A courtroom can be a daunting place ― especially for a child. Young victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse have to deal not only with their trauma but also with court proceedings, cross-examination and giving testimony in an environment that they can perceive as hostile and scary.

This is where social workers in the field of forensic practice make a difference. They not only provide the emotional support and guidance to prepare child victims for the demands of court proceedings, but also serve as expert witnesses in building a strong case against perpetrators.

In collaboration with the provincial Department of Health, the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR) hosted the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Research Day at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) on 2 November. This was the first such event held since 2017 and was a resounding success, with representatives from all four districts in North West and about 250 people in attendance.

South African teachers are battling acute stress as a result of their work environment. This is according to a recent Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis) report.

The Talis survey gathers responses from teachers and school leaders to help countries address a variety of challenges. The report was released by the Department of Basic Education following a survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The survey revealed more than a quarter of teachers in the country have no desire to remain in the field.

Zambia’s economy is built on mining, especially copper. Like all mining activities, copper mining has health risks associated with it. A shortage of formal occupational hygiene expertise and capacity can leave a void in the protection of miners from occupational diseases such as silicosis. A researcher at the North-West University (NWU) is aiming to make a difference by developing occupational hygiene capacity for Zambian mines.

Miracle workers who have to dig deep to find magical solutions to solve problems – this is how Prof Elmien Truter describes the social work students the North-West University (NWU) send into the communities.

Prof Truter, an associate professor in Social Work and a researcher at the research focus area Community Psychosocial Research (Compres) on the Vanderbijlpark Campus, said this after witnessing the second-year students declaring that they will adhere to the ethics and standards of their profession.

Second-year social work students from the North-West University (NWU) are annually gaining much needed practical experience by participating in mock trials.

This year second-year students from the NWU’s Vanderbijlpark Campus participated in a mock trial practical on 26 and 31 October 2022 at the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate Children’s Court.

Prof Elmien Truter, an associate professor from Social Work and researcher at the research focus area Community Psychosocial Research (Compres), says the idea to expose social work students to mock trials started around 2014.

Postgraduate students and researchers from the North-West University (NWU) won seven awards at the Southern African Institute for Occupational Hygiene’s (SAIOH’s) annual conference that took place from 26 to 28 October 2022 in Boksburg, and during the gala dinner the best students and research articles were awarded.

According to Prof Johan du Plessis, the director of the Occupational Hygiene and Health Research Initiative (OHHRI), no awards were given in 2019 and 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore, this year awards were given for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

“We must create a future in which our children and healthy and physically active.” This, says Professor Dané Coetzee, child kinetics specialist at the School of Human Movement Sciences of the North-West University (NWU), must remain a priority. That is why, in this increasingly digital world, we must look a what worked in the past.

Dr Luce Pretorius, an academic in the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Social Work subject group, was recently invited to be a speaker at the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) Tripartite Summit.

The event was attended by approximately 1 200 delegates and was also broadcasted online.

Dr Pretorius presented a session on “Mental Health in the Workplace”, which focused on mental health and the role of health and safety in the mining sector. She also spoke about collaborative strategies to address this often-overlooked theme. 

Researchers of the North-West University (NWU) regularly work in communities to improve lives and find solutions to pressing issues. In the fight against breast cancer, a hospital in Potchefstroom has called on the expertise of the Medicine Usage in South Africa (MUSA) research entity in the Faculty of Health Sciences.