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Eco-Vehicle 2.0 makes debut at the eighth Annual Kovsie ACT Eco-Vehicle Race

03 October 2025 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Stephen Collett

Forty-five minutes. Forty-three minutes. Slippery, wet, muddy. Forty minutes. Thirty-nine minutes. Non-stop rain. Thirty-five minutes. Thirty-four minutes … soaked to the bone, shivering, pushing on. This year’s Kovsie ACT Eco-Vehicle Race redefined the word endurance.

What was meant to be a full day of racing, with Eco-Vehicle 1.0 and 2.0 competitions, smart laps and endurance races, was turned upside down by heavy rain. In the end, it came down to a single 45-minute endurance showdown in the Eco-Vehicle 2.0 competition.

Despite the weather, the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus was buzzing with excitement on Saturday 27 September 2025, as students put months of hard work to the test during the eighth Annual Kovsie ACT Eco-Vehicle Race.

CUT crowned as overall winner

The big headline? The launch of Eco-Vehicle 2.0 – a brand-new prototype built through the advanced Skills Programme 2.0. Students from the three UFS campuses were joined by teams from the Central University of Technology (CUT), the University of South Africa (UNISA), and Nelson Mandela University (NMU). For nine months, they had been working on everything from sustainability and software engineering to mechanical and structural design, and now it was time to prove it on the track.

Two categories defined this year’s challenge:

Pit Stop – best vehicle presentation and recyclable décor
Endurance Race – most laps on limited energy

With the rain continuing to pour down, the results were clear. CUT walked away as overall winners, also scooping up the Pit Stop prize. They had already won the Bluetooth Race earlier this year, making 2025 their year. Team leader Junior Mochhakala, a second-year Technology student, said their success came down to smart planning. “We anticipated the weather conditions and built our strategy around that. I’m very glad it worked,” said a proud and happy Mochhakala after Saturday’s race.

Nelson Mandela University impressed with the Best Prepared Car award and claimed victory in the Endurance Race.

The MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Elzabe Rockman, was there too. She praised the project for building strong partnerships and said she was inspired by the students’ boldness to explore new technology.

The race continues to be funded by the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (MerSETA). Since 2018, this funding has kept the wheels turning, enabling both the 1.0 and 2.0 programmes. Representatives Jabulane Mazibulo and S’busiso Ndlovu said their support is about caring, serving, and creating belonging.

Industry also stepped up. SA Truck Bodies sent engineers to mentor teams, giving students a real taste of the working world.

Building skills beyond the track

For Dr WP Wahl, Director: Student Life, the day was about more than just racing. “We started with the eco-vehicle idea in 2016, and it’s grown into something amazing. With support from MerSETA, we built the 1.0 during the pandemic, and now the 2.0 car is here – tested for the first time today, in the rain! What excites me most is the partnerships. We worked with CUT’s Faculty of Engineering on the 2.0. It’s not just about cars and racing; this programme is the training ground where our students gain the skills that they’ll need in the 21st Century.”

As the race ended and the winners were crowned, the checkered flag fell on muddy, smiling teams who shared one thing: grit and the will to build a greener future.

News Archive

Council votes on appointment of senior staff

2004-11-18

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) today voted on the filling of three senior vacancies, including one post at Dean level and two at the level of Vice-Dean.

The Council voted as follows:


Dr Natie Luyt will be offered the post of Dean: Student Affairs	Prof Engela Pretorius will be offered the post of Vice-Dean: Faculty of Humanities	Dr Choice Makhetha will be offered the post of Vice-Dean: Student Affairs

“There are special challenges for the UFS in the short and medium term regarding transformation of our residences, and a certain combination of management qualities and skills is desirable. As a result of the diversity of the UFS’s student community it is therefore important to us to follow a team approach to deal with the challenges. With the combination of Drs Luyt and Makhetha, I believe we will be able to manage student affairs effectively and skillfully,” says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

“It is wonderful that we are able to celebrate the outcome of this process that has brought forward such excellent candidates who reflect our country’s diversity. It shows that we can achieve the goals of quality and diversity at the same time,” says Prof Fourie.

Prof Pretorius obtained all her qualifications (BA, BA (Hons) (cum laude), MA (cum laude) and D Phil) from the UFS, except for the Certificate in Gender Policy Management (cum laude) which she obtained in 2000 from WITS. She joined the Department of Sociology at UFS in 1980 and has headed the Department since 2001. She acted as Vice-Dean: Faculty of Humanities since July 2004. She has some thirty publications to her credit, published both nationally and internationally and has delivered 20 national and international papers. She is a member of the South African Sociological Association and is a member of the Council of the association and of the Editorial Board of Society in Transition, the society’s journal. She is also a member of the South African Academy for Science and Art and the Federation of African Women Educationalists in South Africa (FAWESA). Project involvement includes the Australian Women’s Executive Development Programme and the project Executive Development of Senior Women in South African Higher Education Institutions. She is also an NRF panelist.

Dr Luyt obtained his qualifications (BA, BA (Hons) (cum laude), MA (cum laude) and D Phil) at the UFS and started his career at the same institution in 1980 as lecturer in Political Science. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1983 and appointed as Director: Student Affairs in 1997. He has been acting as Dean: Student Affairs since 2003. Dr Luyt completed several work-related training courses, among others a course in ethnic and multiculturality at the Swiss Institute for Federalism and a course in conflict management at the South Tyrolean Economic and Social Institute.

Dr Makheta also obtained all her qualifications (BA, BA (Hons), MA in Political Science and Ph D in Political Science) at the UFS and started working as a student assistant in Political Science at the same institution in 1999. She was promoted to junior assistant in 2000, coordinator and facilitator of Political Science in 2001, assistant/acting Director: Student Affairs in 2001 and acting Director: Student Affairs in 2003. Dr Makhetha is currently a Senior Political Analyst at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The UFS Council also approved the promotion of nine professors to the rank of senior professor. They are Proff Louise Cilliers (Department English and Classical Languages), Dap Louw (Department of Psychology), Philip Nel (Department Afro-Asiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice), Dirk van den Berg (Department of History of Art and Visual Culture Studies) Dingie van Rensburg (Director: Centre for Health Systems Research and Develoment), Andries Raath (Department of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law), James du Preez (Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology), Johan Grobbelaar (Department of Plant Sciences) and Louis Scott (Department of Plant Sciences).

This is the first group ever of senior professors at the UFS. The post level was created to provide better career and earnings opportunities for high quality academics and to increase the attractiveness of an academic career to young people.

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

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