Durban University of Technology

Durban University of Technology

Motto	A preferred university for developing leadership in technology and productive citizenship.
Type	Public University of Technology
Established	2002
Vice-Chancellor	Professor Thandwa Mthembu
Students	26000
Location	Durban & Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Website	http://www.dut.ac.za/

The Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a Leading University of Technology in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was formed in 2002 by the merger of Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon and was previously known as the Durban Institute of Technology. It has five campuses in Durban, and two in Pietermaritzburg. In 2016, around 27 023 students were enrolled. It is one of 5 technical institutions on the continent to offer Doctoral Degrees.

History

The Durban University of Technology is a result of the merger in April 2002 of two technikons, ML Sultan and Technikon Natal. It was named the Durban Institute of Technology and later became the Durban University of Technology in late 2007.^[1]

KwaZulu-Natal’s Indian population began arriving in the 1860s to work on the sugar plantations. In 1927, those with no educational qualifications were threatened with repatriation. This threat stimulated adult classes in literacy, as well as a range of commercial subjects, held in a mission school and a Hindu institute, but it was not until after the war, and thanks to substantial financial support from the public, that M L Sultan College came into being. It would be another decade, however, before the city council, now preoccupied with the structures of the first Group Areas Act of 1950, allocated suitable land for a permanent campus.^[1]

The Natal Technical College was founded in 1907 and immediately began providing tuition to more than 350 part-time students. The structures of apartheid as it was codified through legislation weighed heavily on this institution as well. In 1955 the college was taken over by national education authorities; and in 1967 it became an exclusively white institution.^[1]

Campuses

• Brickfield Campus, Durban
• City Campus, Durban
• Indumiso Campus, Pietermaritzburg
• ML Sultan Campus, Durban
• Ritson Campus, Durban
• Riverside Campus, Pietermaritzburg
• Steve Biko Campus, Durban

Academics

In 2015, the university employed 577 academic staff, 47 percent of them female and 50 percent holding masters and 22percent doctoral degrees.^[1]

Students attending the university can enroll in many extramural activities including the youngest debating firm in South Africa the DUT Union. Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi served as the Chancellor for several years.

Student enrollment

The Durban University of Technology offers contact learning only. In 2015, there were 27,023 contact students, 22,006 of whom were full-time and 5,017 were part-time. Of these, 26,400 were South African citizens, 547 from other SADC countries, and 166 from non-SADC countries (actual data, 2015).

References

External links

• Official DUT website
• Official DUT twitter page

Coordinates: 29°51′05″S 31°0′26″E / 29.85139°S 31.00722°E / -29.85139; 31.00722