South Africa’s public universities have taken a significant step towards addressing the increasingly complex debate around international academics, employment equity and internationalisation in higher education.
Universities South Africa (USAf), which represents the country’s 26 public universities, has launched a sector-wide position paper intended to guide institutions when recruiting and appointing international academic staff.
The document seeks to address a difficult balancing act: ensuring South African universities remain globally competitive while simultaneously advancing transformation, employment equity and the development of local academic capacity.
Why the issue has gained attention
The publication comes as the employment of international academics has attracted increased scrutiny from Parliament and government.
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has questioned universities about their reliance on international academic staff, compliance with immigration and labour legislation, and the availability of reliable data on foreign academics.
The committee held a joint meeting with the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs in February to examine the employment of international academics in universities and TVET colleges.
The Department of Higher Education and Training has subsequently acknowledged gaps in institutional data and announced reforms to the Higher Education Management Information System.
According to audited 2024 figures reported by DHET, South African universities employed 6,739 international academic staff, representing approximately 7.7% of the country’s academic workforce.
The parliamentary scrutiny has therefore intensified the debate over how universities should approach international recruitment while meeting the country’s transformation objectives.
USAf says internationalisation and transformation can coexist
At the launch of the position paper, USAf argued that internationalisation and transformation should not be viewed as competing priorities.
Mahlubi Mabizela, USAf’s director of operations and sector support, said universities were required to respond to both domestic priorities and an increasingly international higher-education environment.
The challenge, he suggested, is finding a model that allows South African institutions to attract global expertise while strengthening the country’s own academic workforce.
USAf CEO Dr Phethiwe Matutu described the paper as the result of a process that began in 2021 following proposed changes to employment equity legislation.
What began as an intended short statement ultimately developed into a comprehensive 40-page position paper after consultations involving university human-resource leaders, transformation structures, employment equity specialists and government officials.
A changing global higher-education landscape
Professor Crain Soudien, who led the development of the paper, highlighted the changing nature of internationalisation.
He pointed to a tension between two broad approaches.
The first views internationalisation as a means of encouraging knowledge exchange, intellectual diversity and collaboration across borders.
The second increasingly treats internationalisation as competition for highly skilled academics, research funding, students and global rankings.
South Africa has attempted to navigate both realities through its higher-education policy framework.
The country’s policies promote global engagement while also emphasising Africanisation, intellectual diversity, decolonisation and the development of local academic capacity.
Foreign academics remain a relatively small part of the workforce
The position paper also challenges perceptions about the scale of international academic employment in South Africa.
According to the paper, foreign nationals constitute a relatively small share of university academic staff and are frequently employed in areas where institutions identify critical skills needs.
International academics can also play an important role in postgraduate supervision, research collaboration and knowledge production.
However, universities face practical difficulties when recruiting academics from abroad.
One of the major concerns raised is the processing of visas and work permits.
Delays in immigration processes can make South African universities less attractive to international academics while potentially disrupting teaching, research and postgraduate programmes.
USAf has called for greater coordination between universities and government departments to address these challenges.
The transformation question
The debate is not simply about how many international academics South Africa employs.
It also raises questions about who gets academic opportunities, how scarce skills are defined and how universities develop the next generation of South African scholars.
Professor Thandi Lewin stressed the importance of better data and clearer definitions when assessing the role of international academics.
Professor Siphokazi Magadla argued that internationalisation should be considered within South Africa’s broader social and economic context, including inequality and institutional challenges.
Other contributors similarly called for recruitment processes that combine academic excellence with transformation objectives.
The underlying message is that attracting international expertise should not come at the expense of developing local talent.
What USAf is proposing
The position paper puts forward several recommendations for universities and government.
These include:
- Developing a sector-wide framework for appointing international academic staff.
- Establishing clearer procedures for bringing international academics into South Africa in partnership with Home Affairs.
- Improving cooperation between USAf, DHET, Home Affairs and the Department of Employment and Labour.
- Strengthening the collection and reporting of data on international academics and critical skills.
- Ensuring employment equity targets reflect realities in the academic labour market.
- Making internationalisation part of broader efforts to support Africanisation and local capacity-building.
A new chapter for South African higher education?
The launch of the paper comes at a critical point for South Africa’s universities.
Institutions are under pressure to transform, expand opportunities for local academics and address historical inequalities — while simultaneously competing for talent and research partnerships in an increasingly global higher-education environment.
The challenge now is turning the principles outlined in the position paper into practical and transparent policies.
For USAf and the universities it represents, the objective is clear: internationalisation should strengthen South Africa’s higher-education system without becoming a substitute for transformation.
