The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, also known as Wits University, is a leading, internationally-ranked, research-intensive university located in Johannesburg, South Africa, the economic heartland of Africa. Committed to academic and research excellence and social justice, Wits generates high level scarce skills for a globally competitive world, while addressing local social and economic development. At the forefront of a changing society, Wits is a social leader, dedicated to advancing the public good.
Wits is known for its work in deep level mining, science, health sciences, accountancy, law, governance, and the humanities, amongst others. It houses five faculties which comprise 34 schools. Wits offers approximately 3 600 courses to about 32 500 full-time students, of whom about a third are postgraduate and 55% are female. Almost 65% of all doctoral candidates and about half of all enrolments are in the Science, Engineering and Technology fields. Wits has developed about 130 000 graduates in its 93 years of existence. It has a proud record in that about 87% of all publications are in accredited international journals.
South Africa’s tightening up of its competition law enables it to punish collusive conduct by firms, but there are major obstacles to implementing the changes.
The Marikana massacre of 2012 triggered strikes across South Africa and political realignment. But could this, and the formation of the United Front to rival the ANC, have long-term significance?
Inequality remains one of South Africa’s major problems. Thomas Piketty’s visit to the country provides an opportunity to explore ways to deal with this problem.
Dung beetles have been cleaning up the planet for at least 65 million years. The 6000 species across the world have adapted to a life at the back end of the food chain in the most remarkable ways.
How can the higher education sector guard against proposed transformation measures being merely superficial quick fixes? At least part of the answer may lie in institutional governance.
Ames Dhai, University of the Witwatersrand and Safia Mahomed, University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa has no legislation setting out the rules for biobanks and the guidelines that do exist are not clear or detailed. This leaves the door wide open for unethical practises.
To address corruption in the South African health sector, a combination of political will with an effective government, citizen involvement and advocacy is needed.
South Africa does some amazing research but cannot share it globally because of restrictive copyright laws or unreasonable policies and embargo periods set by publishers that limit their audience.
Associate Professor in the SAMRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand