The Faculty of Veterinary Science at the Onderstepoort Campus on Friday officially opened its new Lesedi Complex, housing world-class veterinary facilities.

The opening of the Complex was made possible by a grant from the National Skills Fund (NSF). The project was completed late last year and is specifically aimed at creating facilities to allow the Faculty to increase the annual intake of veterinary students. The Complex includes a multi-disciplinary laboratory, a state-of-the-art Skills Laboratory, offices for Faculty Student Administration and Support Services, and a Student Study Centre.

The Faculty is currently the only institution in the country that trains veterinarians and veterinary nurses and is the foremost faculty in Africa and internationally recognised for its quality of training and research. According to the Dean of the Faculty, Prof Darrell Abernethy, the Faculty has made significant progress in recent years to ensure that it meets the aspirations and needs of the country. “Our six-year degree programme now places much greater emphasis on livestock production and experiential training and we offer a wide range of research programmes, many of which address pressing national needs of controlling dangerous diseases of animals and improving the incomes of smallholder farmers. The Lesedi Complex significantly enhances our training capacity of undergraduate students and allows the Faculty to increase the annual intake of veterinary students from 140 to its current 190 to meet the growing demand for veterinarians in the country,” says Prof Abernethy.

The Complex was jointly opened by the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, Prof Cheryl De La Rey and the Director-General of the Department of Higher Education and Training, Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde. After the opening, Mr Qonde accompanied the Dean on a short visit of the Faculty and he responded particularly positive about the Faculty, its facilities and the people he met.

The Lesedi Complex has been designed to form the new gateway to the Onderstepoort Campus and has strong, modern South African architectural overtones. The building complex consists of three blocks with open covered foyer areas in between, linking the three blocks, as well as the Sir Arnold Theiler Building and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital. Changes were also made to the southern area of the Veterinary Hospital, adjacent to the new Lesedi Complex while certain aspects of the project are still underway, including the establishment of a computer laboratory with sufficient seating to accommodate an entire year group at the same time.