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Universities, Employability
and Human Development
 Melanie Walker • Samuel Fongwa

Universities,
Employability
and Human
Development
Melanie Walker Samuel Fongwa
University of the Free State University of the Free State
Bloemfontein, South Africa Bloemfontein, South Africa

ISBN 978-1-137-58451-9 ISBN 978-1-137-58452-6 (eBook)

DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58452-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016959603

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Cover illustration: © Nikita Kozin, © Gregor Črešnar / Noun Project

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United
Kingdom
 PREFACE

This book has its genesis in a research project commissioned by the British
Council in 2012 on Universities, Employability and Inclusive Development,
led by Tristan McCowan at the UCL Institute of Education, with Melanie
Walker as the South Africa Lead Researcher and Sam Fongwa as the
Research Assistant (assisted by various PhD students in the Centre for
Higher Education and Human Development). The project had been
preceded by a seven-country scoping study in 2011 which had identified
various challenges in the sub-Saharan Africa region that could constrain
the potential contribution of higher education to development and speci-
fically, to producing employable graduates. An underpinning worry was
increasing talk (not always substantiated with robust evidence) of graduate
unemployment on the one hand, and on the other hand, whether or how
universities might contribute to addressing this apparent problem. The
research project was proposed to help identify what universities were
already doing and what else they could do to enhance the employability
of their graduates. As the project unfolded, the South African study
emphasis on human development and capabilities advanced by Melanie
was more widely adopted in the project so that inclusive development was
understood as advancing well-being, quality of life and agency. We intro-
duce these ideas in Chapter 1 and develop them further in Chapter 3.
The project as a whole involved five countries – the UK, South Africa,
Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya – and it ran for three years from 2013 to 2016,
with a focus on undergraduate education and case studies of universities in
each country, 14 universities in total. A cross-country comparative perspec-
tive was seen to hold possibilities for understandings and explanations of

v
vi PREFACE

graduate employability. A comprehensive final report, including chapters on

each participating country, was prepared by the research team and recom-
mendations drawn out to contribute to discussions about the direction and
practices of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa (British Council 2016).
Melanie felt as the end of the project approached that the South Africa
study was sufficiently rich to be worth publishing in more detail than the
project report allowed for. While not wanting to claim South African
‘exceptionalism’, there were striking regional differences which she felt
could be addressed in a book on the South Africa case study. The project
had found that employability is not a dominant discourse in South African
higher education where concerns with quality, equity and redress, as well as
economic development and skills prevail. There is now more discussion
about ‘graduate outcomes’, ‘graduate destinations’ and ‘graduate pathways’.
Yet it seemed important to bring employability as a discourse and ways of
framing the issue to the attention of researchers and policy-makers, given its
increasing global and continental grip in ways which may not play out well
for the equity concerns still evident in South African higher education policy.
For the South Africa study, we were especially concerned to understand
employability as a matter of justice inside universities – what universities could
do to reduce injustice – even while recognizing the real constraints imposed
on universities by the broader economy and labour market. We did not expect
universities to be able to do everything in the face of inequalities but we did
want to know if they were doing all they could to enhance the opportunities
of talented young people who manage to access higher education and who
hope for decent work, jobs and career pathways. Melanie wanted to build on
her earlier work on universities and development to develop a capabilities-
based theoretical frame and see how it worked for student and lecturer
perceptions of employability and university practices, graduate aspirations
and commitments to democratic citizenship and what employers seem to
want in graduates. We do this in the chapters which follow.
Ideas developed and gestated over project and stakeholder meetings in
South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and the UK, and at various seminar and
conference presentations. We firstly wish to acknowledge our appreciation
to the British Council for funding the project and our South Africa case
study. The East Africa director of the British council Tony Reilly was
extremely helpful and supportive, as were Nan Yeld and Carol Radiki in
the final stages. The project was ably – and patiently – led by Tristan
McCowan as the director of the project and we were immensely privileged
 PREFACE vii

to work with our African colleagues – Eric Ananga in Ghana, Ebrahim

Oanada in Kenya and Segun Adedeji and Stephen Oyebade in Nigeria. It
was a delight for the University of the Free State (UFS) to be able to host
all our colleagues for one of the project meetings in Bloemfontein. In
addition, the British Council offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg
efficiently organized two stakeholder meetings in Johannesburg on our
behalf and a final meeting in Cape Town in November 2016. Pauline
Gangla from the British Council Nairobi office was enthusiastic, diplo-
matic and helpful at all times.
We would especially like to thank the four universities who assisted us
with obtaining ethical clearance and in making contact with students and
staff for interviews and for the survey. Helen Garnett and then Tari Gwena
undertook the administration of the project, Lucretia Smith sorted out
financial matters while Helen, Oliver Mutanga, Faith Mkwananzi,
Patience Mukwambo and Ntimi Mtawa all assisted with interview data
collection. Faith, Patience, Oliver and Tendayi Marovah helped with
coding qualitative data after Melanie had analysed all the transcripts, and
Anesu Ruswa provided invaluable assistance with analysing the survey
data. Elmarie Viljoen-Massyn as always provided excellent support in
preparing the manuscript. We are very grateful to everyone for their help.
Colleagues in the higher education and development research group at
the UFS provided a collegial working environment, while Monica Mclean
and Alejandra Boni on visits to the UFS also provided helpful comments –
and encouragement when it was most needed – to persevere with the book.
Our ideas were also shaped by discussing the case study with colleagues at
Bath University in the UK; at the REAL symposium on Education and
Work in Johannesburg; the HELTASA conference in Bloemfontein; the
HDCA conference in Georgetown, USA; the BAICE conference in Bath,
UK; the UKFIET conference in Oxford; and the CIES conference in
Vancouver, Canada. This, together with the vibrant conversations inside
the project group, has been immensely valuable. We were generously
funded by the British Council and through Melanie’s South African
Research Chair (NRF grant number 86540) to attend these various events.
Finally, Melanie thanks her partner, Ian, for his support – as always – not
to mention the gas heater he bought for her as she worked on drafts of the
book through freezing cold winter weather in Bloemfontein! Her appre-
ciation also to Vicki just for being there and to Milo and Lexie for light
relief. Sam thanks Rolline, Nathan and Esther for love and support.
viii PREFACE

REFERENCE
British Council. (2016). Universities, employability and inclusive develop-
ment: repositioning higher education in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South
Africa. http://www.britishcouncil.org/education/ihe/. Accessed 1 July
2016.
 CONTENTS

1 Contextual and Policy Conditions 1

2 Graduate Employability, Global Shifts and Local Realities 29

3 A Human Capabilities Conceptualization of Graduate

Employability 53

4 Employability and Conversion Factors 79

5 Access and Participation 109

6 Democratic Citizenship and Employable Graduates 133

7 Employers and Graduate Opportunities 159

8 Aspirations, Capabilities and Navigating Future-Forward 181

9 Human Development, Capabilities and Graduate

Employability 215

Appendix A Policy Environment for Graduate Employability

in South Africa 229

ix
x CONTENTS

Appendix B Graduate Attributes 235

Index 239
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1.1 Learning-scapes 19

Fig. 4.1 Conversion factors shaping graduate employability 80
Fig. 4.2 Background profile of students (per cent), qualitative data 85
Fig. 4.3 Preferred employment sectors by race, survey data 96
Fig. 4.4 Skills that were less well developed at university, survey data 97
Fig. 5.1 Student participation in careers support services, survey data 127
Fig. 5.2 ‘The career development service was very effective’, student
survey 128
Fig. 8.1 Realizable aspirations 187

xi
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1 Headcount enrolment by race for selected years 16

Table 1.2 Participation rates by race 17
Table 1.3 Qualitative interview participants 23
Table 4.1 Cross tabulation of race and employment prospects,
survey data 86
Table 4.2 Cross tabulation of perceptions of employment prospects
by social class and race, survey data 87
Table 4.3 Students’ perception of employability, survey data 90
Table 6.1 Institutional vision and mission for citizenship 140
Table 6.2 Institutional values 142
Table 8.1 Wits students 189
Table 8.2 UFS students 196
Table 8.3 Univen students 201
Table 8.4 NMMU students 206
Table 8.5 What Rebecca and Tumelo have reason to value 209
Table 9.1 Graduate employability and intersecting conversion factors 219
Table 9.2 Graduate employability capabilities and functionings 223

xiii
 CHAPTER 1

Contextual and Policy Conditions

In our project we have been concerned with the relationship and the
balance between higher education, government policies, society (labour
market and social change), universities and individuals. We operationalize
this concern by investigating how universities advance graduate employ-
ability but also inclusive development, understood to include access and
participation to and in university, as well as future contributions to social
well-being. For example, a young political science student interviewed in
2013 at the University of the Free State said, ‘I want to do something
that’s going to help me change something in this country, get a job with
my degree and also change social ills, whether it be poverty, health . . . just
do something that’s going to get the next person to their next level.’ Her
words highlight the transformative potential of higher education – in
changing individual lives, but also changing societies for the better as
graduates move into employment. This student had herself come from a
poor rural background, had beaten the odds in getting to university and
was now committed to using that opportunity for improving the lives of
others. We have many similar statements from students in our research
project. Of course, it also matters to South African graduates, especially
those from poor homes, that they are employed when they leave univer-
sity. As one young commentator noted, after speaking to students in their
final year of school, ‘students want to be employed as soon as they are
done with studying’ (Ntibane 2016, p. 3).
Getting a job and being employed matters. Van Broekhuizen and Van
Der Berg (2013) point out that the rapid expansion of the graduate labour

