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10 October 2018 | Story UFS | Photo Sonia Small
Kovsies Dream Team takes the netball crown
The Dream Team from the UFS celebrate their victory after beating Tuks by 63-59 in the final of the Varsity Netball competition.


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The Kovsie netball team has the Varsity Netball trophy, one of the most prestigious in university sport, back in the cabinet. With this, they are now the most successful team in the history of the competition, having won three (2013, 2014 and 2018) of the six titles.

The Dream Team earned the prize thanks to a brilliant performance in the final against the defending champs, Tuks, winning by 63-59 in front of a sold-out Callie Human Centre on Monday 8 October 2018. It was the first final staged in Bloemfontein.

The Kovsies was in the lead after each quarter, but Tuks seemed to ascend in the final quarter, leading by 49-46 with nine minutes remaining. The home team then called the power play (when goals score two points) and during a golden five minutes, they built up a 63-55 lead to seal the match.

It was a brilliant turnaround for the Dream Team after losing twice to the same team in July – with 10 and 18 goals.

“The team played excellently, and I am so proud of their performance. I watched them perform throughout this year’s Varsity Netball series and want to congratulate them on their victory on behalf of the university’s executive management and the entire university community,” said Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State. 

“There’s nothing greater than playing for a great team that supports you and trusts you; thus, every time you go on court you want to give your all for them,” said Khanyisa Chawane, who played centre and wing attack in the final.

“We came a long way; there was no way we were going to give it away once we got to the final. Kovsies have a legacy and this is a legacy we want to carry through.”

Chawane was named the Player of the Tournament. She is the first player to be awarded the best player title in the Premier League, National Championship, and Varsity Netball in the same year.

Centre-court player Sikholiwe Mdletshe also referred to the legacy.

“We are starting our legacy, we knew we had to win, other teams can’t come here and dominate.”

“It is such an honour, the fact that we could do it in front of our home crowd support. We waited very long for this,” said captain Alicia Puren, who played in her final game after five seasons with the Kovsies.

According to Burta de Kock, the coach, the players used the power play in the final quarter very well in which they scored eight goals to four.  “We spoke a lot about being calm and keeping position in those two minutes.” De Kock said the large crowd was a huge advantage. “We’ve never had such a massive crowd before. It definitely helped us.”

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Researcher uses NRF funding for studies to conserve plant and animal life
2017-04-18

Description: Butterfly Tags: Butterfly

It is difficult to survey all different types of
plants and animals and is therefore necessary to
choose one representative group. Butterflies are
relatively cheap and easy to sample. They are
known to be linked to specific habitats and to
respond to human pressures, such as farming.
Photo: Dr Falko Buschke


Earth is the only planet we know of that contains life. The variety of different plants and animals is remarkable: from the giant whales that swim our oceans, to the tiny mosses that grow on the shaded sides of rocks.  Many of these plants and animals are important to humans. For example, trees provide us with oxygen to breathe, bees pollinate our crops and owls control pests. More importantly though, we can tell a lot about society from the way it cares for nature. Humans are the custodians of the planet and the way we care for nature reflects the way we value life.

Dr Falko Buschke, Lecturer at the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State, is interested in understanding how the distribution of biodiversity [the variety of living things in nature] in time and space influences the way we should conserve and manage nature.

Earth is losing biodiversity faster than at any time in human history

The planet is losing biodiversity faster than at any time in human history. “There is an urgency to conserve plants and animals before they are lost forever. Nature is complex, so the way we study it should embrace this complexity. We should not rely on limited data on one type of species from one place and assume that it will also apply elsewhere. Instead, it is important that biodiversity research is comprehensive in the types of plants and animals while also considering that ecological and evolutionary processes vary through time and across geographic space,” he said.

To conduct his research, Dr Buschke uses a variety of research tools, including biological data surveyed directly from nature, spatial data from satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems databases, and data generated though custom-built computer simulations.

"There is an urgency to conserve
plants and animals before they
are lost forever."

Field work in the eastern Free State
Although parts of the eastern Free State are considered a global priority for biodiversity conservation, it is mainly privately owned commercial farmland. This means that it is important that plants and animals can survive despite living side by side with agricultural production.

“My project investigates whether the sandstone outcrops, known as inselbergs (island-mountains), are safe havens for plants and animals. Because it is difficult to survey all the different types of plants and animals, it is necessary to choose one representative group. That is where butterflies come in. Butterflies are relatively cheap and easy to sample. They are known to be linked to specific habitats and to respond to human pressures, such as farming,” he said. “Once this butterfly data is collected, it can be linked to satellite information on plant growth patterns. This will provide a clearer picture of whether plants and animals can persist side-by-side with commercial agriculture”.

Dr Buschke has just begun surveys that will carry on until the end of this year. “This 12-month project is funded under the Foundational Biodiversity Information Programme through the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

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