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07 March 2025
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo Supplied
Crystal-Donna Roberts, recipient of the 2016 Kovsie Ambassador Award and award-winning actress, has died following a battle with breast cancer.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is deeply saddened by the passing of alumna and award-winning actress Crystal-Donna Roberts at the age of 41. According to Eyewitness News (EWN), Roberts passed away during the early hours of 6 March 2025, following a long battle with breast cancer.
The UFS extends its deepest condolences to Roberts’ family, friends, colleagues, and supporters.
Celebrating a beloved actress
Roberts graduated from the UFS with a BA Drama and Theatre Arts degree in 2005 and went on to create work that was beloved across the country and beyond. She starred in the Afrikaans soap opera 7de Laan and shows like Getroud Met Rugby, Montana and Vallei van Sluiers, among others. Her lead role in the film Krotoa earned her the Best Actress award in 2018 at the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs).
Her extensive career in film and television was one of the reasons she was recognised by the UFS with the Kovsie Ambassador Award in 2016. This is an award given to alumni whose accomplishments have not only benefited themselves but their community and the UFS. Although Roberts was well-known for her work on stage and screens, she was also an author. She released her debut novel Speurder Sammi: Die blou steen (Detective Sammi: The Blue Stone) in 2022.
Outpouring of praise
Since the news of Roberts’ passing broke, there has been an outpouring of tributes on social media. Many of her supporters and colleagues have described her as an iconic force who was full of life and inspired many. Alistair Izobell, who starred alongside Roberts in Arendsvlei, responded to the news through a Facebook post which said, “My dearest sister Crystal-Donna Roberts my heart is broken today. You got your wings and your pain is no more. I am thrilled I got to do a chapter of my life with you. I will remember you with the great spirit you were. Now rest sweetly.”
Student in Architecture wins two prizes for her Master's Degree studies
2009-11-27
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Tascha de Lange, an M.Arch (Prof) student at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently received two coveted awards for her studies. She received the Corobrik Regional Prize for the Best Student in the M.Arch (Prof.) programme, as well as the award for the best M.Arch (Prof.) student of the UFS’s Department of Architecture. Tascha will be participating in the National Corobrik Architecture Student of the Year Competition in March 2010.
Here she is with, to the left: Prof. Pattabi Raman, from the Department of Architecture at the UFS; Mr Gary Westwood, Area Manager of Corobrik; Prof. Jan Smit, Head of the Department of Architecture at the UFS and Mr Jan Ras, also from the Department of Architecture at the UFS. Earlier this year, a former student of the Department, Wim Steenkamp, was named National Corobrik Architecture Student of the Year 2008.
Photo: Supplied |