The Role of Governance Structures in Monitoring and Evaluation of Higher Education Institutions’ Performance in South Africa

The South African higher education (HE) landscape is made up of 26 public higher education institutions (HEIs). These institutions are rated differently by the various performance indexes with South Africa having some of the top performing institutions in Africa competing globally. The University of Cape Town (UCT) is cited as one of the top 200 universities in the world. While UCT may be a beacon of hope for the South African HE landscape, not all is well with some South African higher education institutions (HEIs). This chapter examines the governance structures which have been created to monitor and evaluate the performance of HEIs in South Africa. Before assessing the effectiveness of these structures, the legislative frameworks which establish such structures are examined. These structures include international organisations, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, the Minister and Department of Higher Education and Training, University Councils and student representative councils. The chapter makes recommendations on the strengthening of monitoring and evaluation structures for HEIs in South Africa.