The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has expressed concern over the continued reliance on foreign academics at some of South Africa’s public universities, particularly at professor level, despite significant government investment in developing local academic talent.
The committee received a briefing from the Department of Higher Education and Training on updated figures relating to the employment of foreign academics across the country’s 26 public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Members also considered the department’s fourth-quarter expenditure report for the 2025/26 financial year.
Committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie said the figures raised questions about the effectiveness of government programmes aimed at strengthening South Africa’s academic and research capacity.
“We are concerned that, despite substantial public investment in higher education, research development and academic support programmes, some institutions continue to employ a disproportionately high number of foreign academics at senior academic levels,” Letsie said.
He argued that government investments over the past two decades should have produced more South Africans qualified to occupy senior academic positions.
