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27 September 2018
KovsieSport crowns their best
The University of the Free State honoured their best sports achievers on Wednesday night. The major winners are, from the left: Tyler Beling (best junior sportswoman), Raynard van Tonder (best sportsman),Lynique Beneke (best senior sportswoman), and Rynardt van Rensburg (best senior sportsman).
The athletes Rynardt van Rensburg and Lynique Beneke walked away with the two major awards at the KovsieSport honours function on Wednesday 26 August 2018.

The two were announced as the Kovsie Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year. Both of them represented South Africa at international level in the past 12 months and were the national student champions in their items.

Van Renburg’s major achievement was the 1:45.15 he ran in the 800 m at the Hengelo World Challenge meeting, which is the 32nd fastest time in the world in 2018 and also his personal best. Beneke, among others, earned a bronze medal at the African Senior Championships in the long jump and won the item at the National track and field championships for a sixth consecutive year.

Tyler Beling, another athlete (middle distance), was named the Junior Sportswoman of the Year while cricketer Raynard van Tonder was the best Junior Sportsman. Van Tonder captained the South African team to the U19 Cricket World Cup, where he scored the third most runs at an average of 69.6. Beling is the country’s best junior in the 1 500 m.

Juanelie Meijer, Louzanne Coetzee (athletics), and Johann van Heerden (swimming) received special awards for their achievements as athletes with a disability.

Other nominees on the night were:

Senior Sportsman of the Year: Ox Nche (rugby).

Senior Sportswoman of the Year: Kesa Molotsane, Ts’epang Sello, Yolandi Stander (all athletics), Khanyisa Chawane, and Meagan Roux (both netball).

Junior Sportsman of the Year: Pakiso Mthembu (athletics), Lubabalo Dobela, and Rewan Kruger (both rugby).

Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Casey-Jean Botha (hockey) and Michaéla Wright (athletics).

News Archive

Vice-Chancellor honoured with major awards
2013-05-02

02 May 2013

The University of the Free State (UFS) is proud to announce that Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, has been awarded a number of major awards recently.

The University of California in the United States awarded him the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance. The award is made in recognition of persons who exemplify in their work the delivery of social justice, diplomacy and tolerance in the diverse local and global society.

“The committee was very impressed with the commitment that Prof Jansen has had to reconciliation and forgiveness as a way to build bridges and to find common ground. Prof Jansen is following in the steps of many of our greatest peace-time leaders and we support his efforts to bring understanding to all cultures,” said Mark Aldenderfer, chair of the awards committee and Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Art at the University of California.

Prof Jansen also received the 2013 Academia Award at the Sixth Annual Ubuntu Lecture and Dialogue Awards Ceremony of the Turquoise Harmony Institute on 4 April 2013 in Johannesburg. The Institute aims to foster relations among different faith and cultural traditions to contribute to the well-being of humanity.

According to the organisers, “outstanding individuals who made noteworthy contributions to dialogue, peace and harmony in the society,” are given recognition during the ceremony. The awards are made in a number of different categories. Prof Jansen was among the recipients who included Graca Machel and the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF). Previous winners of Turquoise Awards include Ahmed Kathrada, Chester Williams, Dr Frene Ginwala and Prof Russel Botman.

On 10 May 2013, Prof Jansen was also honoured by Kappa Delta Pi International Honour Society in Education. He was awarded membership of the Laureate Chapter of the society founded in 1911 which “is comprised of men and women who have made distinguished contributions to education, and is limited to 60 living persons”. Prof Jansen joins an exclusive membership of 293 which includes such luminaries as Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jean Piaget and George Washington Carver.

Also in the United States, Prof Jansen has been invited to be Messenger Lecturer for Fall 2013 at Cornell University. He will give three lectures and interact with the students and staff of Cornell at various functions.

“This is a significant honour and it will really allow members from across the university to get a deeper appreciation of the work you are doing at UFS and in South Africa more broadly,” said Prof Judith Byfield of Cornell’s Department of History and Director of Graduate Studies at the department’s Africana Studies and Research Centre.

On the local front, City Press published its inaugural 100 World Class South Africans on 28 April 2013. During a rigorous selection process, 100 of our country’s most extraordinary citizens who have achieved world-class status were chosen. Prof Jansen’s achievements procured him a place on this prestigious list in the category: Heroes and Mavericks.

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