As part of Women's Month, Free State University celebrates the successes of its female scientists who have achieved outstanding results in academic activities, research, and UFS programs aimed at transforming institutional leadership and expanding industry engagement.
}, {Every August, South Africa pays tribute to women who have fought, led, and continued to build despite difficulties. At Free State University (UFS), this spirit is not limited to one month; it is embedded in the institution's strategy, appointments, and daily work to shape a 'responsible public future.'
On June 9, 2025, Professor Hester K. Klopper was appointed as the 15th Vice-Chancellor and President of Free State University—the first woman to hold this position in the university's 122-year history. For the institution, this represented both a symbolic achievement and recognition of the depth of leadership potential among South African women in the field of academic sciences.
Reflecting on her first year in office, Professor Klopper spoke about 'purposeful progression' as the discipline of deliberate decision-making and leadership. This discipline led to the development of an enhanced institutional strategy based on five priorities: enhancing academic excellence and research impact, strengthening institutional agility, fostering a transformative culture, bolstering long-term sustainability, and accelerating collaborative innovation and global integration. Four interdisciplinary research themes now guide the university's work: Sustainable Future, Systems for Public Progress, Planetary Health and Wellbeing, and Thriving Life—themes that directly relate to the complex, human-centered problems that, according to many female academics, initially drew them to research.
Professor Klopper's first year also brought tangible results with implications far beyond gender: the launch of the VC-ISRC Imbewu Legacy Fund—an initiative where she collaborated with student leaders to remove financial barriers to student success; achieving Platinum level status under the Good Practice Financial Grant accreditation—the only university in South Africa to do so; and an increase in continental rankings, including eighth place in the initial QS World University Rankings for Sub-Saharan Africa. She openly stated what leadership requires in difficult conditions: honesty regarding the sector's financial challenges and zero tolerance for corruption, fraud, gender-based violence, and academic misconduct. But also 'heart-led leadership,' which she firmly believes in, prioritizing the development of human potential.
Among the initiatives promoted by Professor Klopper, one relates to the core of the Women's Month discussion: increasing the number of women in the university's academic ranks.
South African universities have long recognized that the 'leaky pipeline' for women in academia is not due to a lack of talent. Sometimes it is linked to prevailing gender bias, but more often to the absence of structured support at career stages when women are most likely balancing scholarly publications, teaching loads, promotion criteria, and disproportionately, childcare and other domestic responsibilities. Free State University's response is the Faculty Transformation Programme (TPP)—a mentorship programme that has become one of the most significant transformation projects.
TPP is designed to strengthen the flow of early-career researchers into associate and full professorships, as well as into academic leadership. The programme operates across four coordinated streams. The Future Faculty Programme (FPP) supports scholars six to eight years after obtaining their PhD, who are on the cusp of senior roles. The Early Scholars Acceleration Programme (ESAP) covers an earlier stage, working with scholars from one to five years post-PhD, while the Staff Doctoral Programme (SDP) supports researchers in early career stages completing a Master's or PhD.
The individual initiative 'Women Influencing Education and Shaping It' (WISE) focuses specifically on mid-career female academics aged 40 and older who have not previously participated in the Free State University's mentorship programme—this cohort is most at risk of being overlooked after early development opportunities pass them by.
Free State University is proud of the support from its Chancellor, Professor Bonanga Mohale, who serves as the WISE programme ambassador. As a passionate advocate for female leadership and empowerment, Professor Mohale actively engages with WISE participants and continues to support the programme through his commitment to its future initiatives.
The numbers speak for themselves regarding the pace of development. Since 2019, 197 candidates have gone through the ESAP and FPP programmes alone, with active groups currently ranging from 85 to 140 participants. Selection since 2021 has intentionally targeted a quota of approximately 60% Black and female candidates. Across all four programmes, 403 candidates have been supported in total. WISE, still in its early stages, has mentored 44 female academics across its first two cohorts, and a third cohort of 17 started in May of this year.
Success stories are numerous among those who have completed these mentorship programmes. From the ESAP and FPP cohorts from 2019–2023 who are still at UFS, 84% have been promoted at least once in the last six years. WISE participants have demonstrated an impressive string of appointments in just the last year: eight promotions to associate professor, new appointments as department heads, research principal investigator positions, seats on national and international councils, and invitations to international keynote talks. One WISE participant was nominated by the Swiss National Science Foundation for inclusion in AcademiaNet—a database of leading women academics in Europe and beyond—becoming one of two South African scientists included there.
