The North-West University (NWU) and the Public Service Education and Training Authority (PSETA) commenced discussions to enter into a formal collaboration to build the skills capabilities within the public service sector and fulfil both parties’ constitutional and statutory obligations.

On Thursday, 7 March 2024 delegates from the NWU and the PSETA met at the Potchefstroom Campus and shared their insights and perspectives regarding ways in which they can enhance their partnership and achieve mutually beneficial goals and objectives.

What do you get when you merge two higher-education entities, each on a mission of excellence? The result is a world-class university that continues to excel not only among the cream of the crop of tertiary-education institutions – as is evident in the local and international rankings – but also in its achievements in all spheres of academia and student life.

In an inequitable world, achieving social justice is central to bringing about a better world. We need a new breed of legal leaders ready to make the law in all its fields and services more accessible to people.

The double burden of malnutrition – undernutrition and obesity happening at the same time – affects most low- and middle-income countries. In Africa, which has a complicated food system, it poses complex health challenges that need to be addressed by nutrition professionals on the continent.

The African Nutrition Leadership Programme (ANLP) has for 22 years played a pivotal role in leadership capacity building and the development of early- and mid-career nutrition professionals and institutions, not only locally, but also on the rest of the African continent.

The overarching message from the principal and vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU), Prof Bismark Tyobeka, was one of optimism, gratitude and determination during the official opening of the 2024 academic year on Friday, 23 February.

The official ceremony took place at the Potchefstroom Campus, with a live broadcast to the Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark campuses.

It was a fun-filled, educational, and fascinating day for the first-year engineering students, with activities varying from learning a novel word in a different language to answering the question: “Why did you choose to study Engineering?” in their mother tongue. As these students come from multilingual societies that practise translanguaging, they could communicate relatively effortlessly with one another.

On Friday, 16 February 2024, the North-West University (NWU) went live with the first phase of the Student Information System (SIS) project as it launched the NWU Student Client Relations Management (Nexus CRM) module, ushering in a new chapter in the history of the university.

“We are on a journey.” Duncan Raftesath’s elbows are resting on the desk in front of him, his hands clasped together, and as he speaks, his smile widens. “We are on a very exciting journey,” the project manager of NWU Enterprises reaffirms with contagious energy.

If all goes according to plan, the expedition that Duncan Raftesath is referring to will pending Council approval – lead to the establishment of NWU Enterprises (Pty) Ltd within a year.

For the past seven years, the Hillensberg Trust has made the dreams of several North-West University (NWU) students come true.

Celeste Rossouw, acting director for development and fundraising explains that the trust increased its grant amount by one million, which means this year the NWU can put four million to good use to assist approximately 35 students.

Professor Waldo Krugell, an economist at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the North-West University (NWU), looks ahead at what to expect when the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, delivers the 2024 Budget speech on 21 February.