Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 30 No 1 (January/February 2019)

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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 30, No 1, January/February 2019 AFRICA 41
The value of community outreach for a university:
a synthesis of trends in higher education
The case of the University of Limpopo (ELS 45)
Hlengani Siweya, Kotsedi D Monyeki
Abstract
Background: The South African National Development Plan
(SANDP) vision for 2030 highlights key recommendations
for reducing the prevalence of non-communicable diseases
(NCDs) by 28% by 2030. These are mirrored by the World
Heart Federation, although it focuses on reducing the NCD
prevalence by 25% by 2025. The targeted diseases include,
among others, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and
chronic respiratory diseases.
Objectives: The aim was to contribute to discussion on the
social responsibility, public good and community develop-
ment functions of a university in South Africa, as derived
from the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997 (as amended).
Methods: The researcher’s ontology links with this notion of
the existence of multiple realities that exist among universities
in South Africa, and provides the basis for a social construc-
tion epistemology. Different realities exist for the University
of Limpopo.
Results: The Dikgale Health and Demographic Surveillance
System and the Ellisras Longitudinal Study, which both
started in 1996 within the University of Limpopo, provide
ample bush university outreach models on social responsibil-
ity, public good and community development. Community
participation was central to the dissemination of research
results.
Conclusion: Social responsibility, public good and community
development are core functions for a university, which should
be treated as stand-alone roles, such as teaching, learning and
research. The University of Limpopo has distinguished itself
by being true to its vision of ‘being a leading African univer-
sity focused on the developmental needs of its communities
and epitomising academic excellence and innovativeness’.
Keywords: community development, public good and social
responsibility
Submitted 10/4/18, accepted 31/10/18
Published online 7/2/19
Cardiovasc J Afr 2019; 30: 41–44
DOI: 10.5830/CVJA-2018-059
Social responsibility, public good and community development
are three functions of a university that are less spoken about by
any university outside the traditional roles of teaching, learning
and knowledge generation through research. However, the
understanding and interplay between these functions are often
confused with community engagement, which many scholars are
still grappling with as another university core function.
Teaching and learning are geared towards preparing and
equipping learners with skills necessary for entry into the job
market, and to a lesser extent, towards fulfilment of social roles
in society. On its own, research could be classified into that which
is meant to advance a discipline in the form of new findings on
the one hand, and that which is meant to benefit the public on
the other. The extent to which university research achieves its
objective(s) manifests itself in policy formulation by the state
or the advent of new products in the commercial industry.
Yet non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are rooted in
lifestyle modification, are rooted in the community, despite the
numerous research projects conducted by universities in Africa.
The fundamental importance of full community participation,
as rooted in the South African National Development Plan,1
received little attention from universities in Africa in perusing
research to improve the lives of people in society. This was
evident from the highest increase in NCD-related mortality rates,
with about 46% of all those expected mortalities attributed to
NCDs by 2030 in Africa.2,3 Therefore the culture of valuing and
respecting the needs of the community has faded in universities
for their pursuit of community outreach programmes.
The main objective of this article is to contribute to discussions
on the social responsibility, public good and community
development functions of a university in South Africa, as derived
from the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997 (as amended).
Strategic plans and quality-assurance
directorates
In the past two decades, many universities in South Africa
came up with strategic plans for establishing quality-assurance
directorates to drive their academic activities: in essence, higher
education management has become mission driven. However,
the pursuit/desire of every higher education management to
achieve its strategic objectives, as enunciated in its strategic goals,
should not be at the expense of a university fulfilling public
expectations on community development, social responsibility
and public good. In addition, Saleem Badat4 lifted out some
of the social purposes the new higher education terrain was
expected to serve, which include:
• production, acquisition and application of new knowledge
• contributing to the creation, sharing and evaluation of knowl-
edge
Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of Limpopo,
Sovenga, South Africa
Hlengani Siweya, PhD,
Department of Physiology and Environmental Health,
University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa
Kotsedi D Moyeki, PhD