Buffalo City TVET College was established in 2002, as a result of the merger of three colleges situated in the Greater East London area i.e. East London College and its St Marks Campus, Border Technical College and John Knox Bokwe Careers
College in Mdantsane.
Soon after the merger, the Council closed the Border Technical College premises and absorbed its Business Studies programmes into East London Campus and its Engineering Division into St Marks Campus. John Knox Bokwe Campus continued to offer both Business and Engineering Studies Report 191 programmes. At that point the College had an average full-time equivalent (FTE) of between 4500 and 5200 students.