Universities in South Africa Face Rising Xenophobia, Academics Warn A professor at Stellenbosch University argues that xenophobia is incompatible with the mission of higher education and calls for universities to resist state pressure. He warns that the hostile treatment of foreign academics is moving from street violence to institutional discrimination and could erode South Africa's global academic standing. Stellenbosch University professor and author of a recent book on academic xenophobia has warned in a commentary for University World News that rising xenophobia threatens the core mission of South African universities and the nation's reputation in the global knowledge system. The speech, delivered at an IEASA conference, states that the increasingly hostile treatment of foreign scholars, ranging from policy pressure from the Department of Home Affairs to pastoral scrutiny by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, is moving beyond the streets into university corridors. Jansen's seven theses are blunt: xenophobia and internationalisation cannot coexist. A university cannot simultaneously advertise itself as a global institution while excluding academics and students from other African countries.He confronted the argument that losing foreign talent would weaken the doctoral pipeline or damage prestige, labeling those concerns as secondary to the moral contradiction of excluding people on national or ethnic grounds. His call to action is simple: university international offices must either publicly defend an inclusive academic mission or shut down. Otherwise, they risk becoming walking contradictions, welcoming fee‑paying Western students while treating black South African and SADC staff as problems unless they possess scarce "skills." Jansen links two forces normally treated separately: street‑level xenophobic violence and formal state and institutional pressure. By naming the Home Affairs Department and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, he demonstrates a structured environment in which universities face political and administrative pressure. Leaders become the critical link - they can resist the pressure or become complicit by enacting discriminatory policies and passing them down to lower levels.He sets aside the usual cost arguments - reduced doctoral capacity, lower global rankings, loss of prestigious scholars such as Kelly Chibale, Achille Mbembe and Tebello Nyokong - and focuses on the core issue of university autonomy. Historically, the University of Cape Town's refusal to invite Archie Mafeje showed how universities have bowed to state pressure before, paying a reputational and moral cost. Expanding xenophobia would therefore abandon the very reason institutions exist: scholarship, open enquiry and intellectual exchange.Jansen's commentary calls for concrete steps: publication of evidence‑based position papers documenting cases of academic xenophobia and their impact, creation of a policy desk that publicly challenges xenophobic statements from university management and government bodies, and a decisive choice to defend academic autonomy and inclusive hiring and enrollment. Half‑measures, he warns, will only deepen alienation and tarnish reputation. The paradox that Jansen highlights could have financial implications.South African universities reportedly welcome fee‑paying Western students while restricting black African staff and students from the SADC region unless they possess skills in high demand. The scale of the effect on revenue remains unclear, but the loss of a core group of scholars could erode the country's standing in the international knowledge system and weaken its doctoral and post‑doctoral pipeline. The call to resist xenophobia is timely.As South Africa grapples with poverty, hunger and unemployment, the state seeks scapegoats, and the increasing politicisation of academia threatens the nation's intellectual future. The path forward demands resolute, coordinated resistance to ensure that universities remain places of open, inclusive, and globally engaged research and teaching