The Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education in South Africa recently carried out an evaluation of all MBA programmes offered in the country by South African as well as foreign higher education institutions. The MBA review is located within the context of the implementation of a comprehensive external quality assurance system in South African higher education, which is itself in a phase of radical restructuring. The article sets out the rationale for evaluating the MBA as well as the process and methodology that was followed by the HEQC. It also indicates some of the follow-up steps that are being taken by the HEQC beyond the accreditation process, for example, the preparation of an analytical report on the State of MBA Provision in South Africa. The article concludes with reflections on some of the political, methodological and educational issues relating not only to the MBA but to quality assurance in a developing country context.