The fact that the composition of staff in Higher Education institutions fails to reflect the demographic realities of South Africa and that Black people and women are still severely underrepresented, especially in senior academic and management positions, provided a compelling motivation for this study. This motivation is further reinforced by the fact that the enduring pervasive racist heritage of the past at institutions of Higher Education continues to disadvantage male academics of colour and women who have never had the opportunity to compete fairly in the distribution of benefits and opportunities in Higher Education. The researcher argues that the scenario continues to persist despite the promulgation of several pieces of legislation........