This article first identifies the principal forces that impact on and shape entrepreneurially-oriented higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa, and then analyses the degree to which those institutions have succeeded in becoming entrepreneurial. The results reveal that South Africa's HEIs are still in the initial phases of entrepreneurial development. This is attributable largely to factors particular to a developing country in a social transformational phase and faced with restricted social and economic capital. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)