© The Author(s) 2017 1

M. Walker, S. Fongwa, Universities, Employability and Human
Development, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58452-6_1
2 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

force after 1995 has been accompanied by a change in the racial composi-
tion of graduates from approximately 1.7 white graduates for every black
graduate in the labour force in 1995 to a ratio of 0.9 by 2012, as numbers
of black graduates have expanded. South Africa’s public universities, they
say, collectively now produce significantly more black than white gradu-
ates every year. The number of employed black graduates has increased
since 1995 growing, on average, by 6 per cent per year from 1995 to
2012, and from 145 000 in 1995 to 454 000 in 2012. Moreover, they
point out that, contrary to most expectations, the vast majority of this
growth occurred in the private sector. While black graduates employed in
the public sector more than doubled between 1995 and 2012, the number
employed in the private sector increased more than fourfold and is likely
soon to outstrip the number of publicly employed black graduates.
However, in 2012 there were still more black graduates employed in the
public sector (277 987) than in the private sector (176 566).
However, from our perspective while being employed is absolutely
critical for graduates’ futures, employability involves more than the success-
ful insertion of individuals into the formal labour market (as we elaborate in
Chapter 2), and more than contributions to human capital and economic
growth (as we explain further in Chapter 3). It is shaped by: a market of
jobs, desirable skills and qualifications, state steering through government
policies including support for entrepreneurship, a higher education market
of competition for good students and access to degrees and courses which
generate decent jobs. But it also includes concerns with social justice and
reducing poverty and inequality (DHET 2013) which can rein in some of
the excesses of the marketization of higher education as, for example, in the
UK (Collini 2012) and a full blown neo-liberal globalization impact on
university, state and market. Significantly, in South Africa the former con-
cern has so far blocked the extensive expansion of private education (unlike
in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa). Up till now the view has been that, for
example, a private internationally funded university, which recruited mainly
privileged, mainly white, students would undermine the broader attempt to
construct a non-racist and fair higher education system.

UNIVERSITY–EMPLOYABILITY–EMPLOYMENT
Our own interest in employability has been sparked by justice concerns in
the face of the current globally dominant higher education, knowledge
economy and economic growth legitimating narrative (see Chapter 2;
 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 3

Boni and Walker 2016) so that graduate employment and employability

is – not surprisingly – an area of increasing interest and concern to
university managers, government, students and employers. Where the
focus of evaluation should be with regard to the employable graduate is
not always clear: should it be during university, in the transition to work,
or in the labour market, or all of these? Further, embedded within employ-
ability discourse are not only issues of quality, equity, funding, access and
success among others, but also issues of skills and knowledge needs of the
economy and economic growth, unemployment and labour market
participation.
However, most research on graduate employability has not adequately
theorized fairness in the process of access, success and employment out-
comes for diverse students from different kinds of universities as we
elaborate in Chapter 2. Morley (2001) earlier pointed out that employ-
ability discourse typically disregards key shaping aspects of students’ lives
and opportunities such as social class, race, gender and so on, and that
these discourses may ‘tend to confirm, rather than challenge patterns of
disadvantage’ (2001, p. 132), so that not all interests are served by a
narrowed employability focus in higher education (see Chapter 2).
Morley provides a compelling example of the dangers of decontextualized
assumptions about employability. Communication skills are often cited as
a desirable graduate outcome but, as she points out, a woman with
‘impeccable’ (2001, p. 136) communication skills who uses these to
challenge gender harassment in the workplace may find herself less
employable. Nor is the employability lens turned onto employers and
their assumptions about the ideal graduate (who often turns out to be
middle class and from a ‘good’ university). In similar vein, Motala and
Vally (2014) challenge assumptions regarding the link between education
and the economy from which flows the further assumption that education
should serve the demands of the economy and generate individual com-
petitive advantage. In this approach the focus and analysis is on the
individual who independently adapts to the labour market, but the struc-
ture of the economy and labour market is unchallenged. Burke (2016),
writing about Northern Ireland, has also produced a critical examination
of this supposedly linear relationship and meritocratic (or fair) alignment
between higher education and employment to show the powerful effects
of social class on graduate opportunities and trajectories.
The approach, which we therefore prefer, is to understand employ-
ability as relational, contextual and structured by opportunities and
4 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

inequalities, not purely emerging from the individual’s accrual of human

capital. Graduates have to compete in the labour market and mobilize
their advantages (bundles of knowledge, skills, biography and so on) to
succeed in making themselves the right kind of candidate for employers
(Tholen 2015). However, diverse graduates may be differently placed to
capitalize on, or understand the need (and have the know-how), to build
their positional advantage; such differences may be taken for granted and
assumed as ‘the way things just are’ (Burke 2016).
Crucial as our concerns are with the more specific space of higher
education, we need also to be concerned with the relationship of higher
education and society, with wider development agendas, and the scarring
consequences of inequality in South African society. There have been real
gains post-1994 in terms of a range of socio-economic benchmarks, for
example: a doubling of jobs from 7.9 million in 1994 to 15.7 million in
2015, a 141 per cent increase in the number of black university students, a
fall in the number of malnourished children from 13.1 per cent in 2000 to
4.5 per cent in 2014 (Cronje 2016). Nonetheless, grave inequality persists.
In an interview with Haroon Bhorat (2015), professor of economics and
director of the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape
Town, Bhorat noted that depending on the variable used to measure
inequality, the time period and the data set, South Africa’s Gini coefficient
ranges from about 0.660 to 0.696.1 This makes South Africa, Bhorat
explained, one of the most consistently unequal countries in the world.
Thus we find in an Oxfam (2014) report this example: the two richest
South Africans, Johan Rupert and Nicky Oppenheimer, together have the
same wealth at around 155 billion ZAR as the bottom half of the popula-
tion. As Oxfam (2014, p. 3) notes in its report, extreme inequality ‘cor-
rupts politics, hinders economic growth and stifles social mobility . . . It
squanders talent, thwarts potential and undermines the foundations of
society’. These conditions are not good for fairness in universities or in
the labour market.
Bhorat attributes the reasons for such pronounced inequality to still
skewed initial endowments post-1994 (assets that people and households
have) in the form of, for example, human capital, access to financial capital
and ownership patterns. We could add cultural and social capitals valuable
for educational success (Burke 2016). All of these, and other endowments,
serve to generate a highly unequal growth trajectory. In addition, South
Africa is an economy characterized by a growth path which is both skills
intensive and capital intensive, but not generating a sufficient number of
 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 5

low-wage jobs, which is key, Bhorat argues, to both reducing unemploy-

ment and inequality. Although it is high-skills employment to which
graduates will be directed, nonetheless low-skills unemployment should
be the concern for all.
In our research project we therefore turned to human development
(Haq 1999) and the capability approach (Sen 1999) for a rich conceptual
and inclusive frame with which to interrogate higher education processes
and graduate outcomes at the macro-structural arrangements and micro-
agency level. Our approach acknowledges the importance of human capi-
tal but does not rest there, rather expanding skills discourse to include
issues of personal and social development, values and comprehensive
graduate attributes. We interrogate how universities institutionalize (or
not) the development of graduate attributes which go beyond employ-
ability to include public-good aspects which, especially for developing
countries, are salient for graduate education and training, as well as
challenging structural inequalities in and through higher education.
From a conceptual point of view, we provide an inclusive theorization of
graduate employability, moving beyond alleged skills ‘gaps’ and ‘mis-
matches’ in meeting employer expectations. From a higher education
perspective, the book provides evidence to argue beyond an instrumental
or utilitarian approach in evaluating graduate outcomes, as well as challen-
ging an individualized notion of employability based purely on student
effort. Furthermore, the book uses original data from four case study
universities to contribute to knowledge of what a university is doing or
should be doing to enhance graduate training for employment and inclu-
sive development of themselves and their societies, as well as the equity
implications for the higher education system and public policy.
The overarching aim of the book is therefore to explore the university–
employability–employment interface informed by human development
values, together with the concept of capabilities to integrate the develop-
ment of knowledge, skills and competences which make a graduate attrac-
tive to employers, with careful attention to equity in university and labour
market/employment opportunities for all graduates. This requires atten-
tion both to supply-side (university) and demand-side (labour market)
factors. We ask what universities are doing in contributing to graduate
readiness both for the world of work and for contributions to society, with
what outcomes, for whom and why. Based on this evidence we consider
how graduate employability can be more expansively conceptualized from
a capabilities perspective, which further enables us to make interpersonal
6 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

comparisons regarding who has the widest opportunities to develop their

capability set. To this end we present student perceptions of their uni-
versity experiences and how it prepares them for the world of work and
society; explore the perception of academics as to how universities prepare
students for work and society; consider factors affecting graduate employ-
ability by university types, field of study, schooling background, race and
gender and explore student aspirations and their orientations to demo-
cratic citizenship. We also consider what employers say they look for in
graduate recruits. We are interested thus in how universities prepare
graduates both for work and for participation in society, taking history
and structural inequality into educational account.

