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Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997)

Chapter 7 : Private Higher Education Institutions

54. Determination of application for registration

 

(1) The registrar
(a) must consider any application for registration as a private higher education institution and any further information, particulars or documents provided by the applicant;
(b) may, when considering the application, differentiate between a foreign juristic person and local juristic person with regard to matters such as its scope and range of operations, its size and its institutions configuration; and
(c) may register the applicant as a private higher education institution if the requirements for registration contemplated in section 53 are fulfilled.

[Section 54(1) amended by section 8 of Act No. 54 of 2000]

 

(2) If the registrar decides –
(a) to grant the application, the registrar must—
(i) enter the applicant’s name in the appropriate register of private higher education institutions;
(ii) issue a certificate of registration, stating the terms of such registration;
(iii) provide the certificate to the applicant; and
(iv) as soon as practicable after the decision, publish the certificate of registration in the Gazette; or
(b) not to grant the application, the registrar must advise the applicant in writing of the decision and provide the applicant with written reasons for his or her decision.

 

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the registrar may provisionally register an applicant, other than a foreign juristic person,who does not fulfill the requirements for registration contemplated in section 53 if the registrar believes that the applicant will be able to fulfill the relevant requirements within a reasonable period.

[Section 54(3) amended by section 17 of Act No. 23 of 2001]

 

(4) If the registrar provisionally registers an applicant under subsection (3), the registrar must—
(a) determine the period within which the applicant must satisfy the requirements for registration;
(b) enter the applicant's name in the appropriate register of private higher education institutions;
(c) issue a certificate of provisional registration, stating the terms and the duration of such registration;
(d) provide the certificate of provisional registration to the applicant; and
(e) as soon as practicable after the decision, publish the certificate of provisional registration in the Gazette.

[Section 54(4) amended by section 17 of Act No. 23 of 2001]

 

(5) The registrar may on good cause shown extend the period referred to in subsection (4)(a).

 

(6) If, on the expiry of the period referred to in subsection (4)(a) or any extension thereof, the applicant—
(a) satisfies the requirements for registration specified by the registrar, the registrar must register the applicant in accordance with subsection (2)(a); or
(b) fails to satisfy the requirements for registration specified by the registrar, the applicant's provisional registration lapses.

[Section 54(6)(b) amended by section 17 of Act No. 23 of 2001]

 

(7) No independent school as defined in the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996), and no other private education institution may call itself a university, university college or higher education college, or use such wording in its name, unless it is registered—
(a) in terms of Chapter 7; and
(b) in the particular category of institutions which, in accordance with the Regulations, may call themselves  universities, university colleges or higher education colleges, as the case may be.

[Section 54(7) substituted by section 33(a) of Notice No. 21, GG 40548, dated 17 January 2017 - still to be commenced, refer Notice 1012, GG 41132, dated 22 September 2017]

 

(8) Only a private higher education institution registered as a university or university college in accordance with subsection (7)(b) may confer a professorship or an honorary degree, or use the title of chancellor and vice-chancellor for its titular head and its principal, respectively.

[Section 54(8) inserted by section 33(b) of Notice No. 21, GG 40548, dated 17 January 2017 - still to be commenced, refer Notice 1012, GG 41132, dated 22 September 2017]