Prof. Grace Khunou, Acting Executive Director, Leadership and Transformation: UNISA, delivering her keynote address on the state of transformation in Higher Education.

On 07 August 2025, the Central University of Technology (CUT) Institutional Renewal and Transformation Unit held its 6th Annual Transformation Summit under the theme “Advancing Transformation: Bold Steps Towards Inclusive Excellence.” This event serves as a catalyst for collective reflection and action toward dismantling systemic barriers and fostering a university environment where all staff and students can thrive.

CUT is making bold strides in its commitment to equity and excellence. The university has a strong focus on advancing women in leadership and has set a goal to have all its faculties guided by exceptional women by January 2026. This initiative showcases the institution's dedication to empowering female leaders and creating a more inclusive future, making it the first University of Technology to achieve this milestone.

In her address, Prof. Pamela Dube, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, highlighted that transformation is a collective responsibility, extending from the classroom to the Council Chamber. She affirmed the university’s commitment to prioritising transformation without apology, highlighting the specific focus on women’s advancement in leadership. She declared that the university will not tolerate an environment that silences or sidelines women and is committed to transformation with integrity, not tokenism.

When unpacking her presentation, Prof. Grace Khunou, Acting Executive Director, Leadership and Transformation: UNISA, delivered a compelling call to action for universities to embrace authentic transformation rooted in inclusion, decoloniality, and African epistemologies. “To transform, we must come as we are,” she emphasised, challenging the notion that success in academia requires shedding one’s cultural identity, language, and lived experience.

She argued that inclusion without systemic transformation is ineffective, especially when marginalised individuals are expected to assimilate into colonial structures. True inclusion, she said, must involve changing the spaces themselves, not forcing individuals to shrink to fit in. “Our students should be able to come as they are and not be expected to conform themselves to belong.”

She critiqued traditional academic excellence, which is often tied to Western ideals of individualism and prestige, and called for a redefinition of excellence based on African values, community relevance, and epistemic justice. “Decolonial theory is not about pointing fingers. It’s about starting with yourself, interrogating how coloniality shapes our institutions and our actions.”

Prof. Khunou urged universities to develop curricula that center African knowledges and promote pluriversality, not narrow nationalism, foster multilingualism in teaching, research, and governance, using African languages as tools of knowledge, redefine standards to reflect local histories, values, and human potential, not global market metrics, address toxic institutional cultures, including bullying and the exclusion of black women leaders, and balance staffing to support both local needs and diverse global knowledge production. “Transformation is hard work. It requires courage, reflection, and a willingness to do things differently even when it’s uncomfortable.”

In conclusion, she reminded decision makers that education must be for liberation, not conformity, and that universities must ask themselves, “are we building African universities or universities in Africa?”

Dr. Valindawo Dwayi, Mr. Jonathan Godden, Ms Ilze Olckers, Prof. Solomon Makola, Prof. Pamela Dube, Prof. Grace Khunou, Dr Choice Makhetha and Dr Sharon Munyaka.