By: Sthandiwe Msomi, Manager of SASSFE and an Economist

Most societies that have progressed from one level of development to another have done so through the leadership of its intellectuals, thinkers, innovators and knowledge producers. Many of these individuals were housed in leading universities and institutions of higher education. Think of the great leaders of the National Democratic Revolution, the likes of Dr Charlotte Maxeke, the first Black South African woman to earn a university degree, or Professor Z.K. Matthews, a struggle stalwart who became the first Black South African to earn a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from UNISA in 1923. In more recent years, the leaders of the #FeesMustFall movement led the charge for a fee-free higher education system straight from the underbelly of prominent universities such as Wits University and UCT. Each of these leaders played an important role in changing the zeitgeist of their time and setting a new precedent for society.

Might I argue that the academic fraternity is now in need of another zeitgeist. One that is inclusive of previously disadvantaged students and those who otherwise would never be able to remain in academia long enough to rise to the level of lecturer, researcher or professor. That new intellectual movement must begin with facilitating genuine access to higher education.

When I speak of access to higher education, I speak of it from two lenses. The first lens is the creation of a truly fee-free higher education system in South Africa, while the second is the expansion of the system itself through the building of new universities in the outskirts of major metros, upgrading historically Black institutions such as the University of Fort Hare into globally recognised centres of excellence, and dramatically increasing the number of places available to prospective students.

These two approaches are important for two reasons. The first is that higher education in South Africa has simply become too expensive for poor and working-class students. For many young people, the financial burden does not end after obtaining a bachelor’s degree; it becomes even more severe at honours, master’s and doctoral level where funding opportunities become increasingly limited. The second challenge is that the higher education system, in its current form, is simply not large enough to absorb the growing number of qualifying matriculants. Every year, hundreds of thousands of learners meet the minimum requirements for university admission, yet public universities have space for only a fraction of them, leaving thousands of talented young South Africans facing unemployment or inactivity through no fault of their own.

But access is only the beginning of the conversation. If South Africa hopes to build the next generation of academics, researchers and innovators, we cannot simply get students into universities, we must keep them there. The true measure of transformation is not how many students register for first year, but how many are able to progress into honours, master’s and doctoral studies before ultimately entering the academic profession. The journey from undergraduate student to professor is a long one, and for too many talented South Africans, it is interrupted not by a lack of ability, but by financial hardship.

The data paints an encouraging but incomplete picture. Black South Africans today make up the overwhelming majority of undergraduate enrolments and have also become the majority of master’s and doctoral enrolments. Between 2005 and 2020, Black student enrolment in master’s programmes increased from just over half to almost 70%, while Black doctoral enrolment across public universities increased from 49% to 76%.^[1] These are remarkable gains that reflect the progress our democracy has made in opening the doors of learning.

Yet enrollment does not automatically translate into academic careers. The bottleneck increasingly lies in postgraduate completion, postdoctoral research and permanent academic appointments. This is hardly surprising. For a young graduate from a poor household, remaining in academia often means postponing stable employment and income for another five to ten years. In a country where poverty remains deeply racialised, that is an impossible choice for many families. The consequence is that universities lose countless talented researchers to financial necessity long before they have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to knowledge production.

This should concern us because universities do not merely educate students, they produce the research that underpins national development. Every major industrial economy has invested heavily in universities because they are the engines of research and development. It is within universities that new medicines are discovered, cleaner energy technologies are developed, agricultural productivity is improved, artificial intelligence is advanced and better public policies are designed. Research is not an academic luxury; it is one of the primary drivers of productivity, industrial competitiveness and long-term economic growth. The OECD continues to identify research and development as a cornerstone of innovation-driven economies, while South Africa’s own science policy recognises R&D intensity as a critical indicator of future competitiveness.

Unfortunately, South Africa continues to underinvest in this area. Research and development expenditure remains at approximately 0.61% of GDP, well below the government’s long-standing target of 1.5% of GDP.^[2] A significant proportion of the country’s research is undertaken within universities, meaning that every talented postgraduate student who leaves academia represents not only a personal loss, but also a loss of future innovation, industrial capability and economic growth.

The conversation around higher education must therefore evolve beyond access alone. The success of the #FeesMustFall movement fundamentally reshaped undergraduate funding and demonstrated what organised student activism could achieve. The next frontier should be building a comprehensive postgraduate funding system that allows talented students to pursue honours, master’s and doctoral studies without poverty determining where their academic journey ends. This should include expanded scholarships, living stipends, research assistantships and stronger pathways into permanent academic employment through initiatives such as the New Generation of Academics Programme.

At the same time, South Africa should revisit the ambition of expanding its higher education infrastructure. Investing in new universities, strengthening historically disadvantaged institutions, modernising laboratories, libraries and student accommodation, and developing universities outside the country’s traditional metropolitan centres should be viewed not as expenditure, but as long-term investments in national productive capacity.

History has repeatedly shown that societies are transformed by the quality of their ideas before they are transformed by the size of their economies. Those ideas are produced by scholars, scientists, economists, engineers and public intellectuals whose journeys begin in lecture halls, libraries and research laboratories. If South Africa wishes to build a capable state, a competitive industrial economy and an innovative society, then it must first build a higher education system capable of producing, and retaining, the next generation of academics. The next Charlotte Maxeke or Z.K. Matthews may already be sitting in a first-year classroom today. Our responsibility is to ensure that poverty is not what determines whether they one day become South Africa’s next great professor.

^[1] Council on Higher Education (2025). Changing Trends In The Size and Shape of Postgraduate Programmes in the Public Higher Education System in South Africa 2005-2025. Accessed on: 28/06/2026

^[2] IT Web (2026). Concern as SA regresses on R&D spend. Accessed on: 28/06/2026.