Phenyo Mokgothu

It was a convergence of media practitioners, communication scholars, staff and students on the Mahikeng Campus of the North-West University (NWU) as the legengary broadcaster and famous isiXhosa language news anchor, Dr Noxolo Grootboom, delivered a public lecture on indigenous language broadcasting.

This public lecture was hosted in hybrid format by the NWU’s Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research entity.

The North-West University (NWU), in partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), recently launched the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Plus laboratory.

The project, a joint initiative between government, academia and industry, aims to promote the manufacturing of APIs in South Africa and stimulate the growth of the country's bio-economy.

Researchers from North-West University (NWU) and Universität Duisburg-Essen in Germany have developed an early warning tool for metal pollution in freshwater systems worldwide.

This research achievement is a collaboration between the Water Research Group, the NWU led by Prof Nico Smit and Prof Victor Wepener and the Universität Duisburg-Essen’s Aquatische Ökologie (Aquatic Ecology) Group, led by Prof Bernd Sures and Dr Sonja Zimmerman.

The project is funded by the National Research Foundation and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

As part of their community outreach programme, the All Sports Chapter (ASC) and Sports department on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus are reaching out to local schools lacking sports equipment.

The aim of this programme is to give back to the community and to add value to sports development in the Ngaka Modiri Molema region.

According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), approximate 70% of the South African population rely directly on agriculture as a means of living.

It is one of the most significant acts of aggression that one country has perpetrated against another in the 21st century. The Russian invasion of Ukraine may have consequences that are almost unfathomable and that will echo through the annals of history.

Thanks to the launch of the Digital Storytelling Hub of the North-West University (NWU), social innovators now have a brand-new platform where they can share solutions to their communities’ challenges.

Funding received from the European Union programme Erasmus+ (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/opportunities-under-erasmus)  made the launch of the hub possible, says Bibi Bouwman, NWU's director of Sustainability and Impact.

Kirsty Kyle, a master’s student at the North-West University (NWU), has recently published an educational children’s book and, after receiving sponsorship for the printing, donated the books to under-privileged schools.

The North-West University Business School held their first face-to-face Think Tank in front of a live audience in Somerset West where the Minister of Finance’s national budget speech was analysed and unpacked by a panel of experts.

This initiative forms part of a series of roadshows that the school has in the pipeline for 2022. More 150 people attended the event in person, and 160 people also attended online.

The panel of experts included the likes of:

Academics in the subject group Business Statistics and Operations Research of the North-West University (NWU) recently donated school shoes to less privileged learners at PHERA Primary School in Tsetse, a village on the outskirts of Mahikeng.