By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Blade Nzimande released the Report of the Ministerial Working Group on Science, Technology and Innovation Funding for public comment on Tuesday, 29 September 2026.
Cabinet supported the report’s recommendations and directed that their implementation be coordinated through the Science, Technology and Innovation Inter-Ministerial Committee.
The report comes in the wake of funding withdrawal by the United States (US) from major South African research programmes, particularly for HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis.
Nzimande said funding cuts affected major research institutions and universities, including the University of Cape Town, Wits University, Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA).
The SAMRC estimated that about R1.6 billion in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding cuts placed 1,930 research posts and 108 student degrees at risk.
One of the affected projects was an HIV vaccine trial under the SAMRC Brilliant Consortium, which lost a newly awarded five-year grant worth $45 million.
The minister said the disruption had highlighted a deeper problem in South Africa’s science system: too much reliance on external funding for critical research.
According to the report, 17.3% of South Africa’s research and development funding comes from foreign donors, with the dependence even higher in health research.
“We must make sure that our core priorities are not dependent on foreign funding,” Nzimande said.
The working group has therefore recommended that South Africa establish predictable domestic funding for strategic research programmes and protect critical health, genomics, biotechnology and public-health platforms.
It also wants public and private investment in research and development increased towards the national target of 1.5% of gross domestic product.
South Africa currently spends about 0.62% of GDP on research and development.
Nzimande said about 17.3% of the country’s research and development funding was dependent on foreign donors, with health research more exposed than some other fields.
“The main recommendation we are saying is that, as a country, we must make sure that our core priorities are not dependent on foreign funding. We can’t avoid donor funding as a developing country, but we must make sure that our core priorities are not dependent on that,” he said.
The report also calls for South Africa to diversify its international funding relationships rather than relying heavily on partners in the US and Europe.
Nzimande said cooperation with countries such as China was increasing, while partnerships with the US, United Kingdom and European Union would continue, where mutually beneficial.
He said scientific sovereignty meant setting South Africa’s research priorities, sustaining strategic capabilities and protecting intellectual assets, while continuing international collaboration.
The report also recommends stronger conditions in international research agreements covering data, intellectual property, technology transfer, local manufacturing and skills development.
The report is open for public comment until 31 December 2026. Submissions will be considered in drawing up an implementation framework.