Unizulu City campus set to go

 

September 29, 2008

Zululand OBSERVER

	Unizulu City campus set to go Ronelle Ramsamy SET to open its doors for learning in January 2010, construction of the new University of Zululand (Unizulu) City campus in Richards Bay will get off the ground as soon as November. The development was given the official stamp of approval after the sale agreement was signed between the Zululand tertiary institution and the City of uMhlathuze in Richards Bay on Thursday. uMhlathuze City Mayor, Zakhele Mnqayi said it was not just a 'City campus' but a 'City university'. 'This is an opportunity for the university to shine in this particular area. We have a problem with skills development and a lot of students currently go to other universities in the province. 'We are happy with the decision we took to alienate the property for the university development in the next two to three years. The proposed City library will also be in close proximity to the university and will blend in perfectly with the learning institution,' said Mnqayi. History Unizulu Rector and Vice Chancellor, Rachel Gumbi, said they were crafting history in the region with the development of the new campus. 'We are growing not only for the benefit of the university, but to serve our people. We are committed to quality education, proper community engagement and will reflect our multi-cultural society. A lot of students will enrol in this campus because it will be easily accessible and is strategically located,' said Gumbi. Phases Phase 1 of the project comprises a single building of approximately 7 000m2, with an estimated Unizulu capital investment of approximately R100-million. It is anticipated that the overall development area will be approximately 25 000m2, with an estimated total capital investment in excess of R400-million. Phase 2 is envisaged to commence during the latter stages of 2009 with an operational target date of mid 2011. The proposed City Campus will be constructed over a nine-year period comprising five defined phases. This will allow the City Campus to evolve over the period, initially enrolling 1 000-2 500 students in diploma, degree and certificate programmes in business, commerce, management, law, public administration and IT programmes and in the second and later phases, science and technology. The annual spend by students should exceed R10-million during the initial period and could increase substantially thereafter.