The year 2020 will be remembered as one of unprecedented uncertainty, and 2021 looks set to not buck its predecessor’s trend. Prof Raymond Parsons from the Business School at the North-West University (NWU) looks ahead at what the new year will hold for the South African economy and consumers alike. This is the first part of a series of articles.

As the world and South Africa continue to struggle with the seismic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and with renewed surges in Covid-19 cases, social tensions are surging and severe socioeconomic consequences abound.

Two technology projects recently received honours at this year’s Innovation Hub GAP awards that were held on 10 December 2020.

The NWU honoured the best of its best researchers and innovators during a virtual awards evening on 3 December 2020.

Many outstanding staff members were acknowledged at the event for achieving excellence in research during 2019, including researchers with new NRF ratings.

The North-West University (NWU) community is deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of the Queen Mother of the Royal Bafokeng nation, Semane Bonolo Molotlegi. Since the King of the Royal Bafokeng, Kgosi Leruo Tsekedi Molotlegi became the second chancellor of the NWU in 2009 (and served for two terms until 2019), a very strong working relationship developed between the university, in particular the Faculty of Education, and the Bafokeng nation.

A new study has lifted the veil on some of the mysteries of the Milky Way. It has found that the Earth is moving faster than it used to and is nearly 2 000 light-years closer to the black hole in the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy.

This is according to new data, documented over a period of 15 years, by the Japanese radio astronomy project, VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA.)

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Astronomy Observatory now boasts a new, bigger and better telescope – the New Mahikeng Astronomy Telescope.

The new telescope, manufactured by Planewave Instruments in the USA, has a 50 cm diameter which is significantly bigger than the older 41 cm Meade LX200 GPS telescope that was unveiled in 2018.

The latest decisions by both Fitch and Moody’s to cut South Africa’s investment grade rating further into junk status are not good news for the South Africa economy.

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist at the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says it again highlights the urgent need for South Africa to change its economic narrative.

One North-West University (NWU) student and two alumni will represent the university when netball stars from South Africa and Malawi battle it out in a three-match series in Rustenburg from 26 to 30 November 2020.

The IT department at the North-West University (NWU) recently launched a series of online training sessions for staff and students at the university. Themes included mobile cyber security, remote working and cyber security and phishing.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) research on the genetic data of the nine lovebird species (genus Agapronis) that are native to Africa and Madagascar has been included in a comprehensive international bird study.