News ST U D ENT NEWS PAP E R | 1st Term 2015 | Edition 1
Grap hi c De s ig ne rs : Charne ’ MacLe an & Tay la-Ann Ro d g er Ed itor: N icol e D ow n in g
MADIBAZ VS SHIMLAS After a 42-13 defeat to the University of Johannesburg, the NMMU Madibaz had the daunting, yet feasible task of conquering the University of Free State (Shimlas) on home soil. The Madibaz head coach seemed unfazed by the previous result as he said, “We’ve prepared well, hopefully we’ll fix up the problems that we had from the previous week. I believe we don’t need to change much - there’s nothing we can change in our tactics - we’ve just got to play better.” But, after a tight match, the Madibaz were yet again defeated by a mere one point difference. The Madibaz welcomed UFS Shimlas to a windy Madibaz stadium. Shimlas were on a four game undefeated run. However the Madibaz were up to challenge. A rampant UFS attack put the Madibaz under pressure resulting in and early lead for the visitors in the 3rd minute. Shimlas capitalising off a rolling maul inside the Madibaz 22m as lock Niel Classen put the visitors on the board with five points, and fly-half Niel Marais adding the extra three points leaving the score at 8-0 to Shimlas. The game turned a bit sour as Madibaz number 6, Cyril-John Vellemen, received a soft yellow card for a big hit on Shimlas’ number 12, Arthur Williams, sending the Madibaz vice-captain into the sin bin. Again the Madibaz were on the back foot as they conceded a try in the 11th minute as a maul from a lineout inside their 22m saw UFS’ no. 1, Theunis Nieuwoudt, put the ball over the home teams try line. The 18th minute saw the Madibaz trailing again. A kick deep into the Madibaz 22m line caught left winger Yamkela Ngam off-guard resulting in full-back and Captain Jarryd Buys dotting the ball over his own try line. That was immediately followed by a 5m scrum and the third try of the game as Shimlas’ number 6, Refuoe Rampeta crossed over the Madibaz’ try line. However they were denied an extra three points this time with fly-half Neil Marais missing the conversion. Madibaz came back when Captain Jarryn Buys ran in the team’s first try of the game. A conversion from the Madibaz flyhalf Steven Hansel gave them the extra 3 points. The score now sat at 21-8 in favour of UFS. The second half began at a rather slower pace than the first, with both teams utilising their benches and bringing on their reserves. It was
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Miss Varsity Cup
Meet the beauties NMMU Madibaz in action. Photo by Lwando Mxutu. only in the 51st minute that a breakdown in the Madibaz’ half saw the home side’s forwards portray clinical ball handling and again the ball being swung out wide. This time it was to rightwinger Tythan Adams who broke away to score the Madibaz 2nd try of the game in the corner. The Madibaz were now back in the game as the score sat at 21-13. The tempo in the 2nd half sky rocketed as the Madibaz were really fired up, bringing on a constant wave after wave attack on the Shimlas’ defence. The pressure was on and Shimlas eventually cracked in the 66th minute as the Madibaz scored again, this time through Vicecaptain Cyril Vellemen of a lineout maul inside the opposition 5m, followed by Steven Hansel’s conversion. The Madibaz had now equalised with the score at 21-21 and the game was more intense than ever. The final ten minutes of the game were a real nail biter - both teams were running at each other hard. A knock on by Shimlas in the 73rd minute allowed for the Madibaz to bring on
Pilot Project Leaves Students Without Financial Aid THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), a governmental student loan and bursary scheme which aims at providing funds to financially needy students, indicated earlier this year that they will not be able to fund all 2015 first year applicants at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University due to a lack of funds. Financial Aid practitioner, Mr S.M. Douw, based at the North Campus Financial Aid office, said that only 20% of the 3000 first year applicants who applied to NSFAS were granted the loan/bursary.
VARSITY CUP
“We work in terms of APS scores; the students with the highest scores are first on the list,” Douw stated. Douw also indicated that the government allocates a certain amount to each institution, and that the amount given was not enough to cover all the applicants. Douw went on to state that the project is still taking off and is being evaluated to determine its potential success rates. The NSFAS pilot project was launched in 2014
no. 23 Marzuuk ‘Samoa’ Maarmanin in place of Arno Ebherson. The Madibaz seemed to be on the back foot again in the final minutes but a strong defence kept Shimlas at bay for 11 phases. However to the home team’s disappointment, the Madibaz conceded a penalty inside their 22m in the 81st minute. Well within kicking range, again Neil Marais stepped up to the plate and fired in the final kick of the game, handing UFS Shimlas their fifth consecutive victory in the varsity cup with the score at NMMU Madibaz 21 – 23 UFS Shimlas. When asked for his thoughts of the game, a disappointed Marzuuk Maarman could only say, “We almost had it, but almost doesn’t count. We had a lot of errors towards the end and I guess we just have to go back to the drawing board.” Never the less, the Madibaz made an excellent comeback which will hopefully set the scene for their final home game against FNB UP on 23 March. By Tebuho Zongwana
in a bid to curb corruption by submitting applications electronically, but the project has since shown little success. The president of the Student Representative Council (SRC), Ms Hlomela Bucwa stated that the Council tries their best to help all students who do not receive funding from NSFAS. “We listen and try to understand each complaint,” she said. Once the SRC understands the student’s situation, they contact the local NSFAS directly. Should the local office be unable to help, the SRC then contacts NSFAS Headquarters. Ms Bucwa said that the SRC also encourages students to try alternative measures when NSFAS is unable to assist their financial needs. The SRC not only attempts to help students with tuition, but also with feeding schemes and accommodation.
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Hidden Wonders of NMMU PAGE 4
Party It Up! Varsity Cup After Parties PAGE 5
Madibaz
Player Profiles “The SRC has a good relationship with NSFAS and we have direct contact with them when we need assistance.” She said. Bucwa, however, also stated that she is against the recent NSFAS pilot project, saying that the decentralised system worked better because money was distributed on time. Although the system was not perfect, it certainly worked better than the new system. The SRC is not alone in its feelings towards this project; it was reported by Algoa FM in August 2014 that DASO had organised a protest at NMMU in a bid to persuade the University to withdraw from the project. “The SRC is still in the process of trying to convince the University that centralisation is not working,” Bucwa said. By Razaan Hackenberg
This is a student-run newspaper. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
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