Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) is a University of Technology situated in Umlazi on the outskirts of Durban, South Africa, on a site overlooking the Indian Ocean.
Colloquially known as MUT, the Mangosuthu University of Technology is located in the academic hub in the eThekwini metropole, a dynamic growing economy, focused for future growth.
Mangosuthu University of Technology is a residential university, largely serving previously disadvantaged communities with a strategic intent to educate and empower students and communities, and address pressing transformation and multicultural issues facing South Africa.
Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and the founding father of MUT, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi at MUT where they unveiled a new housing project for students and also a fountain in memory of Zolile Khumalo.
This work was undertaken by the South African Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) of the University of Cape Town, which analysed the enrolment of the then existing advanced technical education centres and calculated that the output of engineering technicians in 1976 was 1035, whereas there was a demand for 3000 additional technicians per annum.
Thus if black youths were to become available for training, an annual output of 2000 engineering technicians could be considered. SALDRU then ascertained the willingness of employers to employ black technicians if they were to become available. The response indicated that the categories most in immediate demand were mechanical, civil and construction, electrical, and chemical engineering.
History
The story of the establishment of MUT is one shaped by benevolence and empowerment of the disenfranchised. It begins in 1974 with Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, former Prime-Minister in KwaZulu Homeland in apartheid South Africa.
At a meeting with the Chairman of the Anglo American Corporation and De Beers Consolidated Mines, Mr Harry F Oppenheimer, Prince Buthelezi first put forward the idea of establishing a tertiary education institution specialising in technical subjects.
The proposal was taken up by the Anglo American and De Beers Chairman’s Fund, and, although funds were not immediately available to construct such an institution, research was commissioned to investigate the potential in South Africa for the training and employment of black technicians.
As the SALDRU study by Nigel Bloch showed that there was an immediate need and demand for black technicians, Mr Oppenheimer undertook that The Anglo American and De Beers group Chairman’s Fund would provide R5 million to build the necessary facilities. At a later stage, Mobil Oil, AECI and the South African Sugar Millers’ Association agreed to sponsor the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Rembrandt and Distillers Corporation groups provided the establishment of a Commercial and Secretarial Department. LTA Limited added funds for the expansion of the Civil Engineering Department so that Construction Engineering could be included in the curriculum.
