‘Ship is stable, course is set’ – NWU celebrates 20 years of highs and lows

Despite periods of uncertainty and turbulence, North-West University (NWU) celebrated its 20-year anniversary this weekend reflecting on its many achievements in the higher education sector.

Former NWU council chair Johan Kruger said when the university was established, the aim was to get to where staff and students looked demographically different from apartheid institutions.

“It is important to recognise the different leaders of the respective campuses who more than 20 years ago initiated the talks, consultations and negotiations between these three campuses.

ALSO READ: NSFAS owes the NWU R480 million

“They deserve our appreciation. No doubt, it was a matter of putting the interests of the mentioned institutions in the forefront, the ability to look beyond personal motives,” said the advocate.

“Problems that are crucial to institutions of higher learning will still occur from time to time. But we can say that the ship is stable, the course is set and the captain and his crew are firmly in control,” added Kruger.

NWU is a public research university and is located on three campuses in Potchefstroom, Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark.

New medical school for NWU?

NWU principal and vice-chancellor Prof Mzubanzi Bismark Tyobeka said the institution’s vision for the future was to explore new frontiers and opportunities for the benefit of society.

“One of our frontiers is starting a medical school, we will be training doctors.

“In January 2028, we will have the first intake of 50. Students will be coming to do their MBChB [Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery] programme with North-West University in collaboration with the Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital complex where our students will be trained.

“We will also be starting a new school of mines and mining engineering in Rustenburg. This is another way of ensuring that the university does not get concentrated in Mahikeng and Potchefstroom. North-West University must be a university of the province, first and foremost,” said Tyobeka.

READ MORE: Protesting students at NWU ran over by peer trying to evade chaos

He added that the institution had showed it had made great strides in dealing with protests by adopting an “open door” policy with its student leaders.

“We always emphasise that, when we inaugurate student leaders after their election into office, the first meeting is between them and myself and the management team. At the meeting, we tell them ‘you are now in charge and being in charge means you have to be responsible.’

“And part of being responsible is to ensure that problems, disagreements and disputes are resolved through dialogue.

“We cannot resort to violence. Even then, we have a code of conduct. We have standard operating procedure that governs how you stage protests,” he said.