3.2. Key remarks by the Vice Chancellor: Prof Chris Nhlapo

• To share lessons, practices and research agendas on transformation-related themes; • To rethink and redesign education processes to meet the diverse needs of students and staff within the rapidly changing world of technology and social justice; and • To reshape institutional cultures to find solutions to complex problems facing our local communities, our country (NDP), our continent (Agenda 2063) and our world (Agenda 2030/Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]).

3.2. Key remarks by the Vice-Chancellor: Prof Chris Nhlapo

Transformation as a form of social change is a complex process entailing the interaction of numerous factors along a desired trajectory. To foster transformation effectively, a heuristic and critical framework must be developed which recognises the multidimensional, interconnected and interrelated nature of the kind of change being sought. The complexity and widespread nature of the transformation challenge we face also requires that CPUT, as an institution which cannot be divorced from the society in which it is embedded, adopts a multi-stakeholder approach.

For CPUT as a university of technology, the issue of transformation should be in the context of the development of the higher education sector since the introduction of democracy in 1994, as well as in relation to the establishment of a national system of innovation. The post-school sector has shifted from a racialised and fragmented framework to a more integrated one featuring 26 public universities categorised as either traditional, comprehensive, or, like CPUT, as universities of technology.

Although the pursuit of an integrated South African system to promote innovation has stalled over the past 30 years relative to the advances in other countries with comparable economies, such as India and Brazil, the national higher education system in general is mature and quite developed. In this context, CPUT must attend not only to its internal dynamics, but also to its larger role in the post-school education and training (PSET) system. Furthermore, as an African university, CPUT must not only pursue knowledge for its own sake but also for the amelioration of the conditions of the lives of ordinary men and women. In this regard, it must be fully committed to participating in the nation’s social transformation, economic modernisation and upskilling.

Accordingly, transformation at CPUT should help the university to be an anchor institution in society; enhance its contribution to the PSET sector in terms of original and applied research; and align its goals more closely with those established at the national level for higher education. In this regard, the institution’s demographics indicate that significant progress has already been made. There are more women than men at CPUT; and there are four female deans to two male deans. However, much remains to be done in relation to efficiency, good governance and Africanisation at the institution. Greater efforts should be made to decolonise the curricula and address epistemic violence; promote equitable success; improve facilities; create more equitable representation among the academic staff; and enhance social inclusion across the institution.

CPUT must act for greater transformation even as this entails embracing uncertainty. Only in this way can it take control of its future and become the leading technological education body in Africa, as well as an anchor institution which contributes to local economic development and the national system of innovation.