HIGHER EDUCATION FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT,

WELL-BEING AND AGENCY
Bearing in mind the well-rehearsed neo-liberal international pressures on
higher education and national policy directions, and building on Boni and
Walker (2013, 2016), the human development and capabilities framework
we develop enables us to place well-being freedoms and agency freedoms
at the heart of the development to which universities and their graduates
can contribute. The development to be aimed for is human development
and human freedoms. It enables us to ask focused questions about the
public good of higher education when internationally and nationally in
South Africa higher education is no longer supported exclusively by the
state but requires fees-based contributions from individual students who
are assumed to reap private rewards from their university credentials.
Indeed this latter perception is not necessarily incorrect. A recent World
Bank paper (Montenegro and Patrinos 2014) claims that South Africa has
the highest rate of private returns from higher education of 39.5 (com-
pared to Ghana 28, Brazil 17, Turkey 14, Argentina 12, the USA 14). In
middle- and low-income countries higher education is thus also now seen
as essential to economic development and social mobility (Boni and
Walker 2016). Higher education is acknowledged as being pivotal for
development at all levels. Its role in fostering high-level research and
technological capacity in the knowledge economy is well recognized.
For example, South Africa universities contribute 2.1 per cent of gross
domestic product (GDP) – more than textiles and forestry – and they
employ 300 000 people which puts higher education on a par with mining
 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 7

(Coan 2016). Thus at the same time that states are reducing their invest-
ment in higher education, higher education has moved to the forefront of
economic policy as a driver of knowledge economies in an international
climate of economic competition based on innovation and technological
and scientific knowledge (De Sousa Santos 2006). This economy based on
knowledge then requires more highly skilled human capital so that produ-
cing human capital becomes the rationale for university education to the
exclusion of non-material goods. As Naidoo (2011, p. 41) points out,
‘there is little argument that economic advantage is seen to accrue from
the production and consumption of knowledge’, with universities as the
new economic ‘developmental actors’ (2011, p. 44) and players in global
competition.
At the same time there are contestations as to whether higher education
can be or is a driving force behind social change and more equality. As
Piketty (2014) points out for the USA, more higher education has not
reduced inequality in recent times; the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD 2012) points to similar growing
inequality gaps despite substantially increased access to higher education
in Europe. In South Africa the number of students in higher education has
more than doubled, students with a degree have a significantly better
chance of employment than those without post-school qualifications
(Branson et al. 2009) – but social and higher education inequality is still
a problem. Thus while acknowledging the significant development role of
higher education, the very complexity of education means we should not
see it as a magical solution for economic growth, or inherently socially
transformative. There is a lot that higher education can do towards fair
development but it cannot do everything. Fraser (2009) helpfully distin-
guishes between affirmative approaches which leave structures of inequal-
ity in place, or transformative approaches which change structures (of
inequality in the labour market, unequal access to elite universities and
so on). We keep this distinction in mind in our discussions.
There is, nonetheless, also a counter-hegemonic imaginary encapsu-
lated in our position that higher education in universities can be claimed
or reclaimed to make a contribution to the national project of building a
better society with more rather than less public good – understood as
human development. Higher education plays a key role in forming grad-
uates who can build and sustain democratic societies with high-quality
services for all. The positive impact of higher education, therefore, is not
restricted to those who directly study there, but can potentially permeate
8 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

through the whole of society (Walker and McLean 2013). Overall, there-
fore in this book we take the position that while a university cannot do
everything to enable employment for its students, it can do a great deal in
terms of opening up economic opportunities through quality teaching and
learning, actively encouraging and promoting extra-curricular participa-
tion and filling in inequality ‘gaps’ to enhance the employability of indi-
vidual students. More than this, universities can develop inclusive
citizenship values and appreciation of diversity. Universities could enable
their students to flourish and to choose good lives (Wilson-Strydom and
Walker 2015). As De Sousa Santos (2006) emphasizes, this requires
universities being open to the outside (communities and society), but
this outside opening should not be limited only to opening to the market.
We think that equitable and quality higher education can be critical for
promoting sustainable development, potentially advancing knowledge,
skills, spaces for innovation, enquiry and debate, fostering public-good
values and promoting effective participation in public decision-making.
Furthermore, there are promising signs that higher education as a sector is
featuring somewhat more prominently in development discourses and new
global goals than was the case with the previous millennium development
goals. Thus in September 2015, the global ‘Sustainable Development
Goals’ (SDGs) were approved at the United Nations General Assembly.
They aim to shape development policies for the next 15 years and include
higher education institutions as development actors (Boni and Walker
2016). Directed to the challenges of poverty, climate change and sustain-
able development, education can be a development ‘multiplier’. At the
same time universities are located in continental and transnational spaces
and global agendas which increasingly emphasize science and technology
subjects and intensifying university competition (including recent Africa-
university rankings), which are potentially extremely difficult to counter
(Naidoo 2016).
Nonetheless, the inclusion of higher education as a development actor
more firmly integrates higher education into development agendas, not-
withstanding what some have argued is the more limited human capital
focus. Still, higher education can be – and ought to be – inserted into
equity and poverty agendas, offering opportunities to develop the skills
and knowledge required to improve conditions of poverty and other
inequalities. Our framework therefore draws both from higher education
and from development (see Naidoo 2011), from well-being and from
learning. Further, attention to development intersecting with education
 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 9

requires that we take a normative stand regarding both what we take to be

a decent society in which all can flourish and, following on this, a norma-
tive stand on decent universities (what is higher education for?) and, from
here, decide on what should be our priorities.

EDUCATION PURPOSES
Our analysis is therefore informed by a rich (and hopeful) understanding
of education offered in universities, drawing on Dreze and Sen (1989,
pp. 4–5) who propose that education is valuable to each person’s freedom
in five distinct but multidimensional ways: (1) education is of intrinsic
importance and is a valuable achievement in itself. While not gainsaying
the instrumental and social functions of education or education outcomes
we must not overlook its intrinsic contribution to a flourishing life with a
plurality of valuable dimensions: a love of poetry, or landscape drawing, or
mathematical problems. Current global education policy and measurable
outcomes neglect this intrinsic role but there is evidence that it persists
strongly in the 1997 South African higher education White Paper (DOE
1997) although more faintly in the 2013 White Paper (Department of
Higher Education and Training (DHET 2013). (2) Education has an
instrumental personal role in that it can support a person in doing many
valuable things, such as forming human capital and enabling economic
opportunities. This remains crucial for contributions to inclusive eco-
nomic development; an unemployed graduate is a wasted’ resource’ for
the individual, family and community. (3) Education plays an instrumen-
tal social role in developing public reasoning skills for contributions to
public discussions and policy; education can teach us to reason and delib-
erate with others as active citizens in an informed and critical way taking
account of different perspectives. This is crucial in building a functioning
democracy and for informed public debate over issues like student funding
and access which are current in South Africa. (4) Education plays an
instrumental process role bringing young people into contact with others
and broadening the horizon of their experiences. In the light of the
persistence of apartheid spatial segregation in neighbourhoods and most
schools, encountering diversity (of race, nationality, language, social class
and so on) cannot be underestimated as a crucial awareness-making fea-
ture of university education. Finally, (5) education plays an empowerment
and distributive role enabling the knowledge and skills for persons to
organize politically, challenge oppression between groups but also
10 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

within the family, for example, reducing gender inequalities. It can open
opportunities for others, for example, younger brothers or sisters or
people in the communities of which people are a part, and interrupt
intergenerational inequalities. In this way it has an inclusive and public-
good impact towards more equality.
Education in this reading is intrinsically, instrumentally and socially
valuable. It is fundamental to what Sen (1999) calls well-being (individual
and social), the formation of ‘human capabilities’ and ‘agency freedoms’,
that is being able to choose and act towards a life one has reason to value, a
life which includes obligations to others; we elaborate in Chapter 3. Thus
we have been guided in our analysis by our understanding of employability
as involving how the university prepares graduates for employment by
developing students’ knowledge, skills and values to have choices regarding
work and a career but we see employability also more broadly to encompass
how university education enables students’ agency to decide on their life
plans and to value their contributions to an inclusive society. We need
attention to what individual students are able to be and do, what appro-
priate university conditions are in place to foster individual employability
and an understanding of how external conditions influence employment of
diverse students (and whether or how these might be changed at all).
What each individual student is able to do cannot be divorced from his/
her opportunity set provided by the educational and social context (Walker
2006, 2015). While income is important and jobs for graduates are neces-
sary because this enables graduates to have more choices and to lead
comfortable lives, what also matters is how they contribute in some way
to reducing inequalities and improving other lives as well as their own, and
that they should have work with genuine choices. In this respect, we under-
stand that universities have a responsibility towards inclusive development
and reduced inequalities both in terms of access to and progress and
participation at university, and in contributions to society through the
graduates they educate, linking development to a commitment to higher
education for a fair and prosperous society. In multidimensional ways,
higher education contributes not only to private benefits but also to citizen-
ship by fostering knowledge, democratic pedagogical processes and inclu-
sive cultures, with adequate mechanisms that allow the real participation of
all young people, paying special attention to the most marginalized groups.
Overall, it is clear that education includes both economic and non-market
goods and both need to be included for a full account of what education
achieves. In Chapter 3 we explore this in more depth.
 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 11

