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14 February 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
Zane Botha
Zane Botha, new head coach of the UFS Young Guns.

Zane Botha has won a Varsity Cup title as captain of Tuks, two Varsity hostel titles as coach of Vishuis, and now he would like to add a third trophy to his belt as head coach of the UFS Young Guns.

Zane guided House Vishuis to the national crown in 2017 and 2018 and was promoted to coach of the university’s U20 team playing in the Varsity Cup, known as the Young Guns.

Botha lifted the Varsity Cup trophy as the skipper of Tuks in 2012.

“To achieve success in a third Varsity competition would be quite special and is definitely a goal that I look forward to achieving while I work with young people,” Zane said.

The format of the Rugby Varsity Cup competition has changed and will now coincide with the competition for senior players. Both the seniors and the younger players will face the same opponents on the same day. The Young Guns are scheduled to play eight fixtures before the knockout stages, in contrast to earlier years when they only played twice against two opponents before the semi-finals.

In 2018 the UFS U20 team, who previously won the competition in 2014, won all four of their matches against the Ixias and the Pukke before they lost to Tuks in the semi-final.

According to Zane, this format provides the players with more playing opportunities, but at the same time it can also place their depth under pressure when they’re facing injuries, which he aims to limit.

He further explained that he is pleased to have had buy-in in the first round of matches, as it provided him with an extra week’s preparation.

News Archive

Quantity Surveying celebrates many firsts
2014-10-20

 

From the left are: Pierre Oosthuizen, Prof Kajimo-Shakantu and Dr Stephan Ramabodu
Photo: Ifa Tshishonge



The Department of Quantity Surveying at the University of the Free State (UFS) has much to be proud of. With Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu as Head of the Department of Quantity Surveying, the department is celebrating several firsts.

For the first time, the department has four academics with PhDs. This includes Prof Kajimo-Shakantu, Dr Stephan Ramabodu, Dr Timothy Froise and Dr Benita Zulch. It is also the first time that this department is managed by a woman.

Furthermore, the Department of Quantity Surveying has performed very well at this year’s national Quantity Surveying Conference held in Pretoria, where they walked away with four of the seven awards.

The awards were:

•    Best presenter: Pierre Oosthuizen (lecturer)
•    Most innovative presenter: Pierre Oosthuizen (lecturer)
•    Best paper on engineering projects: Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu
•    Best academic paper: T Monyane (postgraduate student) and Dr Stephan Ramabodu (lecturer)

The South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession (SACQSP) also presented two prestigious life achievement awards. One of these were bestowed upon Prof Basie Verster from the UFS for his contribution to quantity surveying since the 1970s.

The university is especially proud of Dr Stephen Ramabodu, lecturer in the Department of Quantity Surveying, who completed his PhD this year. This makes of him the highest qualified quantity surveyor in the department and one of only a few holders of a quantity surveying PhD in the country. Dr Ramabodu is also registered with the South African Council for Quantity Surveying Professionals.

Prof Kajimo-Shakantu said the following of Dr Ramabodu. “Since 2002, Stephan was appointed as a lecturer in a programme called Grow Your Own Timber at the UFS. Later on, he went to Cape Town to gain some commercial experience, where he worked for Davis Langdon in 2005. In 2008, he returned to the Free State, where he established Ramabodu & Associates. Later on in the same year, he returned to the UFS as a lecturer to complete all the remaining milestones of the Grow Your Own Timber programme.

“The university looks forward to Stephen’s increased responsibilities and contributions, not only in teaching and learning, but also in research, mentoring and community engagement.”


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