Dr Nicolaas Buitendag, a postdoctoral fellow at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, recently launched a book titled States of exclusion: A critical systems theory reading of international law.

This open-access scholarly book published by Aosis scrutinises the inclusivity or lack thereof in the historical development of international law.

In the seven-chapter book, Dr Buitendag challenges and problematises the thoughts of many that sovereignty is a good thing that allows communities to take part in international politics.

The North-West University (NWU), in collaboration with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), was awarded the bid to host the prestigious World Association of Sport Management (WASM) conference in March 2026.

The conference is hosted every three years, and this will be the fifth conference, hosted for the first time on African soil.

The NWU and CPUT plan to co-host the WASM conference at the Newlands Stadium, where the CPUT Sport Management Department offices and lecture halls are located.

They are the best of the best … of the best, sir. The preceding sentence might find its origins in the 1997 science-fiction comedy Men in Black, but there is no denying that the sextet of Joshua van Zyl, Etienne Kruger, Niël Gertenbach, Jean du Toit, Rynhardt Engelbrecht and Henri Kock are a blockbuster engineering team.

In December 2022, these six NWU students won the People’s Prize in the prestigious Engineering Without Borders: Engineering for People Design Challenge and were crowned the overall runners-up of the international competition.

Rare diseases are more common than you might think. It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Not to the 4,1 million South Africans who have been or will be affected by rare diseases in their lifetime. For many it can be a death sentence, for others it is a life-altering diagnosis. Not only is the North-West University (NWU) committed to ensuring that rare diseases are detected as early as possible, but it also has a myriad of initiatives to combat their effects.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus can now house more students on campus thanks to the new student housing project.

During registration 1 404 beds were ready for occupation.

This is in addition to 324 beds that were made available at the beginning of the 2022 academic year, which makes a total of 1 788 new beds.

The extra student housing was made possible through a partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Training, which identified the need for additional student housing on the campus.

Time is a commodity that does not enjoy equal distribution. What time you have should be optimised, especially in a fast-paced world where the continuous evolution of one’s skills is necessary to stay relevant in the workplace. We live in a world where stagnation is detrimental to our futures. This is where the Unit for Continuing Education (UCE) at the North-West University (NWU) serves to bridge the gap between where we currently are, the time at our disposal and where we want to be.

North-West University (NWU) Prof Gilbert Motsaathebe was once again invited to be a judge for the Vodacom Journalist of the Year national awards. The awards ceremony took place late last year.

These premier awards recognise the best journalists across the country and across media platforms in various categories such as investigative journalism, politics, lifestyle, features, and innovation. Judges are chosen based on their experience and expertise in journalism and the contribution that they have made to the journalism profession.

Prof Mpho Chaka, deputy dean for teaching and learning at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Humanities, has been reappointed as a public representative and adjudicator at the Press Council of South Africa for a period of five years.

The North-West University Eagles’ dream start to their Varsity Cup campaign has been shattered. A close 31–28 defeat by Maties on Monday evening, 6 March on the Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds means that the Eagles’ triumphant march of two consecutive wins has now been arrested, but at one stage it looked as if the opposite was happening.

North-West University (NWU) master’s student in economics Sphesihle Thusini was announced second runner-up in the postgraduate category of the 2022 Nedbank & Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition and walked away with R50 000.

For the 2022 competition, postgraduates were asked to submit an essay, evaluating the impact of public infrastructure investment on economic growth based on South Africa's post-2000 experience. They were also asked to discuss this impact on the prospects for economic growth in the medium term.