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18 April 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
Geben van Niekerk
Gerben van Niekerk was recognized as a Bright Star at this year's Liberty Radio Awards.
In 2019, Kovsie FM was recognised by the Liberty Radio Awards as one of the radio stations that secures the future of the radio industry by employing excellence and motivating the consistent raising of standards. 

The Liberty Radio Awards is a transparent awards programme that promotes and highlights excellence by recognising and honouring South Africa’s outstanding radio talent, from in-front-of-the mic presenters to behind-the-scenes producers. The awards have the objective of ensuring that radio remains one of the country’s leading media choices.

The station was nominated in categories including the Best Community Project for the Kovsie FM Cool Kid takeover initiative, and the 2019 Bright Star award, of which University of the Free State (UFS) Student Media Manager and OFM Before Dawn radio presenter, Gerben van Niekerk, was inaugurated as one of the 2019 Liberty Radio Awards Bright Stars. 

Thabang Moselane, UFS alumnus, former OFM radio anchor on A Touch of Thabang, social-media manager for online publication, The Journalist, and freelance researcher, writer, and director for a Johannesburg-based film production company, was also recognised and inducted as a Bright Star at the 2019 Liberty Radio Awards.

2019 Liberty Radio Awards’ Bright Star winner, Van Niekerk, explained that the essence of his job at Kovsie FM is to ensure that the student talent that is produced and groomed in their studios daily, morphs into an array of folk who possess the unquestionable skill and aptitude that is widely sought in commercial South African radio.

A great testimony of Van Niekerk’s mission for Kovsie FM, is former Kovsie FM presenter, Smash Afrika, who has moved on to hosting Live at Night on 5FM, and co-presenting Massive Music on Channel O, and Mzansi Magic with Lalla Hirayama. Former station programme manager, Sam Ludidi, is another gem that was cultivated through Kovsie FM, and now works as rugby presenter on SuperSport TV, and also forms part of the OFM team. 

News Archive

Investigations into incidents on the Bloemfontein Campus: 22-26 February 2016
2016-03-16

Investigations underway into incidents relating to the Varsity Cup rugby match at Xerox Shimla Park and all other criminal acts occurring during protest action

The senior leadership of the University of the Free State (UFS) commissioned a number of investigations into incidents relating to the Varsity Cup rugby match at Xerox Shimla Park on 22 February 2016, as well as into acts of criminal conduct occurring throughout the protest action in the week of 22 to 26 February 2016.

These investigations include:

1. An independent commission led by senior officials in the judiciary. The enquiry will establish the events before and leading up to the match, the tragedy on the field itself, and events immediately afterwards as the crisis spread around the campus, including the incident at Vishuis Men’s Residence the same night.
2. An inquiry about disciplinary and criminal responsibility. This includes the responsibility of students, staff where applicable, and outsiders on campus before, during and after the match, and during the protest action in the week of 22 to 26 February 2016. This will enable the university to take action for disciplinary purposes and to enable the laying of charges with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in criminal cases.
3. Led by the core team of 2006 auditors who did the first study on the transformation of the UFS, an empirical account will be provided on how far, or not, the university has come since the first comprehensive study on the subject. This report in part addresses the charge from some students or student leaders that nothing has changed or that transformation has not happened at the UFS.

The UFS Council endorsed and gave its full support to the investigations during its quarterly meeting on 11 March 2016.

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