NRF Annual Report 2018

PART B: PERFORMANCE
52
• Science hero stories: Prof Sibongile Muthwa was
appointed as the first female vice-chancellor at Nelson
Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU); Murendi
Mafumo designed a solar-powered water purification
system that will provide safe drinking water to rural
communities; at the age of 32, Dr Viwe Mtwesi is South
Africa’s youngest black female cardiologist; five South
African women were honoured at the 2017 L’Oréal-
UNESCO awards;
• Science hero stories: Lloyd Gordon, a 25-year-old
University of KwaZulu-Natal computer science student,
developed an application to make maths education free
and accessible to students from all socio-economic
backgrounds; how Tebogo Moremadi Mashile, a junior
astronomy policy researcher at the SKA SA, is reaching
for the stars; and
• International Day of Women and Girls in Science: Pelly
Malebe (doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria)
is researching genetic markers for drought tolerance
and yield in crops; Dr Mmaki Jantjies, one of the first and
youngest black female doctoral graduates in computer
science, is continuing to contribute to her field.
NRF LinkedIn follower numbers increased from 2 872 to
3 606 during the reporting period, and a total of 132 237
visitors accessed the website during the 2017/18 financial
year. Users spent about three minutes on a website session
and visited about three pages per session. The number
of new visitors to the website continues to increase and
outnumbers returning visitors.
Social investment programmes
The NRF participated in the following social investment
programmes:
• Nelson Mandela Day: Employee donations were handed
over to the Mohau House and the Mandela Day clear
river campaign;
• The NRF donated used information technology (IT)
equipment in support of the DST’s Nelson Mandela Day
event; and
• Casual day stickers were sold to employees on behalf
of more than 500 non-profit organisations and schools,
as well as 12 national organisations that provide shelter,
employment, education, counselling and advocacy for
persons with disabilities.
NRF Annual Report 2017/18
Promote system-wide local and international
engagement and partnerships
Partnerships are key enablers for research and researcher
development, and the NRF establishes and promotes highlevel
strategic local and international collaborative networks
in both public and private sectors. National partnerships are
aligned with and support a coherent strategy of engagement.
The organisation continued to foster partnerships over
the reporting period and focused on engagements on
the continent through its programmes. South Africa has
concluded a number of bilateral agreements with African
countries aimed at:
• Promoting collaborative scientific advancement through
the funding of joint research activities in specified
research fields;
• Providing an opportunity for young researchers to
engage;
• Supporting the advancement of research; and
• Meaningful contribution to research capacity
development.
At a meeting in Livingstone, Zambia, during the reporting
period, 13 African Heads of Research Councils (AHORCs)
and their representatives - Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya,
Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso,
Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana -
agreed on principles linked to the chosen topics. Alignment
of the Global Research Council’s regional meetings with
the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) in Sub-
Saharan Africa annual forum and activities has provided
an opportunity to strengthen not only the voice of African
science granting councils on the Global Research Council
(GRC) but also bilateral and multilateral partnerships among
many of the councils.
The SGCI was established to strengthen the ability of science
granting councils (SGCs) to manage research, design and
monitor research programmes based on robust indicators,
support science engagement and establish partnerships
with other science sector role-players. During the period,
27 training and other events were completed - 12 by the
Southern African Research and Innovation Management