Iconic South African educational institution can be shut down

Damelin, one of South Africa’s most iconic private education institutions, is at risk of closing its doors as it faces losing its higher education registration.

Damelin was founded in Johannesburg in 1943 by Benjamin Damelin as a remedial school. It later expanded into vocational and professional training.

Johann Brummer launched Damelin Correspondence College in 1955, making education accessible to people working full-time.

Between 1966 and 1983, Damelin opened major campuses in Durban and Cape Town, and became a household name for flexible, career-focused learning.

Many political prisoners on Robben Island during the 1970s and 1980s were even registered as students through Damelin’s correspondence programmes.

In 2008, Educor acquired Damelin. It became part of an educational stable that included City Varsity, Intec College, and Lyceum.

Damelin was widely considered a giant in the tertiary education sector, serving thousands of students and offering over 200 programmes.

In 2005, it gained international prestige when its BCom degrees were recognised by Oxford Brookes University.

The wheels started coming off in 2024, when former Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, accused Damelin of giving students marks without marking exams.

It was revealed that, while Educor claimed to have 50,000 students, audits found only about 13,000 across all its brands.

Another problem was that the college failed to submit audited financial statements, resulting in repeated threats of deregistration.

Despite the challenges, Damelin remains registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a Private Higher Education Institution.

The institution’s higher education programmes are accredited by the Council on Higher Education.

However, these registrations are now at risk and face severe challenges, which include closing Damelin’s doors.

Department of Higher Education and Training warns Damelin

Last month, Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela issued a notice of intent to cancel Damelin’s registrations.

Other institutions, which are no longer actively operating, City Varsity and ICESA City Campus, also face deregistration.

This action followed a pattern of non-compliance with the Higher Education Act and the Regulations for the Registration of Private Higher Education Institutions.

“The decision is undertaken in the interest of protecting students and upholding the integrity of the sector,” Manamela said.

The department explained that it has an obligation to ensure that private institutions deliver quality education and demonstrate financial sustainability.

It said the institutions did not provide the Registrar with the required documentation to remain registered under the Higher Education Act.

They include audited annual financial statements, proof of financial guarantees, SARS tax compliance certificates, and occupational health and safety compliance.

Director-General at the Department of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nkosinathi Sishi, provided further details regarding the issue.

He told SABC News that they have gone through a lot of trouble to try to avoid the situation where Damelin has to close.

However, he said Damelin’s submissions following the department’s threat in December 2025 were not satisfactory.

“We can, therefore, close down the private education institution [Damelin] for that reason,” he said.

He explained they have identified seven problematic areas related to Damelin’s operations and reporting.

• The issues related to audited student data
• The submission of graduation booklets
• The failure to submit auditors’ reports on programmes
• Problems submitting their South African Qualifications Authority reports
• It did not provide audited annual financial statements
• It did not file proof of financial surety or guarantees
• It did not provide its occupational health and safety compliance report

“We have been sitting with them for a while, and these seem to be the biggest areas where it struggles,” Sishi said.

The immediate impact, should Damelin be deregistered, is that it would not be allowed to register new students.

However, it would be allowed to continue providing services to existing students over the next 12 months.