Bertie Jacobs

It is no joke. From 1 April, the North-West University (NWU) will host the 2022 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup at the Astroturf fields in Potchefstroom.

This is the ninth time the event has been presented, and it would have taken place in December, but the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus put paid to those plans.

Now, 16 teams comprising the best under-21 hockey players on the planet will come together next to the Mooi River from 1 to 12 April.

They were the twin murders that enraged a community and shocked a nation. On Saturday, 26 May 2018, 19-year-old Xander Bylsma murdered Sharnelle Hough (17) and Marna Engelbrecht (16) in their hostel in the small town of Stella.

South Africa’s economic growth of 1,2% in the fourth quarter of 2021 has yielded an overall positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4,9% in 2021, which is a welcome rebound in the economy after the devastating -6,4% growth in 2020.

According to Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the Business School of the North-West University (NWU), half the sectors in the economy, especially mining and agriculture, made positive contributions to the economic recovery in the final quarter of the year.

Kirsty Kyle, a master’s student at the North-West University (NWU), has recently published an educational children’s book and, after receiving sponsorship for the printing, donated the books to under-privileged schools.

The North-West University (NWU) hosted the SASCOC High Performance Indaba at the Sports Village between 9 and 11 February 2022. SASCOC used this strategic planning session to review the performance of the Olympic and other elite teams over the past five years, and finalise a strategic plan for the next few Olympic cycles.

“In challenging economic circumstances Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana displayed a safe pair of hands in navigating South Africa’s public finances towards debt stability and fiscal sustainability in the immediate future.”

Faster than the blink of an eye, bigger than our entire galaxy and pulsating with unimaginable intensity, it is one of the most energetic cosmic events visible from earth observed and captured on record ― a shock wave that extends for 6,5 million light years.

Waiting for medical treatment can be a life-or-death matter.

“Waiting times in healthcare are a significant problem that occurs across the world and often has catastrophic effects – as we have seen during the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Maria van Zyl, a lecturer in the School of Industrial Engineering at the North-West University (NWU).

Prof Jaco Gericke does not take an orthodox approach to research in his field, ancient culture, and in a sense that has sometimes counted against him. However, the tide has turned, and the fact that his work is not in the mainstream of scholarship may have proved to be an advantage. It led to the National Research Foundation (NRF) awarding a coveted B rating to Prof Gericke, an associate professor at the Faculty of Theology on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus.

According to Sir David Attenborough, who has at least 17 species named in his honour, having a species named after you is the “biggest of compliments that you could ask from any scientific community.” 

Internationally acclaimed North-West University (NWU) researcher, Prof Nico Smit was recently complimented in such a way.

Researchers from the Queensland Museum in Australia and the Prince of Songkhla University in Thailand named a new species of cirolanid isopod in his honour.