I was listening to the radio this past week when a parent was complaining that their child had not been accepted into Stellenbosch University because they believed their child was black. For those of you who know me, this is a subject very close to my heart. At first, I was drawn into the emotion of the story — the disappointment, the frustration, the very human reaction to a system that seems to exclude. But upon further reflection, I realised the issue is not as simple as skin colour. Stellenbosch University receives over 106 000 applications for only 6 000 first-year places. By any stretch of the imagination, it is impossible for such a large number of applicants to be accommodated. The bottleneck is structural, not personal, and it is here that corporate South Africa must step up through corporate social investment (CSI).
The thought led me to consider the potential of CSI to address higher education access at scale. For decades, CSI has invested in schools, clinics, libraries, skills programmes and community development projects. These efforts are vital, but they rarely tackle the structural inequalities that persist across our economy. If CSI could fund the building of thousands of schools, why could it not also invest in building universities — the very institutions that prepare our young people for meaningful participation in the economy? If over the next 30 years, CSI were to build three top-tier universities, it could help to create a system capable of accommodating tens of thousands of students who would otherwise be left behind.
The scale of the need is stark. Each new university could enrol between 8 000 and 12 000 students per year, meaning three universities could provide access to roughly 30 000 new places annually. Over a generation, that represents hundreds of thousands of South Africans gaining access to higher education, skills, and economic opportunity. The investment would not just be about buildings, lecture halls, and laboratories; it would be about creating ecosystems for learning, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship — infrastructure that addresses the World Bank’s five binding constraints: skills and education gaps, unequal access to productive assets, low market participation and competition, limited connectivity, and climate vulnerability.
The cost of such universities is significant but within reach. A modern, research-focused university with classrooms, lecture halls, laboratories, administrative buildings, student housing, sports facilities, and digital infrastructure could require R10–R15 billion in phased development. Building three universities could total R30–R45 billion over 30 years. Beyond financial expenditure, the projects would create jobs at multiple levels — from construction workers, architects, and engineers during the building phase to professors, lecturers, administrative staff, campus services personnel, and support roles during operations. Each university could directly employ 2 500–5 000 staff, while stimulating indirect employment in housing, transport, supply chains, and small businesses in surrounding communities.
Location would be a key factor to ensure accessibility and impact. In the Eastern Cape, a university could serve students from historically under-served rural and peri-urban areas, acting as a catalyst for regional development. In Mpumalanga or Limpopo, universities could help address skills gaps in agriculture, mining, and technology sectors. A third university in the Northern Cape, strategically placed near Kimberley or Tshekedi, could provide opportunities for remote communities and stimulate knowledge hubs, entrepreneurship, and regional economic growth. These universities would not only expand access but also help decentralise opportunity, moving beyond the metropolitan concentration of higher education.
The social impact would be profound. By providing structured, world-class higher education, these universities could equip students with skills for science, technology, engineering, health, teacher education, business, and the humanities. Research centres could drive innovation, incubators could support new businesses, and graduates would enter the economy with enhanced capability to participate, create value, and reduce inequality. The ripple effects would be felt in communities, markets, and across regional economies.
This vision aligns directly with the CSI Indaba’s 2026 theme: “The Inequality Mandate: Rewriting South Africa’s Social Contract through Transformative Corporate Social Investment.” The Indaba is about rethinking how CSI is applied, asking corporate South Africa to move from incremental programmes to strategic, systemic interventions that address inequality at scale. Universities are one of the most powerful levers available. They transform lives, empower communities, and provide the long-term infrastructure required to dismantle structural barriers.
At the end of the day, we cannot say with certainty whether race played a role in any individual admission outcome. What we do know is that the system cannot serve the millions of young people who aspire to higher education today. CSI South Africa has the resources, expertise, and capability to change that. By committing to building universities, we can create tens of thousands of new spaces for students, generate thousands of jobs, strengthen regional economies, and begin to dismantle the binding constraints that limit opportunity.
The question for leaders at the CSI Indaba is clear: are we prepared to invest boldly, act strategically, and create systemic change? The next generation of South Africans should not be counted among the 100 000+ who cannot access a university place. The time to build universities that can serve them is now, and CSI South Africa has the power to lead the way.
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