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14 February 2018 Photo Varsity Cup
Shimlas make it two out of three
Menzi Nhlabathi, flank of the Shimlas, celebrates his try against Wits.

The Shimlas are back in the top half of the Varsity Cup log thanks to a second win in three matches.

They recorded a 44-24 victory over Wits at Shimla Park on Monday night, a team who have been in red-hot form with wins over the Ikeys and Tuks in the first two rounds.

Wits had the upper hand shortly before half time when they led by 12-5, but four tries within 15 minutes, two of them seven pointers, took the wind out of their sails and turned a 5-12 deficit into a 35-12 lead for the Shimlas.

From there the Blue Train never looked back, although Wits closed the gap to 24-35 towards the end, but at that stage the win was already sealed. Flyhalf Nakkie Naudé scored nearly half (20 points) of his team’s total which included two tries.

Next up for the Shimlas is a clash with the Ikeys in Cape Town on Monday.

Vishuis and U-20 also on the winning side

Meanwhile the Shimlas U-20 team won their opening fixture against their counterparts of the North-West University. The Shimlas Young Guns under new head coach, Wian du Preez, were victorious by 47-37. They will be in action again on 26 February 2018 when they face the Young Guns of the Central University of the Free State (CUT) at Shimla Park.

Vishuis, who represents the University of the Free State in the competition for hostels, opened the defence of their title with a 42-0 thumping of the Lions of CUT.

News Archive

English, Afrikaans, Sotho, and Zulu part of first Literature Festival
2016-08-11

Description: Literature Festival  Tags: Literature Festival

The first Literature Festival was a huge success, attracting
young and old during this year’s Vrystaat Arts Festival held
at the University of the Free State.
Photo: Leopold Frechow

It may have been the inaugural year of the Vrystaat Literature Festival, but, with the success of this year’s event, there are bound to be many more.

Main purpose of the festival

Acting Director of Student Affairs at the University of the Free State (UFS), Cornelia Faasen says: “The main purpose of the festival is to celebrate the South African literary scene as a multi-lingual, multi-cultural landscape, and to bring prominent writers to the UFS in order to open dialogues and discussions with them.”

Because of the students’ role in the arts and culture in general, the Department of Student Affairs wanted them to be involved in the festival too.

Contribution from African writers

Both local and international guests were involved. This year’s theme, “Our Africa”, attracted many African writers too.

Some of these writers include Chika Unigwe, originally from Nigeria, who rose to fame in Belgium, and the Iranian author, Kader Abdolah, a political refugee who escaped from Iran to the Netherlands in the 1980s. Wilfried N’Sondé, originally from the Republic of the Congo, and now living in France, was also a festival guest.

Festival offers something for everyone

Several authors celebrated literature in English. In addition to this, Afrikaans books and writers were featured alongside other indigenous languages, such as Sotho and Zulu.

Faasen says that she hopes that this festival will be the first of many. “We are hoping that this event will find its own legs with more students and academic staff from the UFS involved.”

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