Nelson Mandela University honours top students

From alien ferns and street art to serial killer Ted Bundy and nanoscience targeting breast cancer cells, Nelson Mandela University’s top performing students had a vast array of research topics for their awardwinning studies.

The hard work and academic excellence of 24 undergraduate and postgraduate students were recognised at the annual Nelson Mandela University Academic Awards function, held at the Feather Market Centre on Friday night.

Apart from being honoured with the top faculty awards, four students were awarded the prestigious Vice-Chancellor’s Award for the best diplomate, first degree and postgraduates, as well as two Rupert Gesinstigting Awards.

The vice-chancellor’s top award winners were IT software development diplomate Anathi Matshaya, bachelor of music graduate Mieke Struwig, master’s degree in psychology graduate Melissa Landsberg, and master’s degree in nature conservation graduate Emily Jones.

The two Rupert Gesinstigting winners, both already studying for their doctorate and receiving R75,000, were master’s in public law graduate Ntemesha Maseka, who is also an academic in the university’s law faculty, and Emily Jones.

Vice-chancellor Professor Sibongile Muthwa described the top performing students as worthy ambassadors of the university and encouraged them to continuously strive to live up to the values of the university and the essence of Nelson Mandela.

“Excellence is one of the university’s six values, which is core to achieving our vision of Nelson Mandela University as a dynamic African university,” Muthwa said.

The majority of the students have achieved an average 80% or more for their studies, with 15 receiving undergraduate awards and nine postgraduate.

Seventeen of the 24 students are women.

These students do not only excel academically.

Among the group are SA representatives in artistic swimming and equestrian sport, a provincial water polo player, a cross-country runner and one of the Madibaz cheerleaders who won the nationals in 2017.

One student is also a semifinalist in an international humanitarian law competition, another an information systems champion who also excels at debating and public speaking, a lawyer focusing on banking, a winner of hackathons, and a mountaineer who plans to summit a mountain on every continent.

Some of the recipients had to overcome challenges, such as being visually impaired, working for 10 years before studying for the first time, working fulltime while studying, and becoming an intern in a new field after being a manager for many years.