Tshwane University of Technology

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was established on January 1 2004, when the former Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West and Technikon Pretoria merged. The South African designation pertaining to institutions (“technikon”) was dropped in favour of the more internationally appropriate “university of technology”. It is widely regarded as a "mega university" and is the largest residential higher education institution in South Africa, with an annual enrollment figure of 60,000. The Tshwane University of Technology is one of the most demographically diverse - in terms of both race and gender - in the country, reflecting post-Apartheid South Africa, which Desmond Tutu described as “the Rainbow Nation”. Staff members employed by the Tshwane University of Technology come to 2,700, with approximately 855 permanent academics. It has a presence in four of South Africa’s nine provinces: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northwest Province, with campuses in Tshwane (Arcadia Campus, Arts Campus, Pretoria Campus, Ga-Rankuwa Campus and the North and South Campuses in Soshanguve), Mbombela, eMalahleni (previously called Witbank) and Polokwane (previously called Pietersburg). There are also service points in Durban and Cape Town. Many students from other provinces and neighbouring countries attend TUT, including Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Swaziland. The faculty of science and the faculty of the arts have dedicated campuses in Pretoria city centre. The department of performing arts owns the Breytenbach Theatre and uses it for training and productions for its students, with many performances open to the public. Pretoria, where TUT has its main nucleus, is South Africa’s administrative centre known for its beautiful architecture, weighty history, prosperous leafy suburbs and streets lined with jacaranda trees.