University of Pretoria is established

On 10 February 1908 a new department of the Transvaal University College (T.U.C.), situated in Johannesburg, started its classes in Kya Rosa, a house in Skinner Street, Pretoria.  This department, consisting of the arts and science courses with four professors, three lecturers and thirty-two students, developed into the University of Pretoria. The nickname for the university - Tuks or Tukkies is derived from the TUC acronym. The University of Pretoria, into which the Transvaal University College was incorporated, was upgraded as a fully-fledged and autonomous university on 10 October 1930, having been a university college since 17 May 1910. Afrikaans became the official language of instruction on 13 September 1932. Since 1994 and the end of apartheid considerable transformation has taken place. The university was transformed from a mainly White, Afrikaans institution, to a national university in the true sense of the word, accessible to all South Africans. In 2004 the university merged with the defunct Vista University’s Mamelodi Campus. It incorporated English and Sepedi languages as its second and third language of communication. The University celebrated its 100th year anniversary in 2008.