South Africa’s heightened global risk status due to greylisting unfortunately dents an investment profile already grappling with factors such as the negative impact of aggressive load-shedding, lack of energy security, ongoing junk status and other uncertainties.

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, in commenting on the decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to greylist South Africa, says although it has been widely expected for some months, it is bad news that South Africa’s present vulnerable economy can do without.

The North-West University (NWU) kicked off the student entrepreneurship season with bootcamps on the Vanderbijlpark and Potchefstroom campuses on 15 and 16 February.

Volunteers from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, NWU Business School, Technology Transfer and Innovation Support Office (TTIS), and bhive Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) presented the bootcamps, which were sponsored by the TTIS.

These bootcamps comprise a two-day programme on how to develop an idea or solution into a social or commercial business and pitch it to investors.

North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Sithandiwe Mazibuko-Mbeje was able to indulge in a number of her passions last year when she was awarded a University Capacity Development Grant to visit Università Politecnica delle Marche in Italy.

Since October 2022, Prof Mazibuko-Mbeje has been working under Prof Luca Tiano, who specialises in oxidative stress, inflammation, metabolic disease and skin aging. This is a perfect opportunity for Prof Mazibuko-Mbeje, who is researching on mycotoxins and oxidative stress in various cell lines.

Dr Sean McCallaghan, recently appointed director for student life on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus, says his vision for Student Life is to continue creating a differentiating and inclusive environment for students.

Dr McCallaghan, who holds a PhD in business administration and management from the NWU, will assume his role on 1 March 2023, succeeding the late Jacob Simango who passed away in June last year.

Admired for his readiness to mentor and support students, his appointment has been widely welcomed by the university community.

Over the past five years, the Optentia research unit of the North-West University (NWU) has conducted various research projects about sustainable employment, specifically using the Capability Model of Work.

Prof Jac van der Klink, an extraordinary professor at Optentia, recently delivered a prestigious lecture in support of this research. In his lecture titled “The Sound of Justice”, he examined social justice from the perspective of contributive justice - in contrast to distributive justice.

On 23 February the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences will be hosting a public lecture conducted by A-rated researcher and extraordinary professor, Prof Don Kurtz.

The topic of the lecture is “Venus – Earth’s Evil Twin”.

People often refer to Venus as the beautiful, bright “evening star”, but in fact it is a rocky planet that is a near twin to Earth in size.

“However, Venus is 30% closer to the Sun, and that makes all the difference,” says Prof Kurtz.

North-West University (NWU) Setswana lecturer and poet Ogodiseng Mokakale recently published an anthology of 60 Setswana poems, Tswina ya Poko.

Ogodiseng says teaching poetry at schools has lost its way, and that it is difficult to bring university students up to speed when they do not have a proper poetry background.

Fortunately, his passion for poetry motivates him to teach and instil a love and appreciation for poetry in his students.

Research should not only be an academic activity but should also have a positive impact on society.

This view was shared by Prof Darelle van Greunen, an extraordinary professor at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Optentia research unit during a recent prestige lecture at the Vanderbijlpark Campus.

North-West University (NWU) academic and director of Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research unit Prof Abiodun Salawu has commended the South African television news channel Newzroom Afrika for expanding its horizons with the launch of its first Nguni-language news broadcast.

Prof Salawu says this is a very heart-warming development.

“I believe this would make information more accessible to Nguni language speakers, and it would go a long way.

Prof Tobie van Dyk, a highly respected applied linguist from the School of Languages at the North-West University (NWU) has been seconded to the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) from 1 January to 31 December 2023.

“Prof van Dyk’s expertise in the field of applied linguistics and his well-established national and international networks are essential for SADiLaR to fulfill its mandate,” says Mr Juan Steyn, SADiLaR’s director of operations.

Language resources audit