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24 March 2021 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Netball South Africa
Defender Refiloe Nketsa is one of four Kovsies chosen for the South African U21 netball team.

With no less than four Kovsies in the South African Under 21 netball team, the near future for this sport at the University of the Free State (UFS) is certainly on the bright side.

Chanel Vrey, Refiloe Nketsa, Rolene Streutker, and Boitumelo Mahloko will be in action for the Baby Proteas, as the team is known, in a challenge series. The team will battle the President’s XII (a South African A team) and Uganda from 25 March in Cape Town. 

They all played for the Free State senior side last year. Vrey and Streutker also played for the Baby Proteas against international competition in 2019.

Mahloko – a former Kovsie – and Nketsa have also represented South Africa at junior level in the past. They were team members in the national U16 team in 2017, and a year later Mahloko made the U20 team and Nketsa the SA U18 team.

Khanyisa Chawane will also be in action in the series, playing for the Proteas, while former Kovsie captain Alicia Puren has been chosen for the President’s XII.

Meanwhile, two hockey players, Saré Laubscher and Zimkhitha Weston, have been picked for the South African U21 women’s hockey team. They would have participated in the African qualifying tournament in Ghana at the end of March. This tournament has, however, been postponed to January 2022. 

This is the third consecutive year that Laubscher has made the team. Weston, a former Kovsie, played for South Africa at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.

The African Hockey Qualifier serves as qualification for the Junior World Cup, which is scheduled for December in Potchefstroom. South Africa has already qualified as hosts for the Junior World Cup, but the African crown is up for grabs in Ghana. 

News Archive

State-of-the-art audio-visual studio up and running at UFS
2015-11-25

The state-of-the-art audio-visual studio that was unveiled in the beginning of this year reaped its first crop during a historic moment. On Wednesday 28 October 2015, the eight pilot students in the Postgraduate Programme in Film and Visual Media, which was launched at the beginning of this year, had their first big screen experience. Eight films were premiered in one night at the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus.

An intimate movie theatre was brimming with friends and family of the students, their lecturers, and judges who doubled as moderators. This was no ordinary motion picture viewing. The apprentice filmmakers’ productions were undergoing formal external examination.

Judge by a legend

Katinka Heyns
critiqued the student’s final products. Heyns is a renowned filmmaker, actress, director, producer, and founder of the production company, Sonneblom Films. She has numerous awards to her name, including the Career Contribution and Innovation Award, Legendary Award for Woman in Film and Television, and Medal of Honour for Paljas, which were presented by the Absa Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), International Crystal Award, and South African Academy for Science and Arts, respectively.

Johanet Kriel and Chris Vorster from the film school also assisted as moderators.



The cinema exam

Each student had 20 minutes to provide a synopsis for the viewers, and screen the movie. At the end, The Secret of the Golden Flower, written and directed by Rudiker Janse van Rensburg, and The Nexus Effect, written and directed by Gawie Myburgh were judged the best movies “Both films had had clear and creative story lines, a solid structure, and quality editing,” said Chris Vorster.

Despite technical teething problems, all the students showed a great deal of talent and passion for filmmaking. “Given the time constraints and technical challenges, I’m very relieved that we actually got films on screen. They all impressed me with their creativity. Mission accomplished,” added Vorster.

The films

• The Blood of Barbara (Yvonne Allwright)
• Diary of an Oreo (Nonsindiso Qwabe)
• GeFop! (Hendrik Cronje)
• The Nexus Effect (Gawie Myburgh)
• The Secret of the Golden Flower (Rudiker Janse van Rensburg)
• Well ain’t that a Coinkydink?! (Rethabile Radebe)
• What Lurks in the Dark…(Rese Moore)

(Photo caption: Front row from left: Nonsindiso Qwabe, Suné van Heerden, Theresa Moore, Gawie Myburgh. Middle row: Rudiker Janse van Rensburg, Hendrik Cronjé, Yvonne Allwright, and Rethabile Radebe. Back: lecturer: Chris Vorster.)

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