Education · Contact details
WSU Contact Details
The WSU contact number is 047 502 2100, the Mthatha switchboard. Walter Sisulu University’s main switchboards are 047 502 2100 for Mthatha, 047 401 6000 for Butterworth and 043 702 9200 for East London. Admissions are handled per campus, with four separate application mailboxes, and financial aid queries go to campus mailboxes such as fabmth@wsu.ac.za. WSU publishes no general email address in readable form. We read this on wsu.ac.za on 24 and 26 September 2026.
Main switchboards
| Mthatha | 047 502 2100 |
|---|---|
| Butterworth | 047 401 6000 |
| East London | 043 702 9200 |
| Potsdam | 043 708 5200 |
| Chiselhurst | 043 709 4000 |
These are the numbers in WSU’s own site footer and are the general administration lines. Potsdam and Chiselhurst are sites within the Buffalo City campus in East London rather than separate campuses, but they answer their own numbers.
WSU’s general email address is published on its site but is hidden behind anti-spam scripting and does not display as readable text, so there is no general mailbox to quote here. Use the admissions addresses below or phone.
WSU email address for enquiries and help desk
For application enquiries, including online application queries, email the applications mailbox for your campus in the admissions table below (for example applicationsbtw@wsu.ac.za for Butterworth admissions enquiries). For remote learning and data queries, WSU publishes remotelearning@wsu.ac.za. WSU asks students to put their student number, campus and subject on every email, and says emails without them take longer to answer. WSU’s Student Finance contact page also lists named staff mailboxes per campus; these are personal addresses and are not reproduced here.
WSU does not publish a WhatsApp number on its contact page, site footer or Student Finance contact page, including for Komani (Queenstown). Treat any WhatsApp “WSU agent” with caution and use the phone numbers and @wsu.ac.za mailboxes on this page.
Admissions, by campus
| Campus and site | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|
| Mthatha, Nelson Mandela Drive | 047 502 2448 | applicationsmth@wsu.ac.za |
| Mthatha, Zamukulungisa | 047 502 2829 | applicationsmth@wsu.ac.za |
| Butterworth, Ibika N2 | 047 401 6396 | applicationsbtw@wsu.ac.za |
| Buffalo City, Potsdam | 043 708 5247 or 043 708 5210 | applicationsbcc@wsu.ac.za |
| Buffalo City, Chiselhurst | 043 709 4000 | applicationsbcc@wsu.ac.za |
| Buffalo City, College Street | 043 702 9369 | applicationsbcc@wsu.ac.za |
| Komani, Grey Street and Masibulele | 040 842 6806 | applicationskom@wsu.ac.za |
The mailbox naming is consistent and easy to remember: applications followed by a three-letter campus code. mth is Mthatha, btw Butterworth, bcc Buffalo City and kom Komani.
Note that all three Buffalo City sites share one mailbox but have three different telephone numbers. If you email, say which site you are applying to.
Mthatha works the other way round: two sites, two numbers, one shared mailbox.
WSU financial aid office and finance queries
WSU does not publish a financial aid telephone number. Queries about funding, allowances and appeals go to the financial aid mailbox for your campus, and queries about outstanding balances, statements and financial clearance go to the student debtors mailbox:
| Campus | Financial aid (funding, allowances, appeals) | Student debtors (balances, statements, clearance) |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo City | fabbcc@wsu.ac.za | studentdebtorsbcc@wsu.ac.za |
| Mthatha | fabmth@wsu.ac.za | studentdebtorsmth@wsu.ac.za |
| Butterworth | fabbtw@wsu.ac.za | studentdebtorsbtw@wsu.ac.za |
| Komani (Queenstown) | fabkom@wsu.ac.za | studentdebtorskom@wsu.ac.za |
To get financial assistance, WSU’s Fees and Financial Support page directs NSFAS funding questions to NSFAS directly and links to other bursaries.
WSU account number for paying fees
WSU publishes its student fees banking details on its Banking details page at wsu.ac.za/en/pay-your-fees/banking-details. Pay using the banking details on that official page, not details sent to you by anyone else, and use your student number as the payment reference with no spaces or extra characters. WSU also accepts credit and debit card payments.
WSU APS score and minimum admission requirements
WSU calculates your APS from your best six subjects: English and one other language, plus the four other subjects with the highest marks. The Faculty of Education uses seven subjects and counts Life Orientation. To calculate your APS, convert each NSC mark to points:
| NSC mark | APS points |
|---|---|
| 90 to 100% | 8 |
| 80 to 89% | 7 |
| 70 to 79% | 6 |
| 60 to 69% | 5 |
| 50 to 59% | 4 |
| 40 to 49% | 3 |
| 30 to 39% | 2 |
| 0 to 30% | 1 |
The minimum APS is set per programme. Diploma applicants need an NSC with at least a diploma endorsement, and degree applicants need a Bachelor’s endorsement. For a specific programme’s minimum, contact the admissions office for your campus.
