One type of institution doesn’t make a big announcement about itself. It doesn’t have the name recognition of older, more illustrious universities or make weekly appearances in international headlines. Nevertheless, it is hard to overlook the Durban University of Technology when considering what is going on in KwaZulu-Natal. There, something is slowly, methodically, and quietly taking shape.
In 2002, two technikons, Technikon Natal and ML Sultan, merged to form DUT, as most people refer to it. It wasn’t a glamorous start. During that time, mergers in South Africa’s higher education system were frequently complicated, politically charged, and challenging to handle. However, DUT gained traction and has expanded over the past 20 years to become a multi-campus university with seven campuses in Pietermaritzburg and Durban that enroll close to 32,000 students. That footprint is quite large. It’s a city inside a city.
There is more to DUT’s story than just its enrollment figures. It is the institution’s underlying history. The ML Sultan side of its ancestry dates back to the 1920s, when the Indian community in KwaZulu-Natal, many of whom were descended from indentured laborers who arrived in the 1860s, faced the possibility of being sent back home if they did not receive a formal education. These included commercial subjects taught in mission schools and Hindu institutes, as well as adult literacy classes. Before it was ever an ambition, education was a means of survival for a significant portion of the population that DUT previously served.
Technikon Natal has a convoluted past. Initially serving more than 350 part-time students, it was established in 1907 as the Natal Technical College. Due to apartheid laws, it had become a wholly white institution by 1967. That development, from something widely available to something purposefully exclusive, reflects the greater narrative of South African education in the 20th century. The fact that 93% of DUT’s student body now identifies as Black African indicates how significantly the arc has changed. It’s another matter entirely whether that shift is finished or even nearly finished.
DUT made its debut in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2021, placing it in the top five in South Africa and among the top 500 worldwide. That’s a significant outcome for a university that only officially adopted its current name in 2004. Additionally, this type of ranking is often viewed as a ceiling rather than a floor. The 2024 numbers dropped to the 1001–1200 range, which is important to note because rankings are subject to change and a single successful year does not establish a trajectory. The fact that DUT has been South Africa’s top university of technology for a number of years seems to be more resilient.
The university’s six faculties cover a wide range of subjects, from health sciences to accounting and informatics to the arts and design. Being a university of technology rather than a traditional liberal arts institution, DUT places a strong emphasis on practicality, which practically manifests itself in the alumni list in unexpected ways. This is where Gordon Murray, the engineer responsible for some of McLaren’s most famous cars, studied. The well-known DJ and record producer Black Coffee also did. Cricket player Lance Klusener. Comedian Celeste Ntuli. There is a certain breadth there that implies the institution has never been focused on creating a single kind of person.
Perhaps the most fascinating chapter of DUT is yet to come. With its MBA program and executive education options, the DUT Business School’s 2022 opening signifies a goal that goes beyond technical diplomas. It’s genuinely unclear if that goal will result in a long-lasting reputation in South Africa’s competitive and underfunded higher education system. However, as DUT has progressed through its first 25 years, there’s a sense that it has discovered something that many other universities haven’t: that you don’t have to stop where you start.
