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UFS Drama Department triumph: ‘Ons wag vir Godot’ sweeps kykNET Fiësta Awards

18 March 2025 | Story Litha Banjatwa | Photo Supplied

Fiesta winners 2025 — Ons wag vir Godot shines at the 2025 kykNET Fiësta Awards, winning three major accolades and cementing UFS’s reputation for world-class theatre excellence.

Ons wag vir Godot, a groundbreaking stage production from the University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, was one of the biggest winners at the 2025 kykNET Fiësta Awards, which celebrate the best of Afrikaans theatre.

The awards ceremony was held at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town on 27 February 2025.

Ons wag vir Godot, an Afrikaans translation of Irish writer Samuel Beckett’s celebrated 1953 play Waiting for Godot, won three of its four nominations: Best Director for Dion van Niekerk, Best Translation for Naomi Morgan, and Best Supporting Actor for Gerben Kamper. This haul positioned Ons wag vir Godot as the second biggest winner of the evening, and marked an unprecedented achievement for a Free State production at the Fiësta Awards.

This success builds upon the play’s earlier triumphs at the Free State Arts Festival, where it received accolades for Best Director, Best Translation, Best Supporting Actor (Peter Taljaard), and Best Ensemble.

Director Dion van Niekerk said what set Ons wag vir Godot apart was its unique origin: it is the first Afrikaans translation of Beckett's masterpiece directly from the French original. Securing the translation rights was no small feat, requiring a special appeal to the notoriously selective Samuel Beckett Estate.

“The production’s greatest challenge lay in making the play accessible to a South African audience,” Van Niekerk said. “We aimed to find a stage language with visual imagery that would situate the play within a recognisable South African context."

This was achieved through Naomi Morgan’s “immaculate translation work, which captured the existential concerns of the play with precisely the right Afrikaans vocabulary and turns of phrase”. The production team further grounded the play in South African reality through the creation of characters, setting, and costuming that evoked the stark beauty of the Karoo landscape.

The success of Ons wag vir Godot has profound implications for the UFS Department of Drama and Theatre Arts. It firmly establishes the department among the nation’s leading drama institutions, showcasing its ability to contribute high-quality, meaningful work to the South African artistic landscape. “This production highlights the importance of performing translated classics,” Van Niekerk said. “Works like Waiting for Godot are part of the canon of great international theatrical works. South Africa was banned from producing this play during apartheid, and it has been rarely seen since, predominantly in English.” This production, therefore, offers Afrikaans-speaking South Africans and others a unique opportunity to engage with Beckett’s timeless work.

The impact of this success extends to the department’s students. Sibabalwe Jokani, a student cast member, shared in the nominations for Best Ensemble at both the Free State Festival and Fiësta Awards. Jokani said the play’s success has inspired the student body and reaffirmed the department’s commitment to high standards and industry access.

When asked about the future of Afrikaans theatre, Van Niekerk said, “This production will hopefully inspire others to continue to reconsider the value that great theatrical works that have been created in other languages might have in a contemporary Afrikaans context.”

News Archive

UFS Rose Ball promises to be an unforgettable experience

2005-09-08

On Saturday 15 of October 2005, the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of the Free State (UFS) in collaboration with Medi-Clinic, are hosting a Rose Ball in aid of children and babies with serious diseases and special needs.

The Bloemfontein public should get ready for one of the most magnificent events ever held in the city.

The Rose Ball promises to offer an evening of glamour, elegance and beauty which will make it an unforgettable and unique event. The Department aims to make the Rose Ball an annual event to which the Bloemfontein public can look forward to with expectation.

“Excellent food and wine, a 35 man symphony orchestra and of course a magical setting awaits those who attend the Rose Ball. We will do everything possible to make guests feel special, so that they return to the Rose Ball year after year. In this way, we can ensure an annual income from this event for children and babies who are very ill and need specialised care,” said Prof. André Venter, Head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health.

The Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS is responsible for the tertiary care, that is highly specialised care, of around 1 000 000 children in the Free State, Northern Cape, North-West, Eastern Cape and Lesotho. Approximately 13 000 out-patients are treated at the Universitas and Pelonomi Hospitals annually. Children who suffer from cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and endocrinological and gastro-enterological conditions are treated. The Department is also responsible for children who need intensive care and children with contagious diseases. In addition, there is a large neonatal unit where prematurely born babies are treated.

The level of health care needed to treat these children and babies, necessitate highly specialised equipment and knowledge. However, it is not always possible to replace or upgrade equipment, due to the lack of much-needed funds. That is why a fund was created within the Department to satisfy the need for funds. The Rose Ball promises to eventually give a vital boost to the fund that will go a long way toward providing in the special healthcare needs of these patients.

The Rose Ball is made possible thanks to the support of Medi-Clinic.

“Medi-Clinic is honoured to be involved in this great effort and in this way take hands with the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS. There are so many children with life-threatening diseases today and we cannot afford to be uninvolved in any effort to make life better and easier for these children. We at Medi-Clinic, as a private sector company, look forward to establishing a long-term commitment with the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health,” said Mr Sakkie van der Merwe, Hospital Manager of Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic.

Only a limited number of tables are still available for the Rose Ball. Tickets cost R500 per person or R5 000 per table of 10 people.

Those who are interested can contact Ms Ilse Olivier at 051-4012415 or Ms Adele van Aswegen at 051-4013535 for more information.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
8 September 2005

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