Lilita Gcwabe|Published1 hour agoDebate ignites over race and merit in Stellenbosch University’s admissions process …

Stellenbosch University (SU) maintains that applicants are asked to indicate race as one of several factors considered for purposes of redress and transformation, and that self-classification is voluntary not affecting admission. The Chair of the Parliamentary Higher Education Portfolio Committee has dismissed Vanessa Le Roux’s allegations that there was a lack of communication regarding concerns over race-based admission criteria. Le Roux, founder of Parents for Equal Education South Africa, recently drew public attention after accusing Stellenbosch University of admitting students based on race rather than academic performance.

She made the allegations on Facebook, where her post received significant support, with several parents sharing similar suspicions about the university’s admissions practices. “My niece was one of the top 10 performing learners in her high school. She worked hard through different hardships in the community, but still got rejected with an automated response,” Le Roux said.

She further alleged that after submitting a reconsideration application, her niece received no meaningful response. “Only for her to get an automated and generic rejection letter. It was not written to her.

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It had no name and no application number,” she said. “We are not asking for special favours. She meets the requirements and she applied on time.

Why is she being rejected? Why is she receiving general automatic emails of rejection with no name or application number?” Le Roux added. Le Roux also claimed that she approached the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education but received no response.

However, Anele Kabingesi, secretary of the Committee on Higher Education, denied this claim. “We sent her complaint to the Registrar of the university to respond. She got her response through our intervention,” said Kabingesi.

He explained that the Registrar of Stellenbosch University, Dr Retief, provided a detailed response and evidence outlining the admission criteria used for the BA (Humanities) programme. I share again the admissions data. This information provides broader context regarding the selection outcomes for the BA (Humanities) programme.

A total of 656 applicants were accepted (final offers) out of 7,984 applications. The applicants offered places in the BA (Humanities) programme were as follows: 1 Asian, 256 Black African, 141 Coloured, 13 Indian, 193 White, 13 International and 39 Unknown.”

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