Dear UJ community,
As it is now a norm at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), each week brings its fair share of good news – a testament to the outstanding work across various faculties and departments. Last week, for instance, we celebrated the two UJ winners of the 2024/2025 NSTF-South32 Awards (commonly known as South Africa’s ‘Science Oscars’) in Professor Suprakas Sinha Ray (a Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemical Sciences) and Prof Olaniyi Amos Fawole (DSTI-NRF SARChI Chair-holder: Sustainable Preservation and Agroprocessing Research).
NRF Awards
I am delighted to announce that six of our academic staff members have been named winners of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Awards that took place in Sandton last night. This prestigious awards ceremony is held annually to celebrate South Africa’s research excellence. This year’s event was held under the theme Innovating for a Sustainable Future, which aligns with the NRF’s Vision 2030 of Research for a Better Society. Notably, this also aligns with UJ’s Innovation for Societal Impact and Sustainability strategy, as underpinned by our Strategic Plan 2035. The awards are presented across two categories—the NRF Ratings-based Awards and Special Awards. The Ratings-based awards are centred on a peer review system that looks at the research impact of the nominee over a five-year period. The UJ winners are:
- A-Rated for the 2nd Time
- Professor Philip Hallinger (Department of Education Leadership and Management)
- A-Rated Researchers for the First Time
- Prof Matthias Bickelhaupt (Faculty of Science)
- Public Engagement with Research Award
- Professor Leila Patel (Centre for Social Development in Africa)
- Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers
- Dr Msizi Innocent Mhlongo (Department of Biochemistry):
- Prof Musawenkosi Saurombe (Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management)
- Dr Bonginkosi Allen Thango (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology)
Congratulations colleagues, we are immensely proud of you! Click here to read more about this.
MCom Business Management Wins 13th Consecutive PMR Award
Congratulations to our Master of Commerce in Business Management for winning the PMR Award for the 13th consecutive year. Every year, PMR Africa conducts a national survey of accredited Business Schools offering MBA (and equivalent Masters of Commerce) the best specialised degrees in South Africa. For 2025, a random sample of 300 HR Directors and top-level managers across various business sectors in South Africa participated in the PMR survey. On a 10-point scale, the MCom in Business Management achieved an outstanding score of 7.96 as the Best Specialised Degree in South Africa. The MCom team are Professor Geoff A Goldman (programme coordinator), Ms Zuki Mancoba (academic coordinator), Mr Makgaba Manabile (senior faculty officer) and Ms Cebelihle Mahlangu (assistant)
By winning this award for the 13th consecutive year (2012 – 2025), the MCom Business Management has firmly cemented the programme as one of the foremost management Masters’ qualifications in the country. This is significant, both for the programme and the Department of Business Management as a whole, as it establishes it as a premier research-focused coursework qualification. Congratulations to the MCom team and everyone in the Department for their commitment, innovation, and excellence in making this achievement possible. Well done!
Faculty of Law wins 2025 Kovsies First Year Moot Court Competition
Please also join me in congratulating our first-year students in the Faculty of Law, Chante Werner and Mihlali Ndonga, for winning the overall 2025 Kovsies First Year Moot Court Competition. The competition was held at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. Team UJ had progressed to the final, where they went head-to-head with Nelson Mandela University. Our students emerged victorious after successfully arguing a complex case centred on the unlawful relocation of a parent with children abroad, in alleged violation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This year’s competition featured a total of 17 teams from law faculties across South Africa, making this achievement even more significant. Special thanks to their dedicated coach, Ms Rebecca Byker (Moot Court Tutor), whose guidance helped the team shine on this national stage. We are incredibly proud of Chante and Mihlali – your hard work, dedication, and excellence represent the very best of UJ Law! The future of law is in excellent hands!
Honorary Doctorate
I have received news that William V.S. Tubman University in Liberia will bestow an Honorary Doctorate on me later this year. This Honorary Doctorate is in recognition of contributions to leadership and education. William V.S. Tubman University, one of Liberia’s leading institutions of higher learning, is known for its commitment to excellence in science, technology, and development-focused education. While this honour is awarded to me in my personal capacity, it is also a reflection of the University of Johannesburg’s growing influence and reputation. It is an achievement that belongs to the entire UJ community—academic, professional, and support staff alike—whose collective efforts continue to place UJ on the global map.
Annual Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture
Next week on Tuesday, 12 August 2025, our university will host the 20th Annual Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture, the Faculty of Humanities’ most longstanding Annual event. The lecture is in honour of Helen Joseph, a tireless campaigner against apartheid, whose anti-apartheid activities made her the first person placed under house arrest in South Africa. She died on 25 December 1992 at the age of 87. Joseph received the African National Congress’s highest honour for her role in opposing apartheid.
It is befitting that this 20th lecture coincides with UJ celebrating its 20th Anniversary. Notably, and more apt, this year’s lecture will be held under the theme Harnessing Social Protection for Gender Equality, Resilience, with Transformation. Dr. Silke Staab, a Research Specialist at UN Women, will deliver the lecture. The lecture will be held at the Ubuntu Chambers, Madibeng Building, Auckland Park Kingsway (APK) Campus between 17h00 – 19h00. To confirm your attendance, click here. For further information, kindly contact Callyn Marks at callynm@uj.ac.za
Women’s Day
Tomorrow, Saturday 9 August 2025, marks Women’s Day in South Africa, a day that also comes during Women’s Month. As already communicated, it is a period when we remember the events of that day in 1956, when more than 20 000 women defied the odds to march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in a mass demonstration against unjust Pass Laws. It is a fitting reminder that the journey we have travelled so far in our quest for freedom would not have been possible without the contribution of women. Yet as we take this time to celebrate women, we are also cognisant that huge challenges remain. Problems such as discrimination at the workplace, stigma, bigotry and all manner of stereotypes persist. More disturbingly, the rampaging pandemic of gender-based violence (GBV) continues unabated in this country. UJ has zero tolerance for any form of violence, intimidation, or bullying, whether in-person or online. May we be empowered by the sentiment: wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo’. Malibongwe!
High Tea with the VC
I invite you to the next edition of the High Tea with the VC Book Discussion on Friday, 29 August 2025. We will discuss the book The Splendid Tapestry of African Life: Essays on a Resilient Continent, its Diaspora, and the World by Professor Adekeye Adebajo. He is the former Director of the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPATC), and has also previously served as the executive director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) in Cape Town as on the United Nations missions in South Africa, Western Sahara, and Iraq. As usual, we will meet at the UJ Library, Chinua Achebe Auditorium, Level 6, APK Campus, at 14h00.
Media and Publicity
In my latest (co) written article that appeared in the Mail & Guardian this morning, titled, The case for a special commission on the 4IR and law reform, I reflect on the fact that the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) involves a complex balancing of dilemmas. The various dilemmas I explored include the trade-offs between opportunity-seeking and risk aversion, the interplay between security and transparency, as well as the tension between globalisation and localisation and the interplay between self-regulation and government control. I then argue that AI governance frameworks must balance innovation, ethics, public safety and fairness as technologies evolve, amongst other imperatives that are essential to guarantee robust and adaptable regulatory frameworks. Click here to read the full article.
UJ Sport: Varsity Football is back!
Our Senior Men’s Football Team played their first match of the 2025 Varsity Football tournament yesterday (7 August 2025) at our Soweto Campus. This entertaining clash against North-West University (Mafikeng) was the first of five home games which will be played at the UJ Soweto Stadium. The team will play an additional two away matches in the Free State against the University of Free State and Central University of Technology on 14 August and 18 September 2025, respectively. The team will need your physical support at the stadium and continuous online encouragement to excel in their upcoming games. Let’s rally behind them all the way to the final! To purchase tickets for the upcoming matches, click here. Please join me in wishing our teams the very best in these three competitions – bring the trophies home, #Orange Army!
Ke a leboha, ngiyabonga, thank you, baie dankie!
Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi: Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Times mentioned in this newsletter refer to the South African time zone.
