North-West University (NWU) academic at the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Centre, Prof Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu, has been inaugurated as the president of the South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) during the annual SAAB conference that took place at the University of Limpopo earlier this year.

He will serve as president from January 2023 to January 2025.

Prof Aremu says he is honoured to lead the SAAB. “Given the rich history of the SAAB and its impact on society, I am sincerely grateful to SAAB members and the council for trusting me with this important job.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Centre has once again teamed up with the Department of Science and Innovation and Prof Mziwoxolo Mzo Sirayi, an adjunct professor from Nelson Mandela University, to develop a one-of-its-kind indigenous knowledge-led smart village in Nyandeni in the Eastern Cape.

Article by Phenyo Mokgothu and Mafumane Tlhapi

The North-West University (NWU) GoAllOut organisation’s student chapter will attempt a Guinness World Record for the longest line of sanitary pads, spanning a distance of 4 km to 6 km.

The attempt will take place on 25 March at the Great Hall on the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus, and will see students taking part in making a line spanning up to 6 km with 60 000 sanitary pads.

Women around the globe continue to face challenges in accessing decent work opportunities and gender equality, while contending with gender-based violence and a myriad of other exclusionary practices.

This was the recurring theme during International Women’s Day commemorations on 8 March 2023, hosted by the North-West University (NWU) in partnership with the national Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus can now house more students on campus thanks to the new student housing project.

During registration 1 404 beds were ready for occupation.

This is in addition to 324 beds that were made available at the beginning of the 2022 academic year, which makes a total of 1 788 new beds.

The extra student housing was made possible through a partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Training, which identified the need for additional student housing on the campus.

North-West University (NWU) master’s student in economics Sphesihle Thusini was announced second runner-up in the postgraduate category of the 2022 Nedbank & Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition and walked away with R50 000.

For the 2022 competition, postgraduates were asked to submit an essay, evaluating the impact of public infrastructure investment on economic growth based on South Africa's post-2000 experience. They were also asked to discuss this impact on the prospects for economic growth in the medium term.

Students from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Computer Science and Information Systems secured second position in the annual Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa (DIRISA) Student Datathon 2022 Challenge.

Themed "Using social media data to develop innovative solutions", the challenge aimed to demonstrate how open data can be utilised to develop creative and innovative solutions to some of South Africa's problems.

Lecturer Susan Campher says that teams from nine universities and one secondary school participated in the challenge.

Esteemed Judge Dennis Davis will lead a seminar for small business enterprises on Thursday, 9 March 2023 at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus.

The seminar is organised by the Companies Tribunal in partnership with the NWU's Faculty of Law. It is aimed at small and upcoming businesses in Mahikeng and NWU students, especially those dealing with company law and/or doing research about this topic.

Various legal academics and practicing lawyers will join Judge Davis as presenters.

North-West University (NWU) student Onalenna Mongale was announced the North West Sportsman of the Year during the North West Provincial Government’s 7th Provincial Sports Awards that took place on 18 February 2023. Onalenna represented South Africa at the International University Sports Federation

(FISU) University Combat Sport - Karate Competition in Turkey last year. Onalenna competed in the Individual Kumite and ranked sixth out of about 22 athletes in his division.

The North-West University (NWU) Debating Union on the Mahikeng Campus is dedicated to maintaining the existing skills of public speaking, debating, and critical thinking, and cultivating and maturing these skills in those who would like to learn.

This is according to Kgopotso Sekgobela, chairperson of the union.

The union has consistently received positive reviews of the annual first-year debate tournaments they host to introduce first-year students to university debating.