for accessible and affordable higher education was most urgent. In 1982 the Port Elizabeth campus consisted of a small, prefabricated building patched between the national road to Uitenhage and the edge of Zwide township. Its location opened up access to higher education for many students from socially and financially disadvantaged backgrounds. The campus had its first academic year in 1983 and in 1991 a permanent brick structure was completed. Later additions such as the Conference Hall and Arena provided accessible facilities for the surrounding community for large events. With seating for 5 000, the Arena is the Eastern Cape's largest indoor venue. Initially focused on the upgrading of teachers through its Education Faculty, in its subsequent growth Vista far surpassed the narrow field of expertise cut out for it, producing graduates in business, law, science and the humanities. At the time of the merger, Vista PE had approximately 2 000 students and was led by Acting Campus Principal Prof Miemie Struwig. with its first academic year in 1983. It was taken over by UPE. Governance and administration The ceremonial head of the university is the chancellor, who, in the name of the university, confers all qualifications. The vice-chancellor is responsible for the day-to-day running of the university. Deputy vice-chancellors for research, innovation and internationalisation, learning and teaching, people and operations as well as the registrar, acting as the secretary to the university's council, assist the vice-chancellor in her duties. There is an executive dean for each faculty, as well as learning and teaching. Other management committee positions are the dean of students, and campus principals for the Missionvale and George campuses. The current chancellor is Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, appointed in 2018. The current vice-chancellor is Sibongile Muthwa, who was appointed in 2017. Dr Kaluke Mawila is the campus principal at George Campus and the current Missionvale campus principal is Phakama Ntshongwana. Campuses The university currently has seven campuses. Six of them are located in Gqeberha, and one is in George. The South, North, Second Avenue and Ocean Sciences campuses are all situated in Summerstrand, Gqeberha close to the beach. The South Campus is the main campus of Mandela University, having previously been used by UPE. It was built on of land donated by the then Port Elizabeth City Council and completed in 1965, the campus was declared a nature reserve in 1983. It is the only university campus in South Africa