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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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Chancellor’s Medal awarded to Tokkie Pretorius for outstanding service to the community
2014-12-12

Tokkie (JL) Pretorius – a qualified attorney who obtained his BProc, LLB and LLM at the University of the Free State (UFS) – was the recipient of the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal on 11 December 2014 during our Summer Graduation Ceremony. This latest honour builds on a path of achievements, being a previous recipient of both a Dean’s Medal as well as the Juta Prize for the best law student at the UFS.

The Chancellor’s Medal is awarded to an individual for outstanding service or achievement at local, national or international level, or for service to the community or the UFS. The academic component of a candidate’s contribution or achievement may be taken into account, but will not be decisive.

Pretorius was General Manager: Legal Services at the Free State Development Corporation (FDC) from 1996 – 2009 and Company Secretary from 2004 – 2009. Since 2009, he has been the CEO of the Anglo-Boer Museum in Bloemfontein.

“It is a great honour for me to receive the Chancellor’s Medal,” said Pretorius – who was nominated for the Bloemfonteiner of the Year competition in 2011.

“The medal is awarded to me at a very relevant time for the museum as well. The museum is at a time where nation-building, diversity and transformation are priority. Therefore, the Chancellor’s Medal award is an indication of the close co-operation between the museum and the UFS, both of whom are focused on the promotion of nation building, diversity and transformation,” Pretorius said.

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