Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was established in January 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 the largest residential higher education institution in South Africa, with an annual enrollment figure of 60,000.
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.
Each of TUT’s campuses specialises in different educational areas, and there are seven faculties in total offering bachelor's degrees and diplomas. These include: arts and design, economics and finance, engineering and the built environment, humanities, information and communication technology, management sciences, and science.
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.
