Successful Chancellor’s events build UFH infrastructure fund

A beautiful day of golf, a beautiful day for Fort Hare.   This was the outcome of the 2023 Chancellor’s Fundraising Golf Day and Gala Dinner on Friday where the UFH Foundation raised funds or R1,4 million.

This was a 33% year-on-year increase compared to the 2022 golf day event where the Fort Hare Foundation raised R1,1 million.  Eighty-four (84) golfers of all skill levels arrived at the East London Golf Club mid-morning to enjoy a round at one of the country’s best-known courses.

With the club’s 18 holes looking a picture, they set about driving, chipping and putting into the late afternoon, enjoying every moment as they made new friends and reminisced with old ones. But, as Fort Hare Foundation Director Nokulunga Mnqeta pointed out, the day was about so much more than just golf.

In 2016, during the institution’s centenary celebrations, there was acknowledgement that Fort Hare’s infrastructure was ageing, dilapidated in some areas and not aligned to modern standards.

The foundation was granted seed funding by the university and mandated to oversee an infrastructure fund. In the space of seven years, the Foundation already raised an impressive R20-million – one fifth of the original target amount.

The Chancellor’s event was the latest in the drive to secure infrastructure funding. Mnqeta said Fort Hare’s annual golf day in Johannesburg had been equally successful in securing funding from a range of stakeholders, including corporates and former students. “The East London event was wonderful because everyone knew that we were doing it for a good cause.

A festive prize-giving at the conclusion of the final round served as the ideal primer for the evening’s gala dinner at The Venue in the Hemingways Mall. A professional auctioneer accepting bids for pieces produced by Fort Hare’s fine arts students as well as guests being treated to fine dining and jazz performances made for an unforgettable evening.