Traditionally the higher education sector was seen as the main driving force behind research activities in South Africa. One method to measure the magnitude of public spending of higher education is to express it as a percentage of GDP. Over the last decade or two the higher education sector in South Africa received a smaller and smaller percentage of the GDP in the form of public funding. As investment in education was seen as a good investment for both the state and the individual, lots of resources were pumped into education - unfortunately not allways with the desired results. This forced countries to have a second look at the financing of education, and especially the role of the state in this regard. The change in public funding of South Africa's higher education system will be discussed within this international perspective.
The result of this was that student growth far outstripped the growth of staff members at higher education institutions in South Africa. This resulted in an increasing number of students per lecturer and thereby limiting the time academic staff can devote to research activities. This paper looks at the higher education sector in South Africa since 1987 and how the magnitude of research activities changed over time. Some of the aspects that will be highligted include the funding of research activities, the number of articles published in refereed journals and the number of doctoral degrees awarded. This will give an indication as to what extent high level research is increasing or perhaps decreasing. Some of the findings that will be highligted is based on a research report that was completed for the Council of Higher Education.
The research activities of especially those universities that traditionally was responsible for most research in South Africa will be discussed in more detail. Continuity is a bit of a problem in this regard as the face of higher education in South Africa changed completely in 2004 with the merging of certain technikons, colleges and universities. Different measures will be used to look at the situation after 2002 because the New Funding Framework differs from the previous system that was used. Conclusions from the above will be drawn and the role of the state in financing higher education and research activities in particular will be critically discussed. The paper will conclude with some future recommendations.