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Mangosuthu University of Technology
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The strategic choices enunciated through
the Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals
of this Plan are aligned with the DHET’s
steering mechanism to implement
the policy imperatives outlined in the
National Plan for Post School Education
and Training (2018) and the draft DHET
Framework on Institutional Differentiation.
The key levers of DHET steering of the
system are:
The differentiation of institutional
mandates as prescribed in the
amended Higher Education Act
(2016), which frames the main
academic focus of MUT as a
university of technology.
The compact between the Minister
and MUT in the form of a medium-
term institutional enrolment plan,
which determines MUT’s institutional
mandate and academic character
in terms of several dimensions, such
as size and shape parameters, the
Programme and Qualifications Mix,
and efficiency indicators.
DHET programmes and initiatives that
enhance institutional differentiation
and sustainability. Programmes
applicable to MUT are the Historically
Disadvantaged Institutions’
Development Grant, the Infrastructure
and Efficiency Grant, the Foundation
Provisioning Grant, the Clinical
Training Grant and the University
Capacity Development Grant, the
Staffing South Africa’s Universities
Framework, the new Generation
of Academics Programme and the
Foundation Provisioning Grant.
Imperatives of the Fourth
Industrial Revolution
The Plan recognises that the world is in
the early stages of an era characterised
by rapid evolution and fusion of
technologies which are combining digital,
physical and biological systems, resulting
in the disruption of almost every industry
and changing the job market and the
way that we live and work. This change is
accompanied by positive gains such as
an increase in safe and rewarding jobs,
on the one hand, and by negative trends
such as greater inequality in society and
a widening gap between the rich
and the poor, on the other hand.
MUT will leverage its key features as
a University of Technology to better
prepare students for the future of work in
the following ways:
Our career-focused programme
offerings will embed principles of
career-flexibility to better prepare
students for the fast pace at which
technological advances are changing
job functions and occupational
activities.
Existing linkages with the world of
work through our advisory boards,
comprising input from business and
professional leaders, will allow us to
refine our curricula to be responsive
to demands from industry
Enhancing our research in
technologies and building
programmes combining digital,
physical and biological systems.
Through its mission focused on SET
related fields, MUT is well-positioned
to prepare its students, staff, and
stakeholders to thrive in the social,
economic and political contexts
associated with this changing world
and the associated future world of
work. The set of values, expectations of
leadership capabilities, and foundations
of MUT experience outlined in Section 8
aim to position MUT staff and students
to have the requisite soft skills to thrive
and trade on their uniquely human
capabilities in this complex environment.
The strategic objectives in Section 9
emphasise the development of curricula
that will equip our students with the
requisite skills and competencies.
Students will, among other things, be
empowered through the fostering of
entrepreneurship culture and cultivation
of a global mindset and appreciation
of many different cultures. The anchor
strategy will seek to embed the University
in its local communities. We aim to
introduce a few areas of academic
collaborative excellence cutting across
Faculties to house impactful research
and innovation related to the emerging
fields of knowledge in the emerging era
of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.