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30 October 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Sonia Small
Springboks
Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, paid a special visit to the Springboks in 2018 before they faced England in Bloemfontein. From the left are Jacques Nienaber (Springbok assistant coach), Oupa Mohoje (Springbok), Prof Petersen, Rassie Erasmus (Springbok head coach), and Swys de Bruin (Springbok consultant coach at the time). De Bruin, Erasmus, Nienaber, and Mohoje are all Kovsie alumni.

Like the rest of the country, we are behind our Springboks all the way. This is what Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), told alumnus Rassie Erasmus in a letter this week.

Prof Petersen wrote the letter to Erasmus, the head coach of the Springboks, to wish him everything of the best in the team’s preparation and for the game on Saturday (2 November 2019) at which they face England in the Rugby World Cup final in Japan.

"On behalf of the staff and students of the University of the Free State, I would like to wish you and the Springbok team all the best with your preparations this week and for the final. I know that Saturday’s match will be played with vigour and determination,” Prof Petersen wrote.

Prof Petersen said the UFS community was extremely proud of the Springboks’ achievements during the 2019 Rugby World Cup – especially with Erasmus at the helm of the team. The Boks defeated Japan in the quarter-final and Wales in the semi-final to reach their first final since 2007.

“As a former Shimla player and Kovsie Alumnus of the Year 1998, we are truly proud of what you have achieved during your career in South African rugby, and especially during the World Cup tournament. We are also proud of our other alumni – Jacques Nienaber as defence coach, and referee Jaco Peyper.”

Peyper refereed one of the quarter-finals and will be an assistant referee in the bronze medal play-off between New Zealand and Wales on 1 November 2019.

Under Erasmus the Springboks won the Rugby Championship this year, the first time since 2010. Erasmus and Nienaber have a long relationship. They met in the army in 1991. Later Nienaber served as physiotherapist with the Shimlas and Erasmus captained the team. They worked together at the Cheetahs, Cats, Stormers, Munster and now the Springboks.

News Archive

Supplementum analyses the San origin of South African place names
2013-09-25

 

At the launch were, from the left: Prof Lucius Botes (Dean: Faculty of the Humanities), Christine van Deventer (SUN MeDIA), Prof Peter Raper (author), Prof Theodorus du Plessis (Head of Department: Linguistics and Language Practice), and Prof Dirk van den Berg (outgoing editor).
Photo: Jerry Mokoroane
25 September 2013

The Acta Academica Supplementum 2012 (2), under the outgoing editorship of Prof Dirk van den Berg, was launched on 16 September 2013. The author, Prof Peter Raper, is one of the leading place-name experts in South Africa. The Supplementum analyses the San origin of South African place names whereby different layers of language contact are exposed. For example, Dipodi (previously Jakkalsdraai), is an adaptation of the original San name. The first ‘di’ is the added Sotho preposition. ‘Po’ is equal to the San word ‘po’ (jackal) and the last ‘di’ equal to ‘/gi’ (to bend). Prof Raper’s research indicates that many place names carry evidence of various language shifts. By analysing these language layers, different phases of language contact are exposed. This research is instrumental in the preservation of a unique aspect of the South African cultural heritage.

Prof Raper is since 2011 Honorary Professor: Linguistics, in the Department of Language Management and Language Practice at the University of the Free State. He is one of South Africa’s leading toponymists. The fourth edition of the New Dictionary of Southern African Place Names, with Dr Lucie Möller and Prof Theodorus du Plessis as co-editors, is currently in the press. He is a member of the Commission for Toponymy of the International Geographical Union, as well as the Working Group for Toponymy of the International Cartographic Association, of which there are only ten members worldwide, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the journal Names.

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