As Phase 5 of the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI) prepares to place thousands of young education assistants in schools across South Africa, support for their mental and emotional well-being is coming into sharper focus. In the North West province, an academic from the North-West University (NWU) is stepping in to provide such support to the 1 326 assistants allocated to the province.
By Gofaone Motsamai
A social sciences and economics student at North-West University’s Mahikeng Campus is balancing the demands of academic life with running a minicab business.
Maano Rambwa, now in his final year, ventured into entrepreneurship in 2023 when he launched Candy Corner, a small business selling sweets around campus. “I saved the money from that for two years,” he says.
A former NWU Soccer Institute player, Michael Radebe has made the transition from the pitch to the training room, now serving as strength and conditioning coach at Durban City Football Club. The club was recently promoted to the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL).
“Studying sport science at NWU laid a good foundation for my current role,” says Radebe. “The sports science programme helped with theoretical knowledge and practical experience in programme designing and player monitoring, which is one of the critical factors in conditioning.”
In the corridors of higher learning, indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) has emerged as a growing academic discipline. But in the job market, its graduates often meet closed doors and puzzled employers. A new study by a recent NWU PhD graduate, Dr Mamello Anna Hlabe uncovers the disconnect between the classroom and the labour market and the consequences for those holding IKS degrees.
“What I wanted to understand was whether the limited job prospects I experienced were unique to me,” says Dr Hlabe. “What I found is that it’s a wider, systemic issue.”
When brown fat cells start sending the wrong signals, the body’s energy balance can shift in unexpected ways, which is bad news for people living with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Dr Khanyisani Ziqubu, a PhD student from the North-West University (NWU), set out to investigate how brown fat behaves in obesity and whether plant-based compounds might help steer it back on track.
Farmers looking to improve soil health and crop yields may find a solution in crop rotation, according to a study by North-West University (NWU) researchers. The study, published in the International Microbiology Journal, reveals that the rotation of crops leads to a more diverse and beneficial microbial community in soil.
Zibukile Gcinile Mchunu, a North-West University (NWU) master’s graduate from Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, conducted a study examining the effects of dietary inclusion of marula seed (kernel) cake on productive performance, health, gut metagenomes, and meat quality of indigenous Boschveld chickens.
She was supervised by Dr Doc Mthiyane from the subject group Animal Science, who has so far published several articles and is currently writing more on marula kernel cake utilisation in livestock and poultry nutrition to improve the productivity of the animals and birds.
The academic workplace is no longer defined by shared offices and hallway conversations. As hybrid work becomes the norm, one researcher argues that the shift may be eroding the very ties that keep academic communities functioning.
“Academics are often isolated in their work, and hybrid work has amplified that,” said Dr Rudo Rachel Marozva, a recent NWU PhD graduate, whose new study examined how reduced in-person contact weakened social infrastructure in universities. “Even though we meet online, something gets lost. It’s harder to feel part of a team.”
By Mokgothu Phenyo and Motsamai Gofaone
Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) are receiving growing academic recognition as a valid and valuable body of knowledge. An important factor in this is the contribution of scholars such as Dr Monicca Thulisile Bhuda, an alumnus of the North-West University (NWU).
She has recently co-edited two academic books on IKS, both published by IGI Global, headquartered in the United States, and accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in South Africa.
By:Mafumane Tlhapi and Phenyo Mokgothu
The offline mode of Google Maps became more than a navigation tool when Pastor Piet Tlhabanyane, from Bethesda Kingdom Ministries (BKM), an NWU alumnus and a Council member, used it to explain the risks of outdated knowledge in church leadership.
“Without regular updates, even a tool as reliable as Google Maps leads you the wrong way. It’s the same with scripture. If we stop learning, we start misguiding,” said Pastor Tlhabanyane.