Ontiretse Motingwa

The Mahikeng chapter of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Debating Union recently hosted a one-day hybrid dialogue session on financial literacy and workplace readiness.

According to Boitumelo Malatji, president of the Debating Union, the union aims to foster meaningful conversations that are of value to the student community. "We want our members and the student body as a whole to talk about important matters that will help them in future.”

Minister of Social Development Ms Lindiwe Zulu recently appointed North-West University (NWU) academic Dr Elizabeth Smit as member of the Professional Board for Social Work at the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP). 

Dr Smit, the deputy director in the School of Psychosocial Health in the Faculty of Humanities, says her appointment for a period of five years comes after a nomination process early in May. 

North-West University (NWU) alumnus Advocate Dineo Mongwaketse has recently been appointed as the first-ever female manager for the Mahikeng local municipality, and assumed office on 1 August.

Advocate Mongwaketse recently graduated with an LLM degree from the NWU. She also holds an LLB and MBA degree from the NWU, as well as a BTech in internal auditing and a national diploma in internal auditing from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. After completing her LLB degree, she served pupillage at the North West Bar Association.

The story of Dr Elfas Torerai is a classic case of focus, determination, persistence and success personified. He started off as a rookie journalist, plying his trade in community newspapers. Before long, he joined the mainstream media where he rose to become the provincial correspondent of the now defunct The New Age/AfroVoice.

In between the tight deadlines, he pursued an LLB degree at Unisa, and graduated in 2018.

The North-West University (NWU) Eagles earned their second victory in the 2022 Varsity Football tournament when they defeated the University of the Free State (UFS) in a nail-biting match at the NWU Mahikeng stadium on 28 July.

Omphile Shuping scored the game's opening goal in the 68th minute after a wonderful play with Lehlohonolo Mohlabai.

Lehlohonolo scored the second goal – an out-of-the-box long-range shot – in the 77th minute.

Ever wanted to pursue a career in the medical sciences, public health or hospitality and tourism? These are the highest-ranked subject offerings of the North-West University (NWU) according to the latest rankings from the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy.

North-West University (NWU) alumnus Tebogo Edwin Lesoro has been selected as one of the winners of the Education Changemakers programme.

This programme, now running for its second year, was initiated by the Trevor Noah Foundation, in partnership with the Young African Leaders Initiative Regional Leadership Centre Southern Africa (YALI RCLSA) and the University of South Africa.

Tebogo came in sixth in the top 10 best presentations from participants in the Southern African Developing Countries (SADC) region.

On 14 July 2022, North-West University (NWU) professor in the subject group Physics, Prof Amare Abebe Gidelew, presented his inaugural lecture titled “Matters of Gravity: The how and why of cosmic evolution”. 

Prof Gidelew presented a brief account of one of humanity’s greatest adventures: trying to understand the origin, evolution, and ultimate fate of the universe we live in.

He showed that our understanding of the universe and the physical processes involved in its evolution has in itself evolved over time.

An inaugural lecture is considered an important rite of passage in the life and career of an academic.

Professor Marietjie Havenga delivered her inaugural lecture, titled Cooperative problem-based learning in Information Technology: Active learning for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In this lecture, Prof Havenga argued that the implementation of cooperative problem-based learning as a teaching and learning strategy can contribute to students’ active and responsible learning skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking has placed the North-West University (NWU) among the top eight South African universities in the QS World University Rankings, which were released on 8 June.

Globally, the NWU has been placed in the 1 001 to 1 200 ranking category for the 2022/2023 QS World University Rankings – the same as last year. The NWU’s performance has been consistent in this ranking category for the past four years.