R70-million infrastructure upgrades at Unizulu
The campus currently accommodates 5 000 out of the total 17 000 student population
THE University of Zululand has completed a 288 unit residential facility and a rebuild of an electricity substation at its main campus in KwaDlangezwa.
‘The R70-million upgrades helped deal with key challenges in creating a good teaching and learning environment for both students and staff,’ said Unizulu Vice Chancellor Professor Xoliswa Mtose.
She said the university had identified six strategic priorities for the period 2016 to 2021, which included infrastructure development.
The campus currently accommodates 5 000 out of the total 17 000 student population.
‘The completion of additional residential accommodation for 288 students was a precursor to building further residences on the campus to address the critical shortage of student accommodation,’ Director of Facilities Management, Richard Dlongolo, said.
‘As a result, many young people travel long distances or live in the nearby Vulindlela Village where rudimentary housing and shacks lack basic services. This does not provide a suitable environment for study.’
The most recent residential additions are an extension of facilities completed in 2008.
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The rebuilding of the electricity substation was to address the outages that had plagued the university.
‘The campus is in a remote area and was established during the 1960s. It was not included on the municipal grid. It therefore required its own high voltage electricity substation,’ Dlongolo said.
‘The substation is 35 years old, technically obsolete and past its sell by date.
‘As a result the university had to rely on a single transformer for two years. There was always a high risk of failure and a strong likelihood that this would have a negative impact on the university with no backup supply.
‘This impacted on laboratories and IT facilities and made teaching and learning difficult.’
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