Over the past five months there have been numerous stories in the media about victims being harassed, attacked and even murdered by their intimate partners.

With the gender-based violence (GBV) rate in South Africa being five times higher than the global average according to Stats SA, the North-West University (NWU) is doing its part by creating awareness and offering support to those in need.

On 12 November the NWU principal and vice-chancellor, Prof Dan Kgwadi, had a virtual conversation with the university community regarding student discipline, GBV and other related issues.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Centre has partnered with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) on a public awareness campaign on the Indigenous Knowledge Act and the Bio-cultural Protocol*.

This Indigenous Knowledge Act focuses on the protection, promotion, management and development of indigenous knowledge in the country, and the Bio-cultural Protocol (BCP) was developed by the DSI as a tool to enforce the act.  

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 North-West University (NWU) Business School recently presented a Think Tank on the topic South Africa 2024 – a scenario perspective.

Dr Frans Cronje, CEO of the Institute of Race Relations, and Dr Oscar van Heerden, Director Operations at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflections, made presentations.

This particular Think Tank focused on political, economic, social and technological variables and the impact this will have on South Africa’s future towards 2024.

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.

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist at the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says the latest decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to again leave interest rates unchanged was widely expected, given the economic model on which the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is operating.

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 North-West University (NWU) Disability Rights Unit recently received donations in the form of laptops and technology devices such as large-print yellow-on-black keyboards for the visually impaired.

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.