Moving forward: a review of North-West University's first ten years

Abstract

This independent report commissioned by North West University (NWU) contradicts the university's recently published claim that it has bridged its racial divisions and addressed historical inequalities. According to the 10-year review, "Present management structures and practices are not fully conducive to achieving transformation goals [and] … racial and gender imbalances persist in the composition of student and academic staff bodies." The report follows NWU's own review published in December 2013. NWU's own findings on campus divisions differ substantially from those of the independent panel. Both reviews assess the extent to which NWU has met the many targets it set in 2004, when the government merged the formerly white, Afrikaans-medium Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and Mafikeng's former University of Bophuthatswana.