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To The River and beyond

19 December 2022 | Story Gerda-Marié van Rooyen | Photo Supplied

Olebogeng TIhong loves stages and cameras. She is currently studying law.

An ex-CyberSta presenter has recently made her soap debut in The River.

Olebogeng Tlhong, a fourth-year LLB student at the UFS, recently portrayed the part of a celebrity, something she says works perfectly with her personality. However, acting is only one of her many gifts and interests.

She also owns an enterprise. “I established my online store in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and registered my company in October 2021.” This company, a segment of Greys World, consists of an events company, bikini line, cosmetics and accessory stores and a clothing aspect.

Passionate about the entertainment space

This born Johannesburger describes herself as a “vibrant, hard-working, resilient and multifaceted woman who loves life and all that it has to offer”. Confidence is something she has in ample supply. “I have always been a confident individual. I have participated in public-speaking competitions from a young age. I am passionate about the entertainment space.” She loves people too. "I draw inspiration from different people for different reasons and aspects of my life. This includes from the women in my family to service workers’ stories, celebrity figures and the teachings of Christ.” 

Visualisation is something this entertainer strongly believes in. “The kind of life that I envision for myself, inspires me. I want to own my time and live on my terms. Having a vision board and holding myself accountable has played a large role in ensuring that I execute everything that I said I would. I believe in being proactive and solution based.”

Crossing boundaries and achieving dreams

Olebogeng dreams of leaving a legacy echoing her courage to cross boundaries and achieve her dreams. “I want people to draw inspiration from me and know that they can achieve anything – regardless of obstacles or one’s past. One can build an empire from nothing,” says this wanna-be world traveller.

While it is uncertain where Olebogeng’s river will take her, one thing is certain, she’ll always seize the day. “I want to remain teachable to grow. The aim is to never get comfortable and to keep striving for more.”

Olebogeng appeared on The River, episode 240, that aired beginning/mid-October.

This guest appearing actress has always been confident. “I used to participate in public speaking competitions from a young age and I love the entertainment space.”

“Enjoy university, meet new people and grab every opportunity that aligns with your purpose, have fun and most importantly, ensure that your academics are always in order,” Olebogeng advises the first-year students of 2023.

News Archive

Multi-disciplinary research approach at UFS

2005-10-25

UFS follows multi-disciplinary research approach with opening of new centre

“A new way of doing business in necessary in the research and teaching of agriculture and natural sciences in South Africa. We must move away from departmentalised research infrastructures and a multi-disciplinary approach to research involving several disciplines must be adapted,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof van Schalkwyk delivered the keynote address during the launch of the Centre for Plant Health Management (CePHMa) at the Main Campus in Bloemfontein today (21 October 2005). CePHMa is an initiative of the UFS Department of Plant Sciences.

According to Prof van Schalkwyk a tertiary institution must practice multi-disciplinary research to be a world-class research institution. “It is difficult for researchers to admit that they do not know a lot about each other’s area of speciality. It is therefore necessary for researchers to make a paradigm shift and to focus on inter-disciplinary co-operation. To do this, we must encourage them to work together and to find a common language to communicate ideas en establish symbiotic relationships,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.

“We tend to think that research is better and faster if it is specialised. This is not true. The new generation of scientists are young and they are trained to form a concept of the total system and not to focus on a specific area of speciality. At the UFS we encourage this approach to research. This was one of the main reasons for the establishment of CePHMa,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.
CePHMa is the only centre of its kind in Africa and is established to extend the expertise in plant health management in South Africa and in Africa, to train experts in plant health and to conduct multi-disciplinary research about the health of agricultural crops.

“CePHMa is a virtual centre comprising of ten disciplines applicable to crop production and crop protection,” said Prof Wijnand Swart, Chairperson of CePHMa during the opening ceremony.

“The UFS is the leading institution in Africa in terms of news crop development and manages three research programmes that concentrate on new crops, i.e. the New Crop Pathology Programme, the New Crop Development Programme and the Insects on New Crops Programme. Other applied research programmes that are unique to the UFS are genetic resistance to rust diseases of small grain crops and sustainable integrated disease management of field crops,” said Prof Swart.

“Because the expected growth in population will be 80% in 2020 in sub-Saharan Africa, the future demands of food produce in Africa will be influenced. Therefore research will in future be focused on ways to improve food security by employing agricultural systems that are economically viable and environmentally sound,” said Prof Swart.

“Thorough knowledge of the concept of holistic plant health management is crucial to meet the challenge and it is therefore imperative that innovative crop protection and crop production strategies, with particular emphasis on plant health, be adopted. This is why the Department of Plant Sciences initiated the establishment of CePHMA,” he said.

According to Prof Swart there is a shortage of expertise in plant health management. “The UFS has shown the potential to address the demand of the sub-continent of Africa regarding expertise training and CePHMa is the leader in southern Africa to provide in this need,” he said.

The appropriateness and quality of training in plant health management is reflected in the fact that students from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Angola, Mozambique and Lesotho have already been trained or are in the process of being trained in at the UFS.

Scientists from CePHMa have forged partnerships with numerous national and international institutions including the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), various community trusts, seed, pesticide and agricultural chemical companies, in addition to overseas universities.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
21 October 2005

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