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The Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science, and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University conducted a study on the quality of South Africa’s research publications, which includes predatory publishing. 4,246 South African papers published in 48 journals were found to be predatory. Several studies suggest that some academics are falling into predatory publication traps due to the pressure to publish, get more grants and boost their academic reputation.

A number of senior officials in the Eastern Cape have been accused of corruption in relation to an R1 billion-school nutrition programme in the province; another case involves irregularities in relation to school infrastructure provisioning or allegations of corruption in the awarding of a contract to EduSolutions by the Limpopo Department of Education. The contract for the procurement of textbooks for schools in the province was canceled in 2012 after millions had been paid to EduSolutions.

A professor at the University of South Africa (UNISA) gave a student plagiarised work of his research assistant who left UNISA. He helped him to fraudulently gain a master’s degree and eventually a Ph.D. He was given a written warning by UNISA valid 12 months.

According to the director of Higher Education Resource Services South Africa (HERS-SA) paper, 41 (50%) of women had experienced bullying in higher education workplace. Several South African institutions, including the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of Venda, and UNISA, have been in the news over claims of bullying, amid other controversies. At UCT, the Vice-Chancellor was accused of bullying by 37 UCT academics and staff members. Research also shows that some victims are bullied because they observed and spoke up about corruption, or even worse when they were forced to be part of corrupt processes.

Stellenbosch University experienced an unusual increase in academic misconduct amongst students due to the move to online assessments during the COVID crisis. In 2020, 183 students were charged with collusion, where one or more students assisted each other during online assessments, compared to only 2 students in 2019.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, a project to use ZAR866 million (US$60 million) to build a state-of-the-art technical and vocational education and training college in one of South Africa’s poorest townships could not proceed. The project was stopped by the Minister of Higher Education, but the money has not been returned to the National Treasury or accounted for in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act regulations.