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.”
Read more: Nelson Mandela University News
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.
Read more: Nelson Mandela University News
Mandela University sports director says new Sascoc job is all about ‘heart’
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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.
Read more: Nelson Mandela University News
Prof Vivienne Lawack appointed Director of UWC’s Centre for African Fintech, Innovation and Law
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.
Read more: UWC News
Dr Nehemiah Latolla awarded AAUN Grant for sustainable health innovations
Dr Nehemiah Latolla, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Nelson Mandela University’s Department of Human Physiology, has been awarded a prestigious Australia-Africa Universities Network (AAUN) Partnership Research and Development Fund grant for 2025–2026.
He serves as Principal Investigator on one of only eight projects selected globally.
Dr Latolla recently represented the University at the AAUN Forum and Annual Meeting held in Perth, Australia.
His winning project, Indigenous Knowledge and Green Innovation: Co-Creating Sustainable Cancer and Environmental Health Solutions from African Medicinal Plants, is a collaboration between Nelson Mandela University, the University of New South Wales, Curtin University, and the University of Ghana.
This partnership brings together Indigenous knowledge holders, sustainable agriculturists, chemists, physiologists, and AI specialists across Africa and Australia to develop environmentally friendly ways to address cancer and related health challenges.
Mandela University Environmental Health graduate receives runner-up award
Nelson Mandela University Environmental Health graduate, Mi-Juan Barnard, was the runner-up in the Alfred Nzo Environmental Health Excellence Awards for the Best Performing student in Environmental Health in 2024.
The awards were handed over at the recent Department of Health National World Environmental Health Commemoration 2025, a two-day conference in Johannesburg with Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi as speaker on Day Two.
Mandela University’s Shireez Brown and Sydlynn Hambury, both lecturers in Environmental Health, attended the conference together with Mi-Juan.
Mi-Juan, who is currently performing her Community Service as Environmental Health Practitioner Kakamas Hospital, Northern Cape, obtained 25 distinctions and graduated cum-laude.
Two first prizes for Mandela University Chemistry students
Master’s students in Chemistry Liesl Els and Sindile Mnyamana recently won the first prize in the SACI (South African Chemical Institute) Regional Seminar in both the senior and junior categories.
Liesl Els, Dr Neliswa Mama, Senior Lecturer at Mandela University and the SACI Eastern Cape representative and Sindile Mnyamana.
Liesl’s presentation in the senior category focused on creating sensors that rural communities can use to test their water sources for harmful chemicals.
The SACI regional seminars included Mandela University, Rhodes, Fort Hare and Walter Sisulu, with a senior (second-year MSc and PhD) and junior student (honours and first-year MSc) presenting their project at Rhodes University.
A total of eight students participated, with four in the senior and the junior category each.
Mandela statistics alumnus shares postgraduate study survival strategies
Mandela University’s Department of Statistics recently hosted a seminar with alumnus Dr Farai Mlambo launching his book on surviving postgraduate studies.
Dr Farai Mlambo, who completed all his studies at Mandela University, is currently a Senior Lecturer in Digital Business (Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence) at Wits Business School and a Research Fellow at the Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute.
From left Aviwe Gqwaka, Dr Siphumlile Mangisa, Dr Farai Mlambo, Dr Chantelle Clohessy, Dr Johan Hugo, Professor Gary Sharp and Lesego Sepato.
A Survival Guide for Every Postgraduate Journey: 30 Things You Need to Have Peace with Before You Get Frustrated as a master’s or Ph.D. Student is the title of Dr Farai’s book, a candid, empathetic guide for postgraduates, focusing on the emotional challenges of research - like procrastination, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and feedback - while encouraging students to celebrate small wins.
During the seminar, Dr Mlambo highlighted the contrasts between undergraduate and postgraduate study, noting that while undergrad offers external validation, postgrad research is often solitary and demands resilience.