TRACING KEY POLICY DEVELOPMENTS

IN SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION

We elaborate further on South African higher education and society con-

text in Chapter 2. We note here that the higher education system is
imbricated in the social and political inequalities landscape. Pre-1994,
higher education was used as one tool to enforce apartheid ideology by
creating two separate systems for the white and black2 populations,
described by Bunting (2002) as fragmented and uncoordinated, enshrined
in the apartheid government’s policies and politics of race. Higher educa-
tion was aligned along five artificial geographical units3 used to segregate
the country. The first four were considered as ‘independent’ countries, but
never received international recognition as they were internationally
regarded as ‘bantustan’ apartheid constructions of the National Party
(Bunting 2002). The fifth entity (Republic of South Africa (RSA)), con-
sisted of ‘South Africa’ and was dominated politically and economically if
not numerically by whites so that Africans needed a ‘pass’ or authorization
before visiting, working and staying in the so-called RSA and were subject
to a colour bar determining what work could be done by whom and where.
Similarly, higher education institutions (HEIs) were designed to serve
one of four apartheid racial groups (‘Africans’, ‘Coloureds’, ‘Indians’ and
‘Whites’). By 1985 based on the deeply flawed notion of ‘separate but
equal’, 19 HEIs (universities and technikons) for the exclusive use of
white people, two for coloureds, two for Indians and six for Africans had
been established. By 1994, there were 36 HEIs which included: (1) 10
‘historically disadvantaged’ (HDIs) universities and seven ‘historically
disadvantaged’ technikons designated for all black4 South Africans, with
(2) 10 ‘historically advantaged’ (HAIs) universities and seven historically
advantaged technikons for whites and (3) two distance HEIs catering for
all races; the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Technikon South
Africa (TSA). The higher education system in pre-1994 was thus seriously
skewed towards the advantage of white South Africans and structured to
entrench the racial ideologies of the apartheid government.
In the wake of new government policies post-1994 and the 1996
Constitution,5 which enshrines the ideals of improving the quality of life
of all citizens and establishing a society based on democratic values, social
justice and fundamental human rights, government now emphasized
values of non-racism, non-sexism, democracy and redress. This was
no different in the higher education sector. The higher education
12 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

‘transformation’ project in South Africa has been premised on a complex

triad of goals of economic development, social equity and deepening
democracy (Badat 2009) to be pursued simultaneously. This is somewhat
challenging, given the historical context of inequalities, uneven develop-
ment economically and educationally, and currently faltering economic
growth. With regard to the last, a central feature of South Africa’s eco-
nomic policy since 1994 has been the recognition that in order to achieve
economic growth, it is essential to develop the capacity to participate and
compete in the global knowledge economy. Thus, one of the major roles
that the higher education system has been required to play has been to
develop highly skilled graduates in scientific, technological and business
fields (Council on Higher Education 2004; National Development Plan
2011). The recent National Development Plan (2011) emphasizes the
role of universities in economic development: ‘Higher education is the
major driver of the information/knowledge system, linking it with eco-
nomic development’ (NDP 2011, p. 262), ‘good science and technology
education is crucial for South Africa’s future innovation’ (2011, p. 262),
and universities ‘will need to identify their areas of strength’ and respond
to ‘the needs of their immediate environment, the African region and
global competitiveness’ (2011, p. 267).
If higher education was to contribute to redress, equity and develop-
ment a new policy framework would be needed post-1994. The new
government set up processes to construct an overall policy framework
for higher education transformation, culminating in the White Paper on
Higher Education (Department of Education (DOE) 1997) and the
Higher Education Act of 1997. The White Paper mapped out a broad
transformation agenda underpinned by core principles of equity (of access
and the distribution of success along lines of race, gender, class and
geography), and redress of past inequalities. It declared that higher educa-
tion was to be transformed to meet the challenges of a new non-racial,
non-sexist and democratic society committed to equity, justice and a
better life for all. It thus mapped out a broad transformation agenda so
that higher education was seen as an important vehicle for achieving equity
in the redistribution of opportunity and achievement among South
African citizens. Higher education was to provide access to learning and
the fulfilment of human potential through lifelong learning, as well as
laying the foundations of a critical civil society with a culture of debate,
tolerance and critical engagement. It was also expected to address the
human resource needs of a developing society, providing the labour
 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 13

market with the high-level skills needed for participation in the global
economy. Thus the core pillars of the new higher education system
emphasized a three-pronged approach to transformation through
increased participation by black students, greater responsiveness to social
needs and increased cooperation and partnership in university governance
by involving more stakeholders. The Higher Education Act of 1997
further assigned responsibility for quality assurance in higher education
in South Africa to the Council on Higher Education (CHE), with a
government mandate which includes quality promotion, quality assurance
institutional audits, subject field audits (such as social work education),
programme accreditation and, more recently, quality enhancement
(see http://www.che.ac.za).

THE CURRENT HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT: POLICY,

PARTICIPATION AND FUNDING
However, continuing geographical dispersion, racial fragmentation, struc-
tural inefficiencies and institutional duplication triggered a further rethink
of the higher education landscape.6 In 2003, it was decided to reduce –
not without controversy – the number of universities from 36 to 23
through mergers including merging HDIs and HAIs to address apartheid
race-based university divisions, while also increasing the efficiency of the
system (CHE 2004). The 23 public HEIs comprised of 11 ‘traditional’
universities, six ‘comprehensive’ universities including one for distance
education and six universities of technology. Traditional universities
were to focus on research and a mix of disciplined-based and professional
degree qualifications, while universities of technology offered technologi-
cal, vocational, career-oriented and professional programmes. The com-
prehensive universities were formed from the merging of universities and
technikons and were to provide both types of qualifications (Council on
Higher Education (CHE) 2004). The number of public universities has
recently been increased to 26 by the establishment in 2014/2015 of Sol
Plaatje University in the Northern Cape, the University of Mpumalanga
and Sefako Makgatho Health Science University in Pretoria. The private
sector remains highly regulated and forms less than 10 per cent of all
enrolments.
Higher education in South Africa now falls under the ambit of the
Ministry of Higher Education and Training (MHET) and the Department
14 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

of Higher Education and Training (DHET). In 2013, the DHET pub-

lished its White Paper for Post-School Education and Training outlining
an ambitious vision in which transformation is still argued for:

To build a post-school education and training system that is able to con-

tribute to eradicating the legacy of apartheid. It will assist us to build a non-
racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa characterised by progressive
narrowing of the gap between the rich and the poor. Access to quality post-
school education is a major driver in fighting poverty and inequality in any
society. (2013, p. viii)

While economic development is important, the DHET proposes that the

education and training system should not only provide knowledge and
skills required by the economy but should also contribute ‘to developing
thinking citizens, who can function effectively, creatively and ethically as
part of a democratic society’. Such people should ‘have an understanding
of their society, and be able to participate fully in its political, social and
cultural life’ (Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)
2013, p. 3). Like the 1997 White Paper this seems to locate the policy
framework beyond human capital and the assumption that more and
better education will solve problems of unemployment. On the other
hand, the 2013 White Paper notes the practical reality of a stuttering
economy and it claims that: ‘few can argue with the need to improve the
performance of the economy, to expand employment and to equip
people to achieve sustainable livelihoods’ (Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET) 2013, p. 3). It explains that the social
and economic challenges facing South Africa have shifted national prio-
rities in the face of structural challenges associated with unemployment,
poverty and inequality so that economic development has been prior-
itized, together with the role of education and training as a contributor
to such development. Again, seeming to prioritize employment, albeit
for its social impact and benefits as well, the White Paper further notes
that ‘Education will not guarantee economic growth, but without it
economic growth is not possible and society will not fulfil its potential
with regard to social and cultural development’ (Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET) 2013, p. 5). If we look at transforma-
tion-leaning word counts as a rough indicator of emphasis we find:
quality 207, diversity 96, equity 14, social justice 7, empowerment 0,
agency in the form of ‘social agency’ 1, transformation 11. But we also
 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 15

