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09 October 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Varsity Sports
Lefebere and Khanyisa
Lefébre Rademan (left) and Khanyisa Chawane before the start of the Varsity Netball clash. Rademan was named the Player of the Tournament, a reward Chawane received last year.

For the sixth time in the seven years of the competition, the best player in the Varsity Netball tournament hails from the University of the Free State (UFS).

Lefébre Rademan, captain of the Kovsie netball team who ended third in Varsity Netball, was named as the Player of the Tournament and the Players’ Player of the Tournament on Monday night (7 October). Previous UFS recipients of the award are Ané Bester (2013), Karla Pretorius (in 2014 and 2015), Khomotso Mamburu (2016), and Khanyisa Chawane (2018).

Rademan shot 176 goals from 214 attempts for a goal average of 82%. In both the Premier League and National Championship, she received the prize for the best shooter this year.

The news comes shortly after the announcement that a UFS teammate has secured a contract to play overseas next year. Khanyisa Chawane, who impressed immensely as a member of the Proteas at this year’s World Cup, will represent Bath in Europe’s Superleague. The 23-year-old Chawane also received an offer to play in the Australian league, but the one in England suited her better.

She will return to Bloemfontein midway through the year and will still be available for the Kovsie netball team, as she will continue her studies. The talented mid-courter follows in the footsteps of Pretorius, who also spent a season with Bath in 2016.

“I am really thrilled to have signed with Bath. There is no doubt that I’m going to come out a better player; I’m grateful to have been scouted and given this opportunity to play for such a big team. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.”

“My goal has always been to play abroad and to challenge myself. I always strive to better myself and give my best on and off court,” Chawane said about the opportunity next year.

News Archive

Beauty personified through written word
2016-07-29

Description: Zubeida Jaffer Tags: Zubeida Jaffer

Dr Thozama April, University of Fort Hare
historian, Zubeida Jaffer, current Writer-in-Residence
in the Department of Communication Sciences
at the UFS and author of Beauty of the Heart:
The life and times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke
and Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector
of the UFS at the book launch of Zubeida Jaffer.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

“It is quite easy to write a book in a professional capacity but very difficult to write a book from the heart.”

These were the words of Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), at the launch of Beauty of the Heart: The life and times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke by Zubeida Jaffer, the current Writer-in-Residence in the Department of Communication Sciences at the UFS.

Perseverance and dedication yields results

Writing a book from the heart is exactly what Jaffer, an award-winning South African journalist and author, set out to do. “When you make the choice to write a story, you need to be very dedicated,” she said.

As this is Jaffer’s third book, one would think that she would have no difficulty in putting pen to paper. On the contrary, she mentioned that it was, in fact, the hardest book she has written because the narrative was not easy to get hold of.

“I wanted Charlotte’s voice to come through, and it took my team and I three years of research and writing,” she said.

Maxeke’s story helps to shape South African society

The three-person panel, hosted by the UFS Sasol Library and SUN MeDIA, and chaired by Prof Jansen, included Jaffer and Dr Thozama April, University of Fort Hare historian who had done her PHD thesis on Maxeke.

Dr April said that Maxeke’s life story is an inspiring one, as it encourages a rethinking of established narratives. “These established narratives have made it possible for historians and researchers to write about the shaping of South African society,” she said.

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