The Upington Centre for Entrepreneurship & Rapid Incubator (CfERI) was established in 2017 by the Department of Small Business Development and SEDA (Small Enterprise Development Agency). The Upington CfERI (now the Sol Plaatje University CfERI) was launched on 23 November 2017, with the aim of supporting, establishing, and training SMMEs to create sustainable businesses and jobs. The CfERI supports entrepreneurs in various sectors, but focuses mainly on Agriculture, Tourism, and ICT. It provides support to start-ups and existing entrepreneurs by means of support and development programmes, masterclasses, access to markets and funding, and technology transfer assistance.

Service sectors:

·         Agriculture
·         Tourism
·         ICT

Service offering:

·         Company registrations & compliance
·         Business coaching
·         Technology transfer assistance
·         Marketing assistance
·         Business Management training
·         Bookkeeping
·         Access to Funding
·         Seed Fund loan – up to R20 000
·         Co-Working services

Stakeholders:

• Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality (DKM)
• ZF Mgcawu District Municipality (ZFMDM)
• Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDaT)
• Raisins South Africa
• Mobile Applications Laboratory NPC (MLab)
• Sage South Africa
• Eskom Development Foundation
• Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development
• Vodacom ICT Resource Centre

The Centre for Creative Writing and African Languages (CCWAL) is well-positioned within the Northern Cape to act as a platform for the promotion and development of and research about the indigenous languages in the Northern Cape. It is our view, that because of its multilingual as well as multi-; inter and transdisciplinary nature, the Centre will act as an instrument that would facilitate epistemological access, inclusiveness, transformation, social cohesion, and respect for all languages. As stated in the SPU Policy on Language (2022: 3 of 6) “conditions will be created for the ongoing and systematic elaboration/intellectualisation of Setswana, isiXhosa and the continued elaboration of Afrikaans as academic languages and languages of science”.

In line with the vision of the university the Centre for Creative Writing and African Languages endeavours to be a world-class inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary research centre in the humanities which will build capacity and create knowledge for the region, the country and the global society that would, inter alia, lead to an awareness to preserve and sustain our language heritage and landscape; and foster the use of innovative lateral thinking strategies as an alternative to solve problems through and related to creative writing and languages.

The Centre for Applied Data Science (CADS) within the Faculty of Natural and Applied Science at Sol Plaatje University will contribute to the growth of data science and its applications.

· The CADS aims to be an interdisciplinary, world-class research centre for applied data science that empowers society to make informed decisions. The Centre will motivate focus coherence to how data is sourced, generated, managed, and used to advance the four niche areas in NAS, as well as other disciplines within the institution.

As part of the evolving plan of SPU, and as a vertical progression of the BSc in Data Science graduates, the BSc Honours in Data Science was introduced in 2019. In the last three years, the combined enrolment of BSc in Data Science and BSc Honours in Data Science has been hovering around 12%.

The Centre for Global Change is a flagship programme of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) Global Change Research Programme and are included under the ‘science and technology for global change with a focus on climate change’ Grand Challenge. In this context the Centre aims to identify and conduct relevant and applied research in global and climate change, the outputs thereof having direct on the ground impacts at the community and/or stakeholder level.

The Centre for Global Change’s framework is embedded under the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas (SARVA) an ICT-based decision-making support tool within the Global Change Research Plan which supports a central repository of a wide range of climate and environmental data.

CEDAR is envisaged to assist in creating a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem that is intended to contribute positively to the Northern Cape economy through focusing on, pedagogy, Entrepreneurship development and research. The aim is to have the university prioritize studentpreneurs’ business when it comes to service provision and procurement, provided that the studentpreneurs sell quality products and render quality services.

The vision of CEDAR is to blend theory and practice to create knowledge, improve understanding and challenge thinking around entrepreneurship and enterprise management.

The core products of CEDAR will include:

· Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship

The Arid Region Water Research Centre is a strategic initiative of Sol Plaatje University in partnership with the Water Research Commission (WRC), developed as part of the institution’s desert studies research focus. The Centre forms part of a broader commitment to sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions and aligns with national priorities on water security and climate resilience. Within this context, the Centre aims to conduct applied and regionally relevant research on water scarcity, management, and innovation, with outputs that deliver practical solutions and direct impact at community, policy, and stakeholder levels.

The Centre’s research framework contributes to building a knowledge base for arid-region water systems and is aligned with national research agendas focusing on resource sustainability, adaptation, and resilience. It will serve as a platform for data generation, capacity building, and collaboration to inform decision-making and drive sustainable water practices in some of South Africa’s most water-stressed landscapes.

The Centre for the Advancement of Rural and Inclusive Education (CARIER), launched on 17 September 2025, is established to focus on rural and inclusive education. The centre’s mission is to align with SPU’s vision of social justice and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4, which emphasises quality education.

Under the directorship of Dr Kevin Teise, CARIER aims to conduct impactful research to benefit marginalised and rural communities in South Africa and the Northern Cape. The centre plans to use its research to influence educational curricula and policy, and to provide evidence-based support to policymakers. A core objective is to strengthen research capacity within the Faculty of Education by supporting postgraduate students and early-career researchers.

The centre will also focus on increasing overall research activity and in future establishing a reputable, accredited academic journal. It recognises that collaboration is essential and will seek to build partnerships with local and international institutions to achieve its goals. CARIER’s long-term vision is to have an international footprint, impacting on rural and inclusive education beyond South Africa’s borders.

Mr George Moloi

Senior Administrator

Economic and Management Sciences Building: Room 126

Email address: george.moloi@spu.ac.za

Tel: 053 491 0230