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Memorandum from the Parliamentary Office
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 305
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12/08/2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 22 OF 2011)
Mr O de Beer (COPE-WC) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and
Training:
Whether the Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa) and the
University of Limpopo have been separated; if not, what is the
position in this regard; if so, what was the basis of such decision?
CW372E
REPLY:
I announced the undoing of the merger between the University of
Limpopo and Medunsa in my budget vote speech on 26 May 2011. It is
envisaged that the Medunsa campus will become part of a single purpose
Health and Allied Sciences University and a new medical school will be
developed at the University of Limpopo.
In terms of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997) as
amended, in order for this to happen a new University needs to be
established and the Medunsa campus incorporated into it. The mechanisms and
technical processes for auctioning this outcome still need to be
determined.
As required by the Higher Education Act, the Minister must consult
the Council on Higher Education (CHE) on the establishment of new public
higher education institutions and the incorporation of any public higher
education institution with another. The CHE has been requested to provide
the Minister with a report advising on the recommendation that Medunsa be
incorporated into a new single purpose University, and this is expected to
be submitted during the week of the 22nd to the 26th August. The terms of
reference for a technical task team which will make recommendations on the
undoing of the merger will be announced once the CHE report has been
received and considered.