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22 July 2021 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Roger Sedres
Can Wayde van Niekerk repeat his amazing feat from the 2016 Olympics – now five years later – at the next Games?
It is a year later, but the Tokyo 2020 Olympics finally started on Friday, 23 July 2021. In team South Africa, a couple of the athletes and management, many of them medal contenders, call themselves Kovsies.

From 1 August, the progress of the country’s golden boy, Wayde van Niekerk, will be closely followed when he tries to hold on to the title as Olympic 400 m champion – he is still the world record holder (set at the 2016 Games). The final of the 400 m is scheduled for 5 August.

One of only five female athletes in the South African team, Gerda Steyn will compete in the marathon on 7 August. This is her first time at the Olympics. 

She is in red-hot form. In April, she broke a 25-year record in Italy when she ran the fastest-ever marathon by a South African woman, finishing in 2:25:28. She is the defending Comrades and Two Oceans champ.

Protea hockey player, Nicole Erasmus, will become a fourth-generation Olympic contender in her family. Her mother, Lynne Walraven (née Tasker) was a Zimbabwean swimmer, her great-uncle, Anthony Tasker, was a member of the South African rowing team, and her great-great-uncle, Frank Rushton, was a South African hurdles athlete. 

From 26 to 28 July, the South African sevens rugby team, with former Shimlas Chris Dry as a team member and Neil Powell as head coach, will aim to improve on their bronze medal achieved in 2016. Powell was also the head coach at the time, and another former Kovsie, Philip Snyman, captained the Blitzboks.

Kate Murray (formerly Roberts), head coach and high-performance manager of Triathlon South Africa, will act as the SA triathlon coach. She is a double Olympic participant, having raced for South Africa at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

 


News Archive

Kovsies raise their voices to say no to racism – and yes to equality
2015-03-13

SRC President, Mosa Leteane
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

Launch of the No-to-Racism/Yes-to-Equality Campaign : Video 

In support of National Human Rights Month, the UFS has launched the No-to-Racism/Yes-to-Equality Campaign. Through this campaign, the entire UFS community reaffirms its commitment to equality, respect, democracy, social justice, humanity, dignity, human rights, and diversity.

The first leg of the campaign, No-to-Racism, was launched at the Qwaqwa, Bloemfontein and South Campuses during the past month. “Look in the mirror tonight and have a discussion with yourself,” Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, said during the launch at the Bloemfontein Campus. “Ask yourself to what extent can I truly say, ‘I am dealing with my racism, my bigotry, my ethnicism, my homophobia, my xenophobia? Am I truly dealing with those in my life?’”

Through the No-to-Racism Campaign, staff and students are encouraged to take a public stand against not only racism, but also homophobia, sexism, ableism, xenophobia, classism, ethnicism, ageism, and all forms of intolerance and othering.

The start of No-to-Racism will closely be followed by the Yes-to-Equality Campaign, which will be launched on 1 April 2015.

SRC President, Mosa Leteane, urged the Kovsie community to make South Africa work. “We say ‘no’ because we want to say ‘yes’. Fix your ‘no’ so that your ‘yes’ is clear, it’s equal, it’s honest. That is what ‘yes’ looks like.”

The campaign is also aligned with the declaration made by the UFS Council in November 2014 in which it was stated that “the Council of the University of the Free State believes very strongly in the human dignity, equality, and freedom of all people. Accordingly, the Council reaffirms its abhorrence of acts of racism, sexism, and unfair discrimination of any kind or in any form”.
The No-to Racism/Yes-to-Equality Campaign is an initiative of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, together with the SRC.

Important dates:
1 April 2015: Launch of Yes-to-Equality Campaign on the Qwaqwa and Bloemfontein Campuses
13 April 2015: Pledge of the UFS community at 12:45 on the Red Square, Bloemfontein Campus

 

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za.

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