Campus celebrates
10th anniversary
with public lecture
CAMPUS NEWS
T
Annette Willemse
The year 2014 is a red-letter year for South Africa and
the North-West University (NWU). Not only is South Africa celebrating 20 years of democracy, but the NorthWest University is also celebrating ten years since the
merger and incorporation process that led to its inception in 2004.
The North-West University officially came into being
on 1 January 2004. It was part of the national government’s broader plan to transform higher education,
with the aim of using resources more effectively and
addressing past imbalances. The institutions that came
together to create the NWU were the Potchefstroom
University for Christian Higher Education (PU for CHE)
and the University of Northwest (UNIBO). The staff and
students of the Sebokeng Campus of the Vista University were also incorporated.
It is against this backdrop that the Vaal Triangle
Campus recently hosted a public lecture featuring Dr
Danny Jordaan – the president of the South African
Football Association (SAFA), as the keynote speaker.
The overarching theme of the public lecture was – ‘The
role of education and sport in nation building’. The
other speakers at the event were Dr Tony Kirkbride –
the manager of the South African Sports Technology
Centre, and Mr Anton Gilmore who runs the Fight with
Insight program.
More about the speakers
Dr Daniel “Danny” Jordaan is a renowned sports
administrator and a former lecturer, politician and antiapartheid activist. In 1997, Dr Jordaan was elected
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the South African
Football Association (SAFA). He was instrumental in
transforming the economy of South Africa’s football,
raising revenue from the sport from US$ 3.2 million to
US$ 35 million. He furthermore led South Africa’s bid
to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup, narrowly losing out
to Germany but gaining respect internationally for his
work. Having led South Africa to a successful bid in
2004 - for the right to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup,
Dr Jordaan was then elected CEO of the South Africa
2010 Organising Committee for the 2010 showpiece.
6 - Student 24/7
Dr D
anie
l
Jord ‘Dann
y’
aan
Dr Jordaan
has served on the
Marketing and Television
Board of FIFA since 1998. He is
also a member of the International
Marketing Council. In 2000, he won the South Africa’s
marketing person of the year award, while in 2001 he
was the recipient of the Presidential Sport Achievement
Award from former President Thabo Mbeki. In 2004,
Dr Jordaan was voted 44th in the Top 100 Great South
Africans and Newsmaker of the Year.
He holds a BA degree from the University of the Western Cape, and an Honours Degree from the University
of South Africa (UNISA). He is the recipient of three
honorary doctorates.
Dr Tony Kirkbride is the manager of the Sports Technology Centre at the Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research in Pretoria, South Africa. He holds a PhD in
Biomaterials and is a registered Chartered Engineer
with a specialist interest in Notational Analysis. He is a
Fellow of the World Technology Network and emigrated
from the UK to South Africa in 1983.
Dr Kirkbride manages a specialist group that develops and applies modern sports analysis products and
services to a worldwide client base. Many national
teams, federations and governing bodies rely on these
analyses to monitor or improve performance. Products
developed under his leadership include, Soccerstat,