The Education White Paper 3 (WP3) (1997): A Programme for Transformation of Higher Education remains one of the most important policy statements of the government with respect to higher education. It contains the vision of a transformed, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist system of higher education whose major objectives are to:
- Promote equity of access and fair chances of success to all while eradicating all forms of unfair discrimination and advancing redress for past inequities;
- Meet, through well-planned and coordinated teaching, learning and research programmes, national development needs … [for] a growing economy operating in a global environment;.
- Support a democratic ethos and culture of human rights, and;
- Contribute to the advancement of all forms of knowledge and scholarship, and in particular address the diverse problems and demands of the local, national, Southern African contexts and uphold rigorous standards of academic quality (DHET, 1997, p.14).
Transformation in South African universities should be reflected in all facets of the institution, such as governance, management and leadership, student environment, such as reasonable access and academic success, equity in staffing, institutional cultures, progressive and inclusive teaching and learning, research and knowledge systems, institutional equity, and the political economy of higher education funding (SAHRC, 2016).