Dr Khotso Mokhele, President of the NRF welcomed the Delegation and gave a background report of the institution. He mentioned that the main task of the NRF is to produce quality PhDs who can drive the science and technology systems in South Africa. Focus areas include: support for research institutions for the production of large numbers of quality PhDs. This will include the support programmes for placement of graduate students in the science councils and industry laboratories, strategic placement of research equipment, support for improvement of outputs for postgraduate students, as well as building research capacity in the higher education sector. All these activities will be undertaken in partnership with other stakeholders. The creation of centers of excellence is to become a major component of research and scientific progress in South Africa. These initiatives will in future become an even more important part of the NRF’s challenges since it is the main implementer of this initiative.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was established on October 1945 in terms of the Scientific Research Council Act of 1945. The CSIR was accorded the status of a statutory body outside the Public Service, with its main objectives being: "to undertake both pure and applied research for the development of the natural resources and industries of the country; to train the personnel required for scientific research within the country; to provide proper co-ordination of research throughout the country, including government departments, technical colleges and universities; and to provide for the collection and dissemination of information with regard to research".

Briefings:

The Delegation was met and welcomed by the CSIR President and CEO: Dr Sibusiso Sibisi. Dr Phil Mjwara, Head of Group Executive Research and Development and Strategic Human Capital Development, provided an overview of the CSIR, since the CEO had to leave for an urgent meeting with the Deputy Minister, Mr D A Hanekom.

Members of the Committee made visits to the CSIR Research and Development Units and National Research Centres, including Biosciences, Material Science and Advanced Beneficiation, Defence, Peace, Safety and Security, National Infrastructures and Spatial Initiatives, Natural Resources and the Natural Environment and the CSIR Wind Tunnel facilities that included experimental aerodynamics.

The Committee was impressed with what they saw and observed especially in the division of aerospace, science and Wind Tunnel facilities are of world class level, and also the division of bioscience in which demonstrations were performed for the Committee’s observation on gene manipulation on plants.

The vision of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is " to create a prosperous society that derives enduring and equitable benefits from science and technology" and the mission is " to develop, coordinate and manage a national system of innovation that will bring about maximum human capital, sustainable economic growth and improved quality of life for all". The DST is responsible for putting frameworks in place that encourage people to develop excellent solutions with global applications. It is responsible for promoting research and development and the effective application of science and technology in meeting local challenges. It is responsible for adding value to projects run by other sector-specific departments and to achieve better results by applying the best technology and innovation

Dr R Adams, Director-General of DST, addressed the Delegation on, among other things, the relocation of the Department to the new building within the CSIR precinct and South Africa to host the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) conference in 2007. Due to other engagements in the Presidency, he had to leave and the briefing was subsequently lead by Dr Paterson, the Deputy Director General of DST.

Various other officials of DST also made presentations on their respective programmes in DST, which are Science and Technology Expert Services (SciTES), Frontier Science and Technology Programme in the new DST, Government Sector Programmes and Coordination and DST International.

Dr Bernie Fanaroff, Project Manager, spoke about South Africa’s formal bid to host the largest radio telescope ever built, the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope (SKA). The programme aim to attract young people into high tech and science through exciting projects and also to bring back SA expatriates to work in South Africa.

The mission statement of the Council for Geoscience is to be a world-class public organization, which provides excellent geoscience information and services for the benefit of the people of South Africa.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) is one of the National Science Councils of South Africa and is the legal successor of the Geological Survey of South Africa. The Council is a modern institution, boasting excellent facilities and expertise, ranking among the best in Africa. The CGS’s strength lies in its core of competent geoscientific and technical staff, encompassing virtually all the disciplines of the geosciences.

The Committee was met and welcomed by the CEO of the Council for Geoscience (CGS), Mr Thibedi Ramontja who also provided a background report on the Council.

This was followed with presentations on Water Geosciences (Hydrology), Seismic Monitoring and Tsunami Fail Safe Systems in South Africa, the role of the CGS in promoting the small-scale mining sector in South Africa and Airborne Geophysical Operations.

The CGS also briefed the Committee on the difficulties they had encountered when they took over the institution from the old management in terms of transformation. Advancement they had achieved recently is amongst some of the difficulties they had mentioned, was the ageing equipment to perform at a world class level in the country, lack of funding, etc.

Achievements they had mentioned was the implementation of their human resource strategy, which they had developed, whereby they visit higher institutions of learning in order to identify potential candidates whom they can support and develop for future human capital in the country for geoscience. They later mentioned that this strategy has already gone as far as to send the candidates as mentioned above overseas for advanced training in geoscience. They appealed to Parliament for support in this important social transformation strategy.

The iThemba Laboratories is the leading nuclear science facility in South Africa. It reports to the Minister of Science and Technology through the National Research Foundation (NRF) and focuses on the following three main areas of research:

The availability of proton and neutron beams as iThemba’s key feature places it in a position of significance in the treatment of cancer patients, especially because proton and neutron beams are not available in any other part of South Africa.

The Delegation was met and welcomed by the head of iThemba LABS (Gauteng), Dr I Z Machi who also provided a report on what the institution does.

This was followed with presentations on: AMS and microprobe: Ion Implantation and Environmental Isotope. The Committee was also informed, by black nuclear scientist, on concern over the lack of transformation within the institution and the problems experienced as a result. The Delegation was asked to raise the concerns with the Department of Science and Technology so that it can be addressed.

The Committee wishes to thank all the officials and staff of the Department of Science and Technology and entities that were visited for assisting Members with their tasks and for contributing to the success of the study tour.