The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus recently celebrated the completion of the new Lecture Hall Complex as part of the official academic opening that took place on 23 February 2023.

Positioned at the heart of the campus and designed by multi-award-winning architects Mathews & Associates Architects, the building, comprises four lecture halls – three 252-seaters and one 386-seater – providing a total of 1 142 seats. The building has added 22% more capacity on the campus.

The Department of Arts, Culture, Sports, and Recreation, in collaboration with the North West Sports Confederation, recently honoured North-West University (NWU) alumnus Keorapetse Mashimo for his contribution to sport.

He was announced the Sports Volunteer of the Year as well as Sports Administrator of the Year during the North West Sports awards that took place on 24 February at Sun City.

Keorapetse was recognised for his hard work and dedication in the field of boxing in particular.

If the elevated fiscal risks outlined in the Budget speech on 22 February 2023 were to materialise, the South African economy could well drift into a recession later this year, said a panel of experts in discussing the Budget in an NWU Business School Pitso today. Questions put to the panel were whether the 2023 Budget responded adequately to a highly unfavourable global and domestic economic environment, whether the Budget strategy could generate a fiscal offset to current economic challenges, and what fiscal risks still faced the economy and the country’s public finances.

It was as unexpected as a lightning bolt on a sunny day. The North-West University (NWU) Eagles were playing against Wits in a warm-up game a few months ago.

Talismanic captain Ruan “Sampie” Swiegers was leading the charge. The tighthead prop had cemented his position as the Eagles’ de facto leader, having captained the Eagles during the 2022 Varsity Cup. Then, tragedy struck. He busted his knee.

With the 2023 Varsity Cup looming and time not a commodity to be wasted – the Eagles played their first game on 20 February – a leader was needed.

The North-West University (NWU) kicked off the student entrepreneurship season with bootcamps on the Vanderbijlpark and Potchefstroom campuses on 15 and 16 February.

Volunteers from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, NWU Business School, Technology Transfer and Innovation Support Office (TTIS), and bhive Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) presented the bootcamps, which were sponsored by the TTIS.

These bootcamps comprise a two-day programme on how to develop an idea or solution into a social or commercial business and pitch it to investors.

North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Sithandiwe Mazibuko-Mbeje was able to indulge in a number of her passions last year when she was awarded a University Capacity Development Grant to visit Università Politecnica delle Marche in Italy.

Since October 2022, Prof Mazibuko-Mbeje has been working under Prof Luca Tiano, who specialises in oxidative stress, inflammation, metabolic disease and skin aging. This is a perfect opportunity for Prof Mazibuko-Mbeje, who is researching on mycotoxins and oxidative stress in various cell lines.

Dr Sean McCallaghan, recently appointed director for student life on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus, says his vision for Student Life is to continue creating a differentiating and inclusive environment for students.

Dr McCallaghan, who holds a PhD in business administration and management from the NWU, will assume his role on 1 March 2023, succeeding the late Jacob Simango who passed away in June last year.

Admired for his readiness to mentor and support students, his appointment has been widely welcomed by the university community.

The 2023 Budget speech was a surprise-free, pragmatic and credible response to a challenging set of global and domestic economic circumstances.

Prof Raymond Parsons, an economist from the North-West University (NWU) Business School, commented on the 2023 Budget introduced to parliament by the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana.

“Although having received some windfall tax-revenue gains, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana still had a difficult balancing act given the political and economic constraints within which he had to shape fiscal policy.”

Olé, Olé, Olé! Now that got the blood flowing, didn’t it? The North-West University (NWU) Eagles clawed their way to a 41-28 win over the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Monday night in Potchefstroom after having their feathers ruffled by the visitors from Johannesburg in the first half.

In doing so, the Eagles got their 2023 Varsity Cup campaign off to a splendid start, scoring six tries to their opponents’ three. Still, as stated, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. UJ led 18-15 going into the break after Eagles’ flanker Gustav Erlank was sinbinned in the 15th minute.

North-West University (NWU) academic in the African Centre for Disaster Studies, Prof Livhuwani Nemakonde says the heavy rainfall experienced in South Africa in recent weeks is due to a combination of factors.

“Climatologists have indicated that this is because of the La Niña phenomenon. La Niña (Spanish for little girl) is the opposite of an El Niño (little boy), which usually predicts low rainfall for South Africa.