News Bulletin of 20 November 2025, 2pm

The University of Johannesburg, in partnership with UNDP’s Timbuktoo initiative, has launched South Africa’s first University Innovation Pod, or UniPod.
A UniPod is a university-based innovation hub where students and young entrepreneurs can develop ideas into real products or businesses, with access to advanced labs, mentorship, funding support, and cross-border collaboration.
The first cohort of 28 innovators is working on solutions in AI, fashion, education, aquaculture, and Gender-Based Violence prevention. The initiative aims to provide practical support for student entrepreneurs and links them to a network of similar hubs across Africa.

Poets across South Africa are invited to submit up to 10 entries in any of the country’s 11 official written languages for the 2026 AVBOB Poetry Competition.
The theme this year is I Wish I’d Said…. The competition will close on 30 November 2025.
Winners in each language category will receive R 12,500, including R 10,000 cash, a R 2,500 book voucher, and the AVBOB Poetry Trophy, while runner-ups will also receive cash prizes.
Selected poems will be included in the AVBOB Poetry Library, earning R 300 for publication. Now in its ninth year, the competition has become a key platform for showcasing South African poetic talent and promoting the country’s literary heritage.

A Gustav Klimt portrait has delivered a rare boost for the global art world after selling for R4 billion at an auction in New York.
The painting, titled Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer, is now the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and the highest priced piece of modern art to date.
Its success highlights renewed confidence in the international art market and the lasting cultural value of Klimt’s work.
The piece, which survived the Second World War and came from the late Leonard Lauder’s collection, easily surpassed previous records.