What all started as a dream in our hearts led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU between the Ndebele Kingship Council and the North-West University (NWU) on Wednesday, 18 July 2018. An opportunity for cooperation between the Ndebele Kingship Council and the university was identified and the MOU captures the joint interest and establishes a long-term relationship.
The Ndebele Kingship is one of the seven recognised Kingships in South Africa lead by His Excellency King Makosoke Mabena (Makosoke II), with the headquarters based in KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga Province.
The Ndebele Kingship Council has appointed a multidisciplinary team of professional service providers to develop and implement a Sustainable Development Master Plan for the Ndebele people. Touching Africa and Africa Geo-environmental Engineering and Sciences (AGES) with a local branch in Potchefstroom, is one of the specialist service providers who will be involved in projects and research for the Ndebele Programme.
The main purpose of the Ndebele Kingdom Development Programme is to assist the Ndebele Kingship Council with the holistic planning and implementation of projects that will contribute towards the economic growth of the Ndebele Kingdom and to play a role in breaking the isolation between departments and government-owned institutions in order to have more capacity.
The Sustainable Development Master Plan will entail addressing mineral opportunities, land exploration and audits, energy, water and sanitation programmes, provision of community services, agriculture, wildlife and tourism programmes as well as training and skills development to ensure a holistic and integrated rural development.
The NWU via its Technology Transfer and Innovation Support (TTIS) office and eight faculties can offer various multidisciplinary solutions and support to the Ndebele Kingdom Development Programme and cooperation in various fields will be explored.
Prof Dan Kgwadi, vice-chancellor showed excitement in partnering and stressed how the NWU is committed to academic excellence with a strategy strongly anchored on social justice for the development of the communities.
He is very proud that the Ndebele Kingship has seen that the NWU is capable and has the capacity to assist them in achieving their goals.
Under the leadership of HE King Makosoke II, the NWU hopes to integrate academic research with providing support for sustainable socio-economic development for the broader community of the Ndebele Kingdom and Kingship Council.
The MOU was signed on the Nelson Mandela Day. The King suggested that this day should be used annually to measure the progress of the program. HE King Makosoke II said that he highly appreciates the NWU coming on board and assisting them with our Sustainable Development Master Plan. We look forward to changing lives.
