The city to have its own university

The executive mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni, Mzandile Masina, said during his State of the City Address in Germiston last year: “The call that a university for Ekurhuleni is no longer negotiable, looking at the fact that the city alone has a bigger population compared to that of Mpumalanga, Free State and North West provinces. Yet the city does not have its own university compared to the three provinces.”

He went on to add that the City will make the land available for the project to begin as soon as investors become available.

This address by the executive mayor was welcomed by the people all over the city, some even guessing which area the university will be built in.

The establishment of the University of Science and Innovation (USI) in Ekurhuleni will take the total number of universities in the country to 27.

Even President Cyril Ramaphosa announced during his State Of the Nation Address that he is planning to build a new university in Ekurhuleni as the city is the only metro in the country without its own university.

This means victory for Masina, who had been pleading with the government for the establishment of the university since he took over as the city’s executive mayor in 2016.

Ramaphosa, however, did not estimate the timelines on when the construction was expected to start or when it was expected to open its doors to students.

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This publication took to the streets of Kathorus to find out from the community how they feel about the new university and what it means to them.

Mncedisi Mncube.

It doesn’t matter where the university will be built. As long as students from within the metro will be given first opportunity to be accepted to study. It will feel very bad to learn that students from around the city are were not accepted while those from other provinces and from outside the country get accepted first.

Mjana Mofokeng.

There are courses, such BA in film and television that are offered in private universities. I wish this university can offer such courses.

Tumelo Makgolo.

The rate of unemployment is high in this country, I think this university will provide such more employment for people for this country.

Kenneth Lelosa.

I think it is a good thing because we do not have a university that is close to use. And I believe it is going to create more jobs for people of Ekurhuleni.

Ntswaki Likhethe.

This will not only create job opportunities for the people of Ekurhuleni but our own metro will also become the centre of information since we will see more people coming from outside the country to study here.