Partners in South Africa

Partners in South Africa

VU University Amsterdam has a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on an institutional level with the following seven South African universities:

University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN)

The University of KwaZulu-Natal was established in 2004 resulting from a merger between the University of Durban-Westville and the University of Natal, with campuses in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Westville and Edgewood (all near Durban). The former University of Durban-Westville was originally established as a College for South Africans of Indian origin.
UKZN aspires to present itself as the premier university of African scholarship, which means it wants its research to be locally rooted and embedded.
The university has four Colleges: the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, the College of Health Sciences, the College of Humanities (comprising also a Faculty of Education), and the College of Law and Management Studies.

Website UKZN

University of Johannesburg (UJ)

The University of Johannesburg came into existence as such in 2005. It is a merger of the former Rand Afrikaans University, incorporating the two former Vista University campuses of Soweto and East Rand, and the former Technikon Witwatersrand. It has four campuses: the main campus of Auckland Park Kingsway, the Doornfontein campus, the Auckland Park Bunting Road campus and the Soweto campus. The University of Johannesburg offers both formative degree programmes and vocational/professional programmes. There are nine faculties: Art, Design and Architecture; Economic and Financial Sciences; Education; Engineering and the Built Environment; Health Sciences; Humanities; Law; Management and Science.

Website UJ

North-West University (NWU)

Established in 2004, North-West University wants to be a symbol of the new South Africa, being a merger between a historically black university, the University of North-West, and a historically white university, the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. The university has four campuses in different places: Mafikeng, Mankwe, Potchefstroom and Vanderbijl Park. The university is very dedicated to the region’s academic, cultural and technological needs.
The university has faculties of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Arts, Commerce and Administration, Economic and Management Sciences, Education Sciences, Engineering, Health Sciences, Human and Social Sciences, Law, Natural Sciences and Theology.

Website NWU

University of Pretoria (UP)

The University of Pretoria, with a few campuses spread across Pretoria, was established as the Pretoria Centre of the Transvaal University College in 1908. In 1930 it was renamed University of Pretoria. It has the highest research output of the country and is very committed to community engagement.
Faculties: Economic and Management Sciences; Education; Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology; Health Sciences; Humanities; Law; Natural and Agricultural Sciences; Theology; Veterinary Science.

Website UP

University of Stellenbosch (SUN)

The University of Stellenbosch was established in 1866 as Stellenbosch Gymnasium and had existed since long as an education entity, starting out as a school of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1685. It became a university in 1918. It has its research clustered in ten focus areas, ranging from “Language and culture within a multi-cultural society” to “The production and provision of food”.
Stellenbosch University has ten faculties: AgriSciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Education, Engineering, Law, Science, Theology, Economic and Management Sciences on the main campus in Stellenbosch, the Faculty of Health Sciences on the Tygerberg campus and the Faculty of Military Sciences in Saldanha (a nearby coastal town).

Website SUN

University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)

Website Wits

University of South Africa (UNISA)

The University of South Africa is South Africa’s leading distance learning institution. It developed out of the oldest university of South Africa, the University of the Cape of Good Hope, as an institution for examination only. It changed its name into University of South Africa in 1916. Its headquarters are located in Pretoria. UNISA is esteemed as a reputable, comprehensive, affordable, flexible and accessible university; qualifications obrtained at UNISA are automatically internationally accredited.
There are five colleges: Economic and Management Sciences, Human Sciences, Law, Science, Engineering and Technology and Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. UNISA also has a unique Centre for African Renaissance Studies.

Website UNISA

Other partners

VU University Amsterdam is developing the Desmond Tutu Programme in close cooperation with the following South African partners:

National Research Foundation (NRF)
The National Research Foundation was established in 1999 by the government of South Africa to support and promote research through funding, human resource development and the provision of research facilities.
The activities are currently clustered under the following themes: Research and Innovation Support and Advancement, Astro/Space/Geo Sciences, Biodiversity/Conservation, Nuclear Sciences and Advancing Science.
Website NRF

The Royal Dutch Embassy
Ambassador Rob de Vos states that “Our cooperation should lead to sustainable growth and we have to keep working towards eradicating the inequality on a fundamental level within the South African society”. The Dutch Embassy in Pretoria is deeply committed to stimulate, among others, Higher Education in South Africa.
Website Dutch Embassy