2006 2007 - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

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NACI | INNOVATION FOR A BETTER FUTURE
N A T I O N A L A D V I S O R Y C O U N C I L O N I N N O V A T I O N
Secretariat
The staff complement of the NACI Secretariat during the
reporting year was as follows:
• Six permanent employees: Dr Hermi Boraine, Dr Sagren
Moodley, Mr Simon Mpele, Ms Charlotte Mzolo,
Mr Edward Rakate and Ms Ria Vogel.
• Four employees on contract: Ms Cynthia Kgethe,
Ms Emily Mangale, Dr Bok Marais (Head of the Secretariat)
and Ms Mavis Masia.
• Two interns: Ms Lizzy Manganyi and Mr Mmutle
Thunye.
Dr Bok Marais served NACI as Head of the Secretariat from
its inception until the expiry of his contract at the end of March
2007. He was succeeded by Mr Vuyani Lingela.
NACI places considerable emphasis on the professionalism
of its staff and encourages staff members to participate in a
wide spectrum of relevant conferences, seminars and training
courses. Staff members used the opportunities by reading
scholarly papers at both national and international conferences,
attending short courses and developing and implementing an
internship mentoring programme.
The Secretariat administered and managed all formal
NACI meetings, which included drafting of most of the
documentation.
Four of the eight contributors to the background report to
the OECD country review of South Africa’s national system
of innovation were from the Secretariat, which, in partnership
with the DST, also organised and facilitated the country visit of
the OECD team. The following quotation from the publication
‘OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy – South Africa’ testifies to
the appreciation of the OECD Secretary-General: “This review
owes a lot to South African government officials, in particular
Dhesigen Naidoo, Bok Marais, David Walwyn, Simon Mpele
and Robyn Glaser, who helped in providing background
information, arranging the interviews in South Africa, and
advising the OECD team throughout the review process.”