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By Charmaine Ndlela
Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has called for a fundamental shift in how African universities approach equity, warning that access alone does not guarantee true transformation.
Delivering a keynote address at the Africa Universities Summit 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday, Manamela said higher education systems across the continent must move beyond enrolment figures and confront deeper inequalities in leadership, employment outcomes and inclusion.
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Speaking under the theme “Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Equality in African Higher Education,” Manamela emphasised that education systems are inherently political.
“There is no neutral education system. Education either reproduces the world as it is, or helps us transform it,” he said.
Using South Africa as a case study, Manamela highlighted significant gains in women’s participation in higher education. In 2023, women made up 62.7% of university enrolments and 65.4% of graduates, reflecting what he described as the impact of “long struggles for access, democracy and redistribution.”
However, he warned that these gains tell only part of the story, “the correct question is not whether women have made progress. Clearly, they have. The question is whether our systems are producing genuine equality.”
Manamela pointed to a growing concern around male disengagement, noting that fewer men are entering and completing higher education, raising broader social questions about schooling, identity and economic participation.
Despite women dominating enrolment and graduation figures, they remain underrepresented in positions of power.
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In 2023, women accounted for only 33.8% of professors in South African universities.
“The lecture hall may have feminised, but the senior chair has not,” Manamela said.
He stressed that equity must be measured across the entire system from access and completion to employment and leadership.
The Minister also highlighted trends in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), where women again form the majority of enrolments. However, men still dominate certain skills programmes, reflecting ongoing gendered labour-market pathways.
“The real problem is not women’s progress. The real problem is a society that still produces unequal destinations,” he said.
Challenging long-held assumptions, Manamela noted that women are no longer absent from Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) fields in South Africa, adding that women slightly outnumber men in both enrolments and graduates.
However, he cautioned that representation does not equal equality, particularly in areas such as specialisation, research leadership and pay.
Manamela described the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) as a key instrument of gender transformation. In 2023, 67.4% of NSFAS beneficiaries were women, receiving the majority share of funding.
“Access to funding does not automatically produce equality in life outcomes,” he said.
The Minister raised concerns about the slow pace of disability inclusion in higher education, noting that students with disabilities make up just over 1% of total enrolment.
He stressed that inclusion must be built into institutional design rather than treated as an afterthought.
Broadening the discussion, Manamela noted that South Africa’s female-majority enrolment is not reflective of the rest of the continent. Across sub-Saharan Africa, women remain underrepresented in higher education, with roughly 80 women enrolled for every 100 men.
He cited Kenya as an example, where tertiary enrolment stands at 13% for men and 10% for women, underscoring ongoing access challenges.
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“Africa is not one gender story,” he said.
Manamela urged universities to adopt a more rigorous and transparent approach to transformation, including publishing annual data on enrolment, retention, completion, employment outcomes and leadership representation.
He also called for stronger alignment between higher education and broader social systems, including labour markets, communities and public policy.
“The higher education question is inseparable from the social question,” he said.
In closing, Manamela emphasised the need for a balanced and inclusive approach to equality that does not pit one group against another.
“Not equality for women at the expense of men. Not concern for boys as a backlash against women’s progress. Not access without success. Not inclusion without power. But real equality,” he said.
The Africa Universities Summit 2026, which brings together higher education leaders from across the continent, is set to conclude tomorrow.
