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22 February 2018
Photo Thabo Kessah
Pakiso Mthembu will be representing South Africa in Mauritius and Algeria.
This year, the University of the Free State’s Qwaqwa Campus will unleash a running sensation that is equally comfortable on track, cross-country, and road running and is on a mission to conquer the world. His name is Pakiso Mthembu from Tweeling in the Eastern Free State. Pakiso has recently qualified for the Junior Men’s Southern Region cross-country championships that will be held in Mauritius on 24 February and in Algeria on 17 March 2018.
“I am glad that I managed to run my personal best time of 24:02 during the qualification trials held in Bloemfontein in January, which set me on the road to Mauritius and Algeria,” said Pakiso, a BEd FET first-year student.
His personal best in the 10 km road-running category and in the 5 000 m track are 30:55 and 14:29, respectively.
Praise for Soke
“It is only through dedication, hard work, and listening to my coach that I can achieve my dreams of representing South Africa at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Junior Championships (IAAF) to be held in Finland in July, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. I have one of the best coaches in this part of the world and it gives me great pleasure to work with him, having grown up admiring him during his days,” he says in reference to Boy Soke, who identified his talent and recruited him to the Qwaqwa Campus.
Pakiso has already represented South Africa in Uganda.
Department of Architecture recognises excellence
2014-11-20
From the left are: Gary Westwood, Marius du Plessis and Henry Pretorius
Photo: Ifa Tshishonge
Front page design by Marius du Plessis |
Marius du Plessis received the first prize in the Regional Corobrik Student of the Year Award for his design of a National Geothermal Research and Educational Centre in Johannesburg. The award ceremony was hosted by the Department of Architecture at the University of the Free State.
Anja Lareman was awarded the second prize for her Psychiatric Unit for the Deaf in Worcester and Mariska Peel received third prize for her design of a laboratory for the after oil epoch in Durban.
The Corobrik award for Best use of clay masonry brickwork was awarded to Valentino Moutzouris for his design of a Performing Arts Centre in Wynberg, Cape Town.
The event was well attended by architecture students who hoped to take home an award. Projects exhibited, received distinctions in one or all of the three main components, including design, the architectural theoretical treatise and building sciences.
“This is the greatest award that one could win in the Free State. It came with so much blood, sweat and tears, as I had to live, eat and work day and night at the same place in order to finish the project,” said Marius, master’s student in Architecture. He said that he hopes the project can be developed and implemented in mine shafts to solve the energy crisis in South Africa.
Henry Pretorius, Academic Departmental Head of Architecture, said: “It is vital for architecture to have a public interface. This event is to showcase the work of students and to make sure that it is accessible to the public. It encourages students to understand the value of their own work and its cognisance to society.”
Gary Westwood, Sales Manager of Corobrik Free State, Northern Cape and Lesotho region, said: “So far it has been an incredible journey. This annual event of 24 years is our way of giving back to the community who supports and sustains our business. It is wonderful to see how the architecture industry has adapted to a more sustainable way of design, by being part of the green movement.”
Marius will compete with other Corobrik winners from various universities on national level in April 2015.