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14 February 2018 Photo Bonolo Nkoane
First Sesotho soundtrack for fulldome film launched at Naval Hill Planetarium
Tshireletso Nkoane, best known for her television roles in the drama series, Tshisa, the comedy series, Moferefere Lenyalong, as well as the miniseries, Naledi.
In December, the Naval Hill Planetarium used the voice of a well-known South African actress for yet another trailblazer: the first Sesotho soundtrack for a full-dome film.

“It is important for our children to become interested in science and astronomy through exposure to good language use in their mother tongue from an early age, so that we can still make a sound contribution to these fields in the future,” said Prof Matie Hoffman from the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State.

Space Shapes, a child-friendly fulldome film by the Ott Planetarium at the Weber State University in Utah in the US, was translated into Sesotho as Dibopeho tsa Sepakapakeng by Khantlapane Selina Ketla and Dr Andries Hoffman, following last year’s release of the short film by the Naval Hill Planetarium as Ruimtevorms in Afrikaans. The film, created by participants of the 2010 Blender Production Workshop in Utah, takes young audiences on a journey to explore the different shapes found in space.

The voice artist, Tshireletso Nkoane, a star in her own right, is best-known for her television roles in the drama series, Tshisa, the comedy series, Moferefere Lenyalong, as well as the miniseries, Naledi. She has several theatre and radio credits to her name, and also boasts a diploma in Electrical Engineering.

The premiere of this Sesotho trailblazer, as well as the CosmoQuest and Ward Beecher Planetarium’s English fulldome film, Cosmic Castaways, will take place at the Naval Hill Planetarium on Saturday 17 February 2018 at 17:30. Cosmic Castaways is an exciting work that reaches out to places where there are no constellations; where there are still isolated stars to be found in the voids between the galaxies.

Tickets for this double premiere, as well as for the weekly Saturday 17:30 shows, are available from Computicket – just search under ‘planetarium’ on the Computicket website or visit Checkers.

News Archive

“Deploy your education and not connections,” Chancellor tells graduates
2012-05-16

 

Qwaqwa Autumn Graduation
Photo: Thabo Kessah
16 May 2012

Our Qwaqwa Campus conferred 424 degrees, diplomas and certificates at this year’s autumn graduation ceremony held on 12 May 2012.

Amongst the degrees conferred were two doctorates in Polymer Science, two Master’s of Arts in Geography and African Languages, respectively, five Master’s of Science degrees in Physics (3) and Polymer Science (2) and 37 honours degrees in Education, Zoology, Physics, Botany and Polymer Science.

In their congratulatory messages, both the Vice-Rector: Institutional Affairs, Prof. Teuns Verschoor, and the Chancellor, Dr Khotso Mokhele, challenged the graduates to start focusing their attention beyond their graduation on what they both referred to as “the real world”.

“Graduation ceremonies are a fantastic event, but you must never lose sight of appreciating the support given by those around you,” said Dr Mokhele.

“This hall was full of shouting and yes, you must bask in that glory, knowing that you have achieved part of your goals. Yes, this is your moment, so shine. You deserve it. You have earned it.”

“However, this noise also means you must go out there and face the real world. You are graduating in a model country on how people can reconcile, despite their painful and divided past. You deserve all the accolades, but that model country is disappearing before your eyes. How can you mess up what Mandela, Biko, Sobukwe, Nardine Gordimer lived and fought for? How can you mess up such a good thing?” Dr Mokhele asked of an attentive audience that included proud parents and siblings, as well as educators and learners from the Thabo Mofutsanyana District.

“Go out there and deploy your education and not your connections, as these are embedded in corruption. Go out there and help get rid of the patronage system where hard-workers are more likely to be constructively dismissed as they stand in the way of those with corrupt tendencies. Save this country from becoming another Zimbabwe. Let us do whatever it takes to save this country. Let these matriculants who are here today want to walk that red carpet with pride in the next few years,”,said Dr Mokhele.

Dignitaries in attendance included the former Chief Minister of the former Qwaqwa homeland, Dr T K Mopeli; the Executive Mayor of the Dihlabeng Local Municipality, Councillor Tjhetane Mofokeng; Dr SWF Moloi (Thabo Mofutsanyana Education District) and representatives from various government departments.
 

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