The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Prof Jan de Kock is ready to help make a difference in helping to solve South Africa’s current energy crisis.

He was inaugurated as president of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) on 23 March 2023.

During the event Prof de Kock delivered his inaugural address titled “Load-shedding – can South Africa be saved?”.

He said that it is a great honour to serve the electrical engineering fraternity as president of the SAIEE.

For most newly graduated pharmacy students, the compulsory one-year pharmacy internship is the first step towards their service to the community and the start of their professional pharmacy careers in South Africa.

By Phenyo Mokgothu and Mafumane Tlhapi

The North-West University (NWU) GoAllOut and Golden Key student chapters on its Mahikeng Campus attempted the Guinness World Record for the longest line of sanitary pads on 25 March 2023.

Spanning a distance of 6 km, a total of 60 000 pads were laid in line to advocate against period poverty. This attempt has now been sent to Guinness World Records to evaluate.

They just have a touch of class, don’t they? Slick as marlins in the water at the back, as ferocious as stampeding rhinos in the front. On Monday, 20 January, the North-West University (NWU) Eagles ran in five tries as they beat the Central University of Technology (CUT) Ixias 45-28 at the Fanie du Toit sports grounds in Potchefstroom.

To mark National Water Week, the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Geography subject group hosted a water awareness event at the Vanderbijlpark Campus.

Water Week is a national awareness week celebrated in March every year, coinciding with World Water Day on 22 March. This year’s celebration also coincided with the United Nations’ 2023 Water Conference taking place in New York from 22 to 24 March.

North-West University academic and researcher Prof Lebo Gafane-Matemane recently attended the 14th HOPE Meeting with Nobel Laureates from 27 February to 3 March 2023 in Tsukuba City, Japan.

She was nominated by the National Research Foundation (NRF), together with Dr Ncediwe Ndube-Tsolekile from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

The HOPE meetings have been organised by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) since 2008, aiming to advance science and technology in the Asia-Pacific and Africa region.

Service delivery issues came under the spotlight when the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Vanderbijlpark Campus recently hosted the annual Alumni and Friends Business Breakfast in partnership with the NWU’s bhive Business Enterprise Development Centre (EDC).

This year’s event was themed “Stabilising South Africa through fast-tracking service delivery”, and featured a panel discussion led by internal and external experts who spoke about service delivery issues.

Dr Marelize Vergottini, a senior lecturer in social work at the North-West University (NWU) recently presented a group work framework that is focused on positive discipline for addressing behaviour issues among primary school students from grades 5 to 7.

This was during a social work practice seminar for school social workers hosted by the Gauteng Province Social Development Department on 3 March.

Some call them the purple army, others call them the noble boys, but officially known as the North-West University (NWU) Eagles, the team’s on-field performance in the 2023 ABC Motsepe League is like a tsunami that can’t be stopped.

With one game left to determine the log leaders of the league’s Group B stream, the NWU Soccer Institute is leading the pact with 34 points. They have scored 37 goals so far, with 13 of these goals scored in March alone.

The punishment does not fit the crime. South Africa has an endemic, growing and unique disease that is not only affecting the health of our country’s democratic structures, but is also an ill-conceived form of retribution for the lack of service delivery. Voter turnout continues to decline, but abstention is not the cure for consternation. It is a matter the North-West University (NWU) is hoping to address through its unique blend of teaching-learning initiatives.