At the advent of South Africa’s democracy in 1994, an overwhelming majority of academics in the country’s public higher education institutions were white men. Black South Africans (a group consisting of those designated as Indian, Coloured or African under apartheid) constituted 89% of the overall population. But they made up just 17% of the academic workforce.
The situation was similar for non-academic employees like managers, administrators, and service and technical staff.
