South African universities have been urged to rethink their teaching and assessment methods as artificial intelligence (AI) transforms higher education. Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela says universities must prepare graduates for an AI-driven world while strengthening South Africa's ability to develop and govern its own technologies.
Speaking at a national webinar on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, Manamela highlighted both the opportunities and risks associated with generative AI in higher education.
The Minister noted that AI can improve research, translation, administration and teaching. However, he warned that the technology can also reproduce bias, generate fabricated evidence, increase dependence on proprietary systems and lead students to mistake convincing answers for genuine understanding.
“If a machine can produce a plausible essay in seconds, our response cannot be limited to finding a better machine to detect it,” the Minister said.
Manamela delivered the keynote address at the webinar, titled "The Intellectual Directions of Higher Education in South Africa". The event was convened by Nelson Mandela University, the University of the Free State, Rosebank International and Higher Education Media Services.
Universities Must Rethink Student Assessment
Manamela called on universities to reconsider how they assess students to ensure that graduates develop the critical thinking and practical skills needed in a changing world.
He said assessments should determine whether students can formulate meaningful questions, evaluate evidence, make ethical decisions, collaborate with others and apply their knowledge to unfamiliar problems.
The Minister also stressed the importance of building South Africa's capacity to develop AI technologies through research infrastructure, open resources, African-language technologies and trustworthy data.
He warned against allowing the country to become permanently dependent on technological systems developed elsewhere.
“Digital transformation should not mean that our universities become permanent consumers of knowledge infrastructures designed elsewhere,” the Minister said.
Funding And Access Remain Key Higher Education Challenges
Manamela said the future of South African higher education requires an honest discussion about funding, access, institutional sustainability and the purpose of universities.
Although the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has helped expand access to higher education, he highlighted concerns about administrative weaknesses and the widening gap between financial commitments and available funding.
According to the Minister, student funding and institutional funding cannot be considered separately. He warned that protecting access to higher education means little if universities and colleges are not adequately supported to educate students.
"If we protect institutional balance sheets by excluding capable young people, we have betrayed the public mission.
“The challenge is to build a settlement that is equitable, financially credible and administratively deliverable. That settlement also requires institutions to ask difficult questions about cost, differentiation and cooperation.
“South Africa does not need 26 copies of the same university, each competing to look like a particular international model. We need a connected system of distinct institutions, with different strengths and responsibilities, all committed to quality,” the Minister said.
He added that university rankings can provide useful information but should not determine the direction of the entire higher education system.
Instead, institutions should develop their individual strengths while working together to improve the quality, accessibility and sustainability of higher education in South Africa.
Advancing Intellectual Transformation In Universities
The Minister also emphasised the need for deeper intellectual transformation across South African universities.
He explained that decolonisation should involve critically examining how knowledge is produced and whose perspectives are recognised, rather than simply changing institutional policies or rejecting ideas from other parts of the world.
Manamela said decolonisation is “neither a slogan for strategic plans nor a rejection of every idea originating elsewhere”.
“It is a disciplined interrogation of power in the production of knowledge: what has been treated as universal, what has been dismissed as local, who is permitted to theorise and who is expected only to supply experience. When African languages are absent from serious scholarship, we lose more than an opportunity to translate existing material,” Manamela said.
He said multilingual teaching resources, academic terminology and digital tools could improve access to education while expanding the scope of research and knowledge production.
The Minister also highlighted the importance of universities addressing challenges relating to climate change, healthcare, land, food security, water and energy.
“The same responsibility applies to climate, health, land, food, water and energy. The planetary crisis is not somewhere outside South Africa. It is present in our municipalities, farms, mines, coastlines and households.
“Universities should connect scientific, technical, social and indigenous knowledge to understand these challenges, while protecting the space to criticise prevailing economic and political arrangements.”
Universities Urged To Strengthen Community Engagement
Manamela challenged universities to renew their public purpose by ensuring that their teaching and research address the challenges facing communities beyond their campuses.
He said universities should play a more active role in responding to local problems, including unemployment, water insecurity, failing infrastructure and preventable diseases.
“A university located near communities experiencing water insecurity, unemployment, failing infrastructure or preventable disease should not be intellectually distant from those realities.”
The Minister further called for stronger partnerships between universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, community colleges, employers, labour organisations and civil society.
These partnerships, he said, are important for strengthening pathways into employment while supporting research and innovation.
His remarks highlight the need for South Africa's higher education system to adapt to technological change while addressing persistent challenges relating to student funding, equitable access, intellectual transformation and graduate employability.
