Pretoria – The new university being built in Kimberley next year will be called the Sol Plaatje University, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

A new university in Mbombela would be known as the University of Mpumalanga, he said.

“Our young people are hungry for education,” Zuma told reporters in Pretoria.

“We are establishing these institutions because we want every province in the country to provide an institution of higher learning.”

He said the universities would initially take in fewer than 200 students each.

Zuma and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande were giving an update on the progress made so far in establishing the two new universities.

During his State-of-the-Nation address, Zuma announced that construction on the universities was expected to start this year.

He said that while the universities would start operating next year, they would move into their new premises only in 2015.

– SAPA