The university is one of five technical institutions on the African continent to offer Doctoral Degrees.

[1] KwaZulu-Natal's Indian population began arriving in the 1860s to primarily work as indentured labourers on the sugar plantations.

This threat stimulated adult classes in literacy, as well as a range of commercial subjects, held in a mission school and a Hindu Institute, but it was not until after the Second World War, and thanks to substantial financial support from the public, that ML Sultan College came into being.

It would be another decade, however, before the City Council, now preoccupied with the structures of the first Group Areas Act of 1950, allocated suitable land for a permanent campus.

[1] The Natal Technical College was founded in 1907 and immediately began providing tuition to more than 350 part-time students.

The academic ambit of DUT resides under the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching & Learning.

The DUT Business School also designs tailor-made, in-house programmes and collaborates with corporate, public and non-profit organisations to develop and capacitate employees in various areas.