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21 April 2022 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied
Lizandré Mulder
Lizandré Mulder, University of the Free State LLB graduate, does not believe in having a role model, but in striving to be a better version of herself.

Moving from Jansenville – a town outside Uitenhage – to Bloemfontein for her LLB studies, things got off to a shaky start for Lizandré Mulder. New in a ‘big town’, the ‘country girl’ felt out of her element and not used to big-city life. Thanks to her lecturers, the journey to a legal qualification at the University of the Free State (UFS) ended with an average final-year mark of 80% for the Law graduate.

Back in Jansenville, Lizandré’s neighbour nicknamed her ‘klein prokureurtjie (little lawyer)’ as she was growing up, because she had a ‘habit of arguing’, which motivated her to choose law as a career. She says, “arguing with facts earlier, has turned into a passion”. “The competitive side of me always wants to win; I guess that makes me the perfect candidate for a future advocate,” she says.

Managing undergraduate studies, Lizandré – who is also an accomplished athlete – says all she did was study and train. “The only thing I struggled with was my sleeping schedule, as I was constantly tired from hard training, and I studied till the morning hours while I had to wake up again early for morning training.”

The track, field, and cross-country runner has received numerous national medals for the sport and will unfortunately miss the invitation to the annual Excellence Awards in the Faculty of Law, as she will be competing in this year’s South African Athletics Championships in Cape Town on 22 April 2022.

Graduating with the LLB degree, Lizandré plans to finish her master’s degree with a possible topic on the legality of human gene editing in South Africa for the purposes of disease treatment or the prevention thereof.

Lizandré does not believe in having a role model, but to “always try to better myself in every aspect of life. I always believed that true inspiration and motivation come from within”.

After completing her master’s degree, Lizandré will decide on her future career path. She says: “I am still deciding whether I want to remain in Bloemfontein or relocate to Potchefstroom, as the latter has a law firm specialising in medical negligence, a field I would like to specialise in. Besides this, the two cities also boast the best athletics coaches in DB Prinsloo, Head of KovsieSport, and Jean Verster in Potchefstroom has mentored South African award-winning runner, Caster Semenya.

“Somewhere in the future, I definitely also plan on doing my doctoral degree in Law,” says Lizandré.

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Dr Le Roux a fellow of Africa Science Leadership Programme
2016-02-23

Description: Dr Aliza le Roux Tags: Dr Aliza le Roux

Dr Aliza le Roux
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

National Research Foundation-rated Y2 scientist, Dr Aliza le Roux, has recently been added to the Africa Science Leadership Programme, an initiative that seeks to create an African network of scientific leaders across disciplinary borders. Her selection to this programme is a reflection of her powerful vision for the continent’s scientific future and sustained scientific excellence.

“It is an honour and an opportunity for me to grow as an academic. This opportunity will also help me build my leadership skills as well as my networks on the continent. It will create a culture of leadership and research that is led by African researchers,’’ Dr Le Roux said.

She added that African researchers have a great potential to solve global problems, yet many of them leave their countries to seek academic success elsewhere. “I hope that the lessons we learn in this programme will pave the way for academia and science to be taken more seriously and practiced more effectively on the continent.”

Together with 21 other fellows from across the continent, Dr Le Roux will be taking part in a week-long workshop in April this year. She is a Senior Lecturer and Subject Head in the Department of Zoology and Entomology on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State.

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