By BAKANG MOKOTO
1 May 2026 – The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Tebogo Letsie said he has noted a statement made by Universities South Africa (USAf) regarding Members of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education’s probing of foreign academics employed at South African universities. Letsie said the statement made by USAf ‘s Chief Executive Officer, Phethiwe Matutu, with the following headline: “USAf makes the case for global talent in SA’s universities,” is both unfortunate and out of touch with reality.
“Members of the Committee, through oversight, are confronted with growing concerns about the employment of foreign academics. South Africans from across the country brought forward information and experiences that cannot be ignored.
“As the Chairperson of the Committee, I wrote to the Minister of Higher Education requesting information about foreign nationals employed at public universities. This request to the Department of Higher Education was not committee members playing politics. We were responding to issues that kept coming up during oversight visits,” he said.
Letsie further said as public representatives, it is their duty to interrogate the information they received both formally and informally from the sector over which they conduct oversight. He added that public universities are funded by the people of South Africa.
“They exist to advance the interests of the people. They cannot stand apart from the laws of the Republic or from the realities faced by millions of unemployed graduates. Members of the Committee have never said they were against Internationalisation.
“We understand it very well. Internationalisation can never be at the expense of South Africans. USAf is spreading a false and mischievous narrative that the committee’s probing of employment of foreign academics is a political ploy,” emphasised Letsie.
He said USAf failed to read the room. Letsie said their own statement on social media has garnered reactions that clearly point to an organisation that is out of touch with people.
“We can never be apologetic about putting the future of our young people first. The only part we agree with USAf on is that fraud and improper appointments must be addressed,” he emphasised.
He said the committee is not hostile towards people from other countries. Letsie said South Africa is part of a global academic community and many foreign academics have made valuable contributions to the institutions, especially in scarce and critical skills areas such as science, engineering and health sciences.
“Their expertise has strengthened research, enriched teaching and supported academic development in our universities. Let us be clear, South Africa comes first. Everything else follows,” he said.
The Guardian 