During this period, the University of Pretoria began a process of social and cultural redress in which the university reverted to its original dual medium mandate and then to English only as a sustainable means for which the majority of students are able to understand, learn and excel in. The advent of democracy in South Africa meant that all universities were open to all students who meet the registration and academic requirements regardless of race. The University of Pretoria is proud to stand amongst the world’s top universities with more than 70% of its student population being black South Africans, and the majority of these students being women. We believe that producing a high calibre of graduates and increasing access to education for the majority of South Africans will have a profoundly positive impact on South African society and help to transform lives and support families through the economic benefits of the power of education.

GALLERY: Transformation Years: 1982 – 2007

Historic Context

• 1982
• 1983 Referendum on new constitution
• 1990 ANC unbanned & Nelson Mandela released
• 1991 Population Registration Act & Group Areas Act repealed
• 1994 First democratic elections
• 1999 Thabo Mbeki President & African Renaissance
• Transformation of tertiary education
• 2004 Celebration of ten years of democracy

The main characteristic of this era was the transformation of UP into a bilingual and multiracial institution. The first signs of transformation appeared with the relatively smooth introduction of students of all races to the University and in 1989 the University was declared officially “open” for all races.

 New campuses and distance education also transformed the University and opened doors to a larger and more diverse student body, such as the opening of the Witbank Campus in 1989 and a campus at Hammanskraal in 1994.

In 1994 a new language policy was adopted, returning to the original bilingual status.       

In 1993 the ground breaking policy document Framework for Strategic Planning was introduced, with the aim to position the University in a changing South Africa. The Broad Transformation Forum (1995) included both students & staff in the process of restructuring UP into an internationally competitive and locally relevant institution.

An innovation corridor was created with the signing of the Southern Education Research Alliance with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1999 and in 2004 the Innovation Hub was completed, to answer to the needs of the emerging innovation generation at UP.

In 1999 saw the amalgamation of the only two veterinary science faculties in the country, those of the University of Pretoria and Medunsa. In 2000 the Teachers Training College Pretoria (Groenkloof) was incorporated into the University and a specialised business school, the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) was opened in Johannesburg in 2000.  In 2004 the Mamelodi campus of Vista University merged with UP.           

During this time more specialised academic and student facilities were constructed, such as:

•  Sport Centre 1983
•  Carl & Emily Fuchs Institute for Microelectronics (CEFIM) 1984
• Arnold Theiler Building at Onderstepoort 1987   
• Persequor Technopark 1990
• Economic and Management Sciences 1991
• Tuksdorp 1993
• The Student Centre 1995
• Client Services Centre (CSC) 2002
• High Performance Centre 2002
•  Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) 2004
•  New Law Building 2004

In 2007, the university adopted Sepedi as the third language of communication.

- Author: UP Archives