Deputy minister visits university
The university was opened in February 2014 in its existing buildings with an initial enrolment of 169 students.
MBOMBELA – The deputy minister of higher education and training, Mr Mduduzi Manana, paid a visit to the University of Mpumalanga on Monday.
It was aimed at monitoring construction progress at the institution. It also formed part of an exercise by government to ensure that planned projects were implemented and completed within the allocated duration.
The university was opened in February 2014 in its existing buildings with an initial enrolment of 169 students. The Department of Higher Education and Training has been directly managing the development of the new infrastructure with the assistance of a project-management team of the University of the Witwatersrand.
Manana met with the university management, project team and contractors on site to obtain a detailed report on the progress made thus far. The first-phase upgrades and renovations of the existing facilities were previously done to allow the first enrolments in 2014.
These included refurbishment of teaching venues, student resources (library), offices for university staff members, student residences, and procurement of new furniture and teaching equipment. Further upgrades of the existing facilities took place during 2014 to allow increased enrolment in the current academic year. Furthermore, three new multi-storey buildings were currently under construction, and will be ready for occupation in early 2016.
The new buildings will enable the university to accommodate an enrolment of 1 160 in the 2016 academic year. This year the university launched a new qualification, the diploma in information communication technology and applications development. It also enrolled its first students into the diploma in agriculture in plant production. It also enrolled 864 students across its campuses in Mbombela and Siyabuswa.
