The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, has called for a renewed national conversation on the intellectual direction and public purpose of South African universities.
Manamela was delivering a keynote address at a national webinar on the Intellectual Directions of Higher Education in South Africa and was in conversation with Professor Sibongile Muthwa, VC of Nelson Mandela University, Professor Linda Meyer, president of Rosebank College and Professor Hester C Klopper, VC and principal of the Free State University.
Manamela said universities must look beyond immediate challenges of funding, student debt, governance and institutional stability to confront a more fundamental question: What is the South African university meant for?
“A university is not simply a factory producing certificates, a recruitment agency for employers or a consultancy to the state. It must remain a place where knowledge is discovered, received wisdom is challenged and society develops the capacity to imagine a different future,” said the Minister.
While acknowledging South Africa’s achievements in expanding access, transforming the student population and building internationally recognised research institutions, Minister Manamela identified four priorities for the future.
First, renewing the public purpose of universities. Universities must demonstrate their value not only through qualifications and research outputs, but through their contribution to society, while protecting academic freedom and independent inquiry.
Second, sustainable financing and equitable access. Student funding and institutional sustainability must be addressed together. “If we protect access while undermining the institutions that must educate students, we risk weakening the very system we are trying to expand.”
Third, artificial intelligence and the future of knowledge. Universities must prepare graduates to think critically, interrogate evidence and exercise ethical judgement in an AI-driven world. Africa must develop the capacity to produce and shape emerging technologies rather than remain dependent on systems developed elsewhere.
Fourth, intellectual transformation and decolonisation. The Minister called for stronger African scholarship, multilingualism and the meaningful integration of African knowledge traditions into teaching and research, without retreating from global intellectual engagement.
He also emphasised the importance of protecting the academic profession, supporting emerging scholars and recognising the indispensable contribution of the humanities, arts, sciences and technology to national development.
Concluding, Minister Manamela challenged the sector:
“If we were designing our university system today, knowing what we know about inequality, artificial intelligence, climate change, the future of work and the unfinished work of democracy, would we design the system we currently have? If not, what are we prepared to change, and what must we protect?”
The Minister emphasised that the future of higher education must be shaped collectively by government, universities, students, academics, workers and society.
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