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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

Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings

2007-06-29

Trafficking in Human Beings:
National and International Perspectives

Date: 17th August 2007
Address: CR Swart Auditorium, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Every year thousands of children and adults become victims of trafficking and abuse in South Africa and throughout the southern African region. Victims are trafficked for a myriad of reasons: sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography; illegal labour, including child conscription; domestic servitude; illegal adoptions; body parts/organs; and forced marriages.

The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department of Criminal and Medical Law, University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Centre for Continuing Legal Education at UFS, will host a Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings. The conference will bring together key role-players from the South African government as well as crucial international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.

Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is a serious violation of the human rights of the victims, as well as an extremely profitable source of income to organized crime, and needs the attention and intervention of both governmental and non-governmental institutions in South Africa.

Speakers will include representatives from the United National Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Law Reform Commission, the Unit for Children’s Rights-UFS, and NGOs Molo Songololo and Terre Des Homes, that work with child trafficking victims in South Africa and around the world.

The media are invited to report on the conference, and interview speakers and presenters Attached find programme. For more info contact the following persons.

1. Beatri Kruger - 051 401 2108 / email: krugerh.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
2. Susan Kreston - 051 401 9562 / email: krestons.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
3. Elizabeth Snyman – 051 401 2268 / email: snymane.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za

Programme

Trafficking in human beings:
National & international perspectives

Presented by The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department Of Criminal & Medical Law , Faculty of Law, in Conjunction with The Centre for Continuing Legal Education, University of the Free State.

Funded through the Generosity of the United States Department of State

17 AUGUST, 2007 – CR SWART AUDITORIAM

8:00-8:30 Registration & Tea
8:30-8:45 Opening & Welcome
Prof. JJ Henning, Faculty of Law
8:45-9:40 Overview & Global Perspective
Prof. Susan Kreston - Unit for Children’s Rights, Faculty of Law-UFS

9:40-10:00 TEA

10:00-10:45 International Perspectives & the Role of Organized Crime in Trafficking
Wiesje Zikkenheiner, Associate Expert
United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, Pretoria
10:45-11:45 Identifying and Assisting Victims of Trafficking
Marija Nikolovska, Project Officer
International Organization for Migration, Pretoria

11:45-12:30 LUNCH

12:30-1:15 Prosecuting Trafficking Without Trafficking Laws
Adv. Nolwandle Qaba, Sexual Offences & Community Affairs Unit
National Prosecuting Authority, Pretoria
1:15-2:15 Recommendations for New Legislation in South Africa
Lowesa Stuurman - South African Law Reform Commission, Pretoria

2:15-2:30 TEA

2:30-2:50 The Role of Terre Des Homes in Fighting Trafficking in Children
Judith Mthombeni– Terre Des Homes, Pretoria
2:50-3:50 Trafficking in Children in South Africa – A Front Line Perspective
Patrick Solomon - Molo Songololo, Cape Town
3:50-4:00 Closing Remarks
Adv. Beatri Kruger
Department of Criminal & Medical Law - UFS

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