The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) is ready to spend billions of rands over the next twenty-four months on university infrastructure projects. This was revealed during the department's budget vote on Wednesday. The department received a budget of R133.8 billion for the 2023/24 financial year.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande revealed that R8.662 billion is currently available for investment in infrastructure projects across South Africa's 26 public universities during 2023/24-2025/26 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
The diversification of the public universities based on their strengths and the needs of the communities in which they are located is supported by a 1.6 million enrollment target.
Three of the DHET’s infrastructure projects currently in the pipeline are the Imbali Educational Precinct projects, the establishment of the Giyani Multi-Purpose Centre and the establishment of an Ulundi satellite campus of the University of Zululand.
The department has completed the process of allocating more than R180 million for the Imbali Educational Precinct projects. A feasibility study has commenced for the establishment of the Giyani Education Precinct, while the department is set to begin the construction design phase of the Ulundi Campus of the University of Zululand project.
I am also pleased to report that the construction design phase for the Ulundi Campus of the University of Zululand will commence in this current financial year and that the actual construction should commence in the 2024/25 financial year.
The DHET is also making progress on its plans to build two new universities in South Africa. The construction of these two new universities is set to get underway in the next two years.
Nzimande said the department has completed feasibility studies for the establishment of the University of Science and Innovation in Ekurhuleni and the Crime Detection University in Hammanskraal.
In 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the establishment of the university in Ekurhuleni is critical. This is because Ekurhuleni is South Africa’s only metropolitan area that does not have a university.