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From UFS to fame: UFS alumnus joins Binnelanders Season 15

05 June 2025 | Story Onthatile Tikoe | Photo Supplied

Logan James — Logan W. James, UFS alumnus and breakout star of Binnelanders Season 15, proudly waves the Kovsie flag as he steps into his first national television role.

University of the Free State (UFS) alumnus Logan W James made his national television debut in Season 15 of kykNET’s long-running medical drama, Binnelanders. Streaming on Showmax from 4 June 2025, the latest season introduces Logan in a role that delivers high drama, high energy, and a fresh wave of talent rooted in the Free State.

From campus to camera

Born and bred in Bloemfontein, Logan’s rise from student theatre to the small screen is a story stitched together by grit, passion, and a deep love for performance. A former learner of Grey College and a proud Kovsie, Logan honed his craft at the University of the Free State, where he quickly became known for his magnetic stage presence and commitment to his roles.

From standout performances in Everyman, How to Wuzz, and Run for Your Wife to unforgettable moments during UFS’s annual Africa Day showcases, Logan carved out a name for himself as a rising star on campus – one performance at a time.

A dream years in the making

Now based in Johannesburg, Logan is stepping into a new kind of spotlight. He plays Le Roux Snyman - a thrill-seeking, motocross-riding character with a bold facade and hidden depths.

“Le Roux is full of energy and contradictions,” Logan says. “He lives for extreme sports and adrenaline, but there’s a much softer, more vulnerable side he doesn’t often show. What excites me is exploring both boldness and fragility in the same breath - it’s something I’ve never quite done before.”

Though this may be Logan’s TV debut, stepping onto the Binnelanders set felt strangely familiar.

“I used to watch Binnelanders at my grandmother’s house,” he recalls. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d one day be part of the cast. It feels like a full-circle moment - a dream realised. The journey here wasn’t straightforward, but seeing it come to life like this is an incredible blessing.”

The foundation of theatre

Logan credits his Bloemfontein theatre roots as the foundation of his acting journey. “Theatre taught me discipline, presence, and heart,” he says. “On stage, there are no second takes. You have to show up, fully and honestly, every time. That kind of intensity trains you not as a performer, but as a professional.

These lessons continue to shape how he approaches his work today. “Kindness and professionalism – those are the two things I carry into every production,” he adds.

Big city, bigger lessons

The move from Bloem’s close-knit creative community to the bustling entertainment industry in Johannesburg came with new challenges – and new lessons.

“In Joburg, you quickly realise just how much talent is out there,” Logan says. “It forced me to embrace what makes me unique, rather than compare myself to others. Real passion – not the pursuit of fame – is what carries you through the tough times. If you’re chasing the art, not the spotlight, you’ll find purpose, even when things get hard.”

A voice for regional talent

Logan’s journey is not just a personal triumph – it’s also a win for regional talent. As a Free State-born actor breaking into the national scene, he is part of a growing wave of creatives proving that national recognition is possible from anywhere.

“To go from student theatre to national TV is a leap that’s both terrifying and thrilling,” Logan reflects. “But it's proof that consistent hard work, staying true to your craft, and trusting the process can open doors you once only dreamed of.”

Ready for the spotlight

With his first episode having aired on 4 June, audiences were treated to a performance that was rich with energy and layered with emotion.

“There’s a lot of growth ahead - for Le Roux and for me,” Logan shares. “I’m looking forward to every moment of it. I can’t wait for South Africa to meet him.”

News Archive

Sites of memory. Sites of trauma. Sites of healing.

2015-04-01

Judge Albie Sachs – human rights activist and co-creator of South Africa’s constitution – presented the first Vice Chancellor’s Lecture on Trauma, Memory, and Representations of the Past on 26 March 2015 on the Bloemfontein Campus.

His lecture, ‘Sites of memory, sites of conscience’, forms part of a series of lectures that will focus on how the creative arts represent trauma and memory – and how these representations may ultimately pave the way to healing historical wounds. This series is incorporated into the five-year research project, led by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, and funded by the Mellon Foundation.

Sites of memory and conscience – and healing

“Deep in solitary confinement, I read in the Bible: ‘the lion lay down with the lamb … swords will be beaten into ploughshares.’” And with these opening words, Judge Sachs took the audience on a wistful journey to the places in our country that ache from the past but are reaching for a better future at the same time.

Some of the sites of memory and conscience Judge Sachs discussed included the Apartheid Museum, Liliesleaf, District Six Museum, and the Red Location Museum. But perhaps most powerful of them all is Robben Island.

Robben Island

“The strength of Robben Island,” Judge Sachs said, “comes from its isolation. Its quietness speaks”. Former prisoners of the island now accompany visitors on their tours of the site, retelling their personal experiences. It was found that, the quieter the ex-prisoners imparted their stories, “the gentler and softer their memories; the more powerful the impact,” Judge Sachs remarked. Instead of anger and denouncement, this reverence provides a space for visitors’ own emotions to emerge. This intense and powerful site has become a living memory elevated into a place of healing.

After Judge Sachs visited the National Women’s Memorial in Bloemfontein some years ago, he came to an acute realisation as he read the stories, experienced the grief, and saw the small relics that imprisoned commandoes from Ceylon and St Helena sculpted. “It’s so like us,” he thought, “our people on Robben Island making a saxophone out of seaweed, our people carving little things. It was so like us. It was another form of inhumanity to human beings in another period.”

The Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court next to the Old Fort Prison is also a profound site of trauma and healing. Bricks from the awaiting trial lock-up were built into the court chambers. “We don’t suppress it, we don’t say let’s move on. We acknowledge the pain of the past. We live in it, but we are not trapped in it. We South Africans are capable of transcending, of getting beyond it,” Judge Sachs said.

Transforming swords into ploughshares

Judge Sachs had great praise for Prof Gobodo-Madikizela’s research project on Trauma, Memory, and Representations of the Past. “You convert and transform the very swords, the very instruments, the very metal in our country. In a sense, you almost transform the very people and thoughts and dreams and fears and terrors into the ploughshares; into positivity.”

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