Professor Chabani Manganyi has been appointed chairperson of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) for a five-year term by Education Minister Naledi Pandor.
Manganyi takes over from Saki Macozoma whose term of office ended in August. The CHE is an independent, statutory body that advises the minister on matters relating to higher education policy. It has executive responsibilities for quality assurance in higher education and training through its sub committee, the Higher Education Quality Committee, which does national reviews of MBAs, university quality management audits and programme accreditation.
The minister is required to seek the advice of the CHE before any policy is gazetted. The CHE has been involved in influencing policy decisions in recent years.
According to a statement on the CHE website, Manganyi, a registered clinical psychologist, “brings to the CHE his vast experience in higher education”, having held the position of vice-principal at the University of Pretoria, vice-chancellor at the then University of the North (now part of the University of Limpopo), director general in the department of education, and executive director at the Joint Education Trust, which was spearheaded by the Private Sector Initiative.
The statement says Manganyi, who is familiar with the work of the CHE, was appointed to the Higher Education Quality Committee Board in 2005. In 2006, Pandor appointed him as a member of the CHE council.
The CHE is still searching for a CEO, while interim CEO Dr Mala Singh stepped down at the end of July this year.