find economic development-leaning word count indicators: skills 215,

economy/development/developmental state 233 (together more men-
tions than anything else), employment 25, efficiency and efficient 9, so
that economic development led by the state is emphasized, even though
‘employability’ is not the discourse used. On the other hand, using
word count as a crude indicator, social and economic concerns seem to
be more or less in balance and if anything, it is personal development
(outside of the quality word count) which is relegated to a back seat, and
yet is of tremendous importance to both the social and the economic.
Ideally the personal, economic and social should find a reasonable equi-
librium. Still, as Motala et al. (2014) argue, whatever view is taken of the
economy – either business focused or state led and developmental – the
assumption is still of a causal relationship between education and skills
through education and development, which does not problematize
demand-side failures. There is a policy optimism about how post-school
education will lead to jobs and economic productivity regardless of the
shape and state of the labour market.
Quality is asserted but not directly described: ‘institutions must provide
education of a high quality’ (Department of Higher Education and
Training (DHET) 2013, p. vii); ‘ensure a wide range of high quality
options’ (Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)
2013, p. xiii); ‘expanded access, improved quality and increased diversity
of provision’ (Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)
2013, p. 2); ‘All universities in South Africa must offer high-quality
undergraduate education. This should be the first step to overcoming
historical injustices inherited from apartheid’ (Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET) 2013, p. 30). There is an implicit
recognition of the link between poverty and quality: ‘Most black people
are still poor; they are still served by lower-quality public services and
institutions (including public educational institutions) than the well-off’
(Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) 2013, p. 4).
Thus much is expected of quality, despite it being underspecified: ‘The
achievement of greater social justice is closely dependent on equitable
access by all sections of the population to quality education’ (Department
of Higher Education and Training (DHET) 2013, p. 5). Our interviews
with three policymakers confirmed that quality is the primary issue of
concern rather than employability directly, but all three emphasized the
importance of an expansive understanding of higher education for both
work and participation in society.
16 UNIVERSITIES, EMPLOYABILITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Achieving quality is complicated, however, by the historical inequalities

which persist at university level. This led Higher Education South Africa
(HESA) (now called Universities South Africa or USAf), the organization
of all vice chancellors to comment:

The continued under-developed macro-influenced institutional capacities of

historically black institutions must be emphasized: providing access to rural
poor and working class black students, inadequate state support for the
historically black institutions to equalize the quality of undergraduate provi-
sion compromises their ability to facilitate equality of opportunity and out-
comes. (2014, p. 10)

The Green Paper which preceded the 2013 White Paper similarly noted:

A diverse university system steeped in inequality is the product of apartheid

education policies, and that reality still confronts us today. While our leading
universities are internationally respected, our historically black universities
continue to face severe financial, human, infrastructure, and other resource
constraints. (DHET 2012, p. 11)

This then plays out at the micro level of individual lives and opportunities.
Nonetheless, there have been significant gains at individual level, even
as inequalities persist. While white students have witnessed only a slight
increase in numbers, black (African) numbers have almost doubled, show-
ing the result of efforts to address inequalities of the past by expanding
access. Moreover, as Table 1.1 indicates, overall the head count numbers
of contact students have increased by 235 per cent (IRR 2016, p. 523).
But participation rates are still skewed between black and white stu-
dents, as Table 1.2 shows.
Turning to funding, according to the DHET (2015), in 2011
South Africa’s state budget for universities as a percentage of GDP was

Table 1.1 Headcount enrolment by race for selected years

Year African Coloured Indian/Asian White Total

1995 286 144 29 771 35 990 209 640 575 412

2013 689 503 61 034 53 787 171 927 983 698

Source: Institute of Race Relations (IRR) 2016, p. 524

 1 CONTEXTUAL AND POLICY CONDITIONS 17

Table 1.2 Participation rates by race

Year African Coloured Indian White Total
(per cent) (per cent) (per cent) (per cent) (per cent)

2002 11.1 10.7 49.7 63.4 15.4

2013 16.5 14.5 48.9 54.7 19.2

Source: Institute of Race Relations (IRR) 2016, p. 522

0.75 per cent, which was just less than Africa as a whole (0.78 per cent). In
2015/2016, South Africa’s state budget for universities, including fund-
ing for student loans, was 0.72 per cent of the GDP, lower than it was in
2011. When compared to the OECD countries (1.21 per cent) and the
rest of the world (0.84 per cent), South Africa lags behind in higher
education spending. Higher education expenditure as a percentage of
education expenditure for Africa was 20 per cent, for OECD countries it
was 23.4 per cent and for the world 19.8 per cent in 2006 (or closest year).
The DHET (2015) points out that, on average, government funding is
estimated to account for 40 per cent of universities’ income. Other fund-
ing sources for universities include tuition fees, accommodation fees,
research income and donor funding. The DHET budget for universities
has increased from ZAR9 879 billion in 2004/2005 to ZAR30 338
billion in 2015/2016. These amounts include funding for the National
Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS, see below) which reached ZAR4
095 billion in 2015/2016. However, from 2004/2005 to 2014/2015
there has been a decline in real terms in the DHET block grant of −1.35
per cent; nonetheless, most universities remain dependent on incomes
from government and student fees.
The NSFAS (DHET 2015) was introduced in 1999 with the aim of
increasing access for previously disadvantaged groups. Over the last 10
years, about ZAR12 billion has been distributed to some 700 000
students. It should, however, be mentioned that despite the significant
increase in NSFAS payments to students since its inception, the allo-
cated funds have not been able to meet the increasing demand for
funding by students in need for financial support. This has been
observed in the recent student-led #FeesMustFall campaign calling
for free higher education, while a government commission was busy
at the time of writing in considering options for student fees and the
financing of universities.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Government is allowing precious days to pass by without
profiting by them, and by its dilatoriness may perhaps lose all
the advantages that are calculated to put an end to our
troubles. Could you believe, dear friend of mine, that it is
proposed to put off the expedition for some weeks!...
However, I feel less disquieted over it all when I reflect that
we must have a great many supporters, and very powerful
ones, among those who are playing the rôle of the enemy, for
all these troubles in the interior not to have produced more
effect in the Assembly. Indeed, if some advantage is not
derived from this, those at fault in the matter should be placed
in a lunatic asylum. For myself, without knowing Puisage, I
should certainly give my vote for his being made Constable if
he succeeds in spite of all that can be said, because it will be
to him that the King will be under the greatest obligations. And
if any one were to ask me the name of the woman whom the
King has most reason to love, I should tell him to become my
rival, and should declare that, King though he was, he could
never repay the heart that has suffered so much for him.
“I have seen M. W[indham], and after giving me a number
of evasive replies, at last, on my insisting that I wanted to be
off, he answered rather warmly: ‘Oh, I can send you off at
once if you like; but what do you propose to do? I have
nothing definite to put in your hands. I have others to carry my
packets, and I have no one except yourself to carry out the
mission I have in my mind for you. Do have a little patience,
and if you follow my advice you will be all right. Be sure that I
have my eye on you all the time.’ So you see I am still in this
state of suspense. If only you had been able to remain I
should not have found the time so long. Unable to get away to
serve my King, I should have consoled myself as much as
possible in the presence of Madame....”
Letter from Reinhard, Representative of the Directoire in the
Hanseatic Towns, to the Foreign Minister, Delacroix.[78]
Very private.
Extract to be made for the
Directoire and Police;
name of Colleville to be
kept secret.
(14th Prairial) Altona. This 1st Prairial, Year
IV. of
Citizen Giraudet the French Republic,
To be sent at once to one and undivisible.
the Minister of Police. (May 20th, 1796).
“Citizen Minister,
“I hasten to reply to your despatch, dated the 20th floréal,
which accords remarkably with one I sent you from here on
the 21st. It even seems that we have had the same sources
of inspiration, and I shall not be surprised to find that the
same Baron d’Auerweck, whom I denounced to you, had
been in his turn the denouncer of Le Cormier. From the
impressions I have been given of his character and principles,
it is quite possible. However that may be, I have lost no time
in having an interview with Colleville, who had already told me
of the arrival of the Bishop of Arras, and who then further
informed me (before he knew what my business with him
was) that this person had written to him yesterday that his
arrival was postponed, and that perhaps it would not take
place at all, on account of the prolonged stay of the King of
Verona with Condé’s army. The King (Colleville assured me)
would not leave this army, as it had been averred that he
would.
“I began by telling Colleville that I had had a favourable
reply from you about his affairs. He assured me of his
gratitude, and at once spoke to me of his favourite idea of
obtaining permission to serve you elsewhere than at Hamburg
—a very natural desire, whether one explains it by his
conviction that he would play a more active part somewhere
else, or by his possible apprehension that his relations with us
may be in the end discovered.
 “I thought it better not to tell the man all I knew. I told him
that before leaving Hamburg he would have to throw some
light upon the things that were going on in that town; and I
said enough to him to explain what I meant and to put him on
his mettle. He replied that he knew nothing whatever of the
meeting I had mentioned; that he was sure that if there was a
question of it, Le Cormier, whom he saw every day, would
have told him; and that the latter had been thinking for some
days past of going into the country with M. de Bloom (who
was formerly Danish Minister in Paris), but that it seemed that
he would not now go. He added that he knew enough of the
emigrants at Hamburg to be certain that, with the exception of
Le Cormier, there was not an enterprising man in the ‘Ancien
Régime’ section; that if such a plan had existed, he thought it
was more than likely that the King of Verona’s change of
position would have caused another to be substituted for it;
and that, in any case, he would investigate and explain, and
might depend on his giving me all the information he could
get. He further said that the Prince of Carawey, whom he
knew privately, was expected at Hamburg from Lucerne within
the fortnight, and if there was anything to be learnt from him,
he (Colleville) would make it his business to learn it. I asked
him what Lord Mc. Cartally had come here for. He did not
know. I hope that I shall have found out whether he has left or
not before the courier goes.
“In fact, Citizen Minister, Colleville’s absolute ignorance of
the meeting you speak of leads me to have some doubt of its
reality. But I shall not leave it at that. I have already taken
measures to get hold of my man, and also to have the plotters
whom you indicate to me well watched from other quarters. I
am aware that with men of Colleville’s stamp there is always
the evil, if not of being spied on in our turn—which is easily
avoided with a little prudence—at any rate of being given
information with a double purpose. It was as such that I
regarded what he told me of a general plan of the émigrés,
which was to operate in the very heart of the Republic, and to
re-establish the Monarchy by the organs of the Law itself. He
thought himself sure of a man in the Legislative body (he told
me his name was Madier). He knew all the details of the
system they were to follow, and the details of the prosecution
of the 2nd of September were actually to enter into it. As to
the 2nd of September, I answered, every Frenchman regards
it with horror, and the scoundrel ought to be punished. The
Government will certainly take care that an act of justice does
not become an anti-revolutionary instrument.
“Le Cormier has a brother-in-law called Buter (sic), who
goes and comes from Paris to Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk,
carrying despatches and money from England. Dr. Theil, who
is settled in London, continues to serve as go-between for the
Princes’ correspondence. At Hamburg a man named
Thouvent does the business.
“The prime mover in the new Royalist manœuvres, and the
designer of the plan they are conducting in the interests of the
Republic, is (so Colleville says) the Duc de le Vanguyon.
Maduron, that brother of de la Garre, whom I once denounced
to you, said that he had been arrested once or twice at Paris,
and taken before the police, but that he had got out of it by
means of his Swiss passport. It is certain that the émigrés,
when they talk of a journey to France, do not anticipate any
more dangers than if they were going from Hamburg to
Altona. An Abbé de Saint-Far, residing at Hamburg, has, it is
said, a quantity of arms in his house. I told you some time ago
that he had contracted for some millions of guns. I suppose it
was at that time for England. My next despatch, Citizen
Minister, shall contain more positive information on the matter
you desire me to investigate. If the meeting is actually to take
place, I think I shall certainly be able to solve the problem you
suggest to me.
“Greetings and respects,

