For three days in late September and early October, Cape Town hosted a conversation with direct consequences for the country’s citizens: how universities and government can work together to serve the public good. The Times Higher Education World Academic Summit, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from Tuesday, 29 September, to Thursday, 1 October, brought that question to African soil for the first time in the summit’s 14-year history. The University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Bristol co-hosted the event.
At the heart of the discussion sat issues that touch ordinary lives: access to education, employment prospects for young people, and the role of publicly funded research in meeting national needs. Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela spoke candidly with Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer at Times Higher Education (THE), in one of the summit’s headline conversations.
Additional reference context is available at https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2026-10-02-uct-has-done-our-country-and-continent-proud.
The stakes for the public were underlined on day one, when THE announced that UCT had climbed to 147 in the THE World University Rankings 2027, retaining its position as Africa’s top university. Manamela extended warm congratulations to UCT’s vice-chancellor, Professor Mosa Moshabela, and to the university community. He also commended the institution for co-hosting the first World Academic Summit held in Africa.
“I congratulate Professor Mosa Moshabela, the university’s leadership, staff and students. This achievement reflects the sustained work of a university community whose contribution reaches well beyond its campus,” Manamela said.
“UCT has also done our country and continent proud by bringing this important global conversation to Africa.”
In his exchange with Baty, Manamela framed the relationship between the state and its universities as a matter of public duty. The role of government in protecting universities and university education, he noted, is striking for South Africa given the country’s history. Before 1994, government had embedded itself in the university system, and universities were seen as central not only to the country’s development but also to intellectualising apartheid.
At the dawn of democracy in 1994, he explained, the transformative task was to free government from essentially controlling universities and to turn them into institutions that serve the public as a whole and serve the economy. The intention was to democratise these institutions and open participation to men, women and people with disabilities.
“Universities have not socially distanced themselves from the issues and challenges that affect our country,” Manamela said.
Considerable progress has been made, he argued. Government has actively extricated itself from controlling universities while maintaining a policy and legislative direction for all of them. It protects institutional autonomy without interference, he said, while ensuring that universities contribute to the international agenda. Autonomy, in this view, is promoted and encouraged, but it comes with an expectation that universities remain engaged with the challenges facing the country.
The practical value of that engagement, Manamela suggested, is felt most directly in research that serves national priorities. South African universities depend significantly on the state, both to support their mandate and to create access. Government is the biggest funder of research in South Africa, and universities have led the way in conversations about ensuring that research output has an impact on the country’s national priorities.
He pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a striking example. During that period, South African universities collaborated with institutions throughout the world, and right in Cape Town, South African academics led not only in vaccine development but also in identifying new COVID-19 strains.
Meanwhile, employment and opportunity formed another pillar of the discussion. Manamela described universities and colleges as a gateway to addressing unemployment, noting that the numbers show a person with some form of post-school qualification stands a better chance of finding work. There should be no exceptions, he said: colleges and universities must ensure that education is linked to some form of employment or entrepreneurship, especially in a country facing a big challenge in this area. Over time, he added, the system has proven it can grow in big numbers.
Looking ahead, Manamela urged that the historical role of universities not be forgotten in a changing world of artificial intelligence and super intelligence. It is important, he said, to remember what universities have created and to articulate that within this new environment. For the citizens whose lives depend on access, jobs and public research, that continuity may prove the summit’s most enduring message.