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24 September 2024
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Story Aimée Barlow
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Louzanne Coetzee, who made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time, received a warm reception when she recently returned home.
The celebrated Paralympic bronze medallist Louzanne Coetzee returned home to a warm welcome at the Bram Fischer International Airport on 10 September 2024.
Family, friends, colleagues, Arista students, and media gathered to celebrate her remarkable achievement and show their support.
Coetzee – KovsieSport Coordinator of Parasport at the University of the Free State (UFS) – made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time. Her dedication and hard work have not only brought her personal glory but have also inspired many in her community.
Among those present to welcome her was Jerry Laka, Director of KovsieSport, who expressed his pride in Coetzee’s accomplishments.
"We as KovsieSport are so proud of our colleague Coetzee. It is amazing to see a product of KovsieSport achieving greatness on the world stage. She is truly an inspiration to us all," said Laka.
“I am so glad to be back, and to have Laka and my colleagues here. It means the world to me. Having Laka here shows his commitment to my career and ParaSport and his staff in general,” shared Coetzee, her gratitude evident.
She further expressed her appreciation for the support she received, stating, “I don’t have the words to describe how thankful I am for the support from the UFS community.”
Coetzee’s return is a proud moment for South Africa and the University of the Free State (UFS) community. Welcome home, Louzanne! Your achievements have made us all proud!
UFS Sasol Library will reopen tomorrow
2007-10-17
The University of the Free State’s (UFS) UFS Sasol Library will reopen again tomorrow (Thursday, 18 October 2007) after a limited fire broke out earlier this morning.
The fire broke out at 05:00 on a work site of a contractor that is carrying out maintenance on the library’s air conditioning system in the machinery room underneath the library.
Employees of the subcontractor were busy replacing the isolation of the air-conditioning when the fire broke out. An employee of the contractor died and one was seriously injured.
The contractor is working on the system at night in order to minimise disruption to library users. The building and books were not damaged.
“The UFS and the contractor exercised strict safety measures before the maintenance project commenced and regular safety training sessions are still presented to employees of the contractor working on the site. The latest training session was done on Monday, 15 October 2007,” said Ms Edma Pelzer, Director of Physical Resources at the UFS.
As a precautionary measure, the library will be closed for the rest of today because of the possible presence of fumes in the building as a result of the fire. A decision was taken to be cautious and to make sure that the air is clean before people are allowed in the library.
The Reitz Dining Hall of the Centenary Complex is available as a temporary study facility for students until 18:00 today. The library will be open again tomorrow (Thursday, 18 October 2007) during normal hours.
Ms Pelzer conveyed her sympathy to the next of kin of the person who died during the fire.
Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
17 October 2007