December 2025

Doctoral research focuses on neoliberal governance and gender transformation in higher education

A person in a graduation gownAI-generated content may be incorrect. Dr Qhama Noveve’s doctoral research explored how neoliberal governance intersects with goals for gender transformation, showing how institutional rules, discourses, and everyday practices shape possibilities for change in higher education.

A lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology, she recently graduated at Nelson Mandela University with her research titled “Governance practice in understanding gender transformation in higher education institutions in South Africa.”

Her study used Nelson Mandela University as a case study, examining how colonial legacies, apartheid geographies, and contemporary discourses continue to influence transformation efforts.

The appointment of an all-Black women senior leadership team in 2018 offered a strategic lens to analyse how race, gender, and representation reshaped institutional culture.

A story of mass timber, tenacity and transformation

Dr Emma Ayesu-Koranteng never imagined that wood, something so ordinary and familiar, would one day become the compass guiding her academic journey. Yet she recently graduated with a PhD rooted in mass timber research, sustainability, and resilience.

Dr Ayesu-Koranteng is a senior lecturer in Construction Management at Mandela University; her path has been shaped by innovation, mentorship, personal loss, and an unwavering belief in the power of education and sustainable construction.

Her introduction to mass timber started unexpectedly while supporting the proposed CLT Building at the University’s George Campus, a flagship project under the leadership of the former Dean of EBET, Doctor Ossie Franks. .

This left behind a seed that would grow into her life’s work.

In exploring this unfamiliar material, she encountered Michael Green’s TED Talks on tall wood buildings, moments she describes as transformative.

Dr Zosela, first PhD for DSTI Nanomedicine Platform graduates

Dr Itumeleng Zosela, the first student funded by the DSTI-NMU Nanomedicine Platform, recently graduated at Nelson Mandela University’s Summer Graduation.

“As part of Nelson Mandela University’s Medical School, the Nanomedicine Platform is dedicated to contribute meaningfully to the development and training of enthusiastic young people, equipping them with skills and competencies required to participate fully in the economy”, says Professor Saartjie Roux, who holds the Chair DSTI-NMU Nanomedicine Platform at the Medical School.

By empowering students with knowledge and by providing training in cutting-edge research techniques and innovative thinking, the Nanomedicine Platform supports not only individual advancement but also the creation of future employment opportunities.

Its emphasis on entrepreneurship and commercialisation, underpinned by strong academic rigour, form central pillars of the developmental strategy.

Itumeleng reflects the heart of the Nanomedicine Platform. Beyond the scientific breakthroughs, her research highlights the strength that lies in returning to our African botanical knowledge.

Eastern Cape Executive Mayor graduates with doctoral degree

Executive Mayor Samkelo Janda of the Mbhashe Local Municipality in the Amathole district – which extends from the Great Kei River to Coffee Bay - has been conferred with a doctorate in public administration and management from Nelson Mandela University.

“I am proud of this achievement but I also feel mixed emotions because I wish my mother, Nosapho Janda, and the Principal of my Junior Secondary School, Mr Delby Ntsikana Ntongana, who both got me to where I am today, were still alive to see me getting my PhD,” Janda said.

“I am also very grateful to my wife, Siziwe Manquma Janda, who is a teacher in Dutywa, to my daughter Sibulele Janda, and to my Master’s and PhD supervisors for their advice and support.”

Janda has two Master’s degrees – one from the University of the Free State and another from the University of Pretoria. His PhD supervisor is Professor Prof Sebenzile Masango from the Department of Public Management and Leadership at Nelson Mandela University.

“Professor Masango gave me so much guidance and encouragement,” Janda said. “On more than once occasion I would contact him and say I want to give up because the pressures of doing my Mayoral work and my Doctoral research was too much. In his composed manner he would say ‘I understand those problems but we can’t give up’.”

Age is no barrier for 81-year-old graduate

This summer graduation, octogenarian Richard Borain received his master’s degree in pharmacy — more than 40 years after he originally set out to complete it.

