The IRB Rugby World Cup (RWC) kicks off on Friday, 8 September when the host nation, France, takes on three-time champions New Zealand, as these sides clash in Stade de France, Saint-Denis. As always, the world will be watching. The previous tournament – which South Africa won – was held in Japan in 2019 and was the most-watched rugby event in the history of the game, with more than 857 million people tuning in from around the globe.

and Vukosi Mathale

Skills can be learned, tactics can be taught, fitness can be drilled, but there is no substitute for “heart”. The North-West University (NWU) Eagles’ Varsity Netball team has this heart not in spades, but in enough buckets to fill a truck.

On Monday, 11 September, coach Elsunet du Plessis’s team will square off against UJ in the semi-final of the Varsity Cup competition, having finished second on the overall log after undefeated UP-Tuks.

The better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0,6% in the second quarter of 2023 is welcome news, as it has extended its gains for a second consecutive time.

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says this demonstrates a noteworthy degree of resilience in the economy. This has mainly been the outcome of more moderate Eskom blackouts in June compared with April and May, together with other mitigating factors that helped to generate better growth figures.

The eight-year-old Byderhand project of the subject group Creative Writing at the North-West University has been selected to form part of an international hypertext creation exhibition that will take place in Rome soon.

“This is singular international recognition for the subject group Creative Writing, and particularly for the garden-verses arm of the Byderhand project in the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden,” says Prof Bernard Odendaal.

Exhibition offers a glance at hypertext works of more than three decades

On 17 August, Professor Marius Smit from the Faculty of Education delivered his inaugural lecture, titled The symphony of seeds and harvest – harmonising the law, policy, and interventions to cultivate quality education.

In his lecture Prof Smit said that the harmonisation and proper robust application of the law, good policies and interventions can orchestrate an education system that will improve the quality of education in the country.

He illustrated this by highlighting the following points:

The North-West University (NWU) Eagles netball team keep proving that teamwork makes the dream work during the 2023 FNB Varsity netball tournament.

“The watershed 15th BRICS Summit that took place in Johannesburg had, to its credit, several runs on the scoreboard by the time it concluded last week.”

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says while the outcomes were inevitably a complex amalgam of politics, economics and business, the overall BRICS profile and agenda have been taken to the next level.

By Vukosi Mathale

How do we go about breaking the prevailing cycle of economic disparities and a lack of social cohesion, while promoting active citizenship, innovation and development as well as human capital development? By ensuring access to quality education for as many of our citizens as possible – which is part of the mission of the North-West University (NWU).