Minister Manamela Sets Record Straight on Foreign Academics in South African Higher Education

Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela appeared before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training on 24 June 2026 to present the most detailed figures yet on the employment of foreign nationals across the Post-School Education and Training sector. The briefing responded directly to committee requests for disaggregated data and addressed growing public debate over whether institutions are complying with immigration and labour laws while advancing transformation.

Manamela stressed that legitimate questions about prioritising South Africans for jobs, ensuring lawful employment, and protecting transformation gains must be separated from misinformation that has clouded the conversation. He noted that foreign nationals constitute approximately 12 percent of permanent academic staff at public universities, a share that has remained stable for years even as the total number of South African academics has grown substantially.

Updated Data Across Universities, TVET Colleges and CET Centres

The department provided the clearest picture available for the three main components of the PSET system. In public universities, international academics are drawn overwhelmingly from the African continent and hold a high proportion of doctoral qualifications. Many occupy senior ranks where they lead research and supervise postgraduate students, helping sustain the supervisory capacity needed to produce the next generation of South African PhDs.

In the TVET sector, 265 foreign academics were recorded, but the majority—158—are either naturalised South African citizens or permanent residents. The remaining non-citizens largely fill critical and scarce skills positions and are permanently employed. Several in management roles have progressed through the ranks of South African colleges.

The CET sector employs just 31 foreign nationals across five colleges, primarily teaching Mathematics, Physical Sciences and other scarce-skilled subjects. Many of these appointments predate the formal establishment of the sector and were inherited when adult education functions shifted to national government in 2015.

Combating Misinformation and Disinformation

Manamela cautioned against collapsing distinct legal categories into a single narrative of suspicion. “When we collapse the citizen, the permanent resident, the holder of a critical-skills visa, and the person on a temporary contract into a single category of suspicion, we are not analysing a policy problem, we are manufacturing a grievance,” he told the committee.

He cited an example of a widely circulated social media claim that 66 percent of lecturers at the University of Fort Hare were foreign nationals—an assertion the department confirmed was false. Such claims, he said, undermine constructive debate and distract from the real governance issues that require attention, including data integrity, temporary contracts and visa compliance.

Legal Obligations Remain Non-Negotiable

The minister reiterated that the law governing the employment of foreign nationals is not negotiable. Institutions must satisfy themselves that no suitably qualified South African is available before recruiting internationally, in line with the Employment Services Act and Immigration Act. Appointments must align with the Critical Skills List where applicable, and internationalisation cannot serve as a loophole to bypass national requirements.

Manamela noted that genuine concerns about criminal exposure for institutional leadership arise when invalid work visas are in place. A joint task team with the Department of Home Affairs and Universities South Africa is working to clear visa backlogs and tighten compliance processes.

Building Local Academic Capacity Through Targeted Programmes

Localisation, Manamela emphasised, cannot be achieved by subtraction. It requires deliberate investment in South African talent. The department supports a suite of programmes, including the New Generation of Academics Programme, research chairs, centres of excellence and postgraduate funding weighted toward citizens and permanent residents. These initiatives have channelled more than R2 billion into developing young, black South African academics.

Foreign academics with doctoral qualifications currently help maintain supervisory capacity while these local pipelines mature. The goal is to increase the proportion of South African PhD graduates who can step into academic roles, particularly in fields where skills shortages persist.

Photo by Shubham Sharan on Unsplash

Internationalisation as a Strategic Tool, Not a Replacement Strategy

South Africa’s policy framework on internationalisation, adopted in 2020, positions global engagement as a means to strengthen research collaboration, curriculum development and academic benchmarking. The framework explicitly requires that foreign nationals be employed only where skills are scarce, that the law is followed, and that local capacity is built rather than displaced.

Manamela stressed that foreign nationals are not a designated group under employment equity legislation. Their presence must therefore be justified, transparent and lawful. Where institutions have deviated, corrective action is required.

New Advisory Panel and Reporting Requirements

To provide clearer guidance, Manamela has appointed a 19-member advisory panel of internationalisation experts drawn from all 26 public universities. The panel will develop a standardised framework covering approved visa pathways, skills-transfer obligations and employment-equity expectations. The framework is scheduled for presentation to stakeholders by the fourth quarter of 2026.

Universities will also be required to demonstrate in their annual performance plans how they balance internationalisation objectives with transformation imperatives. This reporting will help Parliament and the department monitor progress and identify areas needing intervention.

Implications for Transformation and Institutional Governance

The debate touches directly on South Africa’s constitutional commitment to a capable developmental state and the National Development Plan’s vision for a transformed higher education system. Reliable, audited data from the Higher Education Management Information System shows South African citizens made up 92.26 percent of the post-school workforce in 2024, with foreign nationals at 7.74 percent overall.

Most foreign staff are concentrated in academic and research roles rather than administrative or support positions. Persistent gaps in data management and interdepartmental coordination have complicated oversight, leading committees to call for improved systems that allow verification of compliance without relying on outdated or unaudited figures.

Stakeholder Perspectives and Broader Context

Committee members from both the Higher Education and Home Affairs portfolios welcomed the updated figures while reiterating that internationalisation must not displace qualified South Africans or circumvent immigration requirements. Oversight visits had revealed instances of foreign nationals in senior management roles not aligned with critical skills categories, prompting calls for stricter enforcement.

Universities South Africa and individual institutions have been engaged through the joint task team. The emphasis remains on evidence-based discussion rather than anecdote, ensuring that policy responses address real skills shortages while advancing demographic transformation in the academic workforce.

Looking Ahead: Strengthening the Local Pipeline

Manamela’s intervention signals a clear direction: South Africa will continue to benefit from international academic talent where it fills genuine gaps, but the long-term priority is expanding the number of South African citizens and permanent residents equipped to lead teaching, research and institutional management.

With the advisory panel’s framework expected later in 2026 and enhanced reporting requirements in place, institutions face greater scrutiny on how they integrate internationalisation with national transformation goals. The coming months will test whether improved data systems and coordinated visa processes can resolve compliance concerns while sustaining research output and postgraduate supervision capacity.

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Conclusion

Minister Buti Manamela’s June 2026 briefing to Parliament provided both updated statistics and a firm reminder that facts must guide the conversation on foreign academics in South African higher education. By distinguishing legitimate policy questions from misinformation, the department aims to protect institutional compliance, support local talent development and maintain the global competitiveness of the country’s universities and colleges. The focus now shifts to implementation of the new advisory framework and sustained investment in the next generation of South African academics.