Dr (honoris causa) Masego Ezekiel “Easy” Matjila continues to shine. After receiving an honorary doctorate from the North-West University (NWU) in recognition of his commitment to preserving the Setswana, Sesotho, and Sepedi languages, he received another accolade.

This time Easy was honoured at the South African Traditional Music Awards (SATMAs) for his dedication and promotion of the Setswana language in mainstream media for over three decades.

Zanobia Kanjee, head of e-Learning at the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Unit for Distance Learning, has been recognised for her remarkable contributions in the field of digital learning technologies during the recent Higher Education Women Leaders Awards (HEWLA), hosted by Higher Education Resource Services South Africa (HERS-SA).

She received an award in the category Women in Support Services at the awards ceremony that took place at the breath-taking Two Oceans Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on 29 August 2024.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Initial Test of Competence (ITC) exam is a critical milestone for aspiring chartered accountants in the country, and North-West University (NWU) students have once again proven to be among the best in the country.

Achieving high results in this exam demonstrates a strong grasp of fundamental accounting principles and readiness for advanced professional practice.

Gone are the days of the throwaway economy. Environmental scientists and pioneers like Prof Linda Godfrey of the North-West University (NWU) are leading the charge towards a thriving circular economy.

With over 20 years dedicated to studying the waste sector, Prof Godfrey has observed the unsustainability of the traditional linear economy model, characterised by extraction, production, consumption, and disposal. She argues that this model has severe environmental and health impacts and advocates a shift to a circular economy.

North West Premier Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi has appointed Prof Raymond Parsons and Prof Mokgadi Molope from the North-West University (NWU) as members of the provincial Economic and Investment Advisory Council (EIAC). The announcement comes at a critical period in the developmental trajectory of the province, with the expanded unemployment rate stubbornly at 54%.

African Women in Business (AWiB) and Regenesys Business School honoured the chancellor of the North-West University (NWU) with their prestigious Outstanding Leadership Award during the AWiB Inaugural Conference awards ceremony in Sandton on 24 August.

Dr Anna Mokgokong, who was inaugurated as the NWU’s chancellor in 2019, received this special award in recognition of her entrepreneurship journey.

Prof Hans de Ridder, director of the School of Human Movement Sciences at the North-West University (NWU), was recently acknowledged with the President’s award at the biannual International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) conference on 7 August in London, England.

This award is in recognition of his unwavering commitment to contributing to a field that blends science, health and sport, while impacting lives positively. Prof De Ridder is among the only two individuals honored with this distinction in the history of ISAK.

Research with impact ─ this is what the North-West University (NWU) is renowned for. The university’s researchers continue to shine nationally and internationally. This was again evident at the recent 2024 National Research Foundation (NRF) awards, where a young NWU researcher was honoured in the Early Career/Emerging Researchers category. 

North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Olubukola Oluranti Babalola and PhD student Sinenhlanhla Mthembu were recognised at the 2024 South African Women in Science Awards (SAWiSA) on 15 August in Mbombela. 

Prof Babalola was named the first runner-up in the Distinguished Women Research category, while Sinenhlanhla won the DSI Esther Mahlangu Doctoral Fellowship award. 

The North-West University (NWU) is still among the cream of the crop locally and internationally. The latest rankings of the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy again placed the NWU among the top seven South African universities in its 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).