University of Pretoria Mamelodi Campus

https://www.up.ac.za/news/womenofup-how-dr-martina-jordaans-commitment-amplifying-community-voices-has-earned-her

#WomenOfUP: How Dr Martina Jordaan’s commitment to amplifying community voices has earned her international recognition New Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship recipient Dr Martina Jordaan encourages women to lead with humility, empathy and ethical purpose.

https://www.citizen.co.za/rekord/uncategorized/2026/08/19/mamelodi-community-organisations-unite-to-share-ideas-and-strengthen-collaboration/

Mamelodi community organisations unite to share ideas and strengthen collaboration The ninth annual expo brought community organisations together to exchange information, build partnerships and challenge negative perceptions about township communities.

The University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi Business Hub recently hosted an engaging panel discussion at the Mamelodi Campus in collaboration with Prof Mourad’s students from Georgia State University, creating a platform for meaningful dialogue between students and local entrepreneurs.

The session gave entrepreneurs a chance to share their business journeys, challenges, insights, and experiences, while students gained valuable first-hand perspectives on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the realities of running a business.

With a focus on interactive engagement, the discussion moved beyond a traditional question-and-answer format, encouraging students and entrepreneurs to exchange ideas, experiences and practical knowledge.

These engagements form part of the Hub’s commitment to creating meaningful connections between academic learning and real-world enterprise, while supporting an environment where students can learn from entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs can engage with the next generation of innovators and business leaders.

We extend our appreciation to Prof Mourad, his students and the participating entrepreneurs for contributing to a meaningful and enriching session.

When knowledge, experience and opportunity come together, we create pathways for learning, innovation and impact.

As part of the Feast of the Clowns, the Center for Faith and Community and the Javett Art Centre (Javett-UP) at the University of Pretoria came together with Artists, community activists, students, and the Community, for an Art tour through the Javett Art Centre at UP, focusing on art education. The Art workshop culminated in a protest poster-making workshop, which took place at the UP Mamelodi Campus. The process of making protest posters was both a reflection on existing campaigns and voicing out the challenges communities are facing. These posters will be used at the main event of the Feast of the Clowns on the 29th August at Burgers Park in the inner-city, and then transferred back to the community as their protest posters to strengthen their local campaigns.

The Mamelodi Expo took place today. The aim is to bring community partners together and to share what they are doing in the community. As part of the programme, Dr Charmaine Manuel led a discussion on practical steps to improve collaboration between researchers and the community, and the community-based story maps were showcased. A massive and heartfelt thank you to Tinyiko Ndaba for your visionary leadership, hard work, and dedication in organising such a phenomenal event.

Today, Debbie Mdlongwa presented a basic Canva training session to Mamelodi community members. Participants gained practical digital design skills, learning how to create professional graphics, promotional posters, and social media content to support their local businesses, projects, and personal skills development.

The Mamelodi Campus, in collaboration with the Historical Society, presented a three-day workshop on how to use the cloud-based video editing software WeVideo. As part of the workshop, Maike Brunn, a student from the University of Konstanz, Germany, shared her experience in video editing.

ACCESS Habitable Planet Programme (HPW), a student volunteer programme, had its high school science club this past weekend. This programme is supported by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and funded via the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Department of Science and Innovation (DSI).

The Centre for Faith and Community at the University of Pretoria recently hosted a vital Child Wellness Workshop, bringing together stakeholders to share ideas and collaborate on changing the lives of children in Mamelodi for the better. Held in collaboration with UP’s Centre for the Study of Resilience, this workshop focused on building stronger networks, fostering resilience, and creating impactful solutions for local youth.

Thank you to JCP students from the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment, and IT who were working so hard in the garden this past weekend. Thank you to Group 359, Amina Mahomed, Ariana Dinu, Machidi Malatji, Meher Alex and Markus de Beer for the water feature.