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21 September 2018 Photo Charl Devinish
Abe Bailey Bursary victor
“I believe in self learning,” says 2018 UFS Abe Bailey victor, Nkahiseng Ralepeli.

The Abe Bailey Trust is a leadership-development opportunity that targets university students or junior lecturers who are academically strong and have shown exceptional qualities of leadership and service. Recipients of the bursary are required to have a good record of accomplishments, not only on campus but also in a broader social context, where they function as an integral piece of a select and highly-skilled group of individuals.

Ralepeli, the over-achiever

Final-year Law student, Nkahiseng Ralepeli, embodies this exact description and exemplifies the essence of distinction and merit when it comes to who he is. Ralepeli  who has represented the university at various international debate platforms, an alumni of the F1 programme to Thailand and other leadership programmes such, recently, International Youth Leadership Conference (IYLC) programme in Prague, will represent the University of the Free State (UFS) during the Abe Bailey Travel Bursary tour in the UK in December 2018. He, along with 16 other candidates from other South African tertiary institutions, will participate in the tour for its full duration and will take part in the exciting developmental programme that is planned.

With an intense but fruitful leadership-training schedule, he said he was looking forward to meeting the British members of parliament as well as other persons of stature in the British government.

Travelling: A catalyst for critical thinking


Ralepeli, who was also 3rd overall Kovsie Dux student, underlined that he truly enjoys travelling. He has subsequently mastered the art of constantly positioning himself among the best academically and socially, and this has aided his mission to trot the globe extensively, which he has been doing since his junior years.

A man of value

“I have a small yet select and impactful network of people in my life who play an influential role in reminding me during times of triumph that, while it is important to celebrate, each win is just a step towards the ultimate goal of success,” said Ralepeli. 

He emphasised the importance of the roles played by those close to him, describing them as “my double-edged sword who played a crucial role in carving out the inner Nkahiseng, who, hopefully, will do great things”. The Kovsie Dux believes that those you surround yourself with, channel the kind of energy that will either make or break you.

News Archive

UFS mourns the death of a former Rector
2008-06-23



Photo: Prof. Wynand Mouton, last year during the launch of the UFS's Centenary Book.
 

It is with great sadness that the management of the University of the Free State (UFS) heard of the death of Prof. Wynand Mouton (79), former Rector of the UFS.

Prof. Mouton passed away this weekend in the Ferncrest Hospital in Rustenburg as a result of a cardiac arrest. He was visiting his son, Dr Wynand Mouton in Rustenburg when he fell ill three weeks ago and was admitted to hospital. Prof. Mouton’s wife, Daleen, passed away in April this year.

Prof. Mouton was Rector of the UFS from 1976-1988. His ties with the UFS stretch over 60 years. He studied for the B.Sc. degree at the UFS in 1948 and obtained doctorates in Physics and Nuclear Physics in 1960 and 1962, respectively, at the University of Utrecht.

Before his appointment as Rector of the UFS, Prof. Mouton was the first Vice-Rector of the University of Stellenbosch. He was jointly responsible for the establishment of the UFS Sasol Library and helped to stabilise the Development Trust Fund.

“Prof. Mouton left deep footprints at the UFS. He led the UFS to become a foremost research university in the country. Under his leadership, extensive sports fields were also developed on the west campus, including Shimla Park. He enlarged the university’s art collection and saw to it that student productions were staged in a modern, well-equipped theatre (later named after him),” says Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Acting Rector of the UFS.

“I am glad that we could honour him for this and other valuable contributions in 2004 with a Centenary Medal before he passed away,” says Prof. Verschoor.

Prof. Mouton was Chairman of the UFS Council from 1991-1996 and Chancellor of the UFS from 1996-1999. In 1995 he received an honorary doctorate from the UFS.

“Our sympathies go to Prof. Mouton’s children, Wynand, Hendrik and Ms Saretha Curry, as well as his three grandchildren,” says Prof. Verschoor.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
23 June 2008

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