The South Campus Auditorium is located on the main Nelson Mandela University South Campus in Summerstrand, Gqeberha. It is officially designated as Building 3 on the university's computerized mapping layout.

By Vehicle

Enter the university grounds via the main security gates on University Way.
Follow the ring road around the central administration complex toward the main parking areas.
Park in the designated visitor or student parking lots situated near the Main Building and Senate complex.

On Foot (From the Campus Hub)

Head toward the Main Building (Building 1) and the Senate Building (Building 2), which form the architectural anchor of the campus.
The Auditorium sits immediately adjacent to these two structures, directly opposite the pathway leading toward the Old Mutual Lecture Halls (Building 4) and the Sanlam Lecture Halls (Building 5).
Clear internal campus directional signage points toward the entrance foyer of the auditorium from the central main plaza walkway.

History of the Auditorium

The South Campus Auditorium is deeply intertwined with the institutional evolution of higher education in the Eastern Cape:

The UPE Era (1960s – 1970s): The auditorium was constructed as a core feature of the original, brutalist-style Summerstrand campus design for the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), which was founded in 1964 as the first dual-medium (English and Afrikaans) residential university in South Africa. The building was designed to serve as the premier formal assembly hall for the institution.
Institutional Mergers (2005): In 2005, UPE merged with the PE Technikon and the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University to form the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). The South Campus Auditorium transitioned into the chief administrative venue for massive institutional events, hosting historic student assemblies and defining debates during periods of structural transformation.
Nelson Mandela University Rebranding (2017): When the university officially shed "Metropolitan" from its name in 2017 to legacy-brand itself fully as Nelson Mandela University, the South Campus Auditorium was solidified as a cultural space for translating academic engagement into social justice projects.

Today, the venue remains an essential platform for institutional memory, regularly hosting the university’s signature welcoming orientation addresses, public stakeholder engagements, choral festivals, and academic symposiums.