WaFunda ISA applications open   🎓 UKZN students: An opportunity to help you take your next step   If you have outstanding university debt that is preventing you from graduating, there may be support available.   We’re pleased to share the WaFunda Income Share Agreement (ISA), an alternative funding solution designed to help eligible students settle qualifying final-year university debt.   The WaFunda ISA offers: ✅ No upfront payments ✅ No monthly interest or hidden fees ✅ No surety or collateral required ✅ Repayments only begin once you’re earning a living salary ✅ Ongoing support with your career, finances and wellbeing   The programme is also designed to pay it forward as your repayments help create opportunities for other students to complete their studies.   You may be eligible if you:   → Are currently in your final year or have already completed your studies → Have outstanding final-year university debt of between R15,000 and R200,000 → Have a South African bank account → Have a household income below R600,000 per year → Are not over-indebted or under debt review → Have no criminal record → Are not immediately continuing with further studies after graduation   📢 2Applications are now open. If you meet the eligibility requirements, find out more and apply directly through WaFunda: Social 👉 wafunda.com/isa

Postgraduate applications close on 31 October! Take the next step with a postgraduate qualification from UKZN and join our community of scholars, researchers and innovators shaping a better tomorrow. Apply now. Visit f.mtr.cool/b7p5sqsksz for more information. #InspiringGreatness #PostgraduateStudies

Leadership that turns experience into impact. We are proud to see our alumnus and University Council member, Mr Thabani Mkhize, elected to the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) Board. His expertise in strategy, governance and evaluation will support SAMEA’s work towards equitable and sustainable development. Congratulations, Mr Mkhize. We wish you a meaningful and successful tenure! #UKZN #InspiringGreatness

Postgraduate applications close on 31 October! Take the next step with a postgraduate qualification from UKZN and join our community of scholars, researchers and innovators shaping a better tomorrow. Apply now. Visit f.mtr.cool/b7p5sqsksz for more information. #InspiringGreatness #PostgraduateStudies

The next generation of UKZN founders is already here. Congratulations to the participants and winners of the Emerging Entrepreneurs Award: Winner: Anele Bulose 1st runner-up: Mhlengi Ndlovu (Howard College) 2nd runner-up: Akhona Mkhize Chosen from a shortlist of the competition's standout participants, these three showed the drive, clarity and promise that turn early ideas into lasting ventures. Growing emerging talent into tomorrow's job creators is at the heart of Goal 3 of our Strategic Plan 2023 to 2032. Anele, Mhlengi and Akhona, this is only the start. #UKZN #InspiringGreatness #UKZNInQubate #EmergingEntrepreneurs

Join us for our October session of Science with Jazz. Prof David Lokhat with Lu Dlamini and the Prophets. At Coastlands Musgrave, Wednesday 28 October @ 16h30.

Postgraduate applications close on 31 October! Take the next step with a postgraduate qualification from UKZN and join our community of scholars, researchers and innovators shaping a better tomorrow. Apply now. Visit f.mtr.cool/b7p5sqsksz for more information. #InspiringGreatness #PostgraduateStudies

Getting a start-up off the ground proves the idea. The next test is growth. Congratulations to our Start-Up Booster placings: Winner: Cebolenkosi Gcabashe (Pietermaritzburg) 1st runner-up: Sphumelele Cira (Edgewood) 2nd runner-up: Ntando Shazi (Westville) Three campuses on one podium, and three founders already building past the idea stage.  Scaling student businesses into real employers is the high impact entrepreneurship our Strategic Plan 2023 to 2032 is built to deliver. We'll keep boosting #UKZN #InspiringGreatness #UKZNInQubate #StartUpBooster

Every big business was once a student with a small idea and the courage to say it out loud. Congratulations to our Early Starters: Winner: Anele Mbokazi (Westville) 1st runner-up: Tswelopele Hermanus (Howard College) 2nd runner-up: Siyanda Mtungwa (Pietermaritzburg) Anele is building her idea from first-hand experience of student life, and the judges noticed the energy needed to push it forward. Tswelopele and Siyanda showed the same instinct: see a need, design a solution, pitch it with conviction. Starting early is how UKZN grows the job creators our Strategic Plan 2023 to 2032 calls for. This is only the beginning. #UKZN #InspiringGreatness #UKZNInQubate #EarlyStarters

Come learn about South African in Space. 22 October at Howard College Campus. #UKZNSpaceScience

Some of the best businesses start with a problem the founder could not ignore. Congratulations to our Start-Up Cultivator placings: Winner: Ntokozo Maseko (Pietermaritzburg) 1st runner-up: Amanda Ndlovu (Westville) 2nd runner-up: Lindani Esihle Ngcobo (Pietermaritzburg) Judges described Ntokozo's venture as an innovative solution to a national challenge, with real potential in our schools. Amanda opened the category with a confident, well-researched pitch built to serve small businesses. Lindani pitched an amazing idea of using teabags to filter for clean water. Early-stage ventures with national impact are what Goal 3 of our Strategic Plan 2023 to 2032 is about. Keep cultivating. #UKZN #InspiringGreatness #UKZNInQubate #StartUpCultivator

