Good News

BULLETIN 14 October 

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# The City of Cape Town’s firefighters walked away with 13 gold, 10 silver and one bronze medal at this year’s Toughest Firefighter Alive competition. Baigum Abrahams retained her title as the Toughest Female Firefighter Alive for the third year running, but shared the top spot with Thobeka Senatse. Mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says more than 250 firefighters and 44 relay teams from across the country participated in the competition, and they were joined by teams from Botswana and Namibia:

# Six University of Johannesburg women have been recognised in Mail & Guardian’s 2025 Power of Women list. They are Khanya Mthethwa, Kulsum Kondiah, Heidi Abrahamse, Danielle Nel-Sanders and Stella Bvuma and Natasha Rene Naidoo. The list honours 100 women whose work has made an extraordinary contribution to fields such as science, governance, education, health, law and the arts. UJ says the recognition of these women reflects the university’s continued commitment to excellence, equality and empowerment. 

# Tshwane University of Technology’s students showcased their skills at the SIGCyber Student Challenge. It was established to bring together practitioners, academics and students interested in cybersecurity to promote an understanding of the cybersecurity domain, raise awareness of threats, share knowledge on protective measures, encourage research, professionalise the field and provide thought leadership. TUT says despite the tight timeframe, the students demonstrated exceptional technical knowledge, problem-solving skills and strategic thinking, which allowed them to stand out.

# Five Durban University of Technology student entrepreneurs will compete in the finale of the global Alliance of Guangzhou International Sister-City Universities Urban Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Third-year Mechanical Engineering student, Lusanda Ndlovu, says making the finale motivates him to continue pushing boundaries and finding sustainable engineering solutions. DUT will become the first university in Africa to host this prestigious competition, which will feature student entrepreneurs from 28 universities based in 23 different countries. The competition will be held at the end of this month.

# And finally: This year marks ten years of the Greenovate Awards, inspiring young people to design practical sustainability solutions for South Africa’s built environment. Since its inception in 2015, Greenovate has awarded more than one-million-rand to students from over nine universities nationwide, across property, engineering and prop tech streams. To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Greenovate has added two new awards, each worth ten-thousand-rand: the Sustainability in Action Award and the Transformative Impact Award. Entries for the Greenovate Awards close on 10 November.

Stay tuned for more news………….