Decolonizing the South African Higher Education Curriculum: Causes, Obstacles and Lessons

The twenty-first century has been a time of revival and disruption for decolonization movements. Movements such as #Rhodes Must Fall have ignited calls for the decolonization of higher education institutions and challenged the colonial legacy of academia, including the curriculum. As elsewhere in the world, higher education in South Africa is under pressure to reinvent and transform itself. Curriculum decolonization is one of the central issues in the reform of higher education in South Africa, not only as a response to the legacy of the education system under the policies of past colonialism and apartheid, but also as a deep-seated demand for the realization of indigenous African cultural renaissance and social equality. South African universities, such as the University of Cape Town, have been moving towards the decolonization of South African higher education curriculum, but the process has not been a smooth one. Curriculum decolonization is committed not only to eliminating the legacy of colonial symbols and correctly positioning the national cultural identity of African people, but also actively shaping the value and status of local symbols. This paper discusses the reasons for the decolonization of South Africa’s higher education curricula, as well as the challenges faced, and suggests implications for African countries, with a view to deepening the understanding of the process of decolonizing South Africa’s higher education curricula and contributing to the process across the African continent.