The Human Sciences Research Council – Universities South Africa (HRSC-USAf) accorded national recognition to Nelson Mandela University’s (NMU's) Centre for Women and Gender Studies (CWGS), led by Professor Babalwa Magoqwana, for its scholarly work on social justice, at the Humanities and Social Sciences Awards held in Pretoria, last week.

The CWGS won the award in the Team category ahead of the University of Johannesburg and Rhodes University. The Team category required nominees to illustrate a contribution to the understanding of social justice scholarship in South Africa and demonstrate their contribution.

The CWGS was lauded for its particular work on “foregrounding African women’s often-forgotten power and leadership in society” and on the “spotlighting of African women’s biographical and intellectual histories while developing a gender intellectual corridor in the Eastern Cape with Rhodes and Fort Hare universities.”

The centre was established by NMU in 2019 and represents the first gender scholarship formation in the Eastern Cape.

In her acceptance speech, Magoqwana thanked the leadership of NMU for their support and the diaspora of students and black women in universities across South Africa who have supported the project.