Navigating the decolonial frontier: Leadership perspectives on epistemic justice in South African higher education

Abstract

This paper critically examines the challenges of decolonising higher education in South Africa, focusing on the perceptions and experiences of academic leaders. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial theories, it interrogates how Eurocentric frameworks continue to dominate curricula, institutional practices, and knowledge production, thereby marginalising African perspectives and epistemologies despite various decolonial initiatives. Using a qualitative approach, the study employed semi-structured interviews with five faculty deans from three South African universities, selected through purposive sampling, to capture nuanced insights into the obstacles faced in implementing decolonial reforms. The analysis generated key themes including: (i) narrow conceptualisation of decolonisation; (ii) institutional resistance to change; (iii) tensions between neoliberal priorities and decolonial imperatives; (iv) uncertainty surrounding alternative epistemic paradigms; and (v) the strategic navigation of contradictions by academic leaders. Findings reveal a disconnect between the rhetoric of decolonisation and its practical enactment. While progress has been made in diversifying student bodies and faculty demographics, these changes often remain symbolic, lacking substantive transformation of curricula or epistemic frameworks. Neoliberal imperatives, coupled with entrenched institutional cultures, further constrain efforts to advance African epistemologies. The persistent marginalisation of alternative knowledge systems underscores the difficulty of reimagining paradigms capable of disrupting Eurocentric dominance. The paper argues for a critical rethinking of decolonisation, one that goes beyond structural reforms to achieve epistemic justice and fully integrate African knowledge systems into higher education. It concludes that meaningful transformation demands both institutional commitment and a fundamental reimagining of knowledge production to create an inclusive and pluralistic academic landscape.