[6] Since 1997, the university has produced more research output every year than any other institution in South Africa, as measured by the Department of Education's accreditation benchmark.

In 1902, after the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging, the Normal College for teacher training was established in Groenkloof, Pretoria, and in 1904, the Transvaal Technical Institute, with an emphasis on mining education, opened in Johannesburg.

[6] The Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (ICLA), established at the beginning of 2011, is a research institute in the Faculty of Law with Professors Erika de Wet and Christof Heyns (the United Nations Special Rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions) being appointed as co-directors.

[5] The ICLA coordinates the Oxford Constitutions Online African country reports and collaborates with the Centre for Human Rights to coordinate the Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts (ILDC) Online African case law.

The vision of the Centre is to establish child law and uphold the rights of children in South Africa within an international and regional context, particularly insofar as these interests pertain to their legal position.

The Centre’s mission is to work towards the development of child law and the realisation of children’s rights in South Africa, within a regional and international context.

The Centre employs numerous litigation strategies, including entering as amicus curiae in strategic cases and bringing its own applications, civil actions, and appeals or reviews.

The Centre plays a strategic role in a network of child protection organisations and accepts referrals from other children's rights groups.