By Oldrin Masowa

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Agricultural Sciences hosted its first ever Agri-Career fair on 19 October on the Potchefstroom Campus.

During the event, final-year students presented the findings of their soil science research and had the opportunity to network with the agricultural industry.

“The aim of the fair is to prepare students for the world of work to expose them to new agricultural skills and technology,” says senior lecturer in Agricultural Sciences, Dr George van Zyl.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Management Sciences, in partnership with ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), recently hosted a guest lecture for undergraduate BCom safety management students and lecturers at the Vanderbijlpark Campus.

Mr Dieter Sauer, AMSA senior manager for health and safety, together with Lesley Ramela, AMSA GMR 2.1 certificated engineer, presented the lecture titled “Safety Management and Legal Compliance within AMSA”.

Sibongiseni Buthelezi, a third-year BSc computer science, mathematics and statistics student at the North-West University (NWU), has been chosen as one of the experts to train competitors taking part in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Future Skills Challenge that will take place in China from 1 to 6 November.

In this challenge, individuals and/or teams from BRICS countries work on real-world problems in their specific skill areas to develop solutions using their specialised skills and experiences.

She is the current, defending and undisputed javelin champion of the North-West University (NWU), and Jo-Ané van Dyk was recently crowned the Potchefstroom Campus Sportswoman of the Year again. This excellent javelin thrower showed her steel on the international stage once more in 2022 when she represented South Africa at the African Games, the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships.

Students and staff from the North-West University (NWU) recently attended a national gender-based awareness campaign, dubbed #UniversitiesAgainstGender-BasedViolence, hosted by Wits University.

Under the banner of Practitioners against Gender-based Violence (GBV) in South African Universities, Community of Practice (CoP) representatives – consisting of students and staff – marched to raise awareness about gender, gender-based harm, overall gender relations and queerphobia.

By Ontiretse Motingwa

Tlhokomelo Khusu from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape is a second-year student doing a BSoc with psychology degree at the North-West University (NWU), and she finds joy in putting words together.

This year, Tlhokomelo published an English poetry book titled Sunshine.

“I started writing letters to my mother when I was eight years old, and this is where my love for writing started,” she says.

The North-West University (NWU) is the best choice among local universities for studies in the field of engineering. The latest subjects ranking by Times Higher Education (THE) places the NWU at the top of the ladder in this field, and highlights the NWU’s other quality subject offerings.

According to THE’s World University Rankings by Subject for 2023, the NWU is first among local institutions in engineering, moving up from third position last year. It places the NWU in the 401 to 500 category globally.

By Nolwazu Xulu

The Sol Plaatje Secondary School under-18 football team is the very first champions of the North-West University (NWU) Vice-Chancellor Soccer Challenge.

The tournament took place on 22 October 2022 at the NWU Mahikeng Campus Stadium.

Universities have a pivotal role to play in finding solutions to pressing environmental and social questions. The latest ranking by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) agency places the North-West University (NWU) among the top global and local universities when it comes to environmental and social sustainability.

QS ranked the NWU in the overall 281 to 300 categories out of 700 of the best global institutions from 71 locations. The NWU is placed among the top seven South African universities in both the social and environmental impact categories of the ranking.

“Against the background of difficult global and domestic economic circumstances Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana generally delivered a realistic and credible fiscal message in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) today.”

In commenting on the MTBPS, Prof Raymond Parsons, economist from the Business School of the North-West University (NWU), says South Africa’s public finances have now been put on a much more sustainable basis.

He points out that both expenditure and revenue are good-news stories that help to build economic resilience.