𝐔𝐊𝐙𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐒 UKZN doctoral student Ms Melissa Sibanda has won the national BRICS Debate Championship and is now set to represent South Africa at the international finals in Moscow, Russia, in December.   Sibanda will compete against national champions from the other BRICS founding countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), where the winner of the international championship will receive a fully sponsored academic exchange at a university of their choice in a BRICS country.   A PhD student in the Discipline of Geography, Planning, and Housing within the School of Social Sciences, Sibanda’s study examines the disproportionate burden on women in informal settlements living without reliable, affordable energy.   Sibanda is also an Academic Development Officer in the College of Humanities, supporting students’ academic growth and development.   Her own academic journey began at UKZN, where she completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees.   The 29-year-old said her interest in participating in the BRICS Debate was sparked by an opportunity funded by the College of Humanities Research Office to attend the 3rd BRICS Research Institute Conference in China in 2024.   “I went in as a housing researcher and came out convinced that the questions I care about, such as poverty, gender, energy, and how cities are built globally, are exactly the ones being negotiated in multilateral spaces. It reinforced, for me, the importance of the Global South setting its own terms, rather than simply inheriting someone else’s.”   With an urge to contribute to those conversations rather than merely observe them, Sibanda applied to the open call for the BRICS Debate in March of this year.   In preparation, Sibanda immersed herself in the history, structures, and institutions of BRICS, while examining the political and economic interests of its member states and debates around reforming global governance. “That tension is precisely the debate’s theme: whether BRICS reforms global governance or reproduces existing inequalities,” she added.   Her strategy for the finals is to remain composed and think clearly under pressure. “This is what the national rounds have taught me, and I intend to carry this with me.”   Sibanda also plans to listen as carefully as she argues. “To represent South Africa well doesn’t require out-talking anyone; instead, it calls on engaging seriously with their positions while maintaining my own evidence-based perspective with clarity.”   Dr Normah Zondo, Executive Director of the Corporate Relations Division, congratulated Sibanda, saying her achievement is a proud moment for UKZN and a powerful reflection of the calibre of students and staff. “We congratulate Melissa on this outstanding achievement, which reflects not only her intellectual ability and confidence, but also the global perspective and critical engagement that we seek to cultivate in our students. Her success demonstrates the value of rigorous scholarship, informed debate, and the ability to engage with complex global issues with clarity, evidence, and purpose. We are particularly proud of the way Melissa brings her academic knowledge to bear on issues with profound consequences for communities, including poverty, gender inequality, energy access and the development of cities across the Global South. In doing so, she demonstrates how scholarship can extend beyond the classroom to contribute meaningfully to the conversations shaping our shared future. Her achievement is a testament to the calibre of young scholars emerging from UKZN and to the important contribution they are making to global intellectual discourse. We wish Melissa every success as she takes her place on the international stage and represents South Africa with the intellectual rigour, confidence and distinctive perspective that have defined her academic journey.”

A strong idea deserves the tools to scale. Congratulations to Ruveshan Naik, winner of the Digital Growth Award, sponsored by Asante Solutions. Ruveshan receives R100 000 in business development and technology support to take ExamSlayer from pitch to market. This is what partnership looks like under our Strategic Plan 2023 to 2032: industry and university working together so student innovation does not stall at the prototype stage, it grows. Thank you to Corporate Relations Division and Asante Solutions for investing in UKZN talent. Ruveshan, the next chapter starts now. #UKZN #InspiringGreatness #UKZNInQubate #DigitalGrowth #AsanteSolutions

COUNTDOWN TO PRIS 2026: SPOTLIGHT ON PRIS 2026 Join us for the Postgraduate Research and Innovation Symposium (PRIS) 2026 28 & 29 October at Coastlands Hotel, Musgrave Save the date and stay tuned for more details. 📅 hashtag#UKZN hashtag#CAES#IYRP#PRIS2025#RESEARCH&INNOVATION Visit PRIS website at f.mtr.cool/b2j4lt4s29

Innovation is not a buzzword at UKZN. It is a scorecard, a panel of judges and a student brave enough to stand in front of both. Congratulations to the Innovation Challenge placings: Winner: Ruveshan Naik (Westville) 1st runner-up: Nkosingiphile Langa (Howard College) 2nd runner-up: Nkosingiphile Shangase (Westville) Ruveshan's pitch earned one of the strongest scores of the competition, on top of the Digital Growth Award. Nkosingiphile Langa and Nkosingiphile Shangase pushed him all the way. These are the ideas our Strategic Plan 2023 to 2032 was written for: original, scalable and built to solve real problems. #UKZN #InspiringGreatness #UKZNInQubate #InnovationChallenge

GOOD LUCK, MATRICS! You’ve put in the work. Now take a breath, trust yourself and give it your best. We’re rooting for you! Inspiring Greatness

Postgraduate applications close on 31 October! Take the next step with a postgraduate qualification from UKZN and join our community of scholars, researchers and innovators shaping a better tomorrow. Apply now. Visit f.mtr.cool/b7p5sqsksz for more information. #InspiringGreatness #PostgraduateStudies