Development Talk

Minister Naledi Pandor says more should be spent on research. Photo: World Economic Forum via Flickr

Not enough money is being spent on research and development in South Africa.

This is what Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor said when she presented the department’s National Survey of Research and Experimental Development report for 2008/2009 yesterday.

BuaNews reports that even though R2.4 billion more was spent on research and development than last year, the government’s target of spending 1% of GDP on this field has not been met.

This year R21 billion has been spent on research and development. According to Pandor, President Jacob Zuma wants spending on this field to increase to 1.5% of GDP by 2014.

Spending on research is also divided between many different sectors. The division is as follows:

• Engineering Sciences = 24.4% of total research spending
• Natural Sciences = 20,6%
• Medical and Health Sciences = 14.6%
• Information and Communication Technologies = 13.1%
• Applied Sciences and Technology = 9.1%
• Agricultural Sciences = 5.5%
• Social Sciences and Humanities = 12.5%

It is estimated that there are 1.4 researchers for every 1000 employees in South Africa, which comes to about 19 384 researchers. There used to be 1.5 researchers for every 1000, so this trend is quite worrying to Pandor. In Argentina the rate is 2.9, in China 1.9 and in Russia 6.4.

To increase this number, Naledi said that there would have to be a focus on producing more post-graduate research students.

These sentiments were echoed yesterday by Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande when, according to The Times he said at the National Skills Summit that there is a need for: “high level skills in engineering, animal and health sciences, physical and life sciences and teaching; and research, development and innovation in human capital”.

With eight years of experience in social science research, Creative Consulting & Development Works is conscious of the importance of research in the South African context, to determine needs for development and to evaluate the impact of current social development projects. It is definitely a field that deserves attention, especially in developing countries.