Cyril Ramaphosa tells young South Africans they can register at a university which does not exist

President Cyril Ramaphosa told young people that the new Ekurhuleni University will have its first intake next year. However, this university does not exist.

On Saturday, 20 June 2026, Ramaphosa engaged with young people in Ekurhuleni, a large suburban region east of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province.

During this engagement, he told them that a new university will be established in Ekurhuleni, which will have its first intake next year.

“I am also told that you want your own university here in Ekurhuleni. We are done with that,” Ramaphosa said.

“I was waiting for the Mayor of Ekurhuleni to give me a site where the university will be built,” he added.

“From next year, we are going to take the first intake, applications from those who want to study at the University of Ekurhuleni.”

“Even if you go to study at Wits University for a while, the Ekurhuleni University will be ready.”

However, there is a problem. The Ekurhuleni University is nothing more than an idea and does not exist.

Ramaphosa announced the new University of Science and Innovation in Ekurhuleni during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 13 February 2020.

The President said the new university will train young people in high-impact and cutting-edge technological innovation for current and future industries.

In 2021, the City of Ekurhuleni said it had conducted a feasibility study, which showed immense potential for a university.

It reached an in-principle agreement with the Department of Higher Education and Training to establish this university.

In September 2024, the City of Ekurhuleni Mayor, Nkosindiphile Doctor Xhakaza, met with the Department of Higher Education Project Steering Committee about the project.

“This is the second phase of the process towards the establishment of the Ekurhuleni University,” Xhakaza said.

The department intended to get the project underway in 2025 on the former Cinderella Prison property and the surrounding land.

However, despite big promises and a lot of talking, registering and constructing the new Ekurhuleni University has not happened.

Newsday visited the proposed new Ekurhuleni University of Science and Innovation’s grounds, which revealed only bushes and a dilapidated building.

It was clear that not much was happening at this site. There were no signs of any clearing or construction.

The Ekurhuleni University still in the development and planning phase

In South Africa, a university must be registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to operate.

It must also receive accreditation with the Council on Higher Education (CHE) for its academic programmes and register them with the SA Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

The Department of Higher Education and Training’s official register of Universities in South Africa does not list any Ekurhuleni University.

Newsday contacted the Council on Higher Education (CHE), which said that the University of Ekurhuleni has no accredited courses.

This, the council said, was because the University of Ekurhuleni is a proposed institution still in the development and planning phase.

CHE CEO Dr Whitfield Green explained that, when it is ready to offer programmes, it will need to submit them to the Council on Higher Education.

“The programmes will need to receive accreditation from the CHE before they can be offered,” Green said.

Newsday contacted the Department of Higher Education and Training for comment, but it did not respond.

We also contacted the SA Qualifications Authority, but, like the Department of Higher Education, it did not respond.

Newsday asked Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, about the President’s strange comments on the new university. He also did not respond.

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Cyril Ramaphosa’s proposed University of Ekurhuleni grounds

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