Why are so few South African women exclusively breastfeeding their infants?

Women all over the world know how important breastfeeding is, especially exclusively breastfeeding infants younger than six months old. Unfortunately, only 32% of South African women are doing it.

In light of International Breastfeeding Week taking place from 1 to 7 August and themed “Empowering parents, enable breastfeeding”,…

Eskom continues to drag down the South African economy

Another bail-out of the financially strapped state-owned enterprise Eskom will have dire consequences for the South African economy. This warning comes from economic experts Lerato Mothibi and Prof Danie Meyer from the North-West University (NWU).

The risk-rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s recently warned that the national electricity…

Inflation and impact on interest rates, quo vadis? Trade explores and predicts short-term possibilities

The decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on 17 July to reduce the repo rate by 0,25% from 6,75% to 6,50% has sparked a debate on possibilities of future reductions in interest rates.

“The SARB through its MPC has the mandate and responsibility to keep the inflation rate between the…

NWU students provide warmth to NICU babies at Klerksdorp Hospital

Student midwives at the School of Nursing Science (SONS) at the North-West University (NWU) recently donated baby blankets to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Klerksdorp Hospital.

Sr Ingrid van der Walt, lecturer at the SONS, says this was part of their community engagement project supporting developmental care of…

Xena and this fish parasite have much in common

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Xena the warrior princess dominated television screens all over the world. She was known for her strong personality and loved for her feistiness and fighting ability.

So when Serita van der Wal, a master’s student at the North-West University (NWU), named a fish parasitic cymothoid isopod after…

Global warming is fuelling global inequality

Poor countries are becoming poorer as a result of global warming and more intense heat waves in the future will widen the inequality gap.

These are some of the research findings of Namhla Mkiva, a technical support staff member in the subject group Geography and Environmental Studies at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of…

Inaugural lecture traces operational research back to World War II

Operational research (OR) is modern and highly sophisticated but its origins can be traced back to 1939 when the Royal Air Force began expanding the range of radar.

Prof Philip Pretorius recently took the audience on a bit of a history lesson on OR with his inaugural lecture on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark.…

Uncharted waters await two NWU researchers

Two North-West University (NWU) researchers will navigate uncharted waters with their research, using fourth-generation cultural-historical activity theories (CHAT) to find solutions to the complex educational problems confronting South Africa.

Prof Elsa Mentz and Prof Josef de Beer from the research focus area Self-directed Learning…

Exciting research to be shared at the Femmegineering celebration

The days of men dominating the engineering scene is still an evident and alarming fact. Despite an improvement in recent years, there remains a serious shortage of women pursuing careers in engineering. The North-West University (NWU) aims to change this - one semester at a time…

The NWU’s Faculty of Engineering will once again host…

Small business seminar to empower communities

Aspiring business owners often have no idea where to go or what to do when starting a new business.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Economics in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (FEMS) hosted a seminar for young aspiring business people in Mahikeng and surrounding areas on 8 July 2019 on the campus in…