IoC in South Africa (SA) remains largely in the developmental stage. The Erasmus+ CBHE IMPALA project (Internationalisation and Modernisation Programme for Academics, Leaders and Administrators, coordinated by the University of Antwerp 2015-2019) revealed that there is a distinct lack of capacity for IoC in South African higher education institutions (HEIs). In SA, IoC will in the near future become mandatory in terms of the Policy Framework for Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa (South African Government Gazette No 40815 of 28 April 2017). The latest draft of this policy document stipulates that “higher education institutions must internationalise their curricula in order to provide an alternative mode of internationalisation that can overcome the limitations inherent in international mobility schemes that remain accessible to a minority of students.”

Curriculum internationalisation is conceptualised in line with contemporary global, arguably Western thinking, as the “incorporation of international, intercultural and/or global dimensions into the content of the curriculum as well as into the learning outcomes, assessment tasks, teaching methods and support services of a programme of study” and considered in the context of internationalisation at home (I@H), which is defined as “the intentional integration of international and intercultural dimensions into the formal and informal curriculum for all students, within domestic learning environments”. The awaited Policy Framework directs that IoC “must not negate curriculum transformation imperatives which higher education institutions in South Africa have an obligation to fulfil”. Mandatory IoC will require institutions to embark on a journey to build capacity in order to implement IoC within the context of curriculum transformation.