Financial sustainability of public universities has been the predominant topic in South African universities since the start of the 2015/16 student protests and the proposal of fee-free education. A concern to universities is that their revenue structure is inadequate for proposed tuition fee scrapping as the government is not consistent in awarding grants. On the other hand, revenue derived from third- stream income is growing at a steady rate. To meet sustainability goals as per the universities’ strategic plans, diversification of revenue sources has been the adopted financing model used widely in the South African universities. However, different countries have different financing practices for higher education; while some rely solely on government funding, others rely on tuition fees and others on third-stream income. This study intended to recommend revenue generation strategies that may ensure the financial sustainability of public universities using the Durban University of Technology as the subject of the case study. The study used a quantitative research approach which included two open-ended questions. The quantitative questions explored funding challenges, evaluation of each income stream, possible recommendations for revenue sourcing for financial sustainability and the existing revenue sources. The two open-ended questions allowed respondents to express their opinions on the subject of this research. The research followed a positivism research philosophy with a deductive approach. The quantitative data collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 26®) and Microsoft Excel, respectively. The study showed that DUT is using a diversified revenue structure, inclusive of first-stream income, second-stream income, and third-stream income. The findings indicated that revenue sourcing is a financial challenge for DUT. This meant that their revenue generation strategies are not adequate. Recommendations suggested by the respondents included developing strategies to enhance third-stream income, debt collection on owed tuition and improving the university throughput rate.

Research background: Monetary access and literacy are significant factors of concern confronting the survival and sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises. Purpose: This led to this paper seeking to understand the impact monetary access and monetary literacy have on the sustainability of SMEs in the COVID-19 era. Research methodology: The method was employed by this study is a quantitative research method, which is supported by a positivism research paradigm. Data was collected using a questionnaire completed by 310 sampled participants. Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences to analyse data, descriptive, the Pearson correlation and regression analyses were used to estimate the model. Results: The Pearson correlation indicated a positive and significant correlation between monetary access and monetary literacy to the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (r = 0.564). The result indicated that some small and medium-sized enterprises do possess basic monetary skills while some do not. A significant number of small and medium-sized enterprises do not understand basic monetary terms, which justifies the lack of monetary literacy. Novelty: The study recommends that government agencies that assist with business registration should include a monetary training course as part of registration formalities. Further to that, the study recommended that government, banks and other business support institutions should simplify support programmes for the prosperity of small and medium-sized enterprises during and post COVID-19 pandemic.