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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

SA one of the leading countries for female researchers
2014-10-28

South Africa is one of the leading countries for female researchers, with women constituting about 40% of the research field, says Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor.

The Minister made these comments during the Public Lecture of the Faculty of Education on our Bloemfontein Campus on Friday evening 24 October 2014. Minister Pandor urged female students to seize the opportunities in science and technology that has been made available to them since 1994.

"Forty percent of South Africa's researchers are women. Of the 40 000 researchers in universities, science councils and business shown by our latest research and development survey records, nearly half are women. That makes South Africa one of the leading countries for female researchers," said the Minister.

Minister Pandor said that the rights and status of women in South Africa had been greatly advanced since South Africa became a constitutional democracy. "It is well known that better educated women are better for a country's social and economic development," she added.

Minister Pandor pointed out that research skills were some of the most sought-after skills in the world, and encouraged women graduates to start dominating in the research and laboratory fields, where men continue to reign supreme.

"Knowledge and innovation, rather than capital and labour, are the drivers of economic growth in all countries. The current affluence of high-income countries has been massively increased by their investment in science and new technologies."


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