NRF Highlights Need for More R&D Funding

The National Research Foundation (NRF) presented its 2024/25 Annual Report to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation on 07 October 2025. The Committee convened at the NRF corporate office, where it also received the 2024/25 Annual Report from the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).

The NRF reported on its sustainability achieved through a range of achievements, including an unqualified audit opinion with a clean audit outcome for the seventh consecutive year; strong internal controls implemented by management; a healthy going concern status; sound financial discipline; and a Level 1 B-BBEE rating.

During the financial year, a total of 5 936 postgraduate students and 3 212 researchers were funded. Dr Angus Paterson, NRF Deputy CEO: National Research Infrastructure Platforms, highlighted the significance of this investment in advancing transformation within the research community.

Referring to the NRF-funded researchers, Dr Paterson said, “I think the key thing here is that we’re seeing a steady increase in the percentage of Black researchers, as well as female researchers. So overall, there is steady progress in meeting the transformation mandate. Obviously, within the science sector, this isn’t something that changes overnight, but what you want to see is a positive trend.”

“South Africa produces around 26 000 publications annually, with the NRF contributing to more than a third of these,” he said. “A key component here is that NRF-funded researchers not only contribute to over a third of the national research output but also produce a proportionally higher share of high-impact publications.”

A key theme that dominated the meeting was the pressing need to increase funding for the NRF and for Research and Development more broadly, which Dr Paterson reflected on, saying that the NRF used to fund more postgraduate students than it does currently. “We now have a far more progressive policy where students are funded fully so that they have the resources that are required to do their studies,” said Dr Paterson. He added that with increased funding, “We can double the number of students that we fund. We have done it before. We have the systems for that.”

Professor Mosa Moshabela, Chairperson of the NRF Board, reiterated his previous call for increased funding for Research and Development in the country. “We have been clear as the NRF that we do need more funding, and what it is that we can do with it. We have argued several times that for the NRF to operate optimally, we need to be operating with a budget of at least R10 billion a year,” he told the Committee.

“But if we were to get R10 billion, that would be the whole budget of DSTI. I think that’s where the challenge is. I think Honourable Members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee understand that increasing the budget of NRF also means increasing the budget of the whole of DSTI.”

Prof Moshabela welcomed the suggestion by Committee Chairperson Ms Tsakani Shiviti that all departments contributing to R&D should collaborate to explore ways of pooling and increasing funding. “This is important because, as a country, we invest only 0.6% of GDP (in R&D), when in fact our policy says we should be investing at least 1.5% of GDP. I think this is also another measure that the PPC can use in the advocacy that we could do to say that the funding of our R&D is wholly inadequate, and at a minimum, it should actually reach the agreed policy of 1.5% of GDP.”

Dr Gugu Moche, the NRF’s Group Executive: Digital Transformation and Acting Deputy CEO: Research, Innovation, Impact Support and Advancement, highlighted the organisation’s commitment to funding socially impactful research. Reflecting on discussions held during the COVID-19 outbreak, she said, “Our then Minister gave us marching orders and said, as we battled the pandemic in 2020, can we as a country start thinking about never being caught in the situation where there’s a pandemic and we’re trying to now figure out how to respond positively. To that end, we have the National Institute for the Preparedness and Prevention of Pandemics which is intended to address exactly that. The issue is not the skillset; the issue is how to adequately resource that institute. That institute right now requires in a tune of, I think, about R5bn to run and we’re running it with under a billion.”

The Portfolio Committee remains steadfast in its advocacy for an increased budget of the DSTI and its entities, said Ms Shiviti. “We have requested that all the entities when they come to us must tell us their problems so that we advocate for them – that offer still stands. This is why we continue to advocate for an increased budget for the department as a whole.”