Programme Directors: 
Prof MT Mogale, Prof P Segalo, and Dr G James;
His Excellency Dr TM Mbeki, Former President of the Republic of South Africa, and Chancellor of the University of South Africa;
His Excellency, Deputy President, Paul Mashatile;
Your Excellencies: Ambassadors and High Commissioners representing various Countries in South Africa;
Mrs M Kubayi-Ngubane, Minister of Human Settlements;
Mr Buti Manamela, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation;
Ms L Ntshalintshali, MEC: Social Development of Mpumalanga and other members from various Government Departments;
Ms AM Miller, United Nations Women Multi-Country Representative; United Nations Women and other members of the United Nations and SAWID present;
Mr J Maboa, Chairperson of the University Council and other Members of the University Council present;
Prof P LenkaBula, UNISA Principal and Vice-Chancellor and other Members of the University Executive and Extended Management present;
Senior Prince NS Mampuru, Senior Prince Bapedi ba Mamone and other traditional leaders present;
Dignitaries from the National, Provincial, and Local Governments, and Friends of the University of South Africa attending this Lecture Virtually;
Representatives from other Sister Institutions of Higher Learning present;
Business Communities, Ecclesiastical Communities, representatives from various Political Parties, and various Research Institutions present;
Members of the Unisa National Students Representative Council and other Unisa Student Structures;
Representatives from various Unisa Forums and organised Labour Organisations;
Retirees, Alumni, and other members of the University Community present;
All our performing artists;
Representatives from various media fraternal;
Distinguished members of the audience
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning

Introduction

It gives me great pleasure to make these Opening Remarks at UNISA’s 150th birthday celebrations, a significant milestone in the history of South African higher education. 

Founded in 1873, UNISA occupies a unique place in the annals of higher education history as the oldest university in our country. Not only that Unisa gave birth to the university system in South Africa.

Indeed, we continue to make our part of the Department of Higher Education and Training, we have already built the University of Mpumalanga and the University of Sol Plaatje.

We have completed feasibility studies for the establishment of the University of Science and Innovation in Ekurhuleni and the Crime Detection University in Hammanskraal.

Since its inception, this university has spawned into existence and supported the establishment and development of an illustrious list of other higher education institutions such as UCT, Stellenbosch, Fort Hare and many more. 

With an incredible enrolment projected 370 000 plus students across 130 countries in the world, UNISA is one the truly mega-universities in the world today. This is quite remarkable, given the relatively small population size of our country.

UNISA’s history of course reflects the broader history of the times in which it was moulded from its roots in the colonial period, the long period under the Union of South Africa from 1910 till 1960, the 45 years of apartheid (‘white republicanism’), and the last 27 years into the democratic era. 

Its major development took place in the post-war period, notably, from 1946 when it pioneered tertiary distance education across SA and the wider African continent, to and in 2004 after it incorporated Vista University and merged with Technikon SA to become a truly mega-university. 

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