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16 January 2025 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Supplied
Jurie Blignaut
Jurie Blignaut, top achiever in the 2024 matric exams for quintile four schools in SA and finalist of the UFS 2024 Matriculant of the Year competition.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is proud to announce that the top achiever in the 2024 matric exams for quintile four schools in the country, Jurie Blignaut, will be studying towards an MBChB at the UFS from 2025.

Blignaut, a pupil of the Rustenburg High School, was one of the 14 finalists in the 2024 UFS Matriculant of the Year competition.

“Congratulations to Jurie on this wonderful achievement. We look forward to welcoming him and our cohort of 2025 first-year students to our campuses,” says Prof Anthea Rhoda, acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS. 

Boasting 11 distinctions and an average of 96,5%, Blignaut is not only an exceptional academic achiever but also participates in several cultural activities. He was the winner of the Kovsie Alumni Trust’s special award for personal cultural achievement in the final round of the competition. This head boy of his school is an excellent public speaker and musician. 

Blignaut’s highest achievement in public speaking was his national second place in last year’s ATKV public speaking competition in the section for Afrikaans home language. He plays the cello and has performed solo with the Pretoria Symphony Orchestra, was part of the school choir and band, and participated in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. 

“On behalf of the university management, I would also like to congratulate Dr Mantlhake Maboya, MEC for Education in the Free State, and her executive team on the Free State being the top-achieving province in South Africa,” says Prof Rhoda. 

Other finalists in the 2024 UFS Matriculant of the Year competition who excelled during the matric exams include Susan Bender from Voortrekker High School – top achiever in the Free State province – and Chris Goosen from Grey College Secondary School, who is also one of the top achievers in the Free State. 

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The UFS founding member for The Journalist
2014-08-07

To all thoughtful South Africans interested in quality journalism and a diversity of ideas

We invite you to go online to be part of the Virtual Launch of a new website called The Journalist.

It will serve as a knowledge bank for our profession. We will be calling everybody to share their expertise because those who build solid institutions and strong institutional memory are guaranteed to succeed as a profession or a nation.

Please go to www.thejournalist.org.za and sign up to our weekly Wednesday newsletter. You will be eligible to be part of a weekly lucky draw for cash prizes until the end of August 2014.

Context and history matters to us: we will start off with the historical background to journalism itself and will feature profiles of pioneer South African journalists across a broad spectrum.

The University of the Free State is the founding member of the site. We are inviting other universities to join the initiative to prepare a premium site with quality academic material to be launched next year.

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All those who sign up and do not win will be eligible to participate in every subsequent lucky draw. Sign up, write to us, agree, disagree and argue.

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