Flip Smit is a South African

demographer Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

and former Vice Chancellor and Principal of the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

. His research on the urbanisation of the black population in South Africa in the early 1980s provided scientific proof that separate development (

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

), as applied by the Government of the day, was not sustainable.

Biography

From 1966 to 1971 Smit was a researcher and later the head of research at th
Africa Institute of South Africa
At the request of the

South African Government The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary ...

, he and Prof G.M. Leistner conducted a feasibility study on relocating

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

's capital to

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, ,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, i ...

. In 1972, he became a professor and head of Department of

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

. Smit served as senior deputy president at the

Human Sciences Research Council The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa is Africa's largest dedicated social science and humanities research agency and policy think tank. It primarily conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social science, social-scientific ...

before his appointment as Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria in 1992. After a five-year term, he returned to his research in demography and retired in 2000. He is the author or co-author of six books and more than 120 articles published in scientific journals.

Education

Smit earned his master's degree in geography from the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in 1961 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Africa in 1965.

Research

Smit's key research contributions were in demographics focusing on population migration and the urbanisation of the black population in South Africa. His findings provided guidelines for socio-political planning by the government and private institutions, but as far back as the early eighties, provided scientific proof that separate development (apartheid), as applied by the government of the day, was not sustainable. His knowledge of demographics also enabled Smit to play an important role in establishing the nine provinces of South Africa and the drawing of their boundaries in 1993. In addition to research in demography he also undertook research on higher education.

Awards and accolades

Smit has received numerous awards, including the Percy Fox Foundation Award for outstanding contributions in migration, urbanisation, and housing. He was also honored with the Vice Chancellor's medal for outstanding contributions to the University of Pretoria and a medal as one of the University's 100 leading minds. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Pretoria, the University of Stellenbosch and the Moscow Business University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Flip 1936 births Living people Vice-chancellors of the University of Pretoria South African demographers Stellenbosch University alumni University of South Africa alumni

Biography

Education

Research

Awards and accolades

See also

References