The first-ever female athletics manager at the NWU, Tracey Olivier, is a history-maker.
Olivier, who has been at the helm as NWU Athletics manager since 2026, is furthering the proud athletics legacy of the university as the proverbial mother of the house – a caring leader with an unrelenting passion for the sport.
This Women’s Month, the North-West University (NWU) is celebrating females in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Michelle le Roux is studying for an MSc Business Mathematics and Informatics (BMI) at the NWU. She is a Golden Key student and was appointed as the best first-year student at the centre for BMI and the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences in 2022.
A skin problem turned from an obstacle into an opportunity for Thamia Kganedi, the USSA Table Tennis captain and NWU honours student in Human Movement Science.
National Women’s Day commemorates the 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956, giving us the powerful words: “Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo” – “You strike a woman, you strike a rock.” But I sometimes wonder whether we remember only the determination of those women, or whether we acknowledge the more uncomfortable part of our history: they were not asking to be recognised. They were demanding that a system change.
For Mohau Phala, leadership has never been about holding a title or being in the spotlight. Instead, it has always been about serving others, making a difference and leaving people and communities better than she found them.
It is this commitment to servant leadership that has earned the North-West University (NWU) law student a place among South Africa's emerging young leaders as a recipient of the prestigious Abe Bailey Fellowship.
The North-West University (NWU) continues to strengthen its commitment to entrepreneurship development and women's economic empowerment through its participation in the international TransformHER initiative. This is a collaborative project that equips young women with the confidence, entrepreneurial capabilities and networks needed to shape their entrepreneurial futures.
Research from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) has been selected as an Editor's Choice article by the international journal Children.
Rooibos has long helped to place South Africa on the international tourism map. Now, the country’s distinctive indigenous plant is preparing to leave the planet.
In October 2026, rooibos seeds are scheduled to travel to the International Space Station, where they will be exposed to microgravity and cosmic radiation before returning to Earth. Scientists will compare them with control seeds to determine how the conditions affected their germination and growth.
Parents often focus on academic achievement, but one of the most powerful influences on a child's development is something far simpler: meaningful social interaction. According to Linique Hanekom, a speech-language therapist at the Centre for Health & Human Performance in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University (NWU), everyday interactions such as talking, playing and responding to children are fundamental to their language development, emotional wellbeing and ability to build healthy relationships.
What began as a personal search for direction has developed into a series of bodybuilding titles for North-West University (NWU) student Bokang Matsetela. In just two years, the fourth-year economics student has progressed from entering her first competition to standing among the country's top university bodybuilders, proving that discipline can shape more than physical strength.