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27 August 2021 | Story Dr Cindé Greyling | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)
Transforming the South Campus to a digitised university, Dr Maria Madiope is a resilient and strong guardian of the future generations.

Dr Maria ‘Marinkie’ Madiope, who grew up in Garankuwa Pretoria, is not your average professional woman. Her academic record speaks of vigilant style and resilient independence. Dr Madiope is currently the South Campus Principal at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.

What is the best thing about your job?
It has given me the opportunity to transform the South Campus to a digitised university. I cannot express the feeling I have when welcoming students to the UFS and then presenting qualifications to them, especially to students who have gone through very traumatic home, personal, or academic times. 

What is the best and worst decisions you have ever made?
The best decision I have ever made was embracing education and making sure that I am not only certificated but learn to empower others in a very humble way. I don't want to think about my worst decisions. There's too much regret in everyone's lives to maintain our wavering joy.

What does the word woman mean to you?
It describes a proud warrior. A resilient and strong guardian of the future generations. The archetypal matriarch who is fearless and also tender, powerful but not afraid to demonstrate weakness, and self-sufficient yet dutiful. She is everything and anything, because she knows that she in control of whoever she wants to be. Her entire being is guided by this knowledge and self-love.

Which woman inspires you, and why?
My mom inspires me. She always had a smile on her face no matter how hard she worked, and she loved everyone. Her greatest strength is her ability to let nothing, and no one, remove her crown. “Strong winds may blow, but a QUEEN will bobby pin that thang in place and persevere because she is more than a conqueror.” I am also inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise about the struggle to overcome prejudice and injustice. It is one of Maya Angelou's most popular poems. When read by victims of wrongdoing, the poem becomes a kind of anthem, a beacon of hope for the oppressed and downtrodden.

News Archive

Wayde keeps winning off the track
2016-11-24

Description: 'Accolades Wayde Tags: Accolades Wayde

Wayde van Niekerk won an accolade as the
best male athlete at the Olympic Games in
Rio de Janeiro. He received the award at the
Association of National Olympic Committees
awards.
Photo: Johan Roux.

Although Wayde van Niekerk hasn’t competed in several months, the golden boy still keeps winning off the track. The 400 m Olympic champion has been shining ever since his feat at the Olympic Games, with awards such as the best male athlete in Rio de Janeiro.

Nominated for IAAF and SA Sports Awards

He is also a finalist for the 2016 IAAF World Athlete of the Year and has been nominated for three awards (Sport Star of the Year, Sportsman of the Year, and the People’s Choice Award) at the South African Sports Awards. The IAAF winner will be announced on 2 December 2016 in Monaco and the SA Sports Awards take place on 27 November 2016 in Bloemfontein.

The athlete from the University of the Free State is one of six nominees – three male and three female – for the IAAF award. The high jumper Hestrie Cloete (2003) is the only South African who has won this award.

Van Niekerk won all three above-mentioned awards at the SA Sports Awards in 2015. Tannie Ans Botha, his coach, is nominated as Coach of the Year.

Accolades keep rolling in for Kovsie star

Van Niekerk’s performance in Rio, where he won the 400 m in a world-record time of 43,03 seconds, resulted in him being chosen as the best male athlete at the Association of National Olympic Committees awards on 15 November 2016 in Doha, Qatar.

The 24-year-old Kovsie has also received numerous other accolades in 2016. He was KovsieSport’s Sportsman of the Year for a fourth consecutive year and received an Ambassador’s Award at the Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards. Botha was given an Executive Management Award at the same function.

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