“The foundations of the 2023 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on 1 November need to be realistic and sound, given the additional fiscal and economic challenges it faces.”

Prof Raymond Parsons, economist at the North-West University (NWU) Business School, says the National Treasury has already warned of the tough decisions that will need to be made in the medium-term Budget.

The North-West University (NWU) has bestowed an honorary doctorate on Prof Herman Hubert van der Spuy for his exceptional contributions that have helped shape the South African musical landscape.

Prof Van der Spuy’s influence and contributions as an adjudicator, examiner and adviser at music institutions throughout South Africa earned him this recognition on 26 October.

It will be a first for Africa: One innovative step by the North-West University (NWU) and one giant leap by the continent. The NWU’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences is set to launch the research area SpaceBiology@NWU.

According to one of the project leaders, Prof Henk Bouwman, this multidisciplinary research area – which is going encompass expertise from other NWU faculties such as Engineering too – will look at how biology can assist with living in space.

“The dislocation of our languages is perpetuated by not having pride to speak one’s own mother tongue. We can only say a language is developed when it has doctors, professors, writers and artists who write down their work, poems and songs in isiNdebele. I am grateful for the support and efforts to develop our language to be an equal to others.”

In a great step towards advancing technology transfer capabilities across Southern Africa, a pioneering initiative has been launched to provide experiential learning for technology transfer practitioners from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The World Intellectual Property Organization, in partnership with the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association and the Japan Patent Office, initiated an immersive eight-week training-on-the-job programme based at South African offices of technology transfer (OTTs).

Cooperation is key if Africa is to reach her potential. On 19 October, at the OR Tambo Premier Hotel in Johannesburg, the Research Output, Outcomes and Impact Community of Practice (Cop-ROOI) was launched by the North-West University (NWU) in conjunction with the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) to help achieve this goal.

The first-ever dictionary for N|uu, one of South Africa’s highly endangered minority languages with only one remaining fluent speaker, has been awarded the ATKV Wordwise Prize (Woordwystoekenning) for 2023 at the ATKV Woordveertjies (Afrikaans Language and Culture Association Word Feathers), an annual celebration of outstanding contributions around the Afrikaans word.

Protection Services on the North-West University's (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus hosted an event – Men's conceptualisation of gender-based violence (GBV) – at the campus' Modiri Park.

This initiative was not merely a gathering, but a determined effort to educate students, staff and members of the community about the profound implications of GBV and to equip them with the tools and knowledge to stop GBV on campus.

Moreover, it aimed to encourage open discussions, emphasising the existence of policies and harsh punishments for transgressors.

For over 18 years the Old Mutual Education Trust (OMET) has been changing the trajectory of the lives of many young South Africans. Through a partnership with participating unions, the trust has used education as a pathway for union members and their beneficiaries to access post-graduation opportunities.

The subject group Social Work on the North-West University's (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus recently hosted a Solemn Declaration Ceremony.

The ceremony was a momentous occasion for second-year social work students, their families, and the university community, as it marked the beginning of their journey as student social workers committed to fostering harmony and positive change within society.