall. If there is no objection to the final results, it will be announced on the same day.

Media release

Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

14 August 2005

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