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31 March 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo ASEM Engage, C&C Photo Agency
Shimlas
The replacement Kwezi Dlamini scored one of the five tries for the Shimlas against the University of Johannesburg on Monday (28 March 2022). His wing Asanda Kunene (left) also crossed the line earlier.
The University of the Free State (UFS) Shimlas started working harder for each other.

According to Thabang Mahlasi, the Shimla captain, this is one of the reasons why his team managed to pull itself together to get back to Varsity Cup winning ways.

The UFS is back at the top of the log after two consecutive wins against the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ). And it remains on course for semi-final spot.

The Shimlas are in first place with 27 log points, followed by UCT (26), the University of Pretoria (UP) (25), and Stellenbosch University (SU) (24), making up the top four.

Although the UFS is sitting pretty after two rounds, with games against UP at Shimla Park and the Madibaz (Nelson Mandela University) in Gqeberha ahead, it wasn’t just smooth sailing.

The Shimlas defeated the University of the Western Cape (56-16), SU (50-28), and the Central University of Technology (48-27) in their first three encounters, but then lost their way by losing to Wits University (31-53) and the North-West University (22-32).

Mahlasi and his troops had to dig deep and came back with wins over UCT (58-7) and UJ (35-26) on Monday (28 March 2022) .

Lessons learnt

The Shimla leader says his side is happy with its current log position and has been rewarded for its effort so far.
But the UFS has learnt some valuable lessons along the way.

“I think in the two matches we lost, we went into those matches with a bit of comfort,” says Mahlasi.

“We now know that there is no room in this competition for being comfortable. You need to graft week in, week out, because every team is competitive. We started working harder for each other.”

Showing true character 

In Johannesburg, the Shimlas had to fight back to beat UJ 35-26 this week, after trailing 16-23 at half-time.

Mahlasi says the match was a bit scrappy and his team decided to go ‘back to their systems’.

“We had to show massive character, because the crowd wasn’t making our job out there very easy.”

We had to show massive character, because the crowd wasn’t making our job out there very easy. – Thabang Mahlasi (Shimla captain)
The UFS next play the University of Pretoria, the defending Varsity Cup champions, in Bloemfontein on Monday (4 April 2022).

According to Mahlasi, it is tough for any team coming to Shimla Park.

“The first 20 minutes will be very important. We will have to make a massive statement and play our brand of high-intensity running rugby.”

 


News Archive

Mekondjo! National exhibition to reveal the courage, determination, repression and torture of PLAN
2014-05-21

 
Angelina Angula ex PLAN soldier injured during the 1978 Cassinga attack - photo by John Liebenberg.

A pioneering exhibition by John Liebenberg and Christo Doherty is about to open on the Bloemfontein Campus. ‘Mekondjo! born in the struggle for Namibia’ gives South Africans their first insight into the lives of the men and women who fought against the SADF in the bush of Northern Namibia and Angola from 1966 – 1989.

This public exhibition presents eleven portraits of People’s Liberation Army veterans in the process of speaking about and coming to terms with their very different experiences in the Namibian War of Liberation.

When the People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) returned to Namibia after the UN-supervised elections of 1989, it had been fighting against South African rule for 23 years. Formed in 1966 as the armed wing of the South West African Peoples’ Organisation, PLAN had developed from a handful of poorly armed guerrillas to a sophisticated mechanised force. These soldiers fought alongside Angolan, Russian and Cuban soldiers against the SADF and UNITA. Since SWAPO’s election victory, the new government has mythologised the heroism of the armed struggle. The stories of the individual PLAN fighters’ experiences are only now being articulated, though.

Their stories are of great courage and determination against often impossible odds; but also of repression, torture, and disastrous decisions by the PLAN leadership.

The exhibition will be on display from Thursday 22 May to Friday 23 May for the duration of the Silence after Violence conference. The conference is hosted by the UFS Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice and the Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Vermont.

Date: Thursday 22 May and Friday 23 May 2014
Place: Centenary Complex, Reitz Hall, Bloemfontein Campus
Exhibition Introduction: Thursday 22 May, 14:00 – 15:30
Other viewing times: intermissions during the Silence after Violence programme

The public is welcome to attend.

* Spotlight photo: PLAN commissioner Nkrumah Mushelenga, Windhoek 2013 – photo by John Liebenberg

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