“Reinhard.”
Letter of the Princess de Tarente to Lady Atkyns.
 “St. Petersburg, August 14-25, 1797.
“To-day, dearest Charlotte, is, by the old style, the birthday
of the King of France, and also that of one of his most
devoted, though least useful subjects—myself. This month is
one of sad memories. It was in this month that her birthday
also fell; that she left the Tuileries and entered the Temple
prison; indeed, August is filled with dates unforgettable at all
times to the faithful, remembered the more poignantly when
the day itself recalls them. I had your letter yesterday: it gave
me pleasure, dear Charlotte. When I read it I was nearly
asleep, for it was three in the morning, and I had come back
from a stupid ball that I had been obliged to go to.
“You are always talking to me about a diary, my dear, but I
have not the courage to tell you the wretched history of my
life. I am just a machine wound up. I go on for ever, but
without pleasure or interest in what I do. I live on in anguish,
and my letters would be very doleful if they were a faithful
portrait of myself; but we are so far apart, my dear, you and I,
and letters pass through so very many hands, that we must
only guess at one another’s meaning—we cannot speak out.
You know my heart—it will always be the same, and despite
appearances, my feelings have not altered, I swear to you.
But one has to be careful, when one can’t speak face to face.
It is a sacrifice; but who has not sacrifices to make? How
many I’ve made in the last two months! I’ve left everything to
come to a country where I know nobody. Here I am friendless
among strangers; naturally I am criticised, and severely. All
the kindness of LL.MM.II. has aroused great expectations in
society; I feel that, and, shy as I always am, I get shyer and
shyer. But indeed I ought to be grateful, for I am received and
treated with consideration by many people here; they take a
pleasure in showing their admiration for my conduct. My
conduct! Ah! when fate brought one into contact with Her, was
it possible to help adoring her? What merit was there in being
faithful to Her, when one could not possibly have been
anything else?
 “I am sorry, dear Charlotte, for all the worries that the storm
caused you on shore; to tell the truth, I felt best at sea. Do
believe that I am not a coward, and that I was scarcely
frightened at all. The weather was rough only twice, when we
were entering the Cattegat, before the Sound; I think it must
have been a tribute to the shock caused by the encounter of
the two seas. Then on Friday, or rather Thursday the 27th,
when we were arriving at Cronstadt, the weather was very
bad, and I must confess that that evening and night I did feel
uneasy. It wasn’t cowardice. The captain himself was anxious,
and, indeed, the heavy rain and the darkness of the night,
besides the number of small rocks that stick out of the water
here, and could not be seen at all on account of the darkness,
made our situation pretty serious, I assure you. Thank
Heaven, though, I got on very well. When the captain came to
say we were at anchor, I felt a wonderful gladness, and yet,
all of a sudden, I began to cry, for I could not help saying to
myself: ‘Yes, I’m here! And what have I come for? Where shall
I find any friends?’
“Well, Heaven has not forsaken me. If it had not found
friends for me, at any rate it has found benefactors, and I am
as comfortable as I could possibly have expected to be. At
Court, while I stayed there, every one, beginning at the very
top, was eager to show me respect and interest; and, here in
the town, many people help to make my life happy and
tranquil. There are little groups in which I am certain I shall
enjoy myself when I am more at my ease. I am received most
cordially and flatteringly; it seems a kindly, quiet sort of set;
every one is eager to be nice to me, and there are not too
many people. Ease, without which there is no such thing as
society, is the dominant note in this set. But, Charlotte dear,
don’t imagine that I’m already devoted to these folk. I shall
never care deeply for any one again, nor make any other
close friendship. It was She who drew us together, Charlotte;
my love for you shall be my last and dearest devotion, I
promise you. Good-bye, my dear; I think of you a thousand
times a day; I am happy now, for I am doing something for
you, and to prove my love for you is one of the ways to make
me happy. If you see H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, lay my
respectful homage at his feet, and tell him that my prayers
follow him always. Yesterday I bought a carriage which is
really quite new, and yet it only cost me 115 louis; I drove to
my ball in it last night (about 13 miles from here) over a
pavement that no one could imagine if they had not driven
over it! My dear, in one minute I spent as much money as I
did in the whole of the last year I lived in England. I use only
four horses, and that shows how moderate I am, for a lady in
my position ought not to have less than six. They threaten me
with having to order the ‘St. Catherine’ liveries, which would
cost 1200 roubles, that is, 150 louis. Compare this picture,
dear Charlotte, with that of two months ago, when, with my
linen frock tucked up under my arm, I was going about alone
in the streets, knocking at Charlotte’s door—and now, driving
about in my own carriage, drawn by four horses, with two
lackeys behind, dressed out, feathers in my hair—in short, a
lady of fashion! Doesn’t it seem like a dream, Charlotte? I
assure you it does to me; and I assure you also, my dear, that
the idea of coming seemed impossible—this world is not like
the one we lived in then. The sacrifice was necessary; it had
to be made; that was inevitable for both of us. I believed, at
any rate, that I had to make it; and every minute I
congratulate myself on having done so. Adieu! I hope you will
have noticed the date of one of my letters; I am the more
particular about this, since receiving yours of yesterday. Send
my letters under cover to M. Withworth, your Minister here;
and don’t let them be quite so thick, so as not to tax your
Government too severely.

