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UFS launches Greener SA: planting the seeds of a sustainable future

17 September 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Martinette Brits and Kaleidoscope Studios

The University of the Free State (UFS) launched Greener SA, a five-year initiative to plant 400 000 trees across South Africa, at the Paradys Experimental Farm on Friday 12 September 2025. Backed by the Mastercard Foundation through the TAGDev 2.0 programme and RUFORUM, the project brings together government, industry, students, and academics around a shared commitment to sustainability and food security. The launch was marked by the planting of the first 100 trees, a symbolic act that set the tone for the years ahead.

Prof Jan-Willem Swanepoel, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, reminded the audience that the UFS is one of 12 African universities entrusted with a $100 million investment in agricultural transformation. “This project is not a hit-and-run – it’s about sustainability, inclusivity, and building value chains that empower farmers and entrepreneurs,” he said. He ended with a parable of a farmhand who could ‘sleep when the wind blows,’ urging everyone to be proactive in preparing for inevitable challenges.

Responsibility and partnerships

That call for responsibility was echoed by Elzabe Rockman, Free State MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, who linked Greener SA to the presidential One Million Trees Programme. She cautioned that planting without accountability leads to wasted effort. “If we plant trees, we want to be sure someone takes responsibility for them,” she said, highlighting the need for fire-resistant species, fruit trees in community gardens, and natural borders to replace vulnerable fencing. Looking at the students from Kovsie ACT who joined the launch, she added: “Jobs are not going to fall from the sky. They will come from agriculture and the environment. Harnessing youth energy is the way forward.”

Industry also pledged its support. Representing Empact Group – the sponsor of the trees – Helena Prinsloo described tree planting as an investment in legacy. “At Empact Group, we believe that doing right by our community and our planet is not just a responsibility. It’s a value that defines who we are and how we lead,” she said. Quoting the proverb that societies grow great when people plant trees whose shade they will never sit in, she added: “Today we are sowing seeds of hope, resilience, and opportunities for generations to come.”

Science, vision, and practice

Prof Corli Witthuhn from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences placed the launch in a global context, pointing to conflict, inequality, and climate change – and the sobering United Nations report showing that only 20% of the sustainability goals have been achieved. For her, the Greener SA project is a response to urgent global challenges. “We want our students to be globally work-ready,” she said. “That means beyond textbooks, and this farm represents exactly that. We don’t want to produce graduates with degrees, we want to produce graduates who can walk into a lab, into a policy meeting, into a business anywhere in the world and make an impact.”

Her message was supported by expert voices. Guest speaker Prof Ben du Toit from Stellenbosch University explained that agroforestry systems can simultaneously provide timber, food, biodiversity, and resilience. “Agroforestry is not planting trees over here and grazing over there – it’s about integration, so that benefits reinforce each other,” he said.

At the Paradys Experimental Farm, this integration is already underway. Johan Barnard, Farm Manager and Junior Lecturer, described how shaded tree pockets will improve grazing fields and protect water resources, while fruit trees planted in partnership with Kovsie ACT will contribute to student nutrition and new food value chains. “We’re capturing value chains and taking it to the next level so that our students have research opportunities and the farm delivers real outputs,” he explained.

The launch of Greener SA showed that tree planting is about much more than beautification. It is a collective commitment – to resilience in the face of global challenges, to science applied in practice, and to building partnerships that prepare the next generation to make an impact.

News Archive

Research project gives insight into the world of the deaf

2005-11-30

Mr Akach in conversation (using sign language) with his assistant Ms Emily Matabane. Photo: Lacea Loader

UFS research project gives insight into the world of the deaf

The Sign Language Division of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Afro-Asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language has signed a bilateral research project with the universities of Ghent and Brussels to write a book on sign language.

“We want to compare the Belgium and South African sign languages with each other. The book will be about the deaf telling us about themselves and how they live. It will also focus on the use of story telling techniques and the grammar used by deaf people. We want to see if the hand forms and the grammatical markers and other linguistic features that deaf people from these two countries use are the same or not,” said Mr Philemon Akach, lecturer at the UFS Sign Language Division and coordinator of the research.

According to Mr Akach, the sign language community in South Africa, with about 600 000 deaf people who use South African Sign Language (SASL) as first language, is quite big. “Over and above the deaf people in South Africa, there are also the non-deaf who use SASL, like the children of deaf parents etc. This book can therefore be used to teach people about the deaf culture,” he added.

Another of Mr Akach’s achievements is his election as Vice-President of the newly established World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI). The association was established earlier this month during a conference in Worcester.

Mr Akach has been actively involved with sign language interpretation since 1986 and has been interpreting at the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) since 1987. “My appointment as Vice-President of the WASLI is an emotional one. I have been involved with deaf people for so long and have been trying to create awareness and obtain recognition for sign language, especially in Africa,” said Mr Akach. WASLI is affiliated to the WFD.

According to Mr Akach there was no formal structure in the world to support sign language and sign language interpreters. “Now we have the backup of WASLI and we can convince governments in other African countries and across the world to support deaf people by supporting WASLI and therefore narrow the communication gap between the deaf and the hearing. My main aim as Vice-President is to endeavour for the recognition of sign language and spoken language interpreters as a profession by governments,” he said.

According to Mr Akach the formal training of interpreters is of vital importance. “Anybody who has a deaf person in his/her family and can communicate in sign language can claim that they are an interpreter. This is not true. It is tantamount to think that all mother tongue or first language speakers are interpreters. Likewise students who learn sign language up to whatever level and are fluent in signing, should still join an interpreter’s programme,” he said.

“Sign language interpreting is a profession and should be presented as an academic course alongside other spoken languages. The UFS has been taking the lead with sign language and spoken language interpretation and was the first university on the African continent to introduce sign language as an academic course,” he said.

“Although sign language has always been an unknown language to young people it has become quite popular in recent years. This year we had a total of 160 students at the Sign Language Section of the UFS and the numbers seem to increase steadily every year,” he said.

Mr Akach’s assistant, Ms Emily Matabane, is deaf and they communicate in sign language. Ms Matabane also handles the tutorials with students to give them hands-on experience on how to use sign language.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
30 November 2005

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