A person in a graduation gown and cap

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

“What are you doing with your brain?” asked Borain’s sons, who encouraged their father to finish his master's in Pharmacy that he had started when living in Pretoria in the 1980s.

Borain said he had always encouraged his children to value education. He has four sons, two of whom are pharmacists, while the other two are chartered accountants, following in their mother’s accounting footsteps.

After the university lost the thesis, he had been working on, Borain threw himself into strengthening his pharmaceutical career, which he enjoyed immensely.

Borain, whose pharmacy career spans more than four decades, started seven pharmacies before eventually selling to a large retail group.

Professor Zukiswa Zingela - joint category winner in 2025 SA Health Excellence Awards

Professor Zukiswa Zingela, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Nelson Mandela University, is the joint winner of the Health Excellence Category category award in the prestigious 2025 SA Health Excellence Awards.

Professor Zukiswa Zingela, centre, together with Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa, Chairperson of SA Medical Association, right, and Liezl Anthony of Proactive Health Solutions

The awards, in its fifth year, is a partnership between the Clinix Health Group, the largest private hospital operator in townships; and the South African Clinician Scientists Society, for clinician scientists, a new cadre of doctors and healthcare professionals, with additional training in research and basic sciences.

Its vision is to “celebrate excellence in healthcare by identifying leaders in medicine who have contributed to research, teaching and advancement of medicine in South Africa.”

The awards, which have 10 categories, also aim “to recognise inspiring leaders who have served as visionaries and mentors in the medical community”.

Prof Zingela, a psychiatrist, jointly won the Health Excellence Award category with Dr Zwelibanzi Zondo, an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Mediclinic.

The award is for “a clinician who has served the health and medical community in a distinguished way. Celebrated for a career of health excellence with a balance between clinical, academic and leadership excellence; or a health professional who has made a significant contribution that is recognised beyond the healthcare sector.”

Triple awards for Physics Honours student Hayley Britz

BSc Honours in Physics student at Nelson Mandela University Hayley Britz received three top awards in October, including a national award at the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SA Academy of Science and Art) student science symposium .

Hayley, only one of three honours students, was awarded the best presentation for a second language student at the science symposium held in Stellenbosch.

Her 15-minute presentation, all in Afrikaans, was on a type of mathematical model, that underpins the design of solar cells, architectural glazing, anti-reflective coatings, and thermal-control films.

Hayley together with Petrus Prinsloo and Rika van Dyk, both Mandela University Chemistry students, who presented five-minute flash presentations; Hayley Britz received the best presentation for a second language student award.

Mandela University sports director says new Sascoc job is all about ‘heart’

Madibaz Sport director Vuyo Bongela says her new job, which falls under the umbrella of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, is all about “heart”.

Madibaz director of sport Vuyo Bongela has been appointed to a national commission that falls under the Sascoc umbrella.

The 46-year-old, who has a solid background in marketing and business, was recently named to a commission tasked with the brand positioning of Sascoc. She will report directly to its board.

According to the Mandela University official, her focus areas will be building the national body’s brand and managing its reputation. She will also be instrumental in ensuring its adherence to the constitution and principles of good governance.

With a career path that spans the fields of marketing and sport within the educational sphere, her expertise is strongly aligned with the demands of the role.

Prof Vivienne Lawack appointed Director of UWC’s Centre for African Fintech, Innovation and Law

A person in a black suitAI-generated content may be incorrect. Professor Vivienne Lawack has been appointed as the inaugural Director of the Centre for African Fintech, Innovation and Law at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The Centre, housed within the Faculty of Law, will officially launch on 30 October 2025, strengthening UWC’s leadership in legal innovation and financial technology on the continent.

A distinguished legal scholar, Prof Lawack holds a B Juris (cum laude), LLB (cum laude), LLM from Nelson Mandela University, and an LLD from UNISA. She is an admitted, non-practising advocate of the High Court of South Africa, with extensive experience spanning academia, central banking, financial markets law, and regulatory practice.

Her career includes senior leadership roles such as Executive Dean of Law at Nelson Mandela University and Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at UWC. Prof Lawack’s appointment marks a significant step in advancing fintech scholarship and legal innovation across Africa.