March 2022 EDITION


LETTER FROM THE VICE CHANCELLOR

March is Human Rights Month and after being in the grips and at the mercy of a devastating pandemic for the last two years, we can slowly start looking towards the horizon and see with a glimmer of hope perhaps the eventual return to a much more normal way of life post Covid-19.



UMP EXPANDS IN ASIA WITH NEW PARTNERSHIP

The University of Mpumalanga (UMP) is the first South African University to partner with the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) to develop entrepreneurial students who will create employment and build capacity for supporting start-up and spin-off companies, as well as exchanging knowledge among faculty staff.



TAKING THE UNIVERSITY OF MPUMALANGA TO NEW HEIGHTS

University of Mpumalanga Vice-Chancellor, Professor Thoko Mayekiso, is a woman on a mission: to grow and develop the institution to its full potential. Her determination and will have seen the university overcome many challenges and attain great successes. The future looks bright with her at the helm.



POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS TO BENEFIT FROM ELEPHANT PROJECT

South African Masters and Honours students stand to benefit from the ELEPHANT project, funded by the European Union (EU) mobility programme from January 2020 to January 2024.



LOW PRODUCTIVITY IN GOVERNMENT DELAYS DEVELOPMENT

University of Mpumalanga (UMP) Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Development and Business Sciences, Professor Vusi Gumede, says the South African government has not sufficiently confronted apartheid colonialism directly and the country is in need of a clear development agenda.



UMP ALUMNUS UPGRADES HER CULINARY SKILLS IN FRANCE

University of Mpumalanga (UMP) alumnus, Gugu Shongwe, is applying her culinary skills at Le Calabash, a restaurant in the Loire Valley in France. The opportunity came after securing an internship to learn the finer arts of cookery.



LOCAL SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM FAMILY MATH PROGRAMME

The University of Mpumalanga (UMP) is running a successful Family Math programme that addresses the shortage of teaching resources at local schools. The programme empowers learners where there’s no parental involvement and assists some educators who do not necessarily have adequate mathematics content knowledge and teaching skills.



BREAKING BIAS REQUIRES A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH

OPINION: University of Mpumalanga (UMP) Lecturer and Chairperson of the Gender Forum, Dr Lucille Nonzwakazi Maqubela, and third-year Sociology students and members of the GBV student group, Mazwi Mgwenya and Nelisa Manyisa, say breaking the bias requires a multi-pronged approach, which includes addressing equity, gender mainstreaming and intersectionality (intersectional inequalities).



UMP STUDENTS PARTICIPATE AT MEETINGS AFRICA

Two students from the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) participated in the Meetings Africa Youth Programme 2022, which was recently held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, Gauteng.



UMP REALISES NETBALL STARS’ DREAMS

The University of Mpumalanga (UMP), through its comprehensive and active sports programme, has produced well-known netball stars such as Lerato Baloyi who represented the institution as part of the under 19 Nkangala District Team and participated in the USSA Netball Telkom Junior Championships in 2021.