Economist Dawie Roodt says that most public South African universities should be closed, and that the government should allocate more funds to private institutions. He argues that they do not produce the required skills and that the quality of state-owned universities has declined. He says South Africa has one of the worst primary education systems in the world and that many of these institutions are poorly run. South Africa has nineteen public universities and seven universities of technology, totalling 26 state-owned institutions. Meanwhile, Prof Linda du Plessis, vice-principal and deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning at the North-West University has rebuked the call and says Dawie Roodt's statements fail to consider all the facts, focusing almost exclusively on the shortcomings of a handful of public universities, without acknowledging the many achievements in various disciplines. 

 

To look at this matter and what the way forward is , Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Dawie Roodt, Chief Economist and Director at Efficient Group and Prof Linda du Plessis, vice-principal and deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning at the North-West University