The inauguration of Dr Bismark Tyobeka as the third vice-chancellor of the North-West University (NWU) is the start of an exciting new journey for the university.

Dr Tyobeka, who started his five-year term as principal and vice-chancellor on 1 June 2022, was officially inaugurated on 26 August during a prestige event at the Feather Hill Hotel and Venue in Potchefstroom.

Game, set and match. The Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) is set to become the country’s premier tennis destination with the completion of five new clay courts. These courts, together with ten hard courts and two grass courts, make the NWU unrivalled when compared to the court and facility offerings of other institutions.

The NWU is already a sought-after host, thanks to the successful presentation of many national and international tournaments, for example, the Davis Cup tie between South Africa and the Netherlands.

Our world is speeding up, and never in human existence have we been able to search as fast, travel as far or delve as deep. The last century alone has seen a meteoric increase in the accumulation of data and we are able to store unfathomable quantities of information to help us solve problems known and unknown. At some point the ability to optimally utilise these vast amounts of data will be beyond our reach, but not beyond that of the tools we have made.

Ontiretse Motingwa

Cluster 11, the new residence on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus, has come up with a unique mental health intervention programme called “Becoming”.

The programme consists of sessions that take place every Wednesday at the residence’s recreational hall, covering a different psychological subject each week to educate students on the value of maintaining good mental health.

This time of the year the humidity in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos, sticks to you like Prestik. It is oppressive, constant. Then there is Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour in the west, just a thousand kilometres above the equator. The port city of Cotonou is captive between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Noukoué, where pirates are known to roam.

One thousand eight hundred participants and officials. Ninety-six teams. One North-West University (NWU), hosting the biggest Spar Netball Championships ever.

The Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds almost could not contain all the netball talent from 8 to 13 August, and the NWU once again proved that no tournament was too much for it.

The top teams competed in the Senior A division, battled in the under 21 championship, and a multitude of teams took part in various subdivisions.

 “The ‘s’ is silent,” explains Anais, who has just turned 20. “You pronounce it like ‘A-nay’.” Correcting people with the pronunciation of her name is second nature. “I am used to it,” she laughs.

However, this former pupil of Potchefstroom Gymnasium and now BCom Tourism Management student at the North-West University (NWU) does most of her talking on the chessboard. Look, this is a chess fundi if you have never seen one.

Folklore tells the tale of a mythical bird of Greek origin. A big, feathered creature with talons and wings, its plumage radiant and beautiful, burst into flame, consumed in its own fiery inferno only to soon after rise from its ashes in a transformation from death to life.

To many, this is simply a tale told to while away time, but for North-West University (NWU) residence officer at the Mahikeng Campus Leihandra Naidoo, this is a symbol of living life to the fullest.

by Phenyo Mokgothu and Nande Kolo

According to statistician-general and head of Statistics South Africa Risenga Maluleke, the world of work is a competitive space where the skilled and unskilled often compete for opportunities, with some feeling discouraged or ending up being employed in an industry that is misaligned to their profession. 

The North-West University (NWU) Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Centre in partnership with Modi Donkey Farm will be hosting a donkey farmers’ Lekgotla on 1 September 2022 at the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus.

Director of the IKS Centre Dr Motheo Koitsiwe says the purpose of the lekgotla is to discuss challenges and possible mitigation strategies, to establish a database and council for donkey farmers, and to start a donkey information desk at the NWU’s School of Agricultural Sciences.