Wits University has hired 11 black academics at a cost of R3.2m in its latest attempt to transform itself.
Five more black academics will be appointed soon.
The university intends spending R45m on transformation, which has been placed high on the agendas of universities across the country.
"A committee has been established for making appointments and allocating grants to enable African and coloured staff to apply for promotion to the professoriate," said Wits spokesman Shirona Patel.
Other transformation moves at Wits include:
- Assessing the content of all curriculums to ensure that academic programmes are transformative, and that they prioritise national and continental issues;
- Training of internal mediators to intervene on issues related to discrimination; and
- Development of a new model for the funding of higher education.
The University of the Free State recently made strides in its transformation efforts by declaring English to be the main medium of instruction. Previously it was Afrikaans.
Other universities, such as Cape Town, have established naming committees to consider proposals for the renaming of some campus buildings.
Committees at the universities of Stellenbosch and Pretoria are considering changes in their language policies following student pressure.
Rhodes University has established a forum that is considering how the university should be renamed.
Source: The Times