“P.S.—A thousand loving remembrances to your mother

and your son. What a mania for marriage you’ve got, all of a
sudden, and where are all your husbands? You hid them very
well from me, for a whole year. I never beheld one of them;
and you have two, my dear! I had a good laugh, I can tell you!
What are their names? And when is either of the two
marriages to come off?”
St. Petersburg, October 15, 1797.
“I am alone to-day, my Charlotte; a year ago this very day I
was with you; I had the relief of speech, but I could not feel
more deeply than I do now the terrible anniversary which this
shameful day marks for us. At this hour we were on the
Richmond Road. Yes, Charlotte dear, I am thinking sadly of
her, whom I loved more than all the world besides, to whom I
would have sacrificed anything. That thought is my one
solace now; that thought stays with me still, the thought of
Her, of Her alone.... It is eleven o’clock now. Where was She
then? I evoke it all—the whole scene, afresh; I have read
again the lamentable story of her final sufferings, and my
heart is oppressed—I feel almost crazy—I know not what I
want to say! I assure you, Charlotte, that it makes me happier
to tell you all this; particularly to-day, when I’m so miserable,
my friendship with you is a consolation—ah! you see I cannot
write coherently. I feel so ill I wish I could talk to somebody,
and tell them about myself; but how can I? There is no one at
all to listen to me. For who can understand all that we feel
about her? No one, no one. It’s better to say nothing, and I
have said nothing; I haven’t spoken of the anniversary, not
even to M. de C. If I wasn’t feeling so serious, I’d tell you that
he bores me to death. He’s the most exacting creature in the
world, and I am only sorry that I brought him with me. He has
done not a bit of good here, and he is going back to you.
Don’t tell him that I’ve spoken of him like this; he would be
horrified. Now enough of him!
“For a whole week I’ve been thinking sadly of to-morrow.
The little circle of people I know best were to play a little
comedy for the King of Poland. I thought that the 16th was the
day they had fixed on. The idea came into my head at a party
—a supper-party, on Thursday evening, at the Prince
Kowakin’s. I never like to speak of my feelings and my
memories; one must suffer in silence. I was quite determined
not to go, Charlotte; you won’t, I hope, imagine that I debated
that for a moment; but I was worried, for I didn’t quite know
how I was going to get out of it without saying why. A lady,
who is always very very kind to me, saw by my face that I was
unhappy about something. ‘What is it, chou?’ she said to me.
‘You’re sad.’ I said, ‘Oh no! it’s nothing.’ ‘But I see you; I see
there’s something wrong.’ And at last I had to tell her.... The
little entertainment came off yesterday. It was charming, but it
made me so sad that I could not hide my sadness. All things
of that kind have a most curious effect upon me quite different
from what they have of other people. Still, I must admit (the
Comedy was well acted, by people whom I see a great deal
of), I was interested—very much insulted; and yet, when it
was over, there was nothing but melancholy in my heart. I
came home to bed, and to thoughts of Her and you; and this
morning, I had an immense letter from you which I’ll answer
to-morrow. I have read it; and I was very near being late for a
long long mass—it took two hours. This evening, I had
intended to spend here, all by myself. I refused a supper
invitation from a kind young woman of whom M. de Cl. will tell
you; and I meant to return here. Another lady (the one I
mentioned first) sent her husband to tell me that she was ill,
and that she would be alone and would I not come? So when
I had been to a tea-party that I was engaged for, I did go
there, but indeed I was very sad, and more silent than usual.
(How people can treat me as they do in this country, I don’t
know—they are certainly most kind). I was determined, at any
rate, to leave the party before ten o’clock. They tried to
prevent me, but I insisted. At ten o’clock I put on my gloves,
but they said: ‘You shan’t go!’ and at last the mistress of the
house, thinking of what I had confided to her a couple of days
before, said to me: ‘What day is to-day?’... Seeing that she
had guessed, I said, turning away with my poor heart
swelling: ‘Don’t speak to me of the day!’... I came back here
alone to weep for my Queen, and to implore God to make me
worthy to be with her again, and that soon—if he will indeed
permit me to see her again, where she surely is. I have much
to atone for—I feel it, know it; but I do in truth even now atone
for much. I swear to you, Charlotte, I have never dared to put
into words with you what you speak of to me to-day,—and
with an ‘again’ underlined. Do you think that I wished it to be
so—tell me, do you? No, no; Charlotte could never think that!
If I did ever tell you, Charlotte, all that I could tell you, it’s
because I love you with all my heart, and because I’m sad,
and haunted by memories.... To-morrow, I shall be alone all
day; I won’t see my brother-in-law, or any one else. My door
will be fast shut, and I shall return to you, and tell you all I am
feeling.”
St. Petersburg, October 16, 1797.
“The date, my dear Charlotte, will be enough to tell you
what I am mournfully thinking of. I began my day by going to
church to hear a mass for Her; and to listen there to those
dear sacred names of Hers. The mass was said by two
Trappists, and I was very sorry that I had not asked the Abbé
to say it.... What odd incidents there are in the history of our
revolution! I await the portrait with a respectful interest, and I
thank you in advance for all the pleasure it will give me. Ah,
my dear Charlotte, what a sad day! My heart aches so deeply
and feels so heavy that it’s as if I were carrying a load, and if I
don’t think clearly, I am soon enough reminded of everything
by the pain of it. I can’t speak of anything but Her. To-day is
mail-day; so I must defer until next time my answer to your
last letter, for I must go and talk about her to some other
friends, who loved her too. I have the dress, and it’s
charming. That’s all I can say about it, Adieu. I love you for
Her and for yourself, with all my heart.”
St. Petersburg, October 16, 1797.
“When I stopped writing to you last night, I went to bed and
to rest my poor head. I read for half an hour that lovely
romance of Paul and Virginia. My candle went out. Just like
that, four years ago, some hours earlier—one of the world’s
choicest treasures went out to.... I gave myself up to sad
thoughts; I imagined to myself all that she, so lowly
tormented, must have suffered then. But somehow I fell
asleep, and I slept on until the fatal hour when She must have
realized how few more hours were left to her on that earth
where she was so worshipped. All my thoughts were fixed on
her, I lay awake for several hours in great agitation; then I
went to sleep again, and at eight o’clock I was awakened so
as to go to hear the mass where her loved name should fall
once more upon my ears. I set off, accompanied by a French
nobleman, whom I love and esteem, because he regrets his
Sovereigns as I do. His kind heart comforted mine; the time I
spent with him instilled solace into my soul, and I was not so
unhappy when I came back from mass. I constantly read over
with him all that I have written, especially all that I remember
her having said in and before the days of her long martyrdom.
He will put it all in order, and make these fragments as
interesting as they ought to be. I was interrupted in this
occupation by a man who belongs to this place, and whom I
met in France, when LL.MM.II. came there to see the objects
of my love and sorrow. This man—whom I like better than any
other I have met here—has given me a thousand proofs of his
interest in me, which I prize as coming from a heart like his.
He knew the anniversary, and spoke to me reverently of it; he
is the only person I have seen to-day. But my dear Charlotte, I
must shut out all extraneous thoughts and think only that She
exists no more, and that her end was hastened by the villany
and foul revenge of human beings, formerly her subjects,
formerly her worshippers, beings with hearts—no! they had
no hearts, since they shed ... since they put an end to that
existence ... when her rank, her character, her face....
“Last year I was with you all through this day; we wept
together for the Queen of Love; to-day, alone with my sad
heart, I can only write to you. Distance separates our bodies;
but our souls and our thoughts and our feelings are the same,
and I know that Charlotte and Louise are together to-day.”
 After dinner.
“I dined alone. I ate little, Charlotte. Last year, I dined at
your bedside, and I remember that when our dinner had been
served, you told me an anecdote about the little Prince which
made me cry. This year I did not cry at dinner; but I felt even
sadder than I had felt then. The solitude and isolation, and the
want of intimate friends, made me doubly sad. But I must not
let myself think of myself. A voice ordered me to do as I did
and I was bound to follow it—’twas the voice of Right and
Well-doing.”

Before going to bed.

“I want to talk to you one moment longer about this sad day,
now that it is wrapped in night’s shadows. The crime is
committed, and I bury it in the bottom of my heart; the
memory of it lives there for ever; but I will speak no more of it,
Charlotte. All to-day I was Her’s alone; I forgot every one else,
and I lived only for my old friends, just as if I were not in
Russia at all. M. de Crussol came while I was at supper, and
at half-past eleven he told me, without my in the least wanting
to know, where he had supped....”

Morning of the 17th.

