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UFS contingent flying national flag at Commonwealth Games

26 July 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Supplied

The University of the Free State duo of Robert Summers (left) and Caden Kakora have been playing badminton together since junior level. They are part of the South African badminton team at the Commonwealth Games.

“A reflection of the commitment and hard work by all stakeholders under challenging circumstances over the past few years.”

This is how Maryka Holtzhausen, Acting Director of KovsieSport, describes the journey of sportsmen and sportswomen from the University of the Free State (UFS) taking part in the Commonwealth Games.

She says the UFS is very proud of the current and former Kovsies who will be flying their national flag at the showpiece in Birmingham, England, from 28 July 2022 until 8 August 2022.

South Africa and Lesotho represented

A total of eleven athletes and coaches with UFS ties, featuring in seven different sporting codes, will be competing at the Games.

Ten of them will represent South Africa and are part of the 251 athletes included in the final squad, while one will participate in the colours of Lesotho.

Anneke Bosch (women’s T20 cricket), Shindré-Lee Simmons (women’s hockey), Khanyisa Chawane, Lefébre Rademan (netball), Neil Powell (rugby sevens coach), Yolandi Stander (discus; athletics), Jovan van Vuuren (long jump; athletics), Robert Summers, and Caden Kakora (badminton) are all in Team South Africa.

Simmons, Rademan, Stander, Summers, and Kakora are current students, while Bosch, Chawane, Powell, and Van Vuuren are former Kovsies. Simmons also recently represented South Africa at the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup.

The UFS triple jumper Lerato Sechele, who is the secretary of the Lesotho Athletes Commission, will represent Lesotho.

The Kovsie first-year student Elmien Viljoen (karate) will in turn be in action for South Africa at the Commonwealth Karate Championships, which takes place in Birmingham from 7 to 8 September 2022.

Power of sport

A proud Holtzhausen says their achievements also bring a future responsibility.

“It creates a sense of pride within the UFS community, but also instils a new responsibility to continue to strive for excellence and create opportunities to increase the UFS contribution on the highest levels.”

According to the former Protea netball captain, who represented South Africa in three Commonwealth Games, the power of sport is clearly visible at such an event. Holtzhausen played for her country at the 2010 Games in Delhi, in 2014 in Glasgow, and in 2018 in the Gold Coast.

“The Commonwealth Games eliminate all kinds of boundaries in South Africa, even between sporting codes.

“It brings Team South Africa together: athletes, team officials, supporters, and spectators unite in their love and passion for sport.”

News Archive

Getting out of the dark

2015-06-10

ESKOM is making daily announcements on the status of the power grid.

Anton Calitz, Electrical Engineer at University Estates, is in continuous contact with Eskom and Centlec in an effort to stay abreast of load shedding.

According to Anton, Eskom has recently - the week of 20 April - been focusing on the evening peak, and has announced STAGE 1 load shedding from 17:00-22:00; thus, the Bloemfontein Campus should be able to continue business as usual during the day, except for Thursdays from 18:00 and, possibly, Fridays from 17:00.

Where can I get more information about load shedding stages?

Apart from Eskom’s webpage, staff can also visit GRID WATCH. Click on "Search", then under "Schedules". Look for "Mangaung Local Municipality", and select "GROUP 4". Save this location. “This can even be loaded onto your mobile device.”

“The time slots can be seen for a couple of days in advance, to allow us to plan around the possibility of load shedding in our daily lives,” said Anton.

Please note: ESKOM can change the STAGE level at any time. Therefore, keep an eye on GRID WATCH and News24.

View the typical seven-day planner for the Bloemfontein Campus (Group 4), which indicates the STAGE 2 and 3 possibilities. Take note that, on some days, the STAGE 2 and 3 time slots are the same.

More load shedding tips: Your IT needs

The UFS Data Centre (Computer Room) is fully serviced by a generator facility, and can function without external power supply for a few days.

The generator servicing the UFS data centre does NOT provide power to the outlying facilities. This implies that all digital equipment at gates, booms, and access points will be shut down until the power is restored to these facilities. “We are now, in collaboration with Nico Janse van Rensburg, in a process to install UPS facilities at these points, which will ensure two to three hours of power supply at these points, even during load shedding,” said Dr Vic Coetzee, Senior Director: ICT Services.

No Wi-Fi will be available, as it is dependent on the power supply to the buildings where it is installed.

All servers are contained in the data centre, and will be kept running by our generators.

How to manage load shedding and your IT needs:

1. Get into the habit of saving your work regularly on computer so that you don’t lose your work/files during load shedding.
2. Back up important data. Keep to a schedule of regular back-up. Make sure your computer back-ups are safe and recoverable.
3. Keep all electronic devices charged and ready to run on battery power. Keep your cellphone charged: some old-style Telkom landlines will still operate during power outages, but others won't.
4. Remember, when power supply is restored, it sometimes happens that a power surge is sent through the network, which will damage your computer. Fortunately, laptop computers will not suffer this fate as their power is provided through an external power pack. Often, this power pack will be damaged, but not the laptop itself.
5. It makes good sense to reboot your computer daily, not only in terms of power shedding, but also in terms of updating the drivers, software, etc.
6. Switch off all computers and other electrical equipment at the wall plug overnight and on weekends.
7. Should your IT equipment not switch on after a power outage, log a call with the ICT Services. You can also call them at x2000.

More information, guidelines and contact numbers

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