Professor Francis Petersen remains the Universities South Africa Chairperson for a second term
The Chairperson of Universities South Africa (USAf), Professor Francis Petersen, who is also the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, has retained this position and entered his second term of office, effective from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027. USAf Chairs may serve for up to two terms in office.
At the last meeting of the USAf Board of Directors in October 2025, Professor Pamela Dube, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Central University of Technology, was appointed Deputy Chairperson of USAf, with her term of office also starting on 1 January 2026 and running until 31 December 2027.
Professor Dube succeeds Professor Rushiella Songca, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Walter Sisulu University, who was not available to serve after her term expired on 31 December.
The USAf Board, which is the assembly of Vice-Chancellors of South Africa’s 26 public universities, provides strategic direction to the organisation. It provides governance oversight, ensures institutional sustainability and deliberates on and facilitates the adoption of shared positions on higher education matters. The Board meets three times a year, providing a platform for coordinated leadership of the public higher education system.
As the Chair, Professor Petersen (left) brings over two decades of experience in South Africa’s higher education, having led the University of Pretoria (from October 2024) after a seven-year tenure as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (2014-2021).
A Chemical and Metallurgical Engineer by profession, Professor Petersen was a Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT) before joining the UFS as VC from 1 April 2017. His previous positions include Dean of Engineering and the Built Environment at UCT; Executive Head of Strategy at Anglo American Platinum; Executive Vice-President: Research and Development at Mintek; and Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the former Cape Technikon (now the Cape Peninsula University of Technology).
His Deputy, Professor Pamela Dube (right), has been a member of the USAf Board since becoming Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Central University of Technology in 2023. As the first woman to hold the CUT Vice-Chancellorship, her appointment marked an important milestone in that institution’s history.
Her career spans senior academic and executive roles across the higher education and public sectors. These include Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) of Student Development and Support at the University of the Western Cape, and lecturer and researcher positions at the University of Siegen in Germany, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Kathmandu University in Nepal, respectively.
Professor Dube has also served as Dean of Student Affairs at the University of the Witwatersrand, Director and Acting Chief Director at the National Department of Education, Head of Human Resources Development and International Relations at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, Executive Director: Human Resources at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and a Special Advisor to UJ’s Vice-Chancellor.
In addition to deputising the USAf Chairperson, Professor Dube chairs USAf’s Transformation Strategy Group, tasked with driving a sector-wide transformation agenda. The Group develops short-, medium- and long-term strategies to address key challenges in higher education, and advises the Board on emerging practices that either advance or impede progress in transformation.
Thoriso Kolobe is a Communication Consultant for Universities South Africa.
