That may be true but https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-10-25-analysis-government-cant-hide-student-fees-report-conclusions-any-longer/ quotes StatsSA's Pali Lehohla: 'Universities are capable of providing a maximum of 500,000 students, but has a million students'.
So, including the high drop-out, higher than a couple of decades ago, uni's have twice as many students as they ought to. It costs - staff, facilities, etc - to cater for them, for which uni's receive subsidies per student. But subsidies have declined over the years. It's a self-made problem, really, as most things are in SA. Uni's have become daycare for potentially unemployable students (skills acquisition the secondary reason), which is why government has pressured them to admit more despite many - a big portion of the drop-outs - not being academically fit to be there.
I've said this before, but make uni's lean, efficient, research institutions they ought to be and reboot TVET colleges for the rest.