Professor Petra Mass, Associate Professor of Basic Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and Dr. Lucia Meko, Head of Nutrition and Dietetics at the School of Health and Rehabilitation, participated in the Future Faculty Programme. Dr. Lucia Meko joined the Future Faculty Programme in 2019. She notes that seminars and interaction with colleagues and the rectorate broadened her horizons and strengthened her networking and communication skills, preparing her for her current role as Head of Department. She believes that growing confidence is one reason for her appointment to the Nestlé Nutrition Institute Council in Africa in 2023, and more recently as a Trustee of the Tiger Brands Foundation Council.
Dr. Meko candidly speaks about persistent gender barriers. 'Women still face difficulties as primary caregivers compared to our male colleagues. It is hard to explain, but it is a reality they live,' she states. 'As women, we care for our children and sometimes our parents. This takes time away from work, and these duties are often accompanied by feelings of guilt when caring for sick children or missing extracurricular events.'
She believes that the natural instinct to care makes women natural mentors. However, competitive pressure and the time constraints of academic life can complicate this role. She has observed how female leaders become obstacles to the progress of other women, yet she is grateful to the female mentors who helped her reach her current position.
Professor Petra Mass, Associate Professor of Basic Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences, went through the ESAP and Future Faculty Programmes. For her, the greatest value was the network created by the programme—contacts not only with UFS colleagues facing similar challenges at early career stages but also with experts in her field, forensic anthropology, at other institutions. This network, she says, contributed to both her academic growth and personal confidence. She also had a direct, measurable outcome: her promotion to associate professor in 2025, which was achieved with the program's help in identifying and addressing gaps in her promotion application. She also believes that gendered obstacles remain a reality.
'Despite significant progress, women are often told directly that certain aspects of the job are 'not for them,' or that they should simply accept that some students will refuse to respect them as much as a male peer, even if he is equally or less qualified or experienced,' she says. She has also faced the issue that assertive and driven women are too often perceived as cold or aggressive when striving for opportunities in the same way a male colleague would. She agrees with Dr. Meko that women are natural mentors. She has found that they possess a more insightful, caring approach, and that both students and junior staff often gravitate towards female mentors.
Implementing Gender Transformation
Free State University places great emphasis on its mentorship initiatives—constantly reviewing and improving them. Recent changes include the introduction of an industry-involved mentorship component, aligning with the university's goal of creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem. This reflects an institution that has closely examined where women get stuck in the academic pipeline and created targeted, well-resourced interventions to assist them at every stage.
Under the guidance of a Vice-Chancellor who believes in investing in people as the foundation of institutional success, this work on the pipeline is part of a broader strategic vision aimed at a 'responsible public future.' This vision is supported by funding allocations, promotion statistics, and testimonials from women moving through this system. The result is a university that purposefully and measurably helps women become leaders.
Seventy years ago, on August 9, 1956, over 20,000 brave women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, peacefully protesting against the repressive laws of the apartheid regime. They protested not only against unjust legislation but also against a system that stripped women of their dignity, autonomy, and rightful place in society.
This historic act became one of the defining moments in the struggle for the liberation of South Africa and inspired generations with the slogan: 'Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo' — 'If you beat a woman, you beat a rock.'
On the anniversary of the Women's March, tribute is paid to these remarkable women, reaffirming commitment to the constitutional vision they helped create—a democratic South Africa based on human dignity, equality, non-racial and non-sexist principles, the promotion of human rights and freedoms, and the rule of law.
The Constitution is viewed not merely as a legal document but as a national contract reflecting the aspirations of millions who fought for justice, demanding a society where every person has equal protection, equal opportunities, and equal value.
Although the women who participated in the 1956 march may not have marched under the current Constitution, they fought for the very values that define constitutional democracy today. Their courage laid the moral foundation upon which the democratic state is built.
The Preamble to the Constitution calls on all South Africans to heal past divisions, build a society founded on democratic values, social justice, and fundamental human rights, and improve the quality of life for citizens by unlocking each person's potential. These constitutional obligations remain particularly relevant for women, whose full participation in economic and social life is critical for South Africa's development.
