ANNUAL REPORT 2005/06 PRESENTED BY DIRECTOR-GENERAL Dr Phil Mjwara 12 September 2006 DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ANNUAL REPORT 2005/06

PRESENTED BY DIRECTOR-GENERAL

Dr Phil Mjwara

12 September 2006

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

CONTENTS

• R&D Strategic Focus • Highlights/achievements during the year

per programme• Annual Financial Statements• Human Resource Statistics• Summary

QUOTES

“…making science and technology a driver for economic growth and social transformation”

Mosibudi MangenaMinister of Science and Technology

“…the ultimate goal is a substantial improvement in the lives of our people”

Derek HanekomDeputy Minister of Science and Technology

R & D STRATEGY FRAMEWORK

Future R&D Capacity

Technical progress(Improvement and

Innovation)SET Human Capital

Business Performance

Current R&D Capacity

Wealth Creation

Imported Know-how

Quality of Life

HIGHLIGHTS/ACHIEVEMENTS DURING THE YEAR

Programme 1: Corporate Services– Capacity to execute remains robust (98.84% of voted

funds spent).– Unqualified audit report by the Auditor-General.– Implementation of integrated internship programme in

collaboration with the National Research Foundation (NRF).

– SA/UK Day, Aichi World Expo 2005 in Japan, launch of the Africa-Japan Essay Competition, bilateral cooperation agreement signing ceremonies.


– Transfer of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to the DST.

– Annual Shareholder compacts (Including Human Sciences Research Council, the Africa Institute of South Africa and National Research Foundation – Schedule 3A Public Entities) have been prepared.

– Appointment of representatives of the DST on the boards of the Agricultural Research Council, Mintek, the South African National Energy Research Institute and the Water Research Council.


Programme 2: Science and Technology Expert Services

• The Framework for Intellectual Property from Publicly Financed Research was developed and presented to Cabinet in January 2006 and approved for public consultation.

• Draft legislation on astronomy geographical advantage areas was developed and approved by Cabinet for public consultation in November 2005.

• Establishment of the office of the National Indigenous Knowledge Systems


Programme 3: International Cooperation and Resources• Strengthening strategic partnerships –European Union’s (EU)

Framework Programme (FP); Sector budget support and Cooperation Framework on Innovation Systems between South Africa and Finland (COFISA).

– Developments in multilateral cooperation – The second African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology, where the Consolidated Plan of Action for Science and Technology in Africa was adopted.

– Broader developing World participation e.g. G77+ China, and IBSA

– Successfully completing South Africa’s bid to host the world’s largest radio telescope – the Square Kilometre Array


– Preparation of South Africa’s bid to host the third major international laboratory, i.e. African node of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

– SA secured R80 million from the FP6 competitive funds for R&D


Programme 4: Frontier Science and Technology

• Inauguration of the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) by President Mbeki.

• Launch of the Nanotechnology Strategy.• Construction of South Africa’s second microsatellite

(Low earth orbiting satellite).• Developing an integrated national space

programme.• Launching the Meraka Institute with the Department

of Communications (High performance computing).


• Human capital initiatives– A number of programmes are in a pilot phase, notably:

• DST’s post-doctoral fellowship.• The Research Chairs Programme. (20)

– Centres of Excellence programme has seen the establishment of six world-class centres of research in strategic areas, and more are being planned.

– National Science Week• The aim of National Science Week is to showcase, celebrate and

inspire innovation.• It is one of the ways in which the department delivers on its mandate

of promoting public understanding of and engagement with science, engineering and technology.

• Collaboration with the Department of Education has helped to broaden coverage of the event, reaching out especially to rural areas.


– Karoo Array Telescope (KAT)

• The KAT is South Africa’s demonstrator telescope in its bid to host the SKA site.

• The KAT will be designed to have a modular and scalable upgrade path, and will consist of 20 parabolic dishes, each 10-15 metres in diameter.

• KAT will not only demonstrate South Africa’s engineering competence and improve its chances of hosting the SKA, but will also serve as a test bed for R&D, as well as related digital signal processing and software efforts.

