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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Council For Scientific And Industrial Research
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is a South African scientific research and development (R&D) organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its campus in Pretoria. It is Africa's largest research and development organisation and accounts for about 10% of the entire African R&D budget. It has a staff of approximately 3,000 technical and scientific researchers.

Overview

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is a leading scientific and technology research organisation that researches and develops transformative technologies to accelerate socioeconomic prosperity in South Africa. The organisation’s work contributes to industrial development and supports a capable state. The CSIR is an entity of the Department of Science and Innovation.

The organisation plays a key role in supporting the public and private sectors through directed research that is aligned with the country’s priorities, the organisation’s mandate and its science, engineering and technology competences. The nine high-impact sectors identified by the CSIR to achieve its aims are:

Industry advancement clusters     

  • Advanced Agriculture and Food
  • NextGen Health
  • Future Production: Chemicals
  • Future Production: Mining
  • Future Production: Manufacturing
  • Defence and Security

Industry and society enabling clusters

  • Smart Places
  • Smart Mobility
  • NextGen Enterprises and Institutions

Presidents and chief executive officers

Role Name Period Notes
President Basil Schonland 1945–1950 Founding president
President Petrus Johann du Toit 1950–1952
President Stefan Meiring Naude 1952–1971
President Christiaan van der Merwe Brink 1971–1980
President Christoph Friedrich Garbers 1980–1990
President James Brian Clark 1990–1995
President Geoff Garrett 1995–2000
President Sibusiso Sibisi 2002–2008
CEO Sibusiso Sibisi 2008–2017
CEO Thulani Dlamini 2017–present

SERA

Main article: Southern Education and Research Alliance

In 1999, a strategic alliance, the Southern Education and Research Alliance (SERA), was formed between the University of Pretoria and the CSIR. SERA collaborates locally and internationally with universities, NGOs, companies, and multinational bodies in various research areas.

Aircraft

Controversy

Allegations of political interference

In July 2016, the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism published an article that alleges that South Africa's Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor and Director-General Phil Mjwara were attempting to put undue pressure on the CSIR, at the behest of the African National Congress (ANC) treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize, to favour the Chinese multinational Huawei Technologies in the purchase of a new 116 million South African rand (US$8 million) supercomputer for the institute. This followed the publication of the council's long-time CEO, Sibusiso Sibisi's, open letter of resignation stating that irregularities and political pressure on the awarding of contracts to suppliers were of great concern.

Biopiracy case

In a case of biopiracy, bioprospectors from CSIR became interested in the Hoodia plant as an appetite suppressant for weight loss after a marketing campaign falsely claimed its efficacy. They patented it without recognising the San people's traditional claims to knowledge of the plant and its uses. The patent was later sold to Unilever, which marketed Hoodia products as diet supplements. In 2003, the South African San Council made an agreement with CSIR in which they would receive from 6 to 8% of the sales revenue of Hoodia gordonii products, money that would be deposited in a fund to purchase land for the San people who had been dispossessed of their lands by migrating tribes.

References

  1. ^ Profile of the CSIR Archived 24 July 2012 at archive.today 6 October 2011.
  2. ^ [1]. 9 February 2017.
  3. ^ Profile of the CSIR Archived 24 July 2012 at archive.today. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  4. ^ "The Department of Science and Innovation".
  5. ^ "Our History | CSIR". www.csir.co.za. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  6. ^ Highlights and Achievements Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  7. ^ SERA Relationships and Links Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  8. ^ amaBhungane (1 July 2016). "amaBhungane: CSIR's supercomputer tender and the theatre of the absurd that followed it". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  9. ^ Maharaj, VJ, Senabe, JV, and Horak, RM. 2008. Hoodia, a case study at CSIR. Science real and relevant: 2nd CSIR Biennial Conference, CSIR International Convention Centre Pretoria, 17&18 November 2008, pp 4 [2][3]
  10. ^ Indigenous Peoples, Consent and Benefit Sharing: Lessons from the San-Hoodia Case (Rachel Wynberg, Doris Schroeder, Roger Chennells Springer, 4 December 2009
  11. ^ Saskia Vermeylen. 2007. Contextualizing ‘Fair’ and ‘Equitable’: The San's Reflections on the Hoodia Benefit-Sharing Agreement Local Environment Vol. 12, Iss. 4,
  12. ^ Rachel Wynberg 2010 Hot air over Hoodia | 13 October 2010 | Seedling
  13. ^ Inventing Hoodia: Vulnerabilities and Epistemic Citizenship. 2011. CSW update APRIL "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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