Universities South Africa (USAf), formerly known as Higher Education South Africa (HESA), is an intermediary that represents all 26 public universities leaders to the general public and acts in the “best interests” of universities.
Background to USAF Previously known as Higher Education South Africa (HESA), formed on 9 May 2005 as a successor to the two statutory representative organisations for universities and technikons, the South African Universities Vice-Chancellors Association (SAUVCA) and the Committee of Technikon Principals (CTP).
SAUVCA was an aspirational framework for the transformation and restructuring of South African higher education. It was established as a statutory body for the 21 public universities in South Africa by the Universities Act (Act 61 of 1955). As a statutory body, it made recommendations to the Minister and Director-General of Education on matters referred to or any other issues deemed necessary for universities. The CTP was a national higher education association established in 1967 regarding the Advanced Technical Education Act (No. 40 of 1967). It consisted of the rectors, principals and [Chancellor (education)|Vice-Chancellors] of technikons in South Africa. HESA's focus was on policy analysis and strategic research, advocacy and stakeholder influence and sector support. HESA was critical of budgetary declines for education that began in 2004 HESA was also critical of the Higher Education and Training Laws Amendment Bill (2012) which had implications for institutional autonomy and academic freedom. and was passed without adequate consultation.
Rebranding Restructuring of the higher education sector, resulted in the establishment of new institutional types and a need for a robust and unified body of leadership was identified. Higher Education South Africa (HESA) changed its name to Universities South Africa (USAf) on 22 July 2015, under the leadership of Adam Habib. USAf offered an alternative discussion fora for its members to debate, link to best practices and collaborate. The organisation frequently used the rhetoric of transformation to describe the changes they envisage for the South African Higher Education sector.
The USAf board is made up of 26 Vice-Chancellors drawn from member universities, and positions the organization as “a thought leader” and "The Voice of South African Universities". Their members endorse a comprehensive and equitable national higher education system that is responsive to the many challenges facing the country. Through a mixture of lobbying, advocacy and activism, USAf attempts to facilitate an optimal environment, conducive for universities to function effectually and maximally contribute to the social, cultural, and economic advancement of South Africa and its people.
USAf are only accountable to their members, who play a large role in "governance structures, strategy determination, and operational planning". Since good governance in public Higher Education has also been flagged as a widespread HE challenge, there may be a need for USAf to go beyond thought and voice and take measures to protect all staff and students in universities against power imbalances. This has begun, and USAf has taken some steps to make whistleblowing a part of the "ethical infrastructure" but the ongoing lack of external accountability has also resulted in accusations of "privilege gatekeeping", and possibility of elite capture.
USAf represents all 26 public universities and universities of technology in South Africa and is a Section 21 company.
Programmes The Higher Education Leadership and Management Programme (HELM) was founded in 2002. HELM is one of the flagship programmes, offered by USAf. This programme offers contextual and bespoke leadership and management programmes for emerging, middle and senior managers and leaders in universities. HELM is intended for both individuals and institutions. It is used to "identify their capacitation needs within their specific contexts and align individual leadership development pathways with their organisational objectives". HELM's purpose is intended to develop effective leaders in higher education, thus contributing to student success.
The Entrepreneurial Development in Higher Education (EDHE) is the USAf's second flagship programme. The EDHE platform was set up in 2016, and is intended for entrepreneurial development across the university sector. EDHE is essentially a response to graduate and youth unemployment and the diminishing resources available at universities.
Additional USAf Programme Students need to meet the requirements for Matriculation Exemption to be accepted to universities. The Universities South Africa Matriculation Board offers advice. The university sector is underfunded. USAf uses Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) when negotiating subsidy increases with the government. HEPI measures the inflation rate for higher education by considering universities' typical spending patterns. HEPI plays a crucial role in ensuring the affordability and accessibility of higher education, an essential aspect of their commitment to fairness and equality. Advancing Early Career Researchers and Scholars (AECRS) is an attempt by USAf, to build capacity, offer support and enrich careers through collaboration and partnerships in the South African higher education and research sector. ACERS manages two platforms. Thuso Resources, a national toolbox for emerging scholars” and Thuso Connect, a mentorship platform.
