University of the Witwatersrand

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (/vətˈvɑːtəsrɑːnt/), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a leading multi-campus public research university situated in the economic hub of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is known for its academic and research excellence, commitment to social justice, and the advancement of the public good. Wits University has been recognised as the top-ranked university in sub-Saharan Africa for innovation performance in the 2025 Global Innovation Index.

The university has its roots in the mining industry, as do Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand in general. Founded in 1896 as the South African School of Mines in Kimberley, it is the third oldest South African university in continuous operation.

The university has an enrollment of 41,702 students as of 2025, of which approximately 20 percent on campus in the university's 17 residences. About 61 percent (25,835) of the university's total enrollment is for undergraduate study, with 39 percent (15,867) being postgraduate or occasional students. The university assists students to access higher education as far as its resources allow. The university has an acceptance rate of approximately 4.5%, having received 140,000 applications but only having accepted 6,300 students.

Wits is home to five faculties, 33 schools and seven campuses spread over 480 hectares in Parktown, Braamfontein and a rural campus in Mpumalanga. Wits’ footprint extends way beyond its lecture theatres and research laboratories. The university hosts South Africa’s only private teaching hospital, the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, which trains a record number of specialists every year. In the west of the Gauteng province. It also owns the Wits Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and land rich in fossils where staff and students discover, explore and conduct research. In 2016 the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct was opened in Braamfontein, which brings together people from across disciplines to engage in digital entrepreneurial activities that transform our world for good. An invention born in this precinct was announced as TIME’s best creations with several Witsies cited amongst TIME magazine's most influential people[1].

The Wits Rural Campus in Mpumalanga conducts world-class longitudinal research in science, health, social and economic areas, which can for example, be compared to data in urban settings. Wits is home to two commercial companies - Wits Enterprise and the Wits Health Consortium, WitsPlus a short course company, the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome, the Wits Art Museum which houses over 12 000 works of unique African art, the Origins Centre, the Palaeosciences Centre and Fossil Vault that houses invaluable fossils, and Historical Papers and Archives, which curate national treasures like former president Nelson Mandela’s Rivonia Trial papers, on behalf of the people of the world, and more.

Nelson Mandela was one of four Nobel laureates that emanate from Wits - the others were Sir Sydney Brenner, Aaron Klug, and Nadine Gordimer, alongside several other prominent Witsies.

The WITS BioHub conceived as Africa’s first fully integrated 'bedside-to-bench-to-breakthrough' campus will open soon in Parktown, as well the state-of-the-art Brian and Dorothy Zylstra Sports Complex, an integrated facility for training, research, and clinical practice.