Good News

BULLETIN 19 September

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, will lead a historic and powerful reunion of ex-political prisoners at the Robben Island Museum in the Western Cape next weekend. This will be held under the theme, Reuniting with Robben Island as the Stronghold that Fortified Our Resistance to Achieve Our Freedom. The department’s spokesperson, Zimasa Velaphi, says all ex-political prisoners who were incarcerated at Robben Island, including those from Namibia, will be awarded commemorative medals in recognition of their sacrifice:

# Stellenbosch University’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department’s, Dr Robyn Adams, has been appointed South Africa’s ambassador to the International Papillomavirus Society. One of only 27 ambassadors globally, she will serve for two years, starting at the society’s conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Adams aims to strengthen Human Papillomavirus education, advocate for cervical cancer prevention, and foster global collaborations to reduce South Africa’s high rates of HPV-related cancers, especially among women living with HIV:

# The University of South Africa will be hosting its sixth Multilingual Spelling Bee competition in Pretoria today. This unique competition challenges learners in Grades 8-to-11 to spell words from different languages, thereby reflecting the rich linguistic tapestry of the country. The competition will consist of four rounds, which are designed to progressively challenge and assess participants’ language skills. This year’s winner will walk away with five-thousand-rand and a laptop, the second runner-up will win three-thousand-500-rand and a tablet, while the third prize is two-thousand-500-rand and a tablet.

# The North-West University Faculty of Health Sciences’ Understanding the World of Health teaching team was honoured at the 2025 National University Teaching Award. The team received the NUTA award. The award recognises innovative teaching practices in higher education that go beyond individual classrooms to shape departmental, institutional, and even global contexts. The North-West University team was commended for employing innovative, student-centred practices that foster critical thinking, ethical reasoning, problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork.

# And finally: Batman No. 1, by writer Matt Fraction and artist Jorge Jiménez, has sold over 500-thousand copies, making it the top-selling comic of the year so far. The comic book is a heartfelt, self-contained story that highlights both Batman’s detective skills as well as his empathy and humanity for others. Batman No. 1 has sold out with comic book distributors and is being reprinted, with the second printing set to arrive in stores on October 15th. Another comic at that 400-thousand-plus sales level is Invincible Universe: Battle Beast No. 1.

Stay tuned for more news………….