Nelson Mandela University launches coping skills training programme
The Nelson Mandela University Faculty of Health Sciences today (24 June) launched a short learning programme to enhance mental well-being. The basic course in Enhanced Preparedness Training (EPT) is designed to empower individuals with essential psychological coping skills.
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The presenters are, from left, Nelson Mandela University Faculty of Health Sciences Director of the School of Behavioural and Lifestyle Sciences Prof Zoleka Soji, Faculty of Health Sciences Executive Dean, Professor Zukiswa Zingela, and Dean of Learning and Teaching Dr Phumeza Kota-Nyati
Faculty of Health Sciences Executive Dean, Professor Zukiswa Zingela, a psychiatrist with a PhD in psychology, developed the short learning programmes (SLPs) after research and planning on how to best support healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in resource limited settings.
Read full article here: Nelson Mandela University News
Embracing Inclusivity: A Personal Journey of Advocacy and Empowerment
As we celebrate Youth Month at Nelson Mandela University, it is crucial to reflect on the experiences, challenges and achievements of our young students, in particular students with disabilities.
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As the Student Access Coordinator for Universal Accessibility and Disability Services (UADS) at the George campus, Ms Miso Mbuli has had the privilege of working closely with these remarkable individuals. Ms Mbuli said that: "Their resilience, determination and triumphs inspire me every day, and it is my hope that sharing their stories will offer guidance and hope for the future".
My journey as an advocate for inclusivity and accessibility began long before my current role. As a student, I was a fervent activist, passionately raising my voice for various social causes. One of my most significant contributions was my involvement in the MEMEZA Gender-Based Violence (GBV) campaign, where I fought tirelessly to create a safer and more respectful environment for everyone on campus. This experience laid the foundation for my advocacy work, teaching me the importance of persistence and community in driving societal change.
Read full article here: Nelson Mandela University News
Share With Pride
Young people in South Africa celebrate Youth Month in June, and in extension to that, queer young South Africans also celebrate Pride Month in the same month. Pride Month isn’t just a celebration of being a queer person in the country or in the world. It is about continuing the fight for freedom for queer people to live and breathe in today’s societies, where they feel they have no place nor do not belong.
While you will find the collective of young people reflect on youth advancement in the context of quality education and youth employment opportunities during Youth Month, queer young people find themselves further reflecting on their acceptance and existence in society.
Read full article here: Nelson Mandela University News
Gaining new perspectives through collective reading
The Faculty of Education (FOE) recently launched their first collective book reading initiative, with the hopes of bringing staff within the Faculty together to read, exchange ideas, and generate knowledge.
This initiative entails a series of group reading sessions, where Faculty staff read collectively. The first book chosen, which received the highest votes, was Steve Biko’s I write what I like.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching, Dr Muki Moeng, sponsored a book for each Faculty staff member who participated in the collective reading sessions and kicked off proceedings by reading page 101 of I write what I like.
In line with the institutional vision of being a ‘dynamic African University’, the Faculty’s choice to read Biko’s book reflects the same aspiration by grappling with concepts like Decolonisation and Africanisation, which require critical engagement.
With his focus on Black Consciousness, Steve Biko spoke about, and to, the African Being, and in so doing, rejected the colonial essentialising of Africa.
Read full article here: Nelson Mandela University News
Centre for Women and Gender Studies to host Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow 2025
The Centre for Women and Gender Studies is pleased to have been awarded a fellowship by the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP) to host Professor Sybille Ngo Nyeck, to work on a collaborative project on developing postgraduate gender studies for studying postcolonial Africa.
The Centre for Women and Gender Studies’ Professor Babalwa Magoqwana will lead the project with Prof Nyeck, who is from the University of Colorado Boulder in the United States. This collaborative project is part of the ongoing partnership between Nelson Mandela University and the University of Fort Hare via the NRF-DSI SARCHI Chair in Genders, Sexualities and Queer Studies, headed by Professor Zethu Matebeni.
Titled “Building Postgraduate Gender Studies from African Queer Vocabularies and Womanist Approaches in Studying Postcolonial Africa”, the project seeks to address questions of gender, citizenship, and (non)belonging for women and queer communities in postcolonial Africa. In doing so, it aims for a consolidated approach to revisiting African women’s intellectual contributions, stimulating intergenerational conversations on the foundations of violence and fractured societies, while contributing to the decolonization of knowledge production between the Global North and African universities.
Read full article here: Nelson Mandela University News
SA legal expert appointed to SADC’s top illegal fisheries control body
Prof Hennie van As, Director of the Centre for Law in Action and head of South Africa’s Fisheries Law Enforcement Academy, FishFORCE, at Nelson Mandela University, has been appointed as a legal expert to the first Board of Directors of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC), established in 2023.
The Board was appointed by the SADC Ministers of Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture for a period of two years, starting on 1 June 2024.
The Maputo-based MCSCC is a joint effort of the 14 SADC member states to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the region, protect small-scale fisheries and secure the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fish and other living resources from the Indian Ocean and inland freshwater sources.
Read full article here: Nelson Mandela University News
Empowering Educators: GMMDC Hosts Groundbreaking Provincial STEAM Education Seminar
The Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre (GMMDC) at Nelson Mandela University recently hosted a successful inaugural two-day provincial Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education seminar at Kingswood College in Makhanda.
This strategic event was organized in partnership with the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA). The primary goal of the seminar was to advance trans-disciplinary teaching and learning strategies within schools, addressing critical STEM education challenges which inhibits sustainable development and economic growth opportunities for the youth of the Eastern Cape Province (ECP).
Professor Werner Olivier, Director of the GMMDC, underscored the urgent necessity to confront obstacles in STEM education, including teaching skills deficits and limited access to digital learning materials within schools. "We must facilitate more networking opportunities for educators across diverse school environments for educators to showcase and share innovative 21st-century teaching practices and resources," he emphasized.
Read full article here: Nelson Mandela University News