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A historic fourth Two Oceans Marathon win for Kovsie alumna Gerda Steyn

15 April 2023 | Story Gerda-Marié van Rooyen | Photo Two Oceans Marathon Twitter

Gerda Steyn winning the 2023 Two Oceans Marathon — Former UFS student, Gerda Steyn, made history this weekend – she is the first woman to win the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon four consecutive times.

Kovsie alumna Gerda Steyn provided much jubilation on Saturday 15 April 2023, as she became the first woman to win the Two Oceans Marathon four consecutive times. Steyn, who represented South Africa in the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, improved her personal best by finishing the race 39 seconds faster than her winning time in 2022.

Shortly after her fourth win in the 56 km race, Steyn told media that the desire to inspire girls kept her motivated during the race. “I thought of all the girls watching (the race) with their parents and seeing a woman who looked like everyone else winning this big race.” The former University of the Free State (UFS) professional athlete managed an average pace of 3:45 minutes per kilometre. Steyn proved that hard work pays off, as she finished 14th at the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon in 2016. Her first-ever first place at this race was in 2018, and again in 2019 and 2022 – the marathon was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Proving that she not only has golden feet but a heart of gold too, she pledged to donate some of her bonus money towards the development of athletes living in Muizenberg shortly after she won the Two Oceans in record time in 2022. A true example of perseverance and hard work, she also won the Comrades Marathon in 2019, and finished seventh in the London Marathon in 2020.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, says that Gerda is an embodiment of focus and determination. “I am so proud of her. The UFS is truly the home of champions, as can be seen by the achievements of Olympic track athletes Wayde van Niekerk, Louzanne Coetzee, and champions in many other sporting codes.”

Saturday’s Two Oceans Marathon saw Ethiopian-born Amelework Fikadu Bosho finish second in the women’s race – crossing the finish line 12 minutes after Steyn – with Carla Molinaro from Britain in the third position. Approximately 10 000 athletes entered the race, starting at the Newlands Stadium and ending on the University of Cape Town's campus.

News Archive

UFS’s Unit for Children’s Rights instrumental in helping human trafficked victim

2010-03-29

Adv. Beatri Kruger.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

“Wheeling and dealing is part of our daily life. But what if the ‘product’ bought or sold is not a spanner or a cell phone, but a living human being? Disturbing news came to the fore... apart from other places in the country, and for that matter all over the world, it was discovered that people are treated like commodities here in Bloemfontein as well,” said Adv. Beatri Kruger from the Unit for Children’s Rights at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Adv. Kruger was instrumental in completing and availing the first comprehensive Research Report on Human Trafficking in South Africa to the public on 23 March 2010. As a member of the Reference Group advising on interim research reports on human trafficking, she contributed to the report. The report proves to be an extremely valuable tool for, among others, government departments and non-governmental organisations that use it as a guideline in planning interventions to combat human trafficking.

The Unit for Children’s Rights is also one of the founding members of the Free State Human Trafficking Forum (FHF). To react on and fight the disturbing reality of human trafficking more efficiently, a number of concerned role players such as Child Welfare and other non-governmental organisations, police officials, prosecutors, social workers, health practitioners, private businesses, churches and community organisations joined forces and formed the FHF. The Unit for Children’s Rights hosts monthly meetings at the UFS to facilitate the coordination of this multi-disciplinary counter-trafficking team.

Adv. Kruger is very excited about some of the successes of the FHF; such as the story of Soma (not her real name). This Indian woman was recruited in India by an Indian couple who are staying in South Africa, by promising her a good job in South Africa. However, instead of finding the promised job, Soma was extensively exploited for labour purposes. With the help of a “good Samaritan” she managed to escape from the perpetrators and fled to the police. Soma was removed to ensure her safety and accommodated in a safe place in Bloemfontein. Counselling and other services were rendered to her by an organisation which is also a member of the FHF. One of the challenges facing Soma and the service providers was that Soma speaks a foreign dialect and for weeks a trusted interpreter could not be found.

This obstacle rendered communication with her to the bare minimum. The perpetrators were arrested but unfortunately the new comprehensive counter-trafficking law is not in force yet. Therefore the perpetrators could only be convicted of some offences in the Immigration Act. However, due to good police investigation followed by shrewd consultations, the perpetrators agreed to pay for the victim’s return flight to India as well as for the flight ticket of the investigating officer to escort her to safety. The Unit for Children’s Rights did networking with Ms Maria Nikolovska of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), who agreed to assist in the safe reintegration of Soma in India. Soma is now on her way back home.

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