Postal addresses, and one to watch
| Campus | Postal address |
|---|---|
| Mthatha | Walter Sisulu University, Private Bag X1, UNITRA, 5117 |
| Butterworth | Walter Sisulu University, Private Bag X3182, Butterworth, 4960 |
| Buffalo City | Walter Sisulu University, PO Box 1421, East London, 5200 |
| Komani | Walter Sisulu University, PO Box 1421, East London, 5200 |
The one to watch is Komani. Komani is the town formerly known as Queenstown, well inland from the coast, but its postal address is the same East London box as Buffalo City.
That is what WSU publishes and it is not an error on our part: post for the Komani campus goes to East London. Write “Komani Campus” on the envelope so it is routed on internally, and do not try to construct a Komani postal address of your own.
Note too that Mthatha’s private bag is addressed to UNITRA, the university’s former name, rather than to Mthatha. That is the correct address as published.
Which number for which query
WSU separates admissions from general administration, and the numbers differ even on the same campus.
Use the admissions numbers in the table above for applications, admission requirements and application status. Use the switchboards for everything else: records, a department, or anything you cannot place. Fees and funding questions go to the finance mailboxes above.
WSU emergency numbers
WSU does not publish a campus protection services emergency number in readable form: its campus Useful Contacts pages contain no numbers and the Student Health page lists clinic services only. For a campus matter, use the campus switchboards in the table above.
Chiselhurst is the exception where the two coincide: 043 709 4000 is both the switchboard and the admissions number for that site.
WSU publishes a number of other routes on its site rather than as telephone numbers, including a Student Online Services Portal, Student Finance pages, and separate pages for new students, returning students and international students. For an application already submitted, the portal is faster than the phone.
If your query is for a specific faculty rather than admissions, WSU has seven: Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology; Management and Public Administration Sciences; Economic and Financial Sciences; Law, Humanities and Social Sciences; Medicine and Health Sciences; Natural Sciences; and Education. Naming the faculty when you call the switchboard gets you transferred in one step instead of two.
Reporting fraud
WSU runs two separate reporting lines, listed in its footer as a Whistleblowing Hotline and a Fraud Hotline. WSU publishes the Fraud Hotline as the KPMG FairCall Fraud Hotline on 0800 212 582, for confidential reports.
This is worth knowing during application season. A university place cannot be bought, and anyone offering to secure you admission to WSU for a fee is defrauding you. Report it rather than paying.
Every genuine WSU mailbox ends in @wsu.ac.za. A message about your application from any other domain is not the university.
Frequently asked questions
What is the WSU contact number?
The Mthatha switchboard is 047 502 2100. Butterworth is 047 401 6000 and East London is 043 702 9200.
What is the WSU email address for enquiries?
Application enquiries go to your campus applications mailbox: applicationsmth@wsu.ac.za, applicationsbtw@wsu.ac.za, applicationsbcc@wsu.ac.za or applicationskom@wsu.ac.za.
How do I contact the WSU financial aid office?
Email the financial aid mailbox for your campus: fabbcc@wsu.ac.za, fabmth@wsu.ac.za, fabbtw@wsu.ac.za or fabkom@wsu.ac.za. NSFAS funding questions go to NSFAS directly.
How is the WSU APS score calculated?
From your best six subjects (seven for Education, including Life Orientation), with 8 points for 90 to 100% down to 1 point for below 30%. The minimum APS depends on the programme.
Does WSU have a WhatsApp number?
No. WSU publishes phone numbers and email addresses only.
How do I report fraud at WSU?
Call the KPMG FairCall Fraud Hotline on 0800 212 582.
Sources
- Walter Sisulu University contact page, wsu.ac.za, for every campus postal address, all admission telephone numbers and site names, and the four application email addresses (read 24 September 2026)
- WSU site footer, for the five switchboard numbers, the whistleblowing and fraud hotline links, and confirmation that the general email address is obscured by anti-spam scripting (read 24 September 2026)
- WSU Student Finance contact details page, wsu.ac.za/en/contact-info-help/contact-details, for the financial aid, student debtors and remote learning mailboxes (read 26 September 2026)
- WSU Banking details page, wsu.ac.za/en/pay-your-fees/banking-details, and Fees and Financial Support page (read 26 September 2026)
- WSU Admission requirements page for new undergraduate students, for the APS calculation (read 26 September 2026)
- WSU Fraud Hotline page, wsu.ac.za/en/fraud-hotline (read 26 September 2026)