South Africa University Accreditation and Recognition

It is almost not possible to establish a university in South Africa without being first registered and accredited by the government agencies shoulder with the responsibility. 

In South Africa university institution, there are two accreditations: 

1. Accreditation of an organisation as a university  and 
2. Accreditation of each of the programmes that will be offered at the university. 

When an establishment is registered to operate as a university institution, the programmes it would be offering must be accredited and that means certifying that the institution have on ground everything it takes to run the programmes in line with the established standard and successfully. 

In South Africa, it is the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) that register a university and is accredited by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). 

At the programme level, the South Africa Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is responsible for maintaining standards and accreditation of Maritime Training and Education Programmes in the university while Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) see to the accreditation of all the engineering programmes in the universities and other institutions for example. 

Accreditation of a programme has a lifespan at which it expired after which another one is granted if the programme is still meeting the standard. 

This is one of the reasons it is possible for students to earn a qualification on an unaccredited programme. The accreditation might have expired but the programme could still be running by the school. So, it is important for students to always check for the accreditation status of their programmes. 

Accreditation and Recognition  

Accreditation of a programme make a qualification earned in it be recognized by other institutions either at home or abroad for further education or for securing a paid job at reputable companies or for registration with appropriate professional body of a discipline. 

South Africa is a signatory to the ‘Washington Accord’ which include: USA, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Hong Kong,, Japan, Germany, Singapore and Malaysia. You can use your qualification in any of the member countries of it is genuine. 

List of Accredited Universities for Engineering in South Africa.

• Tshwane University of Technology  (TUT)
• Durban University of Technology  (DUT)
• Vaal University of Technology (VUT)
• University of Witwatersrand  (UW)
• Stellenbosch University (SU)
• University of Johannesburg  (UJ)
• University of South Africa (UNISA)
• University of Cape Town (UCT) 
• University of Pretoria (UP)
• University of KwazuluNatal  
• Nelson Mandela University  
• Central University of Technology (CUT)
• Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) 
• University of Zululand
• Mangosuthu University of Technology 
• North West University (NWU) 

All the universities mentioned above have all their engineering programmes accredited by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) at the time of this post. 

However, if there is any reason to doubt the accreditation status of a programme at any of the schools mentioned above you can contact ECSA using:  

Tel: (011) 607-9500

Private Mail Bag: X 691 

Fax: (011) 622-9295 BRUMA

Email: engineer@ecsa.co.za 

website: www.ecsa.co.za 

Physical Location Address:

1st Floor, Waterview Corner Building

2 Ernest Oppenheimer Avenue

Bruma Lake Office Park, Bruma

Johannesburg

2198

They are always ready to answer you. 

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