11/02/2011

Friday 10 December 2010 was a night to be remembered for seventeen 3rd Edition FIFA/CIES/NMMU Sport Management students as they celebrated the successful completion of their qualification at an auspicious certificate presentation ceremony held at the NMMU Conference Centre.

Mr Stephan Pretorius, CEO of the company responsible for the management of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium delivered the keynote address in which he encouraged the graduates to use their newly acquired skills and knowledge to passionately serve and promote sport in South Africa. Stephan furthermore also gave a breakdown of what his company will be doing to ensure the sustainability of the new stadium.

Mr Vincent Monnier, the senior manager for international relations at the CIES, congratulated the students on their fine achievement and implored them to remain active participants in the CIES International University Network.

In his turn Mr Thoft Soga, dean of student affairs at the NMMU, explained the important role that sport (and by implication the students) can and must play in the social upliftment and transformation of communities and society at large in South Africa.

Other dignitaries in attendance were Professor Raj Naidoo the dean of the faculty of Health Science at NMMU who officially welcomed the guests, Professor Denver Hendricks from the University of Pretoria in his capacity as CIES coordinator in South Africa and Professor Rosa du Randt the head of department of Human Movement Science at NMMU who did the vote of thanks.

It certainly was a night for the ladies as they scooped the honours for academic achievement at the ceremony. Claressa Brockman and Bareneva Bergins, both school teachers, graduated top of the class with an academic average of 81%. Wafeekah Begg, an attorney from Pretoria, finished third with an average of 80% whilst Graham Terblanche, an MBA graduate working as a performance manager in local government finished fourth with an average of 75% for the six modules in the programme.

The joyous occasion was completed when Ms Bergins, speaking on behalf of the 2009 edition graduating class, gave a poignant account of the journey the students had experienced during their year of studies at the NMMU.

We wish the new FIFA/CIES/NMMU alumni everything of the very best for their futures and congratulate them on their fine achievement.

3rd Edition FIFA/CIES/NMMU Certificate Presentation Ceremony

3rd Edition FIFA/CIES/NMMU graduates, guests and course presenters

Contact information
Mr Vernon Oosthuizen
Senior Lecturer; Programme Director MANDELA/FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in Sport Management
Tel: 27 41 504 3713
vernon.oosthuizen@mandela.ac.za