As a developing and constitutional country, South Africa recognizes that equality cannot exist only in laws; it must be realized in people's daily lives. However, for many women, constitutional rights are constrained by poverty, unemployment, unequal access to economic opportunities, gender-based violence, femicide, and systemic discrimination.
Despite significant progress in democracy in expanding women's representation in leadership and decision-making, structural barriers continue to limit the economic freedom necessary for true equality.
The Constitution demands more than formal equality. Section 9, or the Equality Clause, recognizes that achieving substantive equality requires targeted measures to protect and advance those who have suffered from unfair discrimination. This constitutional principle serves as the legal and moral basis for policies aimed at empowering women, gender-responsive planning and budgeting, fair access to opportunities, and inclusive economic participation. This is not privileged aid, but constitutional justice.
South Africa's evolving agenda also acknowledges that sustainable economic growth depends on broad participation. A developing nation must ensure that women are not just recipients of development but active drivers of economic transformation.
Women continue to support families, communities, and the economy. They own businesses, cultivate land, innovate in science and technology, raise children, provide healthcare, strengthen social cohesion, and contribute significantly to national productivity. Nevertheless, women disproportionately suffer from unemployment, income inequality, and unpaid care work.
These issues are not just social problems but constitutional and developmental ones. When women cannot fully participate in the economy, South Africa cannot fully realize its constitutional promise of equality or achieve the inclusive growth outlined in the National Development Plan 2030. Therefore, economic justice is inseparable from constitutional democracy; it is one of its practical expressions.
The Government of National Unity has affirmed its commitment to building an inclusive economy, creating jobs, reducing poverty, and strengthening state capacity. These priorities cannot be achieved without accelerating the economic empowerment of women, especially young women, women with disabilities, and women from rural communities who continue to face intersecting forms of disadvantage.
The Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities continues to promote gender mainstreaming across government to ensure that every policy, program, and budget contributes to substantive equality. Their work supports the state's constitutional obligation to respect, protect, promote, and fulfill the rights contained in the Bill of Rights.
Economic justice requires targeted investments in women-owned enterprises, expanded access to finance and markets, digital integration, quality education and skills development, and greater participation of women in high-growth sectors such as science, technology, engineering, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.
It also requires recognizing the economic value of unpaid care and creating conditions that allow women to participate equally in the labor market through affordable childcare, social protection, and family workplaces. Equally important is the eradication of gender-based violence and femicide, which remain one of the greatest threats to women's constitutional rights. Violence undermines dignity, restricts freedom, constrains economic participation, and weakens social cohesion. Thus, building a safer South Africa is central to achieving both constitutional justice and sustainable development.
Our constitutional democracy calls on all sectors of society to contribute to the transformation. Government, business, labor, academia, civil society, traditional leaders, religious communities, and ordinary citizens share responsibility for building a society based on justice, equality, and social justice.
By marking seventy years since the Women's March, we honor not only the women who challenged apartheid but also the millions of South African women who build our democracy every day—as entrepreneurs, workers, farmers, teachers, healthcare workers, scientists, public servants, artists, caregivers, and community leaders.
Their contribution reminds us that constitutional democracy is strengthened every time women are given the opportunity to realize their full potential. The greatest tribute to the women of 1956 is not merely remembrance, but the continuous fulfillment of the constitutional values they fought for.
Their courage gave birth to hope. Our Constitution gave this hope a legal expression. Our duty seventy years later is to turn this promise into reality by advancing economic justice, substantive equality, and opportunities for every woman and girl. Only then will we truly fulfill the constitutional vision of a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it, united in diversity, dedicated to social justice, and striving to improve the quality of life for every citizen. This is the South Africa the women of 1956 marched for. This is the South Africa we must continue to build.
The SSRRT Women's Forum invites you to the annual celebration of International Women's Day, which will take place at the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, August 8th, and will run from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The main event will be a presentation by key speaker Nirvashni Naidu, who is an author, poet, and motivational speaker from South Africa.
Organizers reported that Naidu's speech will focus on themes of hope, healing, and resilience, drawing upon her personal life experiences. Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in a painting workshop.
Furthermore, as part of the celebration, the 'Conscious Cuisine' initiative will be launched—a sattvic culinary collection intended to recognize the contribution of the temple's chefs. The ticket price is 180 rand per person and includes all materials for the art sessions and prasad.
This event is open to everyone who wishes to celebrate International Women's Day through inspiration, creativity, and community engagement.
