Issue

Vol. 23 No. 1 (2025): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Special Issue on Decolonising Knowledge Production in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts

From the Ground Up

An Autobiographical Reflection of Sol Plaatje University’s First Decade
https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v23i1.6496
Jesmael Mataga

Corresponding Author(s) : Jesmael Mataga

Jesmael.Mataga@spu.ac.za

Journal of Higher Education in Africa, Vol. 23 No. 1 (2025): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Special Issue on Decolonising Knowledge Production in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts

Abstract

 


‘As a product of social agency, SPU must ensure it cannot be the proverbial “ivory tower”. It must remain intellectually rigorous yet socially present.’


 


What does the establishment of a new university signify and entail within the context of post-independence/post-1994 southern Africa? Which historical, structural, political and subjective factors shape such an undertaking at a time when universities are under increasing scrutiny and their social role is being reconsidered? This article reflects on the inaugural decade of Sol Plaatje University (SPU) in Kimberley (2014–2025) through an autobiographical and reflexive lens, examining the institutional dynamics that informed the creation of a new university in post-independence southern Africa. The emergence of SPU coincided with growing debates about the purpose of higher education and intensified calls for the decolonisation of universities across the region, particularly following the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall movements. Situated within this critical historical moment, SPU’s first decade provides insights into efforts to make higher education more responsive to the needs of post-independence African societies. Rather than offering a comprehensive institutional history, the article analyses selected responses to decolonisation within the Humanities and Social Sciences. It argues that SPU represents an important case study for understanding the complexities of higher education reform, institutional transformation, and the pursuit of more inclusive and epistemically transformative educational systems in post-independence Africa.

Keywords

Fallist movements institutional dynamics complexities of higher education decolonisation transformative educational systems relevance future of African universities
Mataga, J. (2026). From the Ground Up: An Autobiographical Reflection of Sol Plaatje University’s First Decade. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 23(1), 143–160. https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v23i1.6496
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Author Biography

Jesmael Mataga

Associate Professor, Museum and Heritage Studies, Sol Plaatje University, Kimberly, South Africa.

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