It is all systems go at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) as the Institution prepares for one of its most prominent events for 2023, the inauguration of the University’s new Chancellor. The event will take place on 17 March 2023 at the University’s iconic Seme Hall.
Prominent businessperson and AmaZulu Football Club owner, Sandile Zungu, is set to ascend to the MUT chancellorship on Friday, 17 March 2023, at MUT’s historic Pixley ka-Isaka Seme Hall. The Umlazi Township born and raised entrepreneur will be the 4th Chancellor of MUT, following on the footsteps of the Lindiwe Sisulu (MP); former KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Willies Mchunu; and Human Rights Activist and Order of the Baobab in Bronze recipient, Reverend Dr Khoza Elliot Mbuyisa Mgojo.
Zungu will be the first MUT Chancellor from Umlazi Township in the University’s just under four and a half decades since opening the doors of learning.
“We are honoured to have a person of Sandile Zungu’s stature, integrity and brilliant record of leadership in South Africa’s business corridors of power as our next Chancellor. His selection is further evidence of MUT’s commitment to not only developing the community of Umlazi Township, but also recognising the potential that its people have,” said Professor Marcus Ramogale, Acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal of MUT.
The are many parallels between Zungu’s story and that of MUT, which makes him a good representation of where MUT comes from and where the Institution is going. Like MUT, Zungu’s journey started in the humble beginnings of Umlazi Township, where he matriculated from Vukuzakhe High School. Engineering was his first love, just as it was MUT’s founding faculty. Zungu completed a Bachelor of Science (in Mechanical Engineering) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). But Mechanical Engineering was just the beginning for Zungu.
Little did many know that his fortunes would later be tied to entrepreneurship, in the same way that the godfather of entrepreneurship at MUT – Professor Ramogale – wishes for MUT students in this current climate of spiraling unemployment rate. Professor Ramogale has become famous for reminding students every turn he gets that “nobody is born to work; use your qualifications to start a business”.
Zungu went on to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and the Programme for Global Leadership at Harvard Business School. Zungu has an outstanding track record of business development and leadership.