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07 February 2018 Photo Facebook
Louzanne and Marné included in national student cross country teams
Athlete Louzanne Coetzee, and her guide, Xavier Adams

Two Kovsie athletes, including the blind athlete and world record holder, Louzanne Coetzee, have been included in the national student cross country team.

Coetzee and Marné Mentz will compete at the World Student Cross Country championship on 7 April in St Gallen in Switzerland.

They qualified for the team after good performances at the Athletics South Africa’s cross country trials held at the University of the Free State (UFS) on 20 January. The distance was over 10km.

What makes Coetzee’s inclusion even more remarkable is the fact that she will be competing against able-bodied runners. The world record holder in the 5 000m in her disability category (T-11) and her new guide, Xavier Adams, finished first among the female students in a time of 39:32, which is her personal best. Mentz ended in second place for students in 39:44. They will make up two of the six spots in the women’s team in Switzerland.

First for Coetzee

It is the first time that Coetzee was chosen for an able-bodied national team. She is doing a master’s degree in Reconciliation and Social Cohesion this year and Mentz is in her final year of a BEd Intermediate Phase.

Tshepang Sello, another Kovsie and an Olympic athlete from Lesotho, took first position for students in 38:04 but did not qualify for the South African team because of her Lesotho citizenship.

Kesa Molotsane (35:29) was the overall winner. Although Molotsane is still doing her honours this year, she ran in the open division as she no longer qualifies as a student because she is over the age of 25, according to University Sport South Africa regulations.

Molotsane ,26, is the national cross country champion of 2016 and obtained second spot last year.

News Archive

Research into veld fires in grassland can now help with scientifically-grounded evidence
2015-04-10

While cattle and game farmers are rejoicing in the recent rains which large areas of the country received in the past growing season, an expert from the University of the Free State’s Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences, says that much of the highly inflammable material now available could lead to large-scale veld fires this coming winter.

Prof Hennie Snyman, professor and  researcher in the Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences, warns that cattle and game farmers should be aware, in good time, of this problem which is about to rear its head. He proposes that farmers must burn firebreaks as a precaution.

At present, Prof Snyman focuses his research on the impact of fire and burning on the functioning of the grassland ecosystem, especially in the drier grassland regions.

He says the impact of fire on the functioning of ecosystems in the ‘sour’ grassland areas of Southern Africa (which includes Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, and the Harrismith environs) is already well established, but less information  is available for ‘sweet’ semi-arid grassland areas. According to Prof Snyman, there is no reason to burn grassland in this semi-arid area. Grazing by animals can be effectively used because of the high quality material without having to burn it off. In the sourer pasturage, fire may well form part of the functioning of the grassland ecosystem in view of the fact that a quality problem might develop after which the grass must rejuvenate by letting it burn.

Prof Snyman, who has already been busy with the research for ten years, says quantified data on the impact of fire on the soil and plants were not available previously for the semi-arid grassland areas. Fires start frequently because of lightning, carelessness, freak accidents, or damaged power lines, and farmers must be recompensed for this damage.

The shortage of proper research on the impact of fires on soil and plants has led to burnt areas not being withdrawn from grazing for long enough. The lack of information has also led to farmers, who have lost grazing to fires, not being compensated fairly or even being over-compensated.

“When above-and below-ground plant production, together with efficient water usage, is taken into account, burnt grassland requires at least two full growing seasons to recover completely.”       

Prof Snyman says farmers frequently make the mistake of allowing animals to graze on burnt grassland as soon as it begins to sprout, causing considerable damage to the plants.

“Plant roots are more sensitive to fire than the above-ground plant material. This is the reason why seasonal above-ground production losses from fire in the first growing season after the fire can amount to half of the unburnt veld. The ecosystem must first recover completely in order to be productive and sustainable again for the long term. The faster burnt veld is grazed again, the longer the ecosystem takes to recover completely, lengthening the problem with fodder shortages further.  

Prof Snyman feels that fire as a management tool in semi-arid grassland is questionable if there is no specific purpose for it, as it can increase ecological and financial risk management in the short term.

Prof Snyman says more research is needed to quantify the impact of runaway fires on both grassland plant productivity and soil properties in terms of different seasonal climatic variations.

“The current information may already serve as valuable guidelines regarding claims arising from unforeseen fires, which often amount to thousands of rand, and are sometimes based on unscientific evidence.”

Prof Snyman’s research findings have been used successfully as guidelines for compensation aspects in several court cases.

 

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