Inclusion on prestigious global list for Mandela Uni Alumnus
Mandela University Alumnus and Executive Director of the SA Cultural Observatory, based at the University, Unathi Lutshaba, has been honoured as one of the worlds’ Most Influential People of African Descent by the United Nations.
Included in Most Influential People of African Descent’s (Mipad's) global Top 100 Under 40 sector in the “activism and humanitarian” category, Unathi received the recognition at the UN’s headquarters in New York.
Mandela Uni to host Graduation recognition ceremonies for 2020 and 2021 graduates
Nelson Mandela University is excited to announce that it will be hosting a series of graduation recognition ceremonies for the 2020 and 2021 graduates who graduated in absentia and virtually due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The recognition ceremonies will form part of the forthcoming Summer Graduation season for Masters and Doctoral graduates.
The Management Committee of the University approved the hosting of these events at the Madibaz Indoor Centre from 12 – 15 December 2022.
The first university to legally operate drones for a better world
Nelson Mandela University became the first university in South Africa to legally operate drones. This achievement brought it a step closer to realising its vision of offering a diverse range of life-changing educational experiences for a better world.
The establishment of our Drone unit allows the School of Engineering to provide both under- and post-graduate students the opportunity to gain specialised skills in a technical environment that supports not only the South African community, but also the niche market of drone operations. We can also support other parts of the University, from Ocean Sciences to Technical Support Services.
Mandela University teaching alumni celebrated on World Teachers’ Day
Enlightening. Empowering. Transformative. Fulfilling. Humbling. Spiritual. Reviving. These were some of the words used by teachers to describe their profession during an appreciation luncheon hosted by Nelson Mandela University’s Faculty of Education in celebration of World Teachers’ Day on Wednesday (05 October 2022).
The Faculty invited its teaching alumni to honour their contribution to what has been known as the “noble profession” on the day that UNESCO marked to raise awareness, understanding and appreciation for the vital role that teachers play in education and development across the globe.
Representing various schools across the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, the celebrated teachers have been in the profession for period of as little as four months, to about 36 years.
Mandela Uni postdoc fellow reaches finals of FameLab
Mandela University postdoctoral fellow, Dr Nehemiah Latolla, has been selected as a finalist in the South African leg of the international science competition, FameLab.
FameLab is designed to engage and entertain by challenging young scientists (aged 21 to 35 currently registered, studying or working in science, technology, engineering or mathematics in South Africa) to communicate their science to a public audience in under three minutes. Talks are fun and engaging, making science relevant to everyone, without using jargon or formal presentations. Talks are judged on content, clarity and charisma.
Launch of year-long programme to ‘Advance Mandela’
What’s in a name? For Nelson Mandela University, the only higher education institution in the world to carry the name of former President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, it means a commitment to the great statesman’s values – and more.
To mark five years after the official renaming of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University to Nelson Mandela University in 2017, the institution is embarking on a year-long programme to reflect and engage on what this name means.
The launch of “Advancing Mandela: Five Years On, on Wednesday, September 28, featured History Professor Nomalanga Mkhize addressing The Mandela Name, the Person: Intellectual Legacies and Institutional Values.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Sibongile Muthwa, Chancellor Dr Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Chair of Council Ambassador Nosipho January-Bardill and SRC President Pontsho Hlongwane also spoke at the event on South Campus.
Nelson Mandela University History Professor Nomalanga Mkhize addresses guests at the launch
National African Language Creative Writing Award for top student and author
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PhD in Anthropology student at Nelson Mandela University, Mzoli Mavimbela, was recently awarded a Via Afrika award for African Language Creative Writing.
Mzoli, who has published five isiXhosa books - poetry, short stories, fairy-tales, traditional literature and a novel - received the award from ALASA (African Language Association of South Africa) in partnership with CASAS (Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society), the University of the Western Cape, Via Afrika and PanSALB (Pan South African Language Board) at the recent 23rd Biennial International Conference of The African Languages Association of Southern Africa in Stellenbosch.
The poet, ethnographic researcher, translator, editor, newspaper columnist, and an award-winning author grew up in Port St Johns, Eastern Cape. He currently lives in George, where he works as social worker, responsible for treatment, aftercare, and reintegration in the Mossel Bay, Great Brak River and Albertinia areas. He is also a project manager for the PWID (People Who Inject Drugs) programme funded by NACOSA.
Mandela Uni art student selected for national show
Some of Zama's work at a recent exhibition. Photo: Basil Brady
Bachelor of Visual Arts honours student, Zama Spellman, has been selected to show her paintings in the national, Latitudes Reshape 22 show.
The show, featuring 60 artists, is an annual, online survey exhibition that seeks to augment the visibility of contemporary women-identifying artists in Africa.
The exhibition speaks to some topical and important issues within the contemporary art scene in South Africa.
Wildlife Excellence Award for Mandela Uni’s Prof Graham Kerley
The Southern African Wildlife Management Association recently awarded its prestigious “Wildlife Excellence Award” to Nelson Mandela University’s Prof Graham Kerley of the Zoology Department and Director of the Centre for African Conservation Ecology.
This award is recognition of his outstanding contribution to wildlife research, capacity building and practice in southern Africa. Highlighted in the award citation was his conceptualization of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park, which lead to the growth of the park from 12 000 ha to over 200 000 ha.
Oxford University prize for Mandela Uni’s Luan Staphorst
Alumnus and research associate of Nelson Mandela University’s Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (CriSHET),Luan Staphorst, has been awarded the Kirk-Greene Prize for Best Overall Performance in the University of Oxford’s MSc in African Studies.
Luan has been awarded three MSc degrees Cum Laude over the past two years, namely an MA in Linguistics from Mandela Uni earlier this year, an MA in Philosophy, from the University of the Western Cape and the recent MSc in African Studies from Oxford, supervised by Dr Peter Brooke.
Research that has flowed from his pen has appeared in various Web of Science-indexed journals, including Critical Arts, Tydskrif vir Letterkunde, and Journal of Southern African Studies.
He has been affiliated with the Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (CriSHET) since 2019, where he currently conducts research as part of Prof André Keet’s NRF-funded research project, Advancing Critical University Studies.
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