Photo: The mega projects site handover was attended by members of the project steering committee, Welkom Campus management, SRC and Nehawu representatives.

The Central University of Technology is currently embarking on a project to construct various buildings at both its campuses, an important milestone in developing infrastructure upgrades for the rapidly growing university. The construction on some of the projects has already started in May 2023 and is scheduled to be completed in September 2024.

The Welkom facilities to be constructed include a new residence, which will provide much-needed student accommodation. The double-storey building will feature 16 family units amounting to 221 beds. The multi-purpose hall, which will be used for purposes of indoor sports facilities, various university events, examination venues etc., has a maximum capacity of 910.  Another facility, the Teacher Education building, which is considered a high-priority building, is scheduled for construction in September 2023. The three-storey building, which is envisioned to house academics, has special features such as laboratories, lecture halls, additional office space and media rooms.

For the duration of construction, efficient and competitive diverse workforce will be employed, including local (Free State) unskilled and semi-skilled labour force and sub-contractors. There will also be Work Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunities for CUT students in Construction Management, Civil Engineering and Quantity Surveying to gain technical experience on-site.

The project timelines are as follows: Project award date: December 2022, Site establishment date: May 2023, Commencement date of construction: June 2023, Planned completion date: July/August 2024, Handover date to CUT end user: Aug/Sept 2024.