Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Introducing the UFS Social Media Squad

23 November 2022 | Story Moeketsi Mogotsi | Photo Barend Nagel

UFS Social squad — Tyrone Willard, Nkosinathi-Mandla Zulu, Kai Carter, and Mella Ubedoble are the new UFS social media ambassadors. The UFS social media ambassadors initiave was formerly known as the #KovsieCyberSta.

Say hello to the UFS Social Media Squad. The team comprises a few new faces that will grace the UFS social media platforms from time to time.

The UFS Social Media Squad (also known as SMS) will cover events in and around the UFS, while giving the UFS community insight into these events across the UFS digital platforms.

This initiative was formerly known as the #KovsieCyberSta programme. You might have seen their faces somewhere before, but now you can hear how they feel about joining the SMS team.

Introducing Tyrone Willard, Nkosinathi-Mandla Zulu, Kai Carter, and Mella Ubedoble!

Nkosinathi-Mandla Zulu is a vibrant 21-year-old UFS ambassador working towards his Honours in Journalism and Media Studies. Mandla is a journalist, radio broadcaster, and marketing intern. While established as a runway and editorial model, he is also a social media influencer. He enjoys a good cup of matcha while reading a book.

Kai Carter: "I'm a tennis player, table tennis player, skateboarder, fashion enthusiast, boy next door, all-around cool kid. Basically, I’m everything and more, google me in five years to see what I'm up to." – Kai signing out!

Mella Ubedoble: "I have always been creative. I grew up enjoying being crafty with paper and decorating, and this background has led me to an evolving passion for fine arts. All my various creations have a similar foundation, which has a narrative approach where I use them as platforms to tell a conceptually inspired story ... Every experience is an adventure for me, especially if it is kept as media, since I believe that the camera is the keeper of memories."

Tyrone Willard is a master’s student at the University of the Free State. He has had the opportunity to serve the student community in student leadership and entertain the different campuses as an MC and speaker at many institutional and residence events. Tyrone is someone who strives to work hard and set a good example of being an all-rounder and looking after oneself. One will never feel bored or not entertained, as he loves to put and keep people in a positive and light mood.

News Archive

NBC tells Wayde’s story

2015-11-02

The film crew from NBC Olympics
filming Wayde van Niekerk (centre, in grey clothes)
during a practice session at Pellies Park on the
Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS.
On the left is Ans Botha, Van Niekerk’s coach.
Photo: Charl Devenish

The Kovsie star Wayde van Niekerk stands an excellent chance of shining at the 2016 Olympics and has a remarkable story behind his success.

This is why NBC Olympics, a division of the American broadcasting network NBC, selected the athlete from the University of the Free State (UFS) to do a special insert for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

A film crew from NBC visited the City of Roses and the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October 2015 to film the insert. The feature will be screened on NBC Olympics’ platforms during and leading up to the Olympics next year.

One of four stars

Van Niekerk was one of four athletes used by the crew to film inserts on. The others were the South African swimmer Chad le Clos, the Kenyan 800 m athlete David Rudisha, and Ethiopian middle- and long-distance athlete Genzebe Dibaba.

The crew interviewed Van Niekerk and his coach Ans Botha, and also paid a visit to Pellies Park during one of his training sessions.

According to Tom Davidson, feature producer at NBC Olympics, the piece about Van Niekerk will be about three minutes long.

“We do a pretty good job of picking good stories, but it is up to the athletes to get there,” Davidson said.

“We think Wayde has a good shot at being in the finals of the 400 m at the Olympics.”

Van Niekerk won a gold medal in a time of 43.48 s at the World Championships in Beijing during August 2015 and set a new South African record for a third time and a new African record for a second time this year in the process.

Beijing success propels Wayde onto NBC radar

“Wayde’s performance in Beijing certainly propelled him onto our radar,” said Davidson.

“He beat former World and Olympic champions like Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt.”

He feels that Van Niekerk is also very young and still at university.

And Botha makes his story even more interesting.

“It is not every day that you see a 74-year old great-grandmother coaching a world champion.”

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept