Vol 1 - Support Services Ufs Ac Za - University of the Free State

to democracy. Crime has an enormous impact on allspheres of life and could jeopardise the transition todemocracy. This Focus Area highlights and explores thisphenomenon.ActivitiesCurrent projects within this Cluster encompassdiverse disciplines within the Faculty of theHumanities. Prof Theo du Plessis of the Unit forLanguage Management is leading an investigationinto the multiple languages of the Xhariep districtof the Free State Province. Ms Herme Foster of theDepartment of Criminology is looking at alternativesto violence, while Prof Dap Louw of the Departmentof Psychology is developing a measuring instrumentto determine the release of prisoners.Prof Anwar Osman, Senior Professor at the Centre for AfricaStudies, is conducting research within the Cluster onTransformation in Highly Diverse Societies.Prof Anwar Osman of the Centre for AfricaStudies is exploring medicinal clays, and Prof AndréWessels of the Department of History is documentingthe history of the South African national defenceforces chaplain services from 1961 until 2004.A team from the Centre for Health SystemsResearch and Development, led by Prof Dingie Jansevan Rensburg, aim to inform intervention throughresearch into phase II of non-uptake of counsellingand testing for HIV among tuberculoses patients inthe Free State.Cluster 4: Technologies forSustainable Crop Industries inSemi-arid RegionsThe high incidence of poverty in southern Africa islargely due to natural resource challenges. Theagricultural sector, and in particular crop production,will play an integral role in solving these problems.Future agricultural research in the region mustutilise technologies that are adapted to semi-aridregions while also being ecologically sound andeconomically viable.This Cluster will adopt a holistic multi disciplinaryapproach to agro-ecosystem analysis, inorder to improve yields and encourage the developmentof new value-added products and food supplychains for alleviating food shortages. This will beachieved by the innovative application of existingtraditional or indigenous technologies and thedevelop ment of new technologies.36