Members and Platforms + Higher Education Provision Institution Name LMS Name Platform Provider Name OPM Contract Cape Peninsula University of Technology My Classroom Blackboard Central University of Technology eThuto Blackboard Distance Learning HEPSA Durban University of Technology Think Learn Zone Moodle ODL HEP-A Mangosuthu University of Technology MUT e-learn Blackboard Nelson Mandela University iLearn Moodle Virtual Academy HEP (or Hep Africa) North-West University eFundi Sakai Rhodes University RU Connected Moodle Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University iThute Blackboard Sol Plaatje University Learn Moodle Stellenbosch University SUN Learn Moodle Tshwane University of Technology myTUTor D2L Brightspace ? Hepafrica University of South Africa My UNISA Moodle (mobile) University of the Free State Learn Blackboard Ideas Lab HEPSA Contact ended University of Cape Town Amathuba D2L Brightspace University of Fort Hare Learn @ UFH Blackboard University of Johannesburg ULink Moodle Online Higher Ed Partners SA or HEPA University of KwaZulu-Natal Learn2025 Moodle University of Limpopo TM learn Blackboard University of Mpumalanga My UMP Moodle University of Pretoria ClickUp Blackboard Online & COES HEPSA University of the Western Cape iKamva Sakai CIECT HEPSA University of the Witwatersrand Ulwazi Canvas Online CLTD AP (contract end) University of Venda My Univen Moodle University of Zululand Learn Moodle Vaal University of Technology MoodleVUT Moodle Walter Sisulu University Wise Up Moodle
Undoing the legacies from the past Transformation of higher education is a complex matter, and university leaders have inherited many of Apartheid's unequal legacies. VCs are also facing competing agendas, such as the need to address research productivity, the imperative to widen access and success to more and the pressure to remain globally competitive
Policy and legislation has enabled change in South African higher education. The landscape has shifted, from an unequal, fragmented, racialized system to a system that supports access, success and equity. Institutions and individual university leaders and management teams have taken disparate approaches to "transformation", but a compliance-driven approach, has had limited success. Student's "throughput, pass and dropout rates ...remain racialised and gendered". Universities transformation efforts are "agonisingly slow".
Clearly, higher education has to consider alternative approaches to teaching and learning. With a national unemployment rate of 32% in the first quarter of 2024. There's an obvious mismatch between the labour market demands, what students are being taught, and the qualifications they receive. In the absence of formal work opportunities, the imperative to drive student and graduate entrepreneurship is urgent and necessary.
Online platforms have also been positioned as a mechanism for transformation, to improve access and improving success rates. When the national educational shutdown was announced, due to COVID-19 in March 2020, the “digital transformation” that accompanied the pandemic, and the countrywide instruction to “pivot” to emergency remote teaching, had a disproportionate negative effect on disadvantaged students and "exacerbated historic inequalities" among those who did have adequate access to computing resources or bandwidth / data to connect to their institutions while learning off campus. Venture capital (and not vice chancellors) sold many "wholesale solutions", to serve the 4IR, instead of addressing the immediate needs of students and academics. With hindsight, it became clear that technology, by itself, does not transform higher educational institutions. Platforms (LMS, CRM, SIMS) fit in this "hugely complex, reclusively intertwined technology web" and compete with individual institutional factors (e.g. shrinking budgets, procurement staff, technology acceptance, policy mandates etc) which also hinder the re- shaping of higher education.
USAF have also worked in partnership with the Central Applications Office (CAO), a KwaZulu-Natal non-profit organisation that offers advice and support and simplifies the process of making applications to public and private higher education institutions in KZN.
Research productivity Coherence in the National System of Innovation (NSI) needs to be addressed as it is more a policy wish than a reality. A review by the Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Institutional Landscape (HESTILL), chaired by Ihron Rensburg, also found that the NSI had avoided coordination and greater planning and coherence was necessary.
Access and NSFAS Policy changes within the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) have created risks and challenges for universities. USAf has highlighted risks of bad debt. 2023 marked a seminal point in state spending patterns. DHET allocated more money to NSFAS than universities for the first time. The non-payment of NSFAS funds in 2024 have created new challenges for universities. While South Africa is funding students' access to higher education through NSFAS, there hasn't been a visible improvement in stability within Higher Education and are still battling to function effectively usaf.ac.za/notwithstanding-increased-state-investment-in-nsfas-there-is-little-improvement-in-universities-stability-and-outcomes-says-professor-adam-habib/ In February 2024, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) announced that they had made a recovery totalling of R737 926 351 from institutions of Higher Learning.
University Rankings The Council for Higher Education (CHE) has recently raised important questions about university rankings. A critical opinion, has been published on the rankings industry. The piece argues that rankings are both an example of neocolonialism and neoliberalism. Certain members of USAf believe that higher education is a market, instead of a collective endeavour . Many USAf member's press releases that mention their university rankings. Despite knowing that university rankings are biased and methodologically flawed, have short-term publicity gains and are acknowledged as an unscientific "game", this practice continues.
USAf and addressing corruption Educational fraud, contact cheating and unethical behaviour within academia is a global challenge that faces all higher education systems worldwide