Confident and charming, Limpopo-born medical doctor Prof Mosa Moshabela does not expect an easy ride as the 11th vice-chancellor of the 195-year-old University of Cape Town.
“I am relaxed and, generally, tend to behave like a duck. Although I may look calm, you may not see me paddling underneath, but there’s a lot that I will be dealing with,” says Moshabela.
“A part of me is excited, and another part is preparing for a rocky start, which I hope will stabilise swiftly. I’ve also been told there’s a lot of excitement on the ground, but expectations are high.”
The married 44-year-old father of three starts work on August 1, two months earlier than scheduled, replacing Emeritus Prof Daya Reddy, who has been interim vice-chancellor since the departure of Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng on early retirement on March 3. Foremost in his mind is mending and building relationships at UCT, mindful that he’s an outsider.
“The thing that bothers me most, that preoccupies my mind, is that UCT people feel fractured, polarised, and divided. They don’t feel united as a community. We’ve got to create an enabling environment for people to thrive and succeed.”
I want everyone at UCT to feel at home, to feel that they are in a place where they can be the best versions of themselves
— Mosa Moshabela
The fractured relationships brought out into the open after the acrimonious departure of Phakeng goes back to the reign of Max Price between 2008 and 2018 when the #feesmustfall student protests escalated. However, the suicide of the dean of the faculty of health sciences, Prof Bongani Mayosi, in July 2018 lifted the lid on student unrest, racism, discrimination and the slow pace of transformation at UCT. The university’s response was criticised in a 157-page report on Mayosi’s death.
Some see Moshabela as moving from the frying pan into the fire — he was the deputy vice-chancellor for research and innovation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a role he held since 2021. UKZN has had its share of student and staff strife in recent times.
The threat to the financial sustainability of UCT is real, underpinned by a deficit of R349.29m in 2023 with a budgeted shortfall of R220m in 2024. At the beginning of the 2023 academic year, the university experienced disruptive student protests related to financial exclusion.
The university’s inability to provide acceptable levels of financial aid to potential students, along with the troubles of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), worsened the problem in 2023 — with a repeat in 2024 as the NSFAS direct payment system failed, leaving students stranded without allowances and accommodation. According to the 2023 annual financial report, the outlook for student debt at UCT is bleak. The outstanding student fees for the current year were R594m, an increase of 25% (R476m) in 2022. Credit losses regarding student debt went up 46% from R166m to R241m.
However, UCT’s balance sheet is healthy, with R3.27bn in liabilities against R16.79bn in assets. “A large part of the challenge in the sector has to do with dwindling funds from the government because we are a public university, and nearly all tertiary institutions are publicly funded. And unlike what we’ve seen in other sectors, say in the basic education sector, privatisation helps with sustainability,” says Moshabela.
He adds that on a global level, UCT is competing against institutions that were private education providers regulated as tertiary providers. “They are not constrained in the same way, yet we compete with them. We must compete with Harvard and Oxford for talent for everything, yet we are a publicly funded institution.”
While conceding that UCT is better endowed than other institutions, with a solid supportive alumni network and a strong donor network, the bulk of its funding comes from the government. He urges that funding sources be consolidated in the short to medium term.
“We have a major threat, and I don’t see the threat coming from government cuts, but there is no doubt that remains a challenge. However, the major threat will come from the movement for free higher education, where the source of income from student fees can be limited or eliminated quickly.
“The political movement around it is strong, and if this (fees being scrapped) happens, UCT might survive much longer than others. But other institutions will probably be crippled immediately,” he warns. “But that’s where the threat is going to come from. I don’t see going forward any other direction than for universities to start negotiating and looking for more self-funding, institutions like UCT will end up modelling themselves very much on the likes of Oxford and Harvard and others if they must succeed,” he predicts.
According to Moshabela, one way forward towards a sustainable future is attracting endowments, which may result in buildings named after benefactors. However, he insists South Africa is not a philanthropic country. He believes that more giving must occur since education is a social service that needs to be sustained. “We need to be willing to give, and this practice is something we have not truly cultivated in this country.
“The future of higher education in a highly regulated environment, with budget cuts and strong political movements for free higher education, will make it difficult for institutions like UCT to stay at the top. There needs to be a third-stream form of income. And for that stream of income to become a much larger component of the funding of an institution like UCT, I hope that the leadership of higher education appreciate the importance of UCT remaining a global centre of excellence.”
The future of higher education in a highly regulated environment, with budget cuts and strong political movements for free higher education, will make it difficult for institutions like UCT to stay at the top
Turning to his priorities for UCT, Moshabela wants unity on campus, and aims to attract the best talent and ensure the university is financially sustainable. “I want everyone at UCT to feel at home, to feel that they are in a place where they can be the best versions of themselves. Because that’s really what we do — we bring together talent, we identify talent, building by talent, and when you’ve got those people, you don’t want to constrain them; you want to unleash them, and you can’t unleash them in a place where they don’t feel safe, and they don’t feel supported.”
Moshabela says he takes up the role with an open mind and is mindful of the many moving pieces. As a leader of a complex organisation, one must create space for all voices to be heard. He wants an environment in which everyone sees themselves as part of the solution.
“My career has been about putting people at the centre because I feel that’s the biggest asset you’ve got in the knowledge economy, the brains of everyone you have in the institution. The resources, the money and other things are there to create an enabling environment. I prioritise looking after people and being people-centred, first and foremost,” he says.
Moshabela says he will leave no stone unturned to succeed in his job. He has applied for an MBA to study executive management. He also plans to talk to former vice-chancellors about their experiences, tapping into institutional memory to learn from them. Above all, he wants UCT to impact society on a broader level.
“It’s been incredible watching UCT and understanding how much society cares about the university; it represents something deeper, like a hope of some sort for society. And it’s not just hope for kids; it’s for parents to send their kids to, hope for people to go and study there. Not everyone is going to study at UCT. Not everyone will work for UCT, but it’s hope for society. It represents something bigger in the aspiration that needs to be protected. And that aspiration needs to be felt. Not just by being number one but by trusting that UCT’s got our back ... if we’ve got issues or challenges in society, it has our back.”
• Naidu is head of Higher Education Media
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