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will be taking place in Stellenbosch, has been drastically shortened to only three days of rugby because Steinhoff has withdrawn their sponsorship.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

UFS focuses on human rights and anti-racism
2017-03-20

Description: "Bongani Majola Tags: Bongani Majola
Prof Bongani Majola and Prof Leon Wessels at
the launch of the FSHRC.
Photo: Supplied

Human rights are part of the dominant moral and political language of our time, and demand a multi-layered scholarly engagement. These discussions influence national and international relations, and set standards for political and democratic practice.

New Centre for Human Rights launched

Since the academic space is a microcosm of society at large, it is crucial that the University of the Free State (UFS) takes part in such scholarly discussions, drawing lessons and crafting solutions from these dialogues.

To this end, the new Free State Centre for Human Rights (FSCHR) was officially launched on 14 March 2017 at the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS. Professor Bongani Majola, the newly elected chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), was the guest speaker at the event. The FSCHR began operating on 1 January 2016, under the leadership of Prof Leon Wessels, founding member of the SAHRC, as the acting director of the centre. 

A priority on the centre’s agenda will be to uphold the February 2011 post-Reitz agreement between the SAHRC and UFS, which was subsequently made an order of the Equality Court. This order compelled the UFS to establish such a centre. The centre presents new opportunities for cooperation between the UFS and SAHRC and other stakeholders to benefit the UFS and the broader community.

Anti-Racism Week marked by IRSJ

The Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ), in conjunction with the newly-launched FSCHR, the Anti-Racism Network of South Africa (ARNSA), and the Arts and Culture office of Student Affairs presented an event on Friday 17 March 2017 to mark Anti-Racism Week (14-21 March) and Human Rights Day (21 March).

This second annual Anti-Racism Week sees seven days observed for all institutions, organisations, and individuals to fight racism, with each day having an assigned theme, such as ‘Be Aware’ (14 March) and ‘BeCome’ (21 March).

“Battling racism
is a life-long
commitment”
—JC van der Merwe,
Acting Director, IRSJ

JC van der Merwe, Acting Director of the IRSJ, said, “Battling racism is a life-long commitment. It is time for us to tackle the problem head-on. Anti-Racism Week gives us the platform to communicate within the university, within our communities, but also at grassroots level. The idea this year is that we all BeCome champions against racism, not just during this week, but that it will become part of everyday life on our campuses.”



Talented UFS students perform a flash mob dance prior to a collaborative event to mark Anti-Racism Week and Human Rights Day.
Video: UFS Instagram

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