Potchefstroom Campus News

Prof Hans du Plessis: A literary giant passes away

He was of a different ilk. His immense literary stature cast a shadow under which so many South Africans found solace and comfort. Now, it is with sadness but also gratitude for the many contributions he made both culturally and academically, that the North-West University (NWU) has to say farewell to Prof Hans du Plessis, who passed away on Friday 24 October at the age of 79. 

Prof Hans was a beloved NWU faculty member since his appointment in 1981 as a professor in Afrikaans at the former Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education.

He was an esteemed writer,… Read more

Adele triumphs as NWU's Comrades queen!

Congratulations, congratulations and, once more, congratulations! History will always remember the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Dr Adele Broodryk, a senior lecturer at the School of Human Movement Sciences at the Faculty of Health Sciences, as being the first South African woman to complete the 2022 Comrades Marathon.

She also…

NWU becomes tennis paradise

Game, set and match. The Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) is set to become the country’s premier tennis destination with the completion of five new clay courts. These courts, together with ten hard courts and two grass courts, make the NWU unrivalled when compared to the court and facility offerings of other institutions…

Machine and deep learning are a MUST at the North-West University

Our world is speeding up, and never in human existence have we been able to search as fast, travel as far or delve as deep. The last century alone has seen a meteoric increase in the accumulation of data and we are able to store unfathomable quantities of information to help us solve problems known and unknown. At some point the ability to…

Deidre is aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games

This time of the year the humidity in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos, sticks to you like Prestik. It is oppressive, constant. Then there is Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour in the west, just a thousand kilometres above the equator. The port city of Cotonou is captive between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Noukoué, where pirates are…

Checkmate is what Anais Saayman thrives on

 “The ‘s’ is silent,” explains Anais, who has just turned 20. “You pronounce it like ‘A-nay’.” Correcting people with the pronunciation of her name is second nature. “I am used to it,” she laughs.

However, this former pupil of Potchefstroom Gymnasium and now BCom Tourism Management student at the North-West University (NWU) does most of…

NWU student and social-justice activist says no to gender-based violence

By Oldrin Masowa

He still vividly recalls all the tragic moments like it was yesterday. The discomfort every day, the roars and sleepless nights that left him feeling powerless. But even though the torture and suffering were unbearable, even though it sometimes crippled his very being, he was never broken. Now…

Lerato is the 2022 Enactus National Faculty Advisor of the year

It is said that one of the greatest compliments an academic can receive is to be recognised and acknowledged.

Lerato Mohalajeng, a lecturer at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty and Economic and Management Sciences and Enactus faculty co-advisor, has been named the 2022 National Faculty Advisor of the Year by Enactus South…

NWU academic reappointed as ambassador to global Magna Charta Observatory

After having been selected for the first time in 2015, North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Klaus Beiter has been reappointed for a second term as one of 16 ambassadors to the global Magna Charta Observatory (MCO) in Bologna.

He is one of only three ambassadors from South Africa, the other two being a former vice-chancellor of a…

Prof Chrisna Gouws, an inquisitive researcher destined for greatness in the scientific métier

According to Prof Chrisna Gouws, associate professor at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences, inquisitiveness and a vigorous personality have led her to where she is today.

This dynamic researcher has a PhD in biochemistry and is well known in the scientific community for publishing…

From zero to hero – students taste the sweet fruit from hard work

Over the past few years, there were not nearly enough school-leaving applicants who met the minimum requirements for tertiary fields of study such as Engineering, Natural Sciences, Economic Sciences and Health Sciences. This is according to Elza Hattingh from the Faculty of Engineering at the North-West University (NWU). She heads the faculty’s…