“Many things have happened to distract me since I came
here, my Charlotte, as you may see from the fact of my
having written to you on the tenth, 7th August, without
noticing the date. I should never forgive myself for it, if I had
really forgotten, if those events had not been as present to my
poor heart as they always are, and always will be, I should be
angry with myself; and I should tell you the truth quite frankly,
even if I were to lose by doing so what I should not wish to
have on false pretences—but that fault (if it was one) was not
through want of heart. No! I can answer for my heart; it is
good and true. Since you wished it, I wish I had written to you
on St. Louis’ day; but I would swear that I never did write to
you unless it was mail-day; and that that was the first time I
wrote to you several days running. The sad circumstance was
certainly enough for one to do something out of the way. Don’t
scold me, if you can help it. You’re really too fond of scolding.
To-day it’s about a watch; the next, about yourself! My dear,
you are very good at curing one of little fancies; you’ve quite
cured me of mine for my little watch, and I no longer think at
all of the pleasure it used to give me; but only of what it gives
you, since it comes from me. You must admit that that’s a very
nice way of speaking about a sacrifice, for I won’t conceal
from you that it was one for me. And as to your watch,
Charlotte, I think the watchmaker must have sold it—I’ve been
vainly asking for it, for the last six weeks. When you write
several sheets do number them....”
“St. Petersburg, November 6 (1797).
“Mr. Keith has arrived, my dear Charlotte, and the morning
of the very day of his arrival (Friday) he sent me your letters;
and this evening he sent the case, which I think charming,
especially the top. I assure you that it gave me intense
pleasure; but what sacrifice have you made me—where did
you get all that hair? It can’t be of recent cutting; there are so
few white hairs that I should scarcely recognize them for
those dear tresses. In London you showed me only a tiny bit.
Where did you get these? I thank you most gratefully for such
a sacrifice; I confess that it would have been beyond me, and
so I feel all the more grateful. I’m so afraid of breaking either
of the glasses; the case is so high. I must have seen her like
that, but I do not remember it; the earliest memory I have of
her is seeing her twenty-one years ago at some races; and I
remember her dress better than her charming face. The copy
is very well done, and I have had the pleasure of examining it
twice. It was given to me by artificial light, and next day it
seemed quite different, the daylight improved it ever so much;
I thank you a thousand times. It is the most delightful gift I
could have had. The cameo is very pretty. I imagine it would
fain be your portrait, and is really the portrait of Thor’s
daughter; she is rather elongated, poor little lady, but
apparently the qualities of her heart atone for the defects of
her face. My dear, you’re mad with your ‘fashions’! Let me tell
you that, except when I go to Court, I’m just as I was in
London, almost always in black-and-white linen gown. All the
women, you know, dress themselves up, if you please, nearly
every day. I never cared about that kind of thing—indeed, I
detested it; and having to dress myself up four times a week
makes me incredibly lazy on the days that, with joy untold, I
can rest from all that bother. My friends are always laughing
at me for my dowdiness—so you see what I’ve come to. As to
having to wear warm clothing in Russia, as you think one has,
you are quite mistaken. Once inside the street door, the
houses are so warm that a very thin dress is by far the best to
wear. So muslin is better than warm materials. One has to
wear fur-cloaks, and well padded ones too, when one is going
out, even from one house to another. That is necessary here;
but indoors one would be suffocated in padded clothes. I used
to think the same as you. I had a dress made in London, and
I’ve only worn it once or twice, and then I thought I would die
of heat; so you see it will hang in my wardrobe for a long time.
“Yes, I like caricatures; why not? I don’t see anything wrong
about them. And I don’t care whether they’re of Bonaparte, or
any other of those gentlemen. To tell you the truth, I wish they
would do something worse to them than only make fun of
them; but now, with the way Lord Nelson of the Nile has
disposed of Bonaparte, one certainly can have a good laugh
at him. He doesn’t carry the austerity of his principles as far
as you do, my dear Charlotte.
 “I shall have the inscription of the Queen’s portrait changed;
her name is wrong. It ought to be ‘M. A. de Lorraine,
Archduchess of Austria.’ The portrait is charming, but all the
same it is not the Queen we knew; and I loved her so much
better than when that portrait was done. Adorable lady! She
was always beautiful and sweet. My dear, I’m ashamed to say
I’ve forgotten to tell you that the portrait, though it didn’t come
on our day of mourning, did arrive on November 2, her natal
day. I thought of Her all day long; and when Mr. Keith came, it
quite distracted me, for everything that reminds me of
England puts me in such a state of mind. I talked to him about
the case; and he tells me that he had given it to the captain
and begged him to put it in his pocket, and that he was to see
him again in the afternoon. Imagine my uneasiness and
impatience! I made a lackey wait at my house all day, and
about eight o’clock the precious case was brought to me. I
thank you for it with all my heart. I wish I could send you
something as precious, but I haven’t an idea what to send.
For the rest, I haven’t got anything, not even the black glass
for my friend. My dear Charlotte, you will never cure yourself
of giving little coups de patte; you know that I never guess
anything; but still...! That black glass must be for some one
who draws, and since I take the trouble of doing your
commissions, it must be for some one I like. Adieu, my dear!
Forgive this small reflection. But though you’re so used to
liberty, you don’t allow me many liberties, I think. Well, it’s
better to give them back than to have them stolen—and so I
do, you see! A thousand kisses!”
Letter from Count Henri de Frotté to Lady Atkyns.
“Tuesday, January 1, 1805.
“Nobody does you more justice than I do, madame; nobody
reveres you more. The devotion which the French people
displayed during the Revolution was no more than their duty.
They owed the sacrifice of their lives to the cause of the
restoration of the Monarchy, and of order to the country.
 “But you, madam, a native of England, you, with your
feeling heart, have undertaken for this just cause more than
could have been hoped for from a lady, and a lady who was a
foreigner, and whom nothing bound in any way to our
sovereigns, our country, and our troubles. By risking your life,
as you have done several times, you have acquired a right to
the respectful gratitude of all honourable Frenchmen.
“My own present troubles may make me more unhappy in
certain circumstances, but shall never make me unjust.
Appearances may be against me. On your return I shall open
my heart to you, and you shall judge. All I can say here is,
that I have lost everything. I have a son still, but he is in the
enemy’s chains, and that enemy has means of intelligence
everywhere, which informs him both of what is and of what is
not. I ought to be more circumspect than others; but, all the
same, no consideration shall prevent me from keeping my
promises. If I meet unjust men as I go along, so much the
worse for the master whom they serve, and for the faithful
subjects who may have relations with them, particularly in
these critical times. What I now have the honour to write to
you, will be an enigma to you for the present. I will explain to
you when you return, but I think I may presume that your
discernment will have given you an indication to the solution.
No, madam, it was not because the money was not delivered
to me at the time you arranged that I had ceased to ask for it.
I remember very well that you were kind enough to say you
would lend the 200 francs which I asked you for, if it was
possible for you to do so. The impulse which moved me in
that matter was natural in an unhappy father, deserted and
mourned for by those who ought to have protected him. I
added, in speaking to you then, that I had inherited some
means from my father, which would put me in a position to be
able to pay this debt; but that heritage was in reality such a
small affair I dare not run the risk of embarrassing my friends
if God were to cut short my career. And that is why I ask you
not to do anything further in that affair.
 “Accept my deep regrets for having troubled you at a
moment which must be so painful to you. I have shared your
too-just regrets, and all through my life I shall sympathize with
anything that concerns your affections. It is the natural
consequence of my respectful and undying attachment for the
friend of my unfortunate son.
“My friend assures you of his respect, and of the sympathy
he felt in the cruel loss which you have suffered.”
Will of Lady Atkyns.
“January 6, 1835.
“I, Charlotte Atkyns, give to Victoire Ilh, my maid-servant, at
present in my service, all effects of furniture, linen, wearing-
apparel and silver that I possess; and, generally, all objects
which may be found in my room, in my house, or lodging, at
the date of my decease, whatever they may be; and also my
carriage. I give moreover to the said Victoire Ilh, the sum of
£120 sterling, which is due to me to-day from Nathaliel
William Peach, of 13, Saville Street, London, and of
Ketteringham in the County of Norfolk, or from his heirs,
which sum shall be payed on demand to the said Victoire Ilh,
after my decease. I further give to Victoire Ilh the sum of
£1000 sterling, which shall be paid to her within three months
of my death.
“I charge these gifts on the Norfolk property, which is at
present in the possession of the said Nathaliel W. Peach as a
guarantee for all my debts, I having mortgaged the said
property in favour of my sister-in-law, the late Mary Atkyns, for
£18,000 sterling, and in addition for an annuity of £500
sterling payable quarterly each year; and as in consequence
the freehold belongs to me, I charge it with the payment of my
lawful debts, and of my funeral expenses.
“I desire that my body be taken to Ketteringham and
interred in the family vault; and that my name and age be
inscribed on a plain marble stone, near the monument of my
 late dear son. I have mentioned in another will the names of
some friends from whom I beg acceptance of some souvenirs
of my consideration and esteem. I give the box which I have
left with Messrs. Barnard and Co., N. Bankers, Cornhill,
London, to Mr. Nathaliel W. Peach. It contains some pieces of
silver. I left it there, I think, on November 10, 1832. I give the
freehold of all my properties in Norfolk to Nathaliel W. Peach
for the payment of all charges and debts, present and future. I
give £100 sterling to my servant, Jean-Baptiste Erard, native
of Switzerland, who has served me faithfully for five years,
and whose conduct has always been regular. As to that of
Victoire Ilh, ever since she came into my service, it has been
beyond all praise. This girl was not born to wait upon others;
she belonged to a very respectable family of Munich. I appoint
Nathaliel W. Peach my executor. I request that immediately
after my death the Counsel for the British Embassy, Mr. Okey
(or whoever may be Counsel at the time) be sent for; and I
desire him to be good enough to act for Mr. Nathaliel W.
Peach here at Paris.
“In the name of God, I sign the present testament.”

FOOTNOTES:
[77] Baron d’Auerweck.
[78] Note in Lady Atkyns’ handwriting at the foot of a letter from
Cormier, dated June 3, 1795.

THE END

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON

AND BECCLES.
 Transcriber’s Notes
A few minor inconsistencies or omissions in punctuation have been corrected.
Page 26: “pot which had been arranged” changed to “plot which had been arranged”
Page 149: “Mme. de Tarante” changed to “Mme. de Tarente”
Page 172: “for his on first attempt” changed to “for on his first attempt”
Page 194: “of Rothemburg” changed to “of Rothenburg”
Page 214: “the year 1604” changed to “the year 1804”
Page 246: “made be doubly sad” changed to “made me doubly sad”
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