On 2 March 2022, the Democratic Alliance (DA) submitted PAIA applications to 12 medical schools housed in South Africa’s public universities. The purpose of the applications was to obtain clarity on the criteria used by medical schools to admit potential students, specifically on whether it was fair and non-discriminatory.
With 6 days left before the expiry of the 30-day PAIA response period, only 3 universities have responded so far and these include:
• University of the Witswatersrand;
• University of Stellenbosch; and
• Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.
Universities that are still to respond to the PAIA applications include:
• University of Pretoria
• University of the Western Cape
• Northwest University
• University of Cape Town
• University of KwaZulu Natal
• University of Johannesburg
• University of Limpopo
• University of the Free State
• Walter Sisulu University
The DA holds the strong view that no qualifying South African student should be discriminated against when applying to medical schools based on their race. Doing so is an infringement on individual rights and a violation of constitutional provisions on non-racialism and equality.
The 12 medical schools were asked to provide:
• A copy of the current admissions requirements for newcomer students to be admitted to the MBChB degree;
• Confirmation of whether, and a precise description of, the way in which the racial identity of applicants is used as a criterion for admissions at any point during the admissions process;
• Confirmation of whether different admissions criteria or thresholds apply to applicants from different “racial groups”’
• The criteria and physical characteristics relied upon to racially classify individual applicants;
• The criteria and physical characteristics relied upon to determine whether an applicant’s “racial self-classification” is “accurate”; and
• The number of applicants whose applications for the 2021 intake were rejected, in whole or in part, on the basis that they were not classified as belonging to preferred “designated groups” and who would otherwise have been admitted if they were classified as belonging to a preferred “designated group.”
South Africa is always faced with a perennial shortage of doctors. It does not make sense that hundreds of qualifying students, each year, are denied the opportunity to fulfill their dreams to become health professionals due to discriminatory admissions criteria used.
Universities should not deny students equal access to opportunities for higher education based on discriminatory criteria. As a party grounded in non-racialism, the DA rejects the use of race as the overriding criterion upon which South Africans are allowed to participate across all sectors of the economy. The DA looks forward to receiving the requested information from all the outstanding universities before or on the 15th of April 2022.