The SRA Symposium - College of Medicine

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For example, to address innovation specifically, there are a number of funding programmes such
as the Innovation Fund, the Research and Innovation Support Agency (RISA) and the Poverty Alleviation
Programme. These programmes are administered by the NRF on behalf of the state. They
award funds competitively to any applicant. For technikons and technical stations, South Africa
runs the Tshumisano Fund which finances innovation projects in these institutions. The projects
covered are mainly the small, medium and micro-economic enterprises (SMMEs).
For the universities, the NRF administers research programmes for masters students who do their
thesis in any field of innovation within the parameters set from time to time. In this case, the
NRF advances the science system and the innovation system simultaneously. There is yet another
government source of funding for research into South African tertiary institutions. This is through
rebates on publications that have come out through the South African Publication Standard for
journals (SAPSE).
South Africa is very much aware of the crucial need for specialised manpower training and
development in the country’s innovation chain. In addition to the training efforts indicate above,
the country implements the Technology for Human Resources in Industry (THRIP) programme,
which focuses specifically on manpower development in science & technology.
And the public sector does not struggle alone. The private sector is also involved, mainly through
funding research in tertiary institutions, in line with its needs. This is mainly in the form of scholarships
and in consultancies that are done for the private sector by tertiary institutions. However,
levels of private sector R&D have declined in the past few years. (RSA Government, 2000:2). Due
to the S&T set up in South Africa, it is much easier to carry out research and innovation management
in that country than it is the case in the rest of the region, as I show below. South Africa is
able to calculate its R&D intensity. For instance, currently, it stands at 0.7% of Gross Domestic
Product, after dropping from 1.1% at the onset of majority rule in 1994.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe set up its Ministry of Science & Technology in 2002. The Ministry is within the Office
of the President in order to give it the power it needs to leverage resources necessary for a
functional S&T system. With the Ministry of Science & Technology has come a national research
council (Research Council of Zimbabwe). However, there also exist other science councils, centres
and trusts with specific mandates e.g. Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Medical Research
Council (MRC), Tobacco research Board (TRB), Pig Industry Board (PIB), BioSafety Board,
Scientific and Industrial Development Centre (SIRDC), Agriculture Research Trust (ART - private
sector) and 13 universities, all of them offering science and technology related subjects with varying
strengths, and 5 polytechnics.
In spite of that infrastructure, Zimbabwe does not have a single national S&T or innovation system.
The new Ministry is meant to provide an impetus for setting up a functional national innovation
system. Polytechnics function as a coordinated system but universities are virtually independent
as far as innovation development is concerned. One of the major functions of Research
Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ) is to coordinate research undertaken by sectoral research councils
and institutes but this is often handicapped by lack of research funds from RCZ. In other words,
the country lacks a well coordinated funding structure.
Zimbabwe has an S&T Policy as well as the Intellectual Property legislation but only now is the
Ministry of Science & Technology working on a national research strategy. The country is unable
to estimate its R&D expenditure and neither is it able to relate any of its economic development
directly to its R&D activities.
166 2005 Symposium Proceedings Book