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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. 

News Archive

Kovsies in top four in Global Business Challenge
2015-05-06

Photo: Mark Steenbok (Bloemfontein Courant) 

 

Christiaan Paulsen (team leader), Sias Conradie, Jannie de Wet and Frikkie Jacobs.

Four Kovsies in the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Sciences are one of the top four teams in the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants’ (CIMA) Global Business Challenge. 178 teams registered to participate in the competition.

 

Team Bernoulli from the UFS will compete against two teams: one from the University of Pretoria and one from the Chartered Accountant Training Institute in Sandton. The winning team will win a trip to Poland, Europe to represent their university and country at the 2015 global final.

 

This international business competition is for undergraduates around the world, designed to bring out the best in the young business leaders of tomorrow.

 

Team leader, Christiaan Paulsen, said: “We are overjoyed to be in the final. However, our true success is in what we learned along the way”.

 

The team has to present a business case study, showcasing their talent in business management. During this competition, the team has

  • learned to analyse and solve a real-life business case study;
  • -obtained first-hand experience of the skills required to be a business leader;
  • enhanced their team building skills; and 
  • developed their presentation skills.  

Students from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Ireland, GCC, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Phillipines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Zambia are taking part in the competition.

 

This competition is organised by CIMA in conjunction with Barclays.

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