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13 October 2020 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo BackpagePix
Khanyisa Chawane, a Protea player, should be one of the stars for the Free State Crinums in the Telkom Netball League. She was the Player of the League in 2018.

Having to play 11 matches in so many days before the knockout stage will be a daunting task, but their fitness levels are up to standard, says the coach of the Free State netball team. Burta de Kock of KovsieSport will again guide the Free State Crinums in the Telkom Netball League, which will be taking place between 14 and 27 October in Bloemfontein.

All but one of the 12 members of the team are studying at the University of the Free State (UFS).

“Planning will be of the utmost importance to manage the load on the players. We also have four players (Rolene Streutker, Chanel Vrey, Boitumelo Mahloko, and Refiloe Nketsa) who will participate in the South African U21 team that will play five invitational matches during the competition,” said De Kock.

In previous years, the competition took place over four to six weeks, but now it had to be fitted into two weeks due to COVID-19.

“So, it will be a tall order to play so many matches, but an exciting challenge. I believe the hard work the players had put in during the lockdown period will bear fruit. They were exceptional and very determined to stay in shape.”

The Crinums won the first three years of the competition, but couldn’t reach the final in the following three years. Apart from the 11 Kovsies in the Crinums team, there are 9 current or former UFS students in other teams participating in the league. 

They are Zandré Smit, Bianca Pienaar, Dané Klopper, Arné Fourie, Bethenie du Raan (all Northern Cape Diamonds), Maryke Coetzee, Danelle van der Heever (both Mpumalanga Sunbirds), Rieze Straeuli (Western Cape Tornados), and Alicia Puren (KZN Kingdom Stars).

The Crinums team: Boitumelo Mahloko, Ané Retief, Jana Scholtz, Khanyisa Chawane, Lefébre Rademan (captain), Sikholiwe Mdletshe, Claudia van den Berg, Bianca de Wee, Rolene Streutker, Chanel Vrey, Lerato Chabwe, and Refiloe Nketsa.

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Research at the UFS on the acceptability and modern use of earth building in newly settled urban areas can help the poorest of the poor to acquire hou
2003-08-26

The University of the Free State and the Technische Universiteit van Eindhoven in the Netherlands received a research bursary of R316 000 from SANPAD (South African Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development).

The aim of the research is to determine the public acceptability of sustainable, high quality, earth constructed public and private buildings as an alternative to the conventional way of building with bricks and steel.

“European countries like the Netherlands are far advanced with studies in earth construction and this is why the partnership was formed with the Technische Universiteit van Eindhoven,” says Prof Das Steÿn, Head of Urban and Regional Planning at the UFS and project leader.

Although research regarding mapping, typology and availability of natural and local resources has been done on a national level, little research has been done on the acceptability and the modern use of earth building in newly settled urban areas.

“South Africa has a large housing shortage and traditional methods such as earth building techniques are not used in urban informal housing. Preference is given to corrugated iron sheets and plastic,” says Prof Steÿn.

The use of upgraded earth construction might be more sustainable as far as the environment and the economy is concerned. “If we can make a breakthrough in the development and propagating of these methods it will help the poorest of the poor to acquire housing of a better quality.”

The research team from the UFS consists of Prof Steÿn, Ms Petria Jooste-Smit, Head of the Unit for Earth Construction in the Department of Architecture and Mr Gerhard Bosman of the Department of Architecture.
 

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