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UFS karate star Karabo Khanye awarded SA national colours

03 July 2025 | Story Vuyelwa Mbebe and Aimee Barlow | Photo Supplied

In a defining moment for both his personal career and the sporting legacy of the University of the Free State (UFS), karate champion Karabo Khanye has been awarded South African national colours. The honour was conferred at the National Karate Awards Ceremony on 21 June in Durban in recognition of his outstanding achievements on the international stage.

The awarding of national colours is one of the highest accolades in South African sport, symbolising excellence, dedication, and the ability to represent the country with distinction. For Khanye, this moment is the culmination of years of hard work and discipline. His selection followed a remarkable showing at the Commonwealth Karate Championships, where Khanye competed against some of the world’s top athletes. Representing Karate South Africa, he walked away with two silver medals.

“I feel privileged that I was chosen for the Commonwealth team,” Khanye said. “Being able to bring home two silver medals just makes it that much better.”

The awards ceremony in Durban was not merely a formality but a moment of personal significance for the UFS athlete. Receiving his national colours served as both validation and motivation for the sacrifices he’d made to pursue excellence in his chosen sport.

“It shows that the hard work I put in was not for nothing,” he said. “I am grateful to receive my national colours.”

With this latest honour under his belt, Khanye went on to compete at the University Sport South Africa (USSA) Karate Championships, held from 26 to 27 June in Pietermaritzburg. He successfully defended his title in the U60kg elite category, which he’d claimed at last year’s tournament.

Khanye’s journey has been a source of pride for the UFS KovsieSport community. His success adds to the university’s growing reputation for producing high-performance athletes across various sporting codes. UFS celebrates Khanye’s achievements and looks forward to what promises to be an even more inspiring and successful future for this remarkable athlete.

News Archive

Student one of ten Google Young Minds

2012-04-23

Sibusiso Tshabalala is making strides as an international young leader.
23 April 2012

Third-year B.Com Law student, Sibusiso Tshabalala from our university, is one of ten of Google’s Young Minds for 2012. He made it to the top thirty from a pool of 1 700 applicants at the beginning of April 2012.

“The standard of other competitors and the panel of judges were extremely high. I was excited to receive the news that I had made it,” he says.

Annually, Google searches for ten students internationally who demonstrate strong leadership capabilities. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is given to students who also have an entrepreneurial drive and a commitment to social activism. Sibusiso was selected for his involvement in renovating libraries and training budding public speakers. His projects also involve encouraging literacy and critical thinking in poor areas in the Free State by establishing reading clubs.

Sibusiso will be attending the Google Zeitgeist in London from 20 to 22 May 2012.

At the conference, he will have the opportunity to meet some of the world’s greatest minds. Over 400 influential business leaders and visionaries from around the world will be hosted. Speakers include Prof. Stephen Hawking, former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics: University of Cambridge; Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group; Eric Schmidt, Chairman: Google; Larry Page, CEO: Google; Angela Ahrendts, CEO: Burberry, and international musician will.i.am.

The ten winners will also take part in a series of ‘master classes’ with the aim of mentoring them to help further their future projects.

His achievements include the 2010 winner of the National SAGE Competition (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship). He represented South Africa in Brazil that same year and was also National Winner of the Best Speaker Award at the 2011 South African National Universities Debating Championships. He was ranked as one of the top ten debaters in Africa at the Pan African Universities Debating Championships held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 2011. Sibusiso recently chaired the committee that organised the first university based CANSA Relay for Life Event in South Africa. This took place at the UFS in February 2012.

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