"BLACK WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN (UCT) FROM 1994 TO 2022".
South Africa; Post-Apartheid; Black Women; Higher Education; University of Cape Town (UCT).
From 1948 to 1994, South Africa was marked by apartheid, known as the "racial segregation" regime. During this regime, the segregationist government regulated the South African educational system through various laws. Through the extension of the University Education Act, Act 45 of 1959, higher education was segregated along racial lines. Black-only universities were established, and black students were denied access to white-only universities such as the University of Cape Town (UCT). Black women's access to higher education was almost non-existent during the apartheid regime. They suffered from what Hassim (1991) calls a "triple marginalization" of race, class, and gender. One of the priorities of Nelson Mandela's post-apartheid government, which came to power in 1994, was to adopt political, legal, and social mechanisms to increase access to higher education for all, including black women. Thus, the education white paper 3 and affirmative action policies were adopted. The University of Cape Town (UCT), internally, also adopted transformative internal policies to enable access for all. These policies have allowed massive entry (access) of black students in general, in particular black women into the University of Cape Town (UCT) after apartheid, however, in relation to their stay and success at the University, black students continue to face exclusion, segregation and violence within the University of Cape Town (UCT).