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03 January 2023
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Photo Evert Kleynhans
Dr Dolf van Niekerk.
The University of the Free State (UFS) would like to express its condolences to the family and friends of South African author, Dr Dolf van Niekerk, on his passing.
Dr Van Niekerk, the recipient of an
honorary doctorate from the UFS, passed away on 31 December 2022. The UFS awarded a Doctor of Letters to Dr Dolf van Niekerk during its April 2021 graduation ceremony.
Dr Van Niekerk was a celebrated author who also achieved fame as a dramatist and radio presenter. An alumnus of the UFS, he received a BA degree from the university cum laude in 1949. He also played a role in academia and was an emeritus professor at the University of Pretoria until his retirement in 1994. His work includes 27 books in philosophy, poetry, fiction, drama, and memoirs, for which he has received numerous awards. These include the
Eugene Marais Prize, the MER Prize, and the Scheepers Award for Youth Literature.
“Dr van Niekerk is a Kovsie alumnus with a deep connection to the Free State. He played a significant role in the country’s literary history, and it was an honour for the university to award him with an honorary degree. A wordsmith of note, Dr van Niekerk’s contributions to South African literature, radio, and stage will live on," says
Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor.
Kovsie Johan Cronjé ran his best time ever
2009-06-12
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| Photo: Supplied |
Kovsie Student Johan Cronjé, the reigning South African 1 500 m champion, ran the gutsiest race of his career at the Thessaloniki Athletics Festival in Greece on Wednesday night, 10 June 2009 when he not only qualified for the World Championships in Berlin but also recorded the best time of his career with 3 min 35.11 sec. He was the third South African runner to qualify for the 1 500 m – the others being Juan van Deventer and Peter van der Westhuizen – and the twelfth in all to qualify for the August meeting.
Cronjé still occupies the fifth position on the South African list of athletes in the 1 500 m of all times, but he improved his best time ever by 0.47 sec. So far this year, only Van Deventer has managed to score a better time than Cronjé (3:34.20) at an athletics meeting in the United States of America last week.