The University of the Free State (UFS) will confer honorary doctorates on former deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, Professor Mike Wingfield, Justice Albie Sachs, Judge Dennis Davis and United Nations (UN) deputy secretary-general Winnie Byanyima during its April graduation ceremonies.

Moseneke retired in May 2016 as the deputy Chief Justice and as justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and will be awarded his honorary degree on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus on April 29.

“Before his appointment to the Constitutional Court, he was judge of the High Court in Pretoria. Justice Moseneke completed matric while imprisoned on Robben Island for participating in political activities against the apartheid regime. He continued to complete BA, BIuris, and LLB degrees from the University of South Africa before starting his professional career as an attorney’s clerk in 1976.

“In 2018, Justice Moseneke received the Order of Luthuli in gold, the Republic of South Africa’s highest national award,” UFS says.

Byanyima is the executive director of the UN Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS) and a UN deputy secretary-general. She will receive her honorary degree on the Qwaqwa Campus on April 30.

She had previously served as the executive director of Oxfam International, which is empowering people to create a future that is secure, just and free from poverty.

“Currently, she leads the UN’s efforts to end the Aids epidemic by 2030 and believes healthcare is a human right; hence, she was an early champion for a people’s vaccine against Covid-19, which should be available and free of charge to everyone, everywhere,” the UFS states.

Meanwhile, Wingfield began his academic career at the UFS in 1988. He received the National Research Foundation (NRF) president’s award and has held an NRF A-rating for more than 26 years.

He was the founding director of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute established at the University of Pretoria (UP) in 1998, stepping down from this position at the end of 2017 after 20 years.

“Currently, he serves as adviser to the executive of the UP and conducts research in South Africa and globally.”

Sachs is an activist and was a judge in the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 1994 to 2009. He began practising as advocate at the Cape Bar at the age of 21, defending people charged under the racial statutes and security laws of apartheid.

“Justice Sachs went into exile to England, where he completed a PhD at the University of Sussex. He spent a further 11 years in Mozambique as law professor and legal researcher. He is the author of several books and has travelled to many countries, sharing his experiences to help heal divided societies,” the UFS says.

Davis was educated at the United Herzlia Schools and the Universities of Cape Town and Cambridge. He served as judge of the High Court in Cape Town from 1998 to 2020 and as Judge President at the Competition Appeal Court from 1999 to 2020.

“Since his elevation to the bench, Judge Davis has held honorary professorships at the Universities of Cape Town, Western Cape, Free State and Witwatersrand.

“He has held visiting professorial posts at the Universities of Toronto, Melbourne, Georgetown, and the Harvard, New York, and Florida Brown Universities. He has authored 11 books and more than 200 articles in academic journals.”

“The university is extremely proud to confer honorary doctorates on the group of distinguished individuals. Each of them has made a profound contribution to their respective fields, and we are privileged to welcome them on campus to honour them during the graduation ceremony,” says UFS rector and vice-chancellor Professor Francis Petersen.