The Council on Higher Education (CHE) has one permanent committee, the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). The HEQC has executive responsibility for quality promotion and quality assurance in higher education. The Higher Education Act of 1997 (reference: Higher Education Act 101 of 1997) states that the functions of the HEQC are to:

• promote quality in higher education
• audit the quality assurance mechanisms of higher education institutions
• accredit programmes of higher education

To the above three mandated areas, the HEQC added quality-related capacity development.

Members of the HEQC
Prof. Narend Baijnath	Member of the Executive Committee of the HEQC Pro Vice-Chancellor University of South Africa (UNISA)
Prof. Yunus Ballim	Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) University of the Witwatersrand
Dr Felicity Coughlan	Member of the Executive Committee of the HEQC Director The Independent Institute of Education
Ms Judy Favish	Member of the Executive Committee of the HEQC Director, Institutional Planning University of Cape Town
Prof. Dhiro Gihwala	Member of the Executive Committee of the HEQC Dean of Science Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Ms Jenny Glennie	Member of the Executive Committee of the HEQC Director South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE)
Prof. Hu Hanrahan	Professor Emeritus (Department of Engineering) University of the Witwatersrand / Special Consultant Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA)
Ms Suraya Jawoodeen	Deputy General Secretary National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU)
Mr Thamsanqa Ledwaba	Student University of Cape Town
Ms Kuselwa Marala	Director, Quality Assurance University of Fort Hare
Prof. Irene Moutlana	Vice Chancellor and Principal Vaal University of Technology
Ms Nombulelo Nxesi	Chief Executive Officer Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP SETA)
Prof. Dave Sewry	Dean of Commerce Rhodes University
Prof. Rolf Stumpf	Chairperson Independent Consultant
Dr Ngoato Takalo	Independent Consultant

Ex Officio Members
Ms Adrienne Bird	Acting Chief Executive Officer Quality Council for Trade and Occupations (QCTO)
Dr Diane Parker	Acting Deputy Director General: Universities Department of Higher Education and Training
Ms Eugenie Rabe	Chief Operating Officer Umalusi
Mr Ahmed Essop	Chief Executive Officer Council on Higher Education (CHE)
Dr Mark Hay	Executive Director: Quality Assurance Council on Higher Education (CHE)

The structure

The Quality Assurance Directorates are led by an Executive Director.

The HEQC has three directorates:

• Institutional Audits - responsible for conducting audits of public and private higher education institutions' systems for ensuring good quality of provision in the three core functions of teaching and learning, research and community engagement.
• National Reviews - responsible for re-accrediting existing programmes in specific disciplines and/or qualification areas.
• Programme Accreditation - responsible for accrediting the learning programmes of public and private higher education institutions.