The legal framework for establishing private universities in Swaziland

Abstract

This article draws on a doctoral study which investigated the legal and management frameworks required for establishing private universities in Swaziland. The focus is particularly on the legal framework for establishing the Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU). Managers involved in establishing SANU encountered a lack of both specific legislation dealing with private higher education and existing legislation regulating higher education in Swaziland in general. These managers disagreed on whether the legality of a private university derives from a private Act of Parliament or from a Certificate of Registration. The researcher designed the study as action research and acted, as one of the managers, as an insider researcher. After investigating this problem through a literature review, focus group discussions, participant observation and personal conversations the researcher concluded that, to ensure that the legality of SANU is not questioned in future, the best option in establishing SANU was to follow a dual process of adopting a private Act and engaging in a registration process.

Keywords:

• legal processes
• legal instruments
• private universities
• Swaziland

Notes on contributors

Susan Coetzee is an associate professor at the University of South Africa. She has been involved in Education Law for the past eighteen years. With qualifications in both fields of education and law, her main academic and research interest is education law. She is the deputy-director of the Interuniversity Centre for Education Law and Policy (CELP) and also a member of the South African Education Law Association (SAELA).

Carlos V. Mbanze was a senior lecturer at Southern Africa Nazarene University in Swaziland. He had twenty one years' experience in teaching and educational management. As a teacher, lecturer and manager, Dr. Mbanze was methodical in his approach. He specialized in higher education and labour laws. Dr. Mbanze passed away on the 6th March 2014.

Notes

1. The University of South Africa and the Nazarene Theological College are South African institutions. In the absence of local examples (with exception to that of the University of Swaziland) the two are used as examples and points of references.

2. Private Acts deal with a particular interest or benefit of a person or body such as a university and pass powers or benefits to such an individual or body. It is thus essential that parliament protect public interest and arbitrate between the promoters of these private Acts and those that will be affected by their projects (New Zealand Legislation, United Kingdom Parliament).