{"id":27558,"date":"2025-09-16T08:42:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T08:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/?p=27558"},"modified":"2026-03-10T08:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T08:33:56","slug":"ms-mandisa-cakwes-vision-for-higher-education-at-gala-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/ms-mandisa-cakwes-vision-for-higher-education-at-gala-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ms Mandisa Cakwe\u2019s Vision for Higher Education at Gala Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

“At the Vaal University of Technology Gala Dinner, Ms Mandisa Cakweof DHET emphasised student-centred transformation, data-driven support, and alignment with national priorities to shape South Africa\u2019s higher education future.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

16 September 2025 | Story By: Qhawekazi Memani | Picture: Naledi Nkosi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 minutes read time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ms<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) Gala Dinner on 10 September 2025, Ms Mandisa Cakwe, Director of University Capacity Development at the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), delivered a thought-provoking address on the future of higher education in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She reflected on the global wave of university expansion since the late 1980s, noting that while access widened, institutional cultures did not change at the same pace. \u201c#FeesMustFall was a cry that our universities had not changed,\u201d she observed, urging the sector to address the deeper structural and cultural issues that continue to hinder transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of her speech was a powerful call to put students first. \u201cUniversities exist because of students,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is unimaginable that in the 21st century we are still talking about professionalising student affairs. How were student support services left out when all other divisions were catered for within universities?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Cakwe emphasised the importance of harnessing data gathered at enrolment to personalise support for students from the outset, rather than waiting for problems to emerge. She stressed that proactive, data-driven approaches could significantly improve student success and retention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, she underscored the alignment of higher education with South Africa\u2019s national development priorities: inclusive growth, job creation, poverty reduction and the building of a capable, ethical, developmental state. \u201cAs government, we rely on you to ensure that these priorities are realised,\u201d she told academics and administrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her address resonated strongly with the audience, offering both a critique of the past and a clear vision for the future: a higher education system that is inclusive, student-centred, and responsive to the country\u2019s pressing social and economic needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“At the Vaal University of Technology Gala Dinner, Ms Mandisa Cakweof DHET emphasised student-centred transformation, data-driven support, and alignment with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,326],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news-vaal-university-of-technology","category-teaching-and-learning"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27561,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27558\/revisions\/27561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}