This week, the Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR) convened the highly anticipated HEMIS Institute at MUT through the Directorate of Institutional Planning and Research (DIPR) Organized under the umbrella of SAAIR, which champions institutional research, data-driven decision-making, and the effective use of management information systems in higher education across southern Africa, the event once again underscored our region’s commitment to advancing the infrastructure that underpins strategic planning in higher education. The first segment of the event, called Foundation Day, was not only a technical induction for new practitioners, but a powerful reminder of the evolving role of HEMIS in enabling institutional effectiveness. This segment took place on MUT’s main campus on 13 August 2025; the second segment took place on 14 and 15 August 2025, off campus.
The University’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Nokuthula Sibiya observed that the meeting laid bare the intricate connections between programme qualification mixes, space and infrastructure planning, staff reporting, and funding implications, all grounded in the data we submit and the systems we manage.
“Today marks a strategic inflection point in our journey as institutions navigating a higher education landscape that is increasingly data-driven, digitally transformed, and accountability-focused. This HEMIS Institute arrives at a time when universities must not only comply but must compete for resources, credibility, and relevance, based on the strength and integrity of their institutional intelligence.
The HEMIS Institute, which MUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Nokuthula Sibiya defined as a critical and timely engagement, as part of SAAIR’s annual programme, delves deep into South Africa’s Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS). This workshop-style event brings together practitioners, analysts, and institutional researchers from across the higher education sector to collaboratively explore HEMIS processes, share best practices, and address common challenges, all designed to bolster institutional planning, improve data quality, and enhance systemic insights.
Dr Liile Lekena-Bayaga, Acting Director: DIPR, said that what made the MUT edition special was the following: Focused Learning. Through a series of interactive workshops and primer sessions, delegates unpacked the HEMIS lifecycle, from data collection and reporting mechanisms to institutional implications and national policy links. Also drawing from SAAIR’s methodology, participants engaged in dialogue to surface innovative responses to HEMIS-related challenges and share success stories from their institution. Dr Lekena-Bayaga defined this as ‘knowledge sharing and problem solving’. She also said the event had a regional impact. “MUT’s role as host positioned us at the heart of a vital knowledge network, enhancing both our Institutional visibility and contributing to critical sector-wide capacity building in higher education.”
The event was attended by delegations from all the country’s 26 universities. The delegates commented on Dr Lekena-Bayaga’s presentation in which she argued for nation-wide blockchain mechanism that will close ensure that the data collected and used by the higher education is reliable and contributes to making higher education management easier and effective.