Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
07 November 2023 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo SUPPLIED
Thembinkosi Mkhwanazi
Egg-cellence: Thembinkosi Mkhwanazi won the central regional rounds of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) competition for his egg business, Egg Palace.

What started as a side hustle to bring in extra income has turned into a thriving venture for UFS Qwaqwa Campus student Thembinkosi Mkhwanazi, who has begun reaping the rewards of his hard work.

In October, Mkhwanazi came out victorious at the central regional rounds of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) competition in the Existing Businesses category for studentpreneurs for his egg business, Egg Palace. He is in his third year of a BA degree specialising in Psychology.

The EDHE entrepreneurship intervarsity competitions are intended to develop the entrepreneurial capacity of students with the intention of equipping them with the necessary skills needed to become economically active during and after their tertiary education. The 26 South African universities are grouped into six regions, and studentpreneurs get to pitch their innovative ideas or existing businesses for a chance to win the national rounds.

Mkhwanazi’s pitch came out on top, sealing his place at the nationals and a fighting chance at the R100 000 cash prize.

He started his egg-producing business in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, buying organic eggs from a supplier and selling them to students and Qwaqwa community members.

Since then, his business has grown astoundingly, and Mkhwanazi now owns 165 chickens housed in a chicken house in Qwaqwa. This expansion has allowed Mkhwanazi to increase his egg production and cater to a wider customer base on the Qwaqwa Campus and within the local community.

“I won the internal rounds and the regional round, but I’ve realised that winning was a bonus. Since being on this journey, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of people who’ve inspired me to grow my business and how to be unique. I also got to board a plane for the first time. The win has just been the cherry on top, but there’s so much that I’ve gained from this experience.”

Entrepreneurship helps students improve their (self-) employability and livelihoods 

He said he was inspired by the likes of UFS Qwaqwa Campus alum Jabulani Mabuza, who also won the 2022 EDHE regional rounds and made it to the nationals. Making it through the regionals was a wake-up call, he says, which motivated him to invest more time and effort into his business.

“I was in my comfort zone and wasn’t marketing my business properly, but I’ve since taken that seriously, and I’m already seeing a huge boost in sales and public awareness,” he said.

Mkhwanazi said he would like to see the university supporting student entrepreneurs to establish themselves. “There are a lot of us who are entrepreneurs who need more exposure and support to grow. The courses offered at our institution encourage us to be entrepreneurial. If we can be given more opportunities, we’d be able to grow and become self-reliant.”

The national leg of the EDHE competition will take place from 30 November to 1 December 2023.

News Archive

UFS helps to renovate schools
2005-10-10

Photo gallery

About 250 hostel students of the University of the Free State's (UFS) main campus yesterday painted and renovated four schools in the black townships of Bloemfontein.  This was part of Kovsie Rag's new approach to be more directly involved with communities.

Students were transported with busses and performed tasks such as the painting of class rooms and outside walls and the cleaning and painting of gutters and window panes.  The painting was judged by a panel of judges, that included the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie.  These points will contribute to the each hostel's final point in the Rag fund raising campaign for 2005/2006.

 

 

Some of the students who painted the gutters of Maboloka Primary School in Bochabelo were from the left Ms Tume Kowang (18) (first year student in B Accounting from NJ van der Merwe hostel); Ms  Gloria Mangwane (19) (third year student in B Sc Biochemy from NJ van der Merwe hostel); Ms Adri Ras (21) (second year student in Occupational Therapy from Emily Hobhouse hostel) and Ms Malandi Els (20) (third year student in B Exercise and Feeding from Emily Hobhouse hostel).

See attached media statement:

UFS Rag and Eimpa paints assist with upgrading of schools

The spirit of Ubuntu will this year be truly reflected in the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Rag community out reach programme when senior students from the 23 hostels on the Main Campus will visit four less-privileged schools in the Mangaung area on Saturday 8 October 2005 to assist these schools in the upgrading of facilities.

The same day (Saturday 8 October 2005) the UFS first year students will visit the neighbourhoods in Bloemfontein from 08:00-13:00 to raise funds on an Ubuntu donation lists for Rag 2005/2006.

The Ubuntu project was started about seven years ago and it has grown each year. In the past the project was associated with a fundraising leg and a hostel publicity leg.  This year the aim is to involve the community to demonstrate how important fundraising initiatives are to help those less-privileged. 
 
The schools that will be visited are Legae Intermediary School in Batho, Mothusi Primary School in Rocklands, and the Maboloka and Lesedi Primary Schools in Bochabelo.  The schools in the Manugaung area had until 31 August 2005 to complete a questionnaire identifying what assistance is needed.  The Rag office, with the help of professional consultants from Eimpa Paints, chose four schools and visited each one to determine material/s needed to complete the work. 

Eimpa Paints is a partner of the Ubuntu project and will be sponsoring all paint necessary to complete the work at the schools.  All other material/s needed will be supplied by the UFS Rag office.

The hostels are divided into project teams and will clean and paint gutters and window sills and paint the walls of classrooms and outside walls.  At Maboloka School for instance, a project team will also to paint a wall with colourful characters.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:  (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
7 October 2005

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept