NWU boasts top SAICA results

Cheers rang out on the Friday afternoon of 31 March as the South Africa Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) released the results of the Initial Test of Competence (ITC: qualifying exam part 1). “It gives me great pleasure to announce that, with a 94% pass rate for first-time candidates, the North-West University (NWU) achieved the…

Maintaining the balance between protection and use of SA’s most diverse floodplain ecosystem

Thousands of people rely on the floodplain of the Lower Phongolo River in KwaZulu-Natal, as do millions of fish, frogs, birds, insects and other aquatic animals. But how can they all co-exist sustainably and what is needed to maintain the delicate balance of South Africa's biggest, richest and most diverse floodplain ecosystem?

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It’s time to recognise waste pickers

They are a sight common in South Africa as they scavenge landfills and go through bins in suburbs, business and industrial districts. Yet little is known about the role waste pickers play in the economy.

Sights set on shedding light on the factors that enable waste pickers to make a living, Professor Derick Blaauw of the Faculty of…

Metals in bird eggs a source of concern in Orange River catchment area

The heron that laid the golden egg? Scientists from the North-West University (NWU) have found several metals and metalloids in bird eggs in the catchment area of the Orange River which could pose a potential health risk to humans.

Prof Henk Bouwman from the Faculty of Natural Sciences says this study was part of a larger project to…

Prof Ermie Steenkamp’s dream comes true

This month the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) proudly opened the doors of its Centre for Economic Literacy.

This centre, dedicated to Professor Susan Visser, former dean of the faculty and currently vice-rector for research and planning, is the brainchild of…

NWU builds a first-in-the-world reactor for better sustainability, cleaner air

Chemical engineers at the North-West University (NWU), together with experts in the industry, just released a first-in-the-world reactor that will hold great benefits for industries and the man on the street.

Prof Sanette Marx, who heads the research chair in biofuel for the National Research Foundation (NRF), says that the NRF…

NWU alumna crowned as Miss SA 2017

When the 21-year old Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was announced as Miss South Africa 2017 on 26 March, the whole of the North-West University (NWU) and all its stakeholders, cheered as one. For the first time in history, an alumna of the NWU walked away with this crown.

Demi-Leigh, who completed her BCom Business Management and…

Minister appoints two NWU experts

A national honour recently bestowed two experts of the North-West University (NWU). Prof Jeanetta du Plessis and Prof Richard Gordon, both from the Centre of Excellence in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacen), were appointed as members of the National Health Research Committee.

The committee falls under the National Department of…

NWU students give R3,5 million to the needy

R3 523 735.10. It is an amount that changes lives, it is an amount that makes a bleak day a better one. It is a record amount that was distributed to various individuals, schools, projects and welfare institutions during the North-West University’s (NWU’s) annual Student Rag Community Service (SRCS) pay-out function.

Founded in…

American art song canon on local stage

On Tuesday, 28 March, Christian Bester together with pianist Laetitia Orlandi and French horn player Shannon Armer, will present a recital of American art songs.

The recital will feature a variety of composition styles and regional flavours of American art songs composers, composed at the turn of the nineteenth-century till present…