NWU School of Management Sciences / Skool vir Bestuurswetenskappe

📍Destination📍
Hillside Teachers' College situated in the beautiful Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

🥅Main goal☑️
Growing active esports in Southern Africa with the approach.

🚀Missions🏃
👩‍🏫Presenting strategies to integrate Active Esports in Teaching & Learning Practices, specifically in Physical Education and the Foundation of Sports. Expanding opportunities for 5.0 implementation. Brainstorming ideas for an esports curriculum due to growing demand.
📖 Discussing research avenues to expand active esports in the literature to support practical implementation.
👩‍💼🏭 Sharing the business models I envision for the and transform Thandekile Ndebele current esports lab to integrate Active Esports to facilitate physical activity. 🚴‍♂️🤸🏃

It was an honour to be afforded the opportunity to share my passion and ideas across disciplines. I was humbled to be treated as the guest of honour and experiencing Zimbabwean tradition and hospitality at HTC. I was also pleasantly surprised walking into the boardroom in the presence of the Vice Principal and HODs across Teaching Disciplines. I was expecting a much smaller gathering.😆

Driving home the importance of the session was the detailed and informative presentation by Sports Director edward chekure concerning the state of esports in Zimbabwe and his vision going forward.

👌🤩I got to present the mission points with my latest favourite technology, the Meta Quest 3, demonstrating a few games and applications. This discussion and demonstration sparked ideas to establish a VR Lab at HTC - and exciting avenue that will transform Teaching & Learning Practices.

I look forward to the collaboration between our institutions with far-reaching impact.

💫A special thanks to Khanyile Dlamini who shared my details with Thandekile, followed by Edward. Without these connections, none of this would have happened.



North-west University

Building Tomorrow’s Leaders at Three Rivers High School!

Today we launched our enhanced SMS BUILD Leadership Development Program with the talented learners of Three Rivers High School and what an inspiring journey it was!

Our interactive sessions focused on empowering young leaders with essential skills, including:

- Taking on leadership roles with confidence and responsibility
- Ethical decision-making and effective problem-solving
- Owning and learning from mistakes
- Strengthening communication and active listening
- Exploring personal values and aligning them with school values
- Embracing the power of a growth mindset
- Crafting a meaningful and actionable leadership manifesto

The energy, curiosity and commitment shown by the learners were truly impressive. It’s clear that the next generation of leaders is full of potential, they simply need the right tools, guidance and opportunities to build their leadership skills.

A big thank-you to the Three Rivers High School community for trusting us with this important work. We look forward to continuing the journey of leadership, growth and positive impact together!

The NWU’s 2025 academic promotions process has officially wrapped up — and what an exciting line-up we have to celebrate! Congratulations to our promoted colleagues:
🌟 Promoted to Professor: Re-an Müller & Marko van Deventer
🌟 Promoted to Associate Professor: Anita Lennox, Lerato Mdaka, Chantel Muller & Faan Pelser
🌟 Promoted to Senior Lecturer: Falkor Eckardt, Junior Longweni, Kezell Klinck & Thuba Ndlela.

We’re incredibly proud of each colleague’s commitment and excellence. Here’s to continued growth, impact, and success — you make our school shine!

(Our Senior Lecturer promotions were finalised earlier this year, while the Professor and Associate Professor promotions will officially take effect on 1 January 2026.)

At the heart of Chantel Muller's POWER-Hub research and social responsiveness is the goal of instilling a workplace wellness culture by offering and validating on-demand (OD) XR sports and fitness gaming solutions. 🏃🚴‍♂️🤸🥊💃

This objective aligned perfectly with the team's recent visit to the FEDU Administrative Staff Event on the Potchefstroom Campus - one team, one culture. A special discussion with Executive Dean Prof. Lloyd Conley and Deputy Dean of T&L, Prof. Kotie Kaiser, further highlighted the need to break down silos across disciplines. This means linking the untapped potential of XR technologies with Teaching and Learning practices at NWU.

Many colleagues enthusiastically 'enrolled' in the fun. Some were 'schooled' in boxing and dancing, while a few 'booked' it out of there, 'flaking' fun, finding the immersion a bit too 'advanced'. Regardless, the FEDU Admin Staff were real 'class' acts—'pencil' pushers by day and pros by fight. 🥊🤸 They took 'calculated' risks, 'erased' their worries for a while, and gave the Hub a good 'grade'! 😁🤩

A special thanks to the team of the day Anita Lennox vd Westhuizen and the research students Senwamadi Moloi.










By CM

Reflecting back on the ⚡️The POWER-Hub's⚡️ XR Sports and Fitness gaming session hosted at the F-EMS Office Managers' Innovation Conference 2025, emphasises the dire need for On-Demand (OD), engaging and immersive workplace wellness initiatives that targets mental and physical wellbeing.

