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04 May 2018 Photo Facebook
Female athletes dominate USSA
From left: Marné Mentz (second), Ts’epang Sello (first) and Tyler Beling (third) were in a class of their own, taking the first three spots in the 1 500m at the University Sport South Africa national championship in Sasolburg.

As expected, the Kovsie athletics team made the University Sport South Africa (USSA) national championship, held over the weekend in Sasolburg, one to remember.

Eight athletes earned gold medals, which is twice as many as last year. The total of 24 medals (including seven silver and nine bronze) is also double the number won in 2017. 

They ended third, just one gold medal below the University of Johannesburg. The female athletes won the women’s competition and contributed to seven of the eight gold medals. The Kovsies dominated the 1 500m and 5 000m events in which they both claimed the first, second and third spots. They even grabbed the fourth and sixth position in the 5 000m in which Kesa Molotsane triumphed, with Tyler Beling second, and Marné Mentz third. Mentz and Beling swapped places in the 1 500m behind Ts’epang Sello. 

Molotsane also won the 10 000m in a record time of 34:49.16 which is a massive three minutes and five seconds quicker than the previous record.

The 800m title also now belongs to Sello. She and Beling won a third medal (bronze) as members of the 4 x 400m relay women’s team. 

The other gold medalist was Lara Orrock (3 000m steeplechase), Lynique Beneke (long jump), Esli Lamley (pole vault) and Rynardt van Rensburg (800m).

All five Kovsies who competed at the CAA Southern Region Youth & Junior Championships that took place over the weekend in Boksburg, won medals. They were Pakiso Mthembu (gold, 5 000m), Michaéla Wright (gold, long jump), Tyler (gold, 1 500m), Tsebo Matsoso (silver, 200m) and Orrock (silver, 3 000m steeplechase).

News Archive

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages
2006-05-22

During the colloquium presented in Belgium by the Province Antwerp were from the left Prof Pol Cuvelier (University of Antwerp), Prof Theo du Plessis (Director: Unit for Language Management at the UFS), Mr Ludo Helsen (Permanent Deputy: Province of Antwerp) and Mr Jean-Pierre Rondas (Flemish radio journalist).

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UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages at international conference

Prof Theo du Plessis, Director of the Unit for Language Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), was the main speaker at a colloquium titled “Routes:  Where to now? - Een traject van het Nederlands naar het Afrikaans en de Afrikatalen”, which was recently presented by the Province Antwerp in Belgium.

 The aim of the colloquium was to discuss the future cooperation in the field of language between the Province Antwerp and South Africa. 

 The Province Antwerp is already involved with projects in South Africa.  One of these projects is the Multilingual Information Development Programme (MIDP), a partnership project between the UFS and the Free State Province that is mainly funded by the Province Antwerp. 

 The project has been running since 1999 and was recently in the news with the presentation of a symposium on multilingualism and exclusion on the Main Campus of the UFS.  It is hoped that the Routes colloquium will indicate new stages on which can be added to the already successful cooperation in the area of language.

 Prof Du Plessis’s presentation titled “Nederlands, Afrikaans en die Afrikatale – kan samewerking slaag? Die geval MIDP in die Vrystaat”, investigated the successes that have been made with the MIDP.  He discussed two possible approaches to cooperation in the areas of language, that of a sentimentalistic  approach against an instrumentalistic approach. 

Cooperation in the first approach makes language the aim.  In the second approach language is used as a means to a greater aim.  According to Prof du Plessis the first approach is driven by a romantisised idea about the relation between the Flemish and Afrikaans speaking people, which may unfortunately polarise the position of Afrikaans in South Africa even further.

 He argues that, given the time that we are in, the second approach will deliver more constructive results as language can among others be used for to further  democracy in South Africa.   This can happen by cooperation in the institutionalising of multilingualism in our society.  The more languages are used in education, law and government administration, the more we can be assured a successful democracy.

 The Routes colloquium was facilitated by the well-known Flemish radio journalist, Jean-Pierre Rondas. About twenty South African and Flemish language specialists took part in the colloquium.  Dr Fritz Kok, outgoing chief executive officer of the ATKV took part in the opening ceremony and Dr Neville Alexander from the University of Cape Town and well-known activist for multilingualism in South Africa was also one of the main speakers.

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