Sol Plaatje University (SPU) on Monday 24 January 2022 hosted Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation (PPCHESI). The visit was the first stop on the Committee’s five-day tour of the Northern Cape, during which members of parliament (MPs) are assessing the readiness of stakeholders in the sector for the 2022 academic year.
In welcoming the Committee to SPU and the Northern Cape, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Andrew Crouch said, “We don’t operate in isolation; we have a very clear vision: we want to be critically engaged in teaching and learning, research and development, whilst enhancing democratic practice and social justice. We do this according to a certain value system which underpins our mission: which is to produce graduates confident and capable of realising the aspirations of society, which puts us at the centre of society.”
During their day-long visit the Committee was led on a tour of the SPU infrastructure, facilities and student residences at South and Central campuses. They also received briefings from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), the SPU Student Representative Council (SRC), the SPU Institutional Forum, and the majority labour union at SPU (NEHAWU).
Prof Crouch presented SPU’s strategic intent and goals for 2022, and also highlighted the University’s achievements since it was founded in 2014. “We have an expanding student cohort, grown from a modest 114 [in 2014], to about 2800 in 2021.” He added that SPU plans to enrol just over 3400 students in 2022, and that around one-third of that number had already been registered by 24 January.
Prof Crouch assured the MPs that SPU is focused on being a positive force for change in its immediate community and beyond. “You’ve seen on the walkabout the expanding infrastructure – an indication that the funds which have been budgeted for and asked from Treasury are being used in an efficient way to change the landscape of Kimberley, to change the culture of Kimberley, and to in fact to move towards establishing the new economy in Kimberley, the student economy, and change Kimberley from a diamond mining town into a university town.”
MP Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, Chair of the PPCHESI, said, “SPU is testament to the great potential that South Africa has to make ground-breaking developments.” She said the Committee was pleased to see that the University continues to make some of its infrastructure available to the local community, and applauded the open nature of the institution, as this will help to create a university town, with the institution located within its community.
In his presentation Prof Crouch also highlighted that SPU had received over 20000 applications in 2022 (up from 10600 in 2021) for around 1000 placements – which matches the 20-to-1 ratio of other institutions. “This is an amazing achievement for a young institution like SPU. It shows me that we are establishing ourselves in the academic environment.”
