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With the understanding that universities play multiple social purposes, we aimed to provide an estimation of the economic impact of the public universities in South Africa. Using models described in the literature, we estimated economic benefits from four university activities -- university exports, research at universities, the production of graduates and universities as business entities. Comparative analysis shows that, as an economic sector, Higher Education contributes more to South Africa's gross value added than other economic sectors such as Wood and Wood Products, Textiles, Clothing and Leather Goods, or Paper and Paper Products. It is comparable to sectors such as Gold Mining, and Beverages and Tobacco. Taking into account a number of assumptions, which are explained in the text, for 2018 the total economic impact was estimated at about ZAR513 billion. Governmental expenditure on higher education in that year was ZAR66 billion. These figures produce a cost--benefit ratio for the sector of 1 : 7.7, considering only these four university activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study estimating the extent of predatory publishing among the South African academics based on an analysis of South African authored papers which qualified for subsidy. It mentions the articles on predatory publishing includes editorials and commentaries in journals which are polemical and critical in nature. It also discusses need for the stakeholders in South African higher education system to focus on addressing issues related to predatory publishing.