Makhado Municipality donated 33 hectares of land for the establishment of the new satellite campus of the University of Venda (Univen), which will be built in Louis Trichardt. The handover was done at the site in Louis Trichardt on 28 November.
The satellite campus will be built on land opposite the Makhado Show Grounds, next to Ridgeway College. The development allows for a residential area for lecturers as well as for student accommodation.
The mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr Samuel Munyai, said that the campus would create jobs for the local community, empowering them through skills training and reskilling. The campus will also create exponential economic growth by increasing the number of consumers in the area, increasing tourism, and giving the municipality access to state-of-the-art meeting facilities for both officials and the community. He said that the University of Venda would benefit from the extension of its footprint in the province, regional integration and local reach relevancy.
Munyai said that the establishment of the campus in the Makhado municipal area would change the face of the town and also contribute positively to the much-needed skills gap in the community. "The land we are handing over is in line with the Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) initiative, which aims to develop a Smart City that will address integrated sustainable development," he said.
The vice chancellor and principal of Univen, Dr Bernard Nthambeleni, said that the university had been rejuvenated. "It is such a great joy for me to be here today. We want to be partners of the economic zone. I am very excited to be part of this journey today as we are also celebrating 40 years of the existence of the university serving the community. Although we are located in a rural area, we are not a rural university," said Nthambeleni.