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03 January 2023
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Story Lacea Loader
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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.
UFS to establish Sesotho language research and
2004-12-01
The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the establishment of a Sesotho Language Research and Development Centre.
The centre will be established on request of the national Department of Arts and Culture and will be situated at the UFS’s Vista campus.
According to the Dean: Faculty of Humanities at the UFS, Prof Gerhardt de Klerk, the national department has committed itself to make available R1-million for the project. An amount not exceeding 3,5 percent will be paid to the UFS in payment of costs incurred in terms of the housing of the centre.
“The tasks of the centre will include the promotion of indigenous languages and terminology development; the research, development and maintenance of a terminological data base and the writing and publishing of various genres of literature in co-operation with relevant and interested parties,” says Prof de Klerk.
Other tasks include the establishment and maintenance of a language museum, outreach to the community and the mobilisation of support for the use of African languages.
“The centre will be managed by a management committee consisting of a representative of the Department of Arts and Culture, the academic registrar, head of the Department of African Languages, chief financial official of the UFS, a member of the UFS Senate, a senior lecturer/professor from the School of Languages/ Faculty of the Humanities, the head of the provincial language unit and a representative of PANSAD,” says Prof de Klerk.
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Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
1 December 2004 |