The North-West University (NWU) continues to shine on the national stage, having been named a finalist in two prestigious categories of the 2025/2026 NSTF‑South32 Awards. This recognition underscores the impact of the university in science, engineering, technology and innovation in South Africa.
Cystic fibrosis can be a life-altering and potentially fatal disease, but early detection through newborn screening can dramatically improve outcomes. The North-West University (NWU) houses the Centre for Human Metabolomics, a diagnostic laboratory uniquely offering cystic fibrosis newborn screening services to the South African public.
There was a time when passengers could board a train in Johannesburg, travel through Krugersdorp, Magaliesburg and Zeerust, pass through Mahikeng, Madibogo, Mareetsane and Taung, and continue towards Kimberley before making the return journey. Those trains are gone. So too are many of the rail services that once connected communities, supported local economies and provided an affordable alternative to South Africa's roads.
A North-West University (NWU) delegation, led by the deputy vice-chancellor for student life, transformation, people and culture with assigned function of the Mahikeng Campus, Dr Joe Molete, recently held a strategic engagement with the leadership of the Taletso TVET College.
This engagement was aimed at strengthening institutional relations and exploring collaborative opportunities between the two institutions.
Across South Africa, roads crumble, wastewater systems fail, refuse accumulates and infrastructure projects stall midway through completion. Increasingly, many citizens are asking the same question: what is happening to our municipalities?
By Prof. Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU)
From volunteering at a local orphanage during her school years to engaging in community outreach and youth development initiatives, North-West University (NWU) alumnus Lentletse Mothusi is committed to making a positive impact in her community.
She studied law at the NWU and is currently a second-year candidate attorney at Maponya Incorporated, where she is undergoing practical training.
Prof. Olubukola Oluranti Babalola from the North-West University (NWU) has been recognised among the world’s leading researchers in plant science and agronomy after being ranked 448th globally and fifth in South Africa in the 2026 edition of the Research.com rankings.
Prof. Babalola, who is based on the Mahikeng Campus, also received the 2026 Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in South Africa Leader Award in recognition of her contribution to research in the field.
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Together they are called STEM fields, and they drive the systems that power modern civilisation, from healthcare and infrastructure to energy, food security and communication. Even our growing dependence on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. These fields equip societies to solve complex problems and to innovate.
- The South African government is becoming trapped within layers of accumulated complexity.
- The government therefore appears simultaneously hyper-present and absent.
- Complex systems create discretion and discretion creates power.
- Economic success becomes tied less to productive capability and more to proximity to administrative systems.
- The crisis no longer lies in the absence of rules or oversight, but in the growing burden of managing complexity itself
When Dr Rassie Erasmus walked onto the stage at the North-West University (NWU) in 2024 to receive an honorary doctorate, it was not only recognition of a rugby coach. It was recognition of a leader who helped shape moments that united a country and reminded South Africans of what can still be achieved when belief, resilience and shared purpose come together.