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12 April 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Varsity Cup
Vishuis
Vishuis will be trying to win their overall seventh Varsity hostel title on Monday.

Managing his players is of the utmost importance if the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Abraham Fischer Residence (Vishuis) is to claim a fourth straight and seventh overall national hostel title, says Zane Botha, head coach of the hostel team at the UFS.

The Varsity Hostel competition, which will be taking place in Stellenbosch, has been drastically shortened to only three days of rugby because Steinhoff has withdrawn their sponsorship.

If Vishuis makes it to the final, they will play three matches in four days.
They will face the Kovacs of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Friday 12 March 2019, followed by the semi-final on Saturday and the final on Monday. The final will take place at 14:00 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

“This will be new territory for us. We will have to make good tactical decisions; it won’t be possible for a prop to play for 70 minutes in all three encounters,” said Botha, who is in his third year with the hostel.

The team played three warm-up matches, which they won convincingly. We still have the core of last year’s team, together with some exciting youngsters.
Botha explained that they kept to their strategy of working harder than anyone else on the practice field and during matches. In last year’s final, Vishuis defeated Patria of the North-West University by 55-29, which was the biggest winning margin in the 11 years of the competition. Vishuis walked away with the crown in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

News Archive

Ensuring justice does not get lost in translation
2014-02-06


Court interpreters who have successfully completed a legal interpreting learnership.
Photo: Stephen Collett

The University of the Free State (UFS) is a taking a leading role in changing the face and character of the South African court system, infusing it with qualified professionals.

The university’s Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment partnered with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development as well as the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA). This union lead to 63 court interpreters successfully completing a legal interpreting learnership.

These newly-qualified interpreters will from now on render specialised interpreting services in courts across our country.

Addressing the audience at the diploma ceremony held on the Bloemfontein Campus, Dr Derek Swemmer, Registrar of the UFS, said translators have an important role to play. ”Translation is a gift to those who do not understand the language that a person is speaking,” he said.

In her speech, Nonkululeko Sindane, Director-General in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, said the qualification will improve the professional status of court interpreting. She added that the learnership is based on a broader government policy on skills development. She mentioned that eight of those who received qualifications have been permanently employed by the department.

Praising the university for its role, Abbey Witbooi, Chairperson of the SASSETA board, said the diploma will allow qualified learners to contribute to social and economic transformation. This will ensure the protection of human rights in the court setting. In addition, it also provides equal access to a fair trial in terms of effective communication. “The fact that this is a first in the republic, speaks volumes for the extent of the commitment of collective leadership to realise the transformation agenda,” he said.


 

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