Dr Valile Dwayi, Senior Director: Centre for Global Engagement

The Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) proudly celebrates the appointment of Dr Valile Dwayi, Senior Director: Centre for Global Engagement, to the Department of Higher Education and Training’s prestigious Reference Group tasked with developing the Implementation Strategy for the Policy Framework on the Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa.

Driving transformation through internationalisation, Dr Dwayi will serve a three-year term from April 2026 to March 2029, contributing national-level expertise to strengthen equitable and socially just internationalisation across the higher education sector.

Reflecting on his appointment, he noted: “The persistent gap between policy formulation and effective implementation remains a critical challenge for South Africa’s transformation agenda. As a scholar grounded in critical realism, I see the realisation of policy intent as dependent on identifying systemic blockages, particularly in institutional values, and enabling agency to navigate them.”

As a national contributor with a distinct African perspective and a strong Universities of Technology voice, Dr Dwayi positions internationalisation as a catalyst for academic quality, embedding global engagement within science, innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. His recent scholarship interrogates colonial legacies, advances equitable global north–south partnerships, and champions the reclamation of African academic voice and leadership.

As part of the Reference Group, he will help shape national thinking on priority areas such as addressing xenophobia in higher education spaces, defining the strategic role of international offices, expanding equitable access to international opportunities, especially for historically disadvantaged institutions, strengthening joint degrees and contextually relevant qualifications and ensuring internationalisation advances the goals of social justice and transformation.

Within the university, Dr Dwayi is already leading the transformation of the Centre for Global Engagement into a confident knowledge hub and generator of intellectual capital, building on strategic directions dating back to 2019. His national appointment is both recognition of this leadership and a reflection of CUT’s growing influence in shaping the higher education landscape.

This milestone affirms the university’s commitment to positioning internationalisation as a strategic driver of excellence, equity, and national development. Dr Dwayi’s contribution will amplify the perspectives of a University of Technology and foreground Africa’s role within global higher education networks.