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24 September 2024
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Story Aimée Barlow
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Photo Supplied
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!
Kotaro Fukuma - awe inspiring
2008-03-10
On Thursday, 28 February 2008, the Japanese pianist, Kotaro Fukuma, gave a piano recital in the Odeion.
Kotaro provided the audience with a rendition that showed complete technical and interpretative mastery, which Elretha Britz described as a “flawless performance” in the Volksblad.
The performance began with Haydn’s Piano Sonata, Op. 9. It was followed by Schumann’s “Carnival” and three compositions by Kotaro’s fellow countryman, Toru Takemitsu, who passed away in 1996. After a tour though an imaginative landscape of sound in Takemitsu’s compositions, he rounded off his programme with Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 3.
The audience not having had enough, were then treated to a Liszt transcription of Schumann’s Lied, Widmung, as an encore.
The concert was well supported by the people of Bloemfontein who went home more than satisfied. In fact, there were standing ovations at the end of almost every work.