• The KAT prototype, to be completed in 2007,


– Southern African Large Telescope

• SALT, one of South Africa’s flagship science projects, is the single largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere.

• On 1 September 2005, SALT reached a milestone by achieving its scientific “first light” – meaning that the full array of mirrors, together with the telescope’s new imaging camera, were fully operational for the first time.

• President Thabo Mbeki inaugurated the SALT on 10 November 2005.


– South African National Antarctic Programme

• DST has finalised the Antarctic Research Strategy for South Africa, which will inform research direction in the next five years.

• DST has broadened the scope of research themes so that they speak to both the pure science and social science communities.

• The strategy is associated with an increase in research activity and a renewed commitment by South Africa to full participation in research conducted in Antarctica and the Southern Oceans.


– Biosciences platform

• The African Coelacanth Ecosystems Programme (ACEP) continued to receive support to sustain research activities.

• In November 2005, ACEP was reviewed to assess performance since its inception in 2002. The review report will guide future developments in marine research.


Programme 5: Government Sector Programmes and Coordination

• Energy sector research has been strengthened with the establishment of SANERI.

• The Science Conference helped to raise awareness among industry, government and development specialists about the challenges of climate change. (Midrand, 2005)

• The ICT sector saw important developments with the launch of the Meraka Institute, the architectural design of the South African National Research Network (SANReN)

• The draft ICT Research and Development finalised.• R&D tax incentives were announced by the Minister of Finance in his

2006 budget speech.• Future planning will be more coherent with development of the integrated

expenditure plan for science and technology reporting in all government departments.

• Social Impact Programme was repositioned to focus Sustainable livelihoods( Aquaculture, Essential oils and indigenous medicinal plants,



• Social Impact Programme was repositioned to focus on:– Sustainable livelihoods e.g.

• Aquaculture, Essential oils and indigenous medicinal plants

– Human settlements e.g.• Health innovation i.e. health problems caused by

poor quality fuels and appliances for cooking

– Increased service delivery• Rural connectivity• Digital doorway



• Tshuminano established another technology station focusing on food processing technologies at Cape Peninsula University of Technology

• Focused internship in Science and Technology

• Key Points– Expenditure within Voted Funds and Departmental Mandate.– No irregular and or unauthorised Expenditure in current financial

year.– Unqualified Audit Report by the Auditor-General.

• Expenditure Outcome

ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

VOTED ACTUAL

EXPENDITURE

SAVING PERCENTAGE SAVING

REALISED

R’000 R’000 R’000 %

2,041,936 2,038,753 3,183* 0,16

* Approved by National Treasury for roll over to the 2006/07 financial year – Will be utilised for the Research and Development Management Information System.

ANNUAL FINANCIAL

STATEMENTS

FINANCIAL YEAR

VOTED ACTUAL

EXPENDITURE

SAVING PERCENTAGE SAVING

REALISED

R’000 R’000 R’000 %

2003/04 1,037,795 1,036,058 1,737 0,17

2004/05 1,282,412 1,282,224 188 0,01

2005/06 2,041,936 2,038,753 3,183* 0,16* Approved by National Treasury for roll over to the 2006/07 financial year – Will be utilised for the

Research and Development Management Information System.

• Key Points– Expenditure within Voted Funds and Departmental Mandate.– No irregular and or unauthorised Expenditure in current financial year.– Unqualified Audit Report by the Auditor-General.

• Expenditure Outcome

ANNUAL REPORT – HUMAN RESOURCE STATISTICS

Employment equity



Staff turnover rate

•98.84% of voted funds spent•Unqualified Audit Report•Refocusing of Poverty Alleviation •The Framework for Intellectual Property from Publicly Financed Research was approved by Cabinet for public consultation. •SA secured R80 million from the FP6 competitive funds for R&D•President Thabo Mbeki inaugurated the SALT on 10 November 2005.

SUMMARY

RE YA LEBOHATHANK YOUSIYABONGA

Documents

ANNUAL REPORT 2005/06 PRESENTED BY DIRECTOR-GENERAL Dr Phil Mjwara 12 September 2006 DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY