Former names | Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA) (1976-2005) MEDUNSA Campus of the University of Limpopo (2005-2015) |
|---|---|
| Motto | Knowledge for Quality Health Services |
| Type | Public University |
| Established | 1 January 2015 |
| Chancellor | Dr Penny Moumakwa |
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof. Tandi Matsha-Erasmus |
| Students | approx. 7000 |
| Location | Ga-Rankuwa (next to Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital)Tshwane ,,25°37′8″S28°1′22″E / 25.61889°S 28.02278°E /-25.61889; 28.02278 |
| Colours | Orange, Blue, White |
| Website | http://www.smu.ac.za/ |
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Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU;Afrikaans:Sefatho Makgatho Universiteit vir Gesondheidswetenskappe), formerly known asMedical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA), is apublicmedical university inGa-Rankuwa,Gauteng Province,South Africa.[1] Its current incarnation was formed on 1 January 2015.[2] It is named after South AfricanANC leaderSefako Makgatho.[3]
The Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA) was established in 1976 to provide medical education to black students, who were restricted from attending most medical schools in South Africa by theApartheid government,[4] with a few exceptions at segregated non-white-only medical schools.[5][6]
The seat of the university is located atGa-Rankuwa.[7] The name change from MEDUNSA to Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) was one of the causes of the riots in August 2014.[8] From 2005 to 2015, the university was a campus of theUniversity of Limpopo, but it was separated following a review of the merger.[9] The launch on 14 April 2015 was attended by PresidentJacob Zuma and Minister of Higher EducationBlade Nzimande, with the president delivering the keynote address.
SMU has shown an upward trend in various national and global university rankings from 2020 to 2025, consistently improving its position.[10]
Source:[11]
The Times Higher Education (THE) ranking is an annual publication that provides a global ranking of universities based on performance metrics across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry income, and international outlook.[12]
| Year | World Impact Ranking |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1001-1500 |
| 2025 | 1001-1500 |
| 2024 | n/a |
| Year | World Rank | National Rank | Overall | Teaching | Research Environment | Research Quality | Industry | International Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1201-1500 | 11th | 27.3-32.0 | 26.0 | 11.1 | 42.7 | 19.2 | 50.0 |
| 2025 | 1201-1500 | 11th | 25.2–30.6 | 25.4 | 10.6 | 48.1 | 18.3 | 47.5 |
| 2024 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
URAP, or theUniversity Ranking by Academic Performance, is a global university ranking system developed by the Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University that ranks higher education institutions based on the quality and quantity of their scholarly publications and research output. It uses data from sources like Web of Science to assess performance in terms of scientific productivity, research impact, research quality, and international collaboration. The system aims to help universities identify areas for improvement and is updated annually. The key indicators is based on a set of weighting scores assigned through the Delphi system. Each indicator receives a percentage of the total score, with weights assigned as follows: Article (21%), Total Document (10%), Citation (21%), Article Impact Total (AIT) (18%), Citation Impact Total (CIT) (15%), and International Collaboration (15%). Since 2020, SMU has consistently improved, demonstrating significant progress each year.[14]
| Year | World Rank | Article | Citation | Total Document | AIT | CIT | International Collaboration | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/2025 | 2166 | 26.95 | 43.68 | 19.44 | 31.59 | 27.41 | 34.52 | 183.59 |
| 2023/2024 | 2229 | 26.98 | 33.92 | 17.48 | 24.91 | 30.43 | 24.25 | 157.97 |
| 2022/2023 | 2306 | 27.1 | 35.91 | 16.2 | 29.75 | 16.82 | 27.51 | 163.29 |
| 2021/2022 | 2445 | 13.99 | 32.03 | 10.29 | 29.28 | 32.41 | 19.15 | 137.15 |
| 2020/2021 | 2591 | 8.25 | 30.93 | 6.49 | 21.48 | 25.44 | 16.71 | 109.19 |
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Council
Convocation
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The following degree programmes are offered:[16]
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