By Phenyo Mokgothu and Nolwazi Xulu

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, in collaboration with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, hosted a guest lecture titled “Restitution of Land Rights in South Africa” on 25 May 2025. The lecture was presented in a hybrid format, with the physical event taking place on the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus.

The keynote speaker at the lecture was Nomfundo Ntloko, chief land claims commissioner in South Africa.

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.

Esteemed Judge Dennis Davis will lead a seminar for small business enterprises on Thursday, 9 March 2023 at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus.

The seminar is organised by the Companies Tribunal in partnership with the NWU's Faculty of Law. It is aimed at small and upcoming businesses in Mahikeng and NWU students, especially those dealing with company law and/or doing research about this topic.

Various legal academics and practicing lawyers will join Judge Davis as presenters.

North-West University (NWU) alumnus Thato Mashishi recently joined the corporate group of Walker Morris LLP (Walker Morris), the largest single-site law firm outside of London in the United Kingdom.

This corporate group is highly rated according to the rankings of Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 – two leading global research companies.

Thato’s areas of focus at Walker Morris are general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital.

The rampant failure of banks in Zimbabwe in the past 20 years has now been explained: a major reason is inadequate supervision of banking institutions by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and other regulatory bodies.

This is according to the doctoral study of Menelisi Ncube, who recently graduated from the North-West University (NWU) as a Doctor of Laws in mercantile law. 

In his study, Menelisi investigated why the banking institutions in Zimbabwe have been failing from around 2002 to date.

When it comes to seeking innovative solutions to the social and environmental challenges faced by South Africa, the Research Unit for Law, Justice and Sustainability from the North-West University (NWU) is at the forefront.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s selection committee has recently awarded Dr Brews Soyapi, a senior lecturer at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, a Georg Forster Research Fellowship for postdoctoral research.

More than 100 000 people in South Africa have turned to the waste-picking sector as a source of employment. This is according to Nonhlanhla Ngcobo, a PhD student and a researcher at the South African Chair in Cities, Law and Environmental Sustainability in the Faculty of Law at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Potchefstroom Campus.

“The slow economic growth rate in South Africa does not bring hope to the 31% of people currently unemployed, especially those with very low levels of education and skills,” she says.

By Ontiretse Motingwa and Nolwazi Xulu

Prof Howard Chtimira, a professor of securities and financial markets law at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Faculty of Law, delivered his inaugural lecture on 21 October 2022 at the Mahikeng Campus.

Titled “A legal conspectus of selected challenges affecting financial inclusion for the poor and low-income earners in South Africa”, the lecture advocated for better financial inclusion strategies in South Africa.

By Ontiretse Motingwa

Her hard work and perseverance have paid off – Refilwe Tsatsimpe, North-West University (NWU) alumnus and lecturer in the Faculty of Law on the Mahikeng Campus since 2019, was recently admitted to the high court.

Refilwe, who is from Itsoseng, a town near Mahikeng, says she wanted to pursue a career in law ever since she was a young girl, but unfortunately encountered several obstacles along the way.