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Siphilangenkosi Dlamini named one of South Africa’s 100 Shining Stars

11 November 2022 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Barend Nagel

Siphilangenkosi Dlamini, a fourth-year Governance and Political Transformation student at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been selected as one of South Africa’s 100 Shining Stars for 2022 by Inside Education, in partnership with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).

“I was more surprised than anything, but also very honoured,” he said. Dlamini, who made it into the Civil Society and Youth category, was chosen from a pool of 800 applicants for his remarkable work with the Help a Student initiative, and his services as the former secretary of the Southern Africa Scout Youth Forum. Although he could not attend the award ceremony held in Johannesburg on 20 October 2022 in person, Dlamini did receive a certificate. “What we do a lot of the time isn’t for recognition and it’s not necessarily for awards; but getting recognised motivates and assures me that the work we are doing has an impact,” he expressed.

The Help a Student Initiative

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dlamini recognised a rise in food insecurity among his fellow students. This set him on a path to source funding for the establishment of the project.

The Help a Student initiative aimed to curb food insecurity through the provision of food parcels to UFS students who were in need. The project, which ran from 2020 until early 2021, managed to distribute food parcels to nearly 250 students per month. The initiative did not only assist students who were on campus. The selected applicants who were at home or off campus also received digital food vouchers, which allowed for the purchasing of food items at Pick n Pay and/or Shoprite.

“Food security is something that I am passionate about. I grew up in a community where it was a massive issue.

However, in the past I was not empowered enough to know how to solve it. Therefore, when the opportunity presented itself to do something about it, I took it with both hands,” Dlamini expressed.

Although the recognition was not expected, Dlamini maintains that such platforms are imperative, as “they demonstrate that young people are doing something to improve the country in the different capacities they are in”.

News Archive

State-of-the-art audio-visual studio up and running at UFS

2015-11-25

The state-of-the-art audio-visual studio that was unveiled in the beginning of this year reaped its first crop during a historic moment. On Wednesday 28 October 2015, the eight pilot students in the Postgraduate Programme in Film and Visual Media, which was launched at the beginning of this year, had their first big screen experience. Eight films were premiered in one night at the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus.

An intimate movie theatre was brimming with friends and family of the students, their lecturers, and judges who doubled as moderators. This was no ordinary motion picture viewing. The apprentice filmmakers’ productions were undergoing formal external examination.

Judge by a legend

Katinka Heyns critiqued the student’s final products. Heyns is a renowned filmmaker, actress, director, producer, and founder of the production company, Sonneblom Films. She has numerous awards to her name, including the Career Contribution and Innovation Award, Legendary Award for Woman in Film and Television, and Medal of Honour for Paljas, which were presented by the Absa Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), International Crystal Award, and South African Academy for Science and Arts, respectively.

Johanet Kriel and Chris Vorster from the film school also assisted as moderators.

The cinema exam

Each student had 20 minutes to provide a synopsis for the viewers, and screen the movie. At the end, The Secret of the Golden Flower, written and directed by Rudiker Janse van Rensburg, and The Nexus Effect, written and directed by Gawie Myburgh were judged the best movies “Both films had had clear and creative story lines, a solid structure, and quality editing,” said Chris Vorster.

Despite technical teething problems, all the students showed a great deal of talent and passion for filmmaking. “Given the time constraints and technical challenges, I’m very relieved that we actually got films on screen. They all impressed me with their creativity. Mission accomplished,” added Vorster.

The films

• The Blood of Barbara (Yvonne Allwright)
• Diary of an Oreo (Nonsindiso Qwabe)
• GeFop! (Hendrik Cronje)
• The Nexus Effect (Gawie Myburgh)
• The Secret of the Golden Flower (Rudiker Janse van Rensburg)
• Well ain’t that a Coinkydink?! (Rethabile Radebe)
• What Lurks in the Dark…(Rese Moore)

(Photo caption: Front row from left: Nonsindiso Qwabe, Suné van Heerden, Theresa Moore, Gawie Myburgh. Middle row: Rudiker Janse van Rensburg, Hendrik Cronjé, Yvonne Allwright, and Rethabile Radebe. Back: lecturer: Chris Vorster.)

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