South Africa's higher education sector is producing more graduates than ever before. But enrolment growth alone does not build a competitive economy, and this report makes that case plainly. Commissioned by BDO South Africa and conducted by In On Africa, the South Africa Higher Education Sector report draws on more than 150 sector-specific resources and stakeholder engagement with senior leadership to assess whether the system is truly configured to deliver on its promise of inclusive access, equity, and long-term national competitiveness.

The findings are both urgent and instructive. Chronic underfunding, a persistent skills mismatch, uneven digital readiness, and structural inequalities between public and private institutions are converging into a crisis that enrolment figures cannot mask. NSFAS is under strain. Graduate unemployment, while lower than the national average, signals a system producing qualifications without consistently producing capability. And the digital divide is widening, not closing, as investment follows resources rather than need.

What this report offers is not just a diagnosis but a direction. Through analysis of funding models, curriculum reform, workforce readiness, research output, governance, and public-private partnerships, it sets out four system imperatives: redesigning funding for sustainability, embedding employability at the core of learning, closing the digital divide with intention, and governing with foresight. The goal is a higher education system that does not simply expand access on paper but delivers success, mobility, and inclusive economic growth.