TUT and City of Tshwane plant trees for a greener future

The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) partnered with the City of Tshwane (CoT) for the Arbour Month Tree Planting Project at the Soshanguve South and North campuses. The initiative brought together TUT staff, students, alumni and City representatives.

Campus Rector Dr Etienne van Wyk. As part of its Urban Greening Programme, the city donated 50 trees, mostly fruit trees, to TUT. Beyond contributing to a greener campus, the trees will support Arifarane, a student-led agricultural initiative that seeks to address student food insecurity while equipping students with practical gardening and agricultural skills.

Dr Etienne van Wyk, Campus Rector, highlighted the significance of trees as symbols of growth, resilience and hope. He emphasised TUT’s role in promoting sustainable development and welcomed the contribution towards Arifarane, which links environmental sustainability with practical efforts to address student hunger.

Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane Dr Nasiphi Moya. Dr Nasiphi Moya, Executive Mayor of the CoT, underscored the importance of food security and described the partnership with TUT as meaningful to the city. She noted that the collaboration reflected the value of working together to address community needs.

“We have TUT alumni across various sections of the city. When we launched the Alumni Forum, we endorsed it because we don’t want employees who think that their job is to wake up and go to the City of Tshwane and collect a salary without looking around at the society they live in and how they can impact it, including dealing with student debt,” she said.

Speaking on behalf of the CoT-TUT Alumni Forum, Sello Mphaga highlighted the forum’s role in supporting students through mentorship, work-integrated learning and alumni contributions. He also reflected on previous tree-planting initiatives at TUT and their lasting impact.

Dr Nasiphi Moya during the tree-planting ceremony. The programme included a presentation on the trees by Divhane Khangale from the City’s horticulture team, followed by a ceremonial tree-planting session led by Dr Moya and TUT executives.

The initiative demonstrated the growing partnership between TUT, the City of Tshwane and the CoT-TUT Alumni Forum, combining environmental sustainability with student support and community engagement. Through initiatives such as this, the partners are helping cultivate a greener campus while contributing to efforts to improve student well-being.