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08 January 2019
Oupa Mohoje
Oupa Mohoje is the first former Kovsie to be named regular Cheetah captain since Juan Smith in 2008.

Former captain of the Kovsie Shimlas, Oupa Mohoje, was chosen to lead the Free State Cheetahs for the 2018/2019 rugby season.

 

He is the first Kovsie to be the regular Cheetah captain since Juan Smith 10 years ago.

“It certainly is a big honour, but it comes with a lot of responsibilities,” said Oupa. One thing he is glad about, is the fact that the players and the Cheetah coach, Franco Smith, fully support him, which makes his job a lot easier, he explained.

 

“Choosing Oupa as captain came naturally – he is a true favourite with everyone in the team,” said former captain, Juan. Oupa grew up in the Free State, he studied here and became a Springbok here, and that makes him a Free State player through and through, explained Juan.

 

From Shimlas to Springboks in three months, Mohoje, a loose forward who can also assist as lock, captained the South African A side in 2017, and the Shimlas in 2013. He represented the Shimlas between 2011 and 2014 and was voted the Player of the Varsity Cup in 2013. His final match in the famous blue jersey was on 17 March 2014. A little more than three months later he became a Springbok, playing the first of 19 tests.

 

According to Harold Verster, Managing Director of the Cheetahs, Oupa is very popular among the players, he is very disciplined, and has all the qualities to make a great captain.

 

Oupa’s teammate Ox Nche added, “He has good people skills and communicates very well. I think he is a very good leader”.

News Archive

Lunch-time lecture on the subject of contested memories
2011-08-23

 

Guests at the lecture from the left: Dr. Sheila Aronstam, a former UFS Council member; Dr. Eva Hoffman and Henya Bryer a survivor of the Holocaust
Photo: Amanda Tongha

Acclaimed Polish author and academic Dr Eva Hoffman visited the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus on 16 Augustus 2010 to deliver a lunch-time lecture on the subject of contested memories.

Speaking about the after-effects of unjust violence on second-generation Holocaust survivors, Dr Hoffman drew some parallels between the history of Eastern Europe and that of South Africa, stating that with some categories of conflict and prejudice the context in this region of the world might not be too remote. Dr Hoffman, born to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust, told the audience that in most instances the past was still alive in the present.
 
Talking about traumatic memories, Dr Hoffman revisited her family’s suffering during the Holocaust and stated that the second generation lives with the paradoxes of indirect knowledge. According to her there has to be acknowledgment of the injustice to put the conflict and tension inherited from a repressed history truly to rest. Referring to the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), she said wrongs could not be forgiven until they were admitted. 
 
Dr Hoffman, who is the author of books such as Lost in Translation: life in a new language and Stetl: the life and death of a small town and the world of Polish Jews, praised the university for being on the forefront of social issues in democratic South Africa.

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