The institution of marriage in South Africa is quietly collapsing. Many marriages that were once full of promise and joy are crumbling all too quickly, causing heartache, isolation and unstable connections within families. This reality has deeply concerned Pastor Gugulethu Ndlovu, a PhD student at the Faculty of Theology at the North-West University (NWU).
By Gofaone Motsamai
When South Africa went into lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic impact was immediate. Informal traders – those who operate without formal registration or protection – were among the most affected. With no income, no access to trading spaces and limited government support, many were pushed into a state of deep uncertainty.
Music’s power to heal, inspire and connect took centre stage during the inaugural lecture of Prof Conroy Cupido, director of the School of Music at the North-West University (NWU).
Hosted by the Faculty of Humanities at the Potchefstroom Campus on 12 June, the lecture explored the intersection of music, emotion and positive psychology.
When the 2025 Comrades Marathon kicked off on Sunday, 8 June, Benjamin Tjiane was running more than just the 90-odd kilometres between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. He was pursuing a goal that had started during the Covid-19 lockdowns. What began as a personal challenge has evolved into something much deeper.
“My first race was 21 km in 2019. After Covid-19, I challenged myself to run 42 and 50 km races, which were qualifying criteria for the Comrades," Benjamin remembers, “and that is how I started running Comrades marathons, realising I have endurance."
Comrades Marathon superstar Tete Dijana went supernova on Sunday 8 June when he won his third Comrades Marathon, following back-to-back victories in 2022 and 2023.
Dijana is an employee of Mi7, which is an external security service provider to the North-West University (NWU), and his reassuring presence on the Mahikeng Campus has made him a beloved member of the NWU family.
It was a stellar performance from Dijana who completed the 98.98 km distance from Pietermaritzburg to Durban in a time of five hours, 25 minutes and 28 seconds.
By:Mafumane Tlhapi and Phenyo Mokgothu
The offline mode of Google Maps became more than a navigation tool when Pastor Piet Tlhabanyane, from Bethesda Kingdom Ministries (BKM), an NWU alumnus and a Council member, used it to explain the risks of outdated knowledge in church leadership.
“Without regular updates, even a tool as reliable as Google Maps leads you the wrong way. It’s the same with scripture. If we stop learning, we start misguiding,” said Pastor Tlhabanyane.
As the African continent marks Africa Month Africa Day on 25 May, a remarkable story of cultural resilience and leadership is unfolding in the North West Province.
Khumo Feni, a graduate from the first cohort of the Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (B.IKS) programme at the North-West University (NWU), is taking centre stage in the documentation and preservation of Batswana indigenous knowledge systems (IKS).
On 19 May 2025, the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus hosted a distinguished public lecture on European Union (EU) - South African relations, featuring Her Excellency Mrs Sandra Kramer, EU ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, and Mr Fulgencio Garrido Ruiz, EU deputy ambassador.
South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini need to work towards stabilising their political environments and improving governance to create a better climate for business and trade.
“Political stability is crucial for trade,” says Dr Mpho Lenoke, recent PhD graduate and a lecturer in the subject group Economics at the North-West University (NWU). “When governments prioritise stability, they make room for economic growth.”
Rows of parked cars and rooftops on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus now share space with banks of solar panels, part of a campus-wide plan to reshape how electricity is sourced, used and sustained.
The new decentralised solar energy system is being installed across most parking areas and rooftops at the campus. The system includes 1 820 panels, each generating 550 watts of power, with a collective capacity of 1 megawatt peak (1MWp).
The panels are connected through 15 mini-systems that feed directly into the campus’s internal power grid.