Dr Muzi Matfunjwa – an activist for African languages

Dr Muzi Matfunjwa, a digital humanities researcher for Siswati at the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) at the North-West University (NWU), describes himself as a language activist. He believes in the promotion of African languages, especially Siswati, as an official language and an academic discipline.

"I…

Repositories pivotal for language preservation

by Birgit Ottermann

Two researchers from the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) at the North-West University (NWU) share their findings on the existence, use and importance of language repositories in the latest issue of the Journal of the Digital Humanities Association of Southern…

Low voter turnout: Education is how we fix it – North-West University

The punishment does not fit the crime. South Africa has an endemic, growing and unique disease that is not only affecting the health of our country’s democratic structures, but is also an ill-conceived form of retribution for the lack of service delivery. Voter turnout continues to decline, but abstention is not the cure for consternation. It…

Ronel Emms: “You can write books about her.”

She is the undisputed mother figure of the Rugby Institute at the North-West University (NWU). She is one of the heroes behind the scenes. She is the friendly face who greets you first. She is Ronel Emms, and her share in the Rugby Institute’s bulging trophy case is just as big as that of all those tries behind the gold.

As the…

Book explores the role of music in emotions

Music can alter our mood, as the phrase “music calms the savage beast” illustrates, for example.

It can set the scene for calmness, romance, learning and creativity. A new book by North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Conroy Cupido explores how four visual artists created original artworks about the meaning they attach to music and…

North-West University is combatting rare diseases

Rare diseases are more common than you might think. It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Not to the 4,1 million South Africans who have been or will be affected by rare diseases in their lifetime. For many it can be a death sentence, for others it is a life-altering diagnosis. Not only is the North-West University (NWU) committed to ensuring…

Cabinet reshuffle will be judged by outcomes

“The long-awaited decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to reconstitute his Cabinet and also fill existing key ministerial vacancies will be judged by the outcomes achieved in the period ahead.”

In commenting on the Cabinet reshuffle that was announced on 6 March, Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU)…

School of Computer Science and Information Systems secures third place in Cyber Security Challenge finals

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Computer Science and Information Systems secured third place in the Cyber Security Challenge finals hosted by the South African National Research Network (SANReN) during the Centre for High Performance Computing’s national meeting.

Students Heinke Lubbe, Nico kemp, and Aaryadev Ghosalkar…

Zimbabwe collaboration could bring formal early childhood education skills to grannies and moms

For children up to seven years old to reach their full potential, early childhood education is essential. Across Africa, many caregivers are grannies and mothers without formal qualifications. Filling this gap is one of several areas for fruitful collaboration between researchers from the North-West University (NWU) and their counterparts in…

Building healthy attitudes towards STEM education

Students’ low performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, particularly among women, who are underrepresented in the scientific community, have been a major concern in many countries. This is exacerbated when one views the 2020 UNESCO report, which shows that women account for only 28% of engineering…