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02 October 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Hannes Naudé
Pakiso Mthembu and Prof Prakash Naidoo
Pakiso Mthembu (right) receives the trophy as the University of the Free State Senior Sportsman of the Year from Prof Prakash Naidoo, Vice-Rector: Operations. Khanyisa Chawane (Senior Sportswoman of the Year) and Sne Mdletshe (Junior Sportswoman of the Year) was unable to attend the awards function.

Pakiso Mthembu was recognised for his performances in cross-country and Khanyisa Chawane for her feats on the netball court at the KovsieSport Awards function on Tuesday night.

The two were honoured as the University of the Free State’s Senior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year for 2019. Achievements between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2019 were taken into consideration.

Mthembu was South Africa’s second-best senior male athlete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Denmark earlier this year. He also came second in the senior men’s 10 km category of the South African Cross Country Championships and won a bronze medal at the University Sport South Africa Championships in the 10 000 m. It was the seventh consecutive year and ninth time in the last ten years that the men’s winner came from the athletics code.

Chawane has played in 14 of the last 17 tests for the Proteas. She was a member of the World Cup team in July, where they finished fourth – their best performance in 24 years. She also represented the SA Fast5 team and was named as the player of the tournament in the 2018 Varsity Netball competition.

The Junior Sportswoman of the Year award went to another netballer, Sne Mdletshe. She was the co-captain of the SA U20 team for the Africa Union Sport Council Region 5 games in Botswana, which was won by the team. At the National Championship, she was named the best centre-court player. There was no winner in the Junior Sportsman of Year category this year.

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Three Kovsies receive prestigious Mandela Rhodes scholarship for 2015
2014-11-10

From the left: Lehlohonolo Mofokeng, Tumelo Morobane and Zola Valashiya
Photo: Stefan Lotter

 

The UFS continues to produce leaders and is proud to have three Mandela Rhodes scholars next year.

Lehlohonolo Mofokeng, Zola Valashiya and Tumelo Morobane all received this prestigious scholarship for 2015.

A Mandela Rhodes Scholarship provides full funding for a maximum of two years of postgraduate study. The award is open to all African citizens under the age of 30 years and recipients must study towards an honours or master’s degree at a recognised South African institution. Although there is no maximum number of awards, the scholarships are highly competitive, with fewer than 30 scholarships being awarded each year since its inception in 2005. The scholarships cover tuition, accommodation, meals, book allowance, general allowance, and travel expenses. Recipients of the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship are students with outstanding academic achievements, who also possess leadership ability, entrepreneurial skills, and a commitment to reconciliation. In addition to receiving funding for their studies, scholars also do a leadership development programme while in residence. The award is named after Nelson Mandela and Cecil Rhodes and is administered by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, which is a partnership between the Nelson Mandela and the Rhodes Trusts.

Lehlohonolo has just finished his BEd Hons in Philosophy and Policy of Education at the UFS. He hopes to enroll for a master’s degree in Education Policy, Planning and Management at the University of Witwatersrand with his Mandela Rhodes Scholarship.

Zola is originally from Johannesburg and is completing his LLB degree at the UFS this year. He is planning to stay at the UFS in 2015 to do his LLM in Constitutional Law or International Human Rights Law.

Tumelo has a BSc Honours in Actuarial Science and will use this scholarship next year to study towards her master’s degree at the UFS.

“I chose to stay at the UFS because I am doing a great master's project with Munich Re through the UFS,” says Tumelo. 

“Furthermore, the CEO of the Mandela Foundation, Mr Sello Hatang, asked me to work with the foundation on a few projects that mostly focus on keeping the girl child in school across Africa, as well as helping with providing training and workshops on entrepreneurship to young people.

“So, I am looking forward to a very busy year ahead of me, which will be filled with so much learning, growth and making a difference,” Tumelo says.

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