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Shimlas strengthen coaching team with Melusi Mthethwa

04 August 2023 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Luigi Bennett

Shimlas Coach — Former Cheetahs assistant coach Melusi Mthethwa looks forward to coaching the Shimlas again. He was the head coach of the Central University of Technology in the 2023 Varsity Cup, and a former UFS Young Guns head coach and Shimlas assistant coach (attack).

The University of the Free State (UFS) rugby team has strengthened its coaching ranks with the addition of Melusi Mthethwa, who returns to the UFS after a previous stint as a Shimlas assistant coach.

Mthethwa is set to fulfill a similar role as before, with the aim of giving the team a boost ahead of the 2024 Varsity Cup. He will be the new attack and backline coach, and continues an established rugby relationship with André Tredoux, the Shimlas head coach.

Mthethwa will return to the UFS from the Central University of Technology (CUT), where he is the head coach. In 2023 he was also the Griquas attack and backline coach.

Previously Mthethwa was a Cheetahs assistant coach (attack and backline) and coached the Cheetahs junior rugby sides. At Kovsies, he has been the UFS Young Guns head coach and a Shimlas assistant coach (attack).

The Shimlas have now acquired his services for the next two years, since the contract of Swys de Bruin, UFS director of coaching for the past two years, came to an end after the 2023 Varsity Cup.

Long rugby relationship

Tredoux and Mthethwa worked together while coaching junior sides at the North-West University (NWU) and Leopards from 2009 to 2011. The Shimlas head coach is excited to coach with him again, and says Mthethwa adds a lot of experience.

“We know each other since 2005 [when Tredoux coached Mthethwa as a NWU U20 player]. He is a hard worker and great coach,” Tredoux says. “We are thrilled to see what he can bring to our attack and the skills of our backline players. It is an exciting time, and he certainly strengthens our coaching team.”

Mthethwa believes it’s the right time for him to join Kovsies. He says the UFS coaching team understands the game, and he wants to contribute positively. “The Shimla coaches are exceptional guys, and it will be great to join and work with them. And to see if we can make a big change in Bloemfontein.”

Excelling on and off field

Jerry Laka, Director of KovsieSport, says the UFS wanted to strengthen the Shimlas technical team and provide Tredoux with more assistance. He says Mthethwa’s experience will add value and contribute to the success of the coaching staff.

His appointment is also in line with the university’s Vision 130, with one of its key values being excellence. “His appointment shows that we want to excel in everything we do, whether it is on the playing field or in the coaching staff,” Laka says. “Melusi brings a different dimension to our coaching. And he will be of great support to André. They have worked together before, and will carry on with that brilliant working relationship.”

News Archive

UFS receives research grant focusing on enablement of non-profit organisations

2011-01-20

Prof. Mabel Erasmus

The University of the Free State (UFS) has received a research grant to the value of R1,1 million from the National Research Foundation (NRF) to conduct research on community engagement, with the emphasis on knowledge as enablement – a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) focus.

This was the first time the NRF had requested applications for research with a focus on community engagement (CE). With the grant, the UFS has become one of the first recipients of a research grant that focuses on community engagement.

The overarching research question that will be dealt with is how Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the NPO sector can establish long-term, research-based collaborative engagements that will be mutually empowering and enabling through joint, reciprocal knowledge-based activities and capacity building.

The contention that this proposal is based on, is that HEIs have limited knowledge of the NPO sector and thus are unable to be fully responsive to the challenges that NPOs face. What is more, it is very likely that staff and students from HEIs do not have an adequate grasp of the experiential understanding, contextual community knowledge and practical know-how that NPO practitioners have, and hence do not appreciate the crucial contributions that they can make with regard to meaning-making processes aimed at improving some of the harsh South African realities.

According to Prof. Mabel Erasmus, Associate Professor and Head of the university’s Division: Service Learning, which submitted the research proposal to the NRF and is the grant-holder, the university would like the information generated by the research to be beneficial to both HEIs and the NPOs. “Knowledge regarding NPOs, specifically their challenges and information about what they are doing, will be invaluable to HEIs. At the same time, the research must benefit the NPOs with knowledge to improve their practice and strengthen their functioning.

“The research will take place in close collaboration with the NPOs, as their inputs are crucial. The research will thus not be ‘about’ them but ‘with’ them.”

“We do not want to send our students for community-based education or as volunteers to NPOs year after year and it does not mean as much to them as these organisations would hope for. With the research process we would like to strengthen NPOs, to build their capacity and give them our whole-hearted cooperation,” she said.

Funding received from the grant will be applied over a period of three years. Except for the study grants for five Ph.D. students and four master’s students, the grant will further make provision for a number of workshops, a local conference, a publication and presentations at international conferences on this matter. The research team of 22 persons includes academics from other HEIs such as the Central University of Technology, University of Zululand, University of Johannesburg and Monash SA. Several staff members of NPOs also form part of the team, including REACH (Bfn), Childline (FS) and others.

Prof. Erasmus said that the UFS was one of a few institutions that were currently conducting research to this extent on the link between the NPO sector and HEIs within the field of community engagement.

Media Release
18 January 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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