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03 January 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Photo: Agri SA
Dan Kriek was recently appointed by the President to serve on an advisory panel on land reform.

Dan Kriek is a man who has many irons in the fire. The President of Agri SA, was in September 2018 appointed by the President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, to serve on an advisory panel on land reform that will support the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Reform.

Nevertheless, he jumped at the opportunity to serve on the Council of the University of the Free State. Kriek is also a proud former Kovsie. He obtained his BScAgric (Zoology), BScAgricHons, and MScAgric (Zoology) at the UFS. As a result, he regards it as a great privilege to be able to serve on the Council of his alma mater.

“It is now important
for me to make
our country
a better place.”
—Dan Kriek;
President: Agri SA

Great responsibility

“Apart from it being a great privilege, it is also a big responsibility,” he says. “I have good memories of my student days at Kovsies, but I also realise that times and circumstances have changed. A different approach – an inclusive approach – is needed in terms of how we are going to take the university forward.”

He believes that his knowledge of organised agriculture will come in handy. He is a proud product of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and believes that this is where he will especially be able to play a part as member of the UFS Council.

World-class institution

“I know what the current debates and challenges in agriculture are about. I therefore also know that we can make this Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and indeed this university, a world-class institution.”

In addition to his duties as President of Agri SA, he also serves on the Board of Directors of the VKB Group. Naturally, he is still a cattle farmer on his farm in the Eastern Free State as well.

“There isn’t time for more at this stage. It is now important for me to make our country a better place, and I am looking forward to applying all the knowledge and experience that I have gained from my different roles elsewhere – also on the Council.”

News Archive

Internet Broadcast Project wins international award
2014-05-05

The Enterprise Video Awards (EVA) named Kovsies’ Internet Broadcast Project (IBP) the winner of the Innovation in Pedagogy category. During a glitzy ceremony on 28 April 2014 in Madison, USA, Edward Musgrave, Deputy Director of the ICTISE Division, took to the stage to receive the award.

The IBP makes use of the best teachers in the Free State to broadcast lessons on more than ten subjects to school learners who do not have access to quality education. And it is not only the learners who benefit. Their teachers receive invaluable training in the process as well.

This remarkable programme provided the judges with plentiful evidence to be named the winner. The IBP team had to come up with highly innovative solutions to overcome the costs of local bandwidth constraints. The result? High definition videos being streamed in real time across a 1Meg line. Simultaneously to 70 centres across the Free State. Added to that is the fact that multiple images are broadcast as one, reaching 43 000 learners and 1 250 teachers per week. To top it all, the broadcast is interactive – the learners can ask questions directly to the teacher during the lesson.

All of this at no cost to the schools.

“It is remarkable for a South African university to receive this international recognition,” said Sarietjie Musgrave, heading up the ICTISE programme at the South Campus. “It raises awareness, not only for the work we do, but also the community work the university does,” she said.

And now the Free State has the highest pass rate of matriculants in South Africa.

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