The Hub's solutions, which includes portable cycling, walking/running and VR stations, integrated with mobility-friendly gaming experiences with titles such as 🕺💃Synth Riders (rythm-based dancing), 🤸Les Mills (Kick boxing training), 🥊Creed (ring-side boxing), 🚴‍♂️MyWhoosh Cycling and 🏃Zwift Running, tailors to all playing needs.

😃😁Staff could experience XR gaming for the first time, step into a digital world and just forget about negative experiences while building up a sweat. Judging by their reactions, interaction and feedback, their experience was a success, whether they played or watched 🤩🤓

Notably, the spectators had the most fun, it seemed!! The cackles and screams of laughter seeing their colleagues play, were priceless!!

Thank you Zama Mabuza for inviting me to this amazing conference and for assisting at the stations. A special thanks to Lorenda Minne for the manual labour and help with running the stations.









By Chantel Muller

Jacqueline Bonnema Anita Lennox Fanie Roos and Van Der Vyver hosted the annual 🏏🏏🏏🏏mini-cricket festival on the Vanderbijlpark Campus this past weekend and what a huge success!! Bringing kids together to develop and deepen their love for sports is simply magical.😁🤩🏆🎖

​The ⚡️POWER-Hub⚡️ made a blasting first impression at this year's event, bringing a new kind of fun to physical activity for kids. As a first, only available at the North-west University's Vanderbijlpark Campus, we're pioneering "active esports" through immersive sports simulations, offering a much more valuable and engaging alternative to passive mobile and console gaming. Games included virtual cycling , Meta Quest 3 games (boxing), (body combat) and (rythm- based dancing). One of our goals is to reshape entertainment for the next generation. ​The enthusiastic response from every child who experienced the Hub was a huge validation of our mission.

​Beyond the event, the POWER-Hub is a developing research, teaching and community-driven initiative that also emPOWERs sports and postgrad students from the School of Management Sciences. It provides them with hands-on experience hosting events and developing professional skills, all while creating an opportunity for income generation.

🚵‍♀️🥇A sepcial shout-out to our sponsor URcycling, who made it possible to amp up the competition with prizes.

We're excited to invite all schools to bring their learners to experience this innovative gaming format! For more information email Chantel Muller at [email protected]

🥸👐Not done enough is thanking the leaders that support our crazy initiatives even when it takes time to envision the importance and significance to the School. So, thank you Re-an Müller and Natasha De Klerk.

A very special thanks to Lorenda Minne and Elize for all the support, patience and enabling the Hub to become what it is meant to be. 🙆‍♀️🤓

🚀 The ELEVATE Career Launchpad: The SHARP Series
9 Weeks. Countless Breakthroughs. Lifelong Impact. 🌟

Over the past two months, this incredible cohort of emerging professionals has embarked on a transformative journey of self-discovery, growth and career readiness through The SHARP Series.

From exploring personal identity and career aspirations to building influence and digital presence, this series has empowered students to:

🔍 Explore their identities and career paths, where they have gained clarity on who they are, what drives them and how to align purpose with profession.
💬 Master communication for career success by developing impactful, authentic and strategic communication skills for interviews, networking and collaboration.
🌐 Navigate the digital workspace through learning how to engage, influence and build trust in virtual professional environments.
📈 Upskill with Google Digital Garage to harness essential digital skills to boost employability and adaptability in a tech-driven world.
🌟 Build their personal brand with purpose by crafting compelling personal brands rooted in authenticity, values and career vision.

I have witnessed confidence grow, connections strengthen and mindsets shift. This is just the beginning, these students are stepping boldly into their futures, SHARP and ready to lead.

👏 Huge kudos to all participants for showing up, engaging deeply and investing in themselves.





NWU SchoNWU School of Management Sciences / Skool vir Bestuurswetenskappeijlpark Campus

✨ Witnessing Growth Through Design: Personal Logos with Purpose ✨

Over the past few months, with five workshops in total, the prefects of Laerskool Emfulenipark have journeyed through the SMS BUILD Leadership Programme at the NWU School of Management Sciences / Skool vir Bestuurswetenskappe VanderbijlparkCampus, diving deep into self-awareness, leadership values and personal development.

As a final reflection, they were challenged to design their own personal logos, not just for fun, but as a way to visually represent their identity, purpose and growth.

What they created was nothing short of inspiring. 🎨 Each logo was a thoughtful reflection of who they are becoming, grounded in the values, insights and leadership principles they’ve absorbed along the way.

It was heartwarming (and honestly, a bit goosebump-inducing) to see how much they’ve taken in. From defining their core values to embracing their unique leadership styles, these students have shown us that real learning goes far beyond the classroom.

💡 They didn’t just hear the lessons, they lived them.
And now they’ve turned those lessons into symbols they’ll carry forward.

To our students: You’ve truly BUILT something remarkable.