By Mapaballo Borotho
- Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela has defended the employment of foreign academics at South African institutions, saying most possess scarce skills and contribute significantly to research and postgraduate supervision.
- He revealed that 158 of the 265 foreign academics under discussion are either naturalised citizens or permanent residents.
- Manamela urged South Africans not to be misled by misinformation, stressing that institutions must comply with employment laws while balancing transformation and academic excellence.
There have been growing concerns about the employment of foreign nationals as lecturers across various tertiary institutions in South Africa, with many questioning whether South African academics are being prioritised for these positions.
Responding to these concerns, Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, briefed the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training on the employment of foreign academics across the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector.
In his remarks, Manamela cautioned against a debate that has become clouded by vague categories, misinformation, and disinformation, while reaffirming that the laws governing the employment of foreign nationals are non-negotiable.
“There are legitimate concerns in this conversation, and we do not pretend otherwise. South Africans are entitled to expect that public institutions prioritise them for employment, that everyone who teaches does so lawfully, and that transformation is not quietly deferred.
“These are not xenophobic concerns, but we must be careful of the great deal of misinformation and disinformation that circulates in this debate,” said Manamela.
The minister emphasised that of the 265 foreign academics under discussion, the majority are either naturalised South African citizens or permanent residents, while the remainder are non-citizens.
According to Manamela, most of these academics possess critical and scarce skills and are permanently employed within the sector.
He further noted that those occupying management positions have largely risen through the ranks of South Africa’s own colleges and institutions.
In the Community Education and Training (CET) sector, 31 foreign nationals are employed across five colleges, with most teaching Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and other scarce-skills subjects.
Within the university sector, international academics are drawn predominantly from the African continent.
Many hold doctoral qualifications and are concentrated in senior academic positions, where they lead research projects and supervise postgraduate students.
Manamela stressed that South Africa cannot strengthen its local academic sector by weakening the international one.
“South Africa hosts some of the finest universities on the continent. Our destiny is to anchor a continental system of research and innovation from which all of Africa benefits, and from which we benefit most of all,” he said.
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