Sustainable Development Goals and Higher Education Institutions 69The 2015/2016 academic year has been a fascinating period of
reflection for the higher education sector in South Africa (as well as the
country, generally). Notably, two popular student-driven movements –
the Rhodes Must Fall campaign and the Fees Must Fall campaign – gave
rise to difficult, and sometimes uncomfortable, questions about whether
the state and higher education institutions were doing enough to achieve
transformation in the post-apartheid era.^4 This has by no means been
unique to South Africa, as student movements around the world have
made it clear that business as usual will no longer be tolerated.
Certainly, the debate remains rife and ongoing, and demands critical
engagement on how the targets set out in Goal 4 of the SDGs can be
realised. As will be set out in more detail below, states remain the
primary duty-bearers for the fulfilment of the right to higher education.
However, it will further be argued that higher education institutions also
have a crucial role to play – both in facilitating the realisation of the
right to higher education, as well as in perpetuating sustainable
development more broadly. This paper does not profess to have the
answers to these complex and multi-faceted questions, and there can be
no doubt that solutions must be found on a case-by-case basis. Rather,
this paper seeks to contextualise the discussion within the domestic and
international law framework in order to better understand the nature of
the obligations in respect of higher education.
4.2 The Legal Framework for the Right to Higher
Education
As a point of departure, the Constitution of the Republic of South
Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) is the supreme law in South Africa.^5 It
4
See, for instance, Mail & Guardian, “#FeesMustFall is just the start of change”
(21 June 2016) (http://mg.co.za/article/2016-01-20-fees-are-just-the-start-of-
change). 5
Section 2 of the Constitution.