The Changing Environment in South Africa's Higher Education Institutions Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Reference from Historically Black Universities (HBUs)

The recent yet unanticipated Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic, first witnessed in Wuhan, China, has made its destructive presence felt worldwide. From a schooling perspective and especially from a Higher Education Institution (HEI) standpoint, the pandemic revealed dire institutional gaps at South African universities, particularly those possessing limited technology, infrastructure, human resources, transformation, and finance. The sudden shift from face-to-face to multi-modal learning exposed the limited capacity Historically Black Universities (HBUs) have to deal with such sudden paradigm shifts given their state of development and unreadiness. A skim reading of an array of literature, in addition to policy briefs, revealed limited engagement(s) regarding the nexus of COVID-19 and its repercussions on South Africa's HEIs, particularly HBUs. In consideration of the above and employing a qualitative research approach, this article aimed to delve into the challenges faced by HBUs in South Africa while also offering pivotal long-term blueprints that may be brought to the fore by the government, especially the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), for not only current inequality gaps but future unforeseen circumstances.