Minister Nzimande congratulates CSIR on 75 years of innovative excellence
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, congratulated the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on its contribution to shaping the country's science, engineering and technology landscape.
Today, 5 October 2020, the CSIR marked seven and a half decades of conducting research aimed at improving the quality of life of all South Africans. The Council was established through an Act of Parliament in 1945, and its executive authority is the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation.
The organisation plays a significant role in supporting both the public and private sectors through directed research that is aligned to the country's priorities, the organisation's mandate, and its science, engineering and technology competences.
A few months into the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, the CSIR had repurposed some of its labs in support of government's drive for a massive roll-out of testing, and become one of the leading organisations in the development of much-need ventilators and rapid testing kits, as well as in the tracking and tracing COVID-19 cases across the country.
Noting this research excellence and the swift response to national duty, the Minister said the CSIR had put South Africa on the global map by leading research and technological development in the country in the past decades.
"Over the years, I have observed, with great pride, the work that the organisation does; work that has made a huge contribution to our country. We are proud of what the CSIR has achieved in the past 75 years through science, technology, engineering and innovation. We also pay tribute to the leadership, the scientists and all the support staff, who over the years, particularly since our democracy, have and continue to contribute passionately to the transformation of the organisation."
The CSIR's outstanding work includes the organisation's online services, Worldnet Africa and CompuServe, sold to MIH Limited to form MWEB, which marked the start of commercial Internet services in South Africa. Today, the company continues to take advantage of the demand for connectivity.
The CSIR officially opened its clinical and botanical supplies unit in 1999. The facility is key in scientific studies that aim to add value to South Africa's rich biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. It helps bridge the gap between laboratory research and clinical trials through the production of pharmaceutical-grade herbal products.
The Centre for High Performance Computing affords local researchers the advantage of using massive computing power in their quest for new knowledge and new applications of knowledge. In 2015, the centre provided a dedicated computing cluster to help CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, with two particle detector experiments.
In 2002, the CSIR made a breakthrough in biomedical stem cell technology by generating the first induced pluripotent stem cells in Africa. Scientists use these cells to study the interactions between pathogens and specific cell types in the context of African genetics.
The Biomanufacturing Industry Development Centre was established at the CSIR in 2014 to provide product and process development support to South Africa's SMMEs that intend to produce biologicals for industrial, veterinary and human applications.
Around 2015, CSIR researchers created the first high-resolution, locally calibrated national map of woody cover for South Africa, using satellite-based synthetic aperture radar mapping with existing light detection and ranging (LIDAR) datasets derived from airborne surveys. This is valuable for monitoring South Africa's biodiversity and clearing alien plants, among other things.
Minister Nzimande said all the research conducted by the CSIR stood head and shoulders above that of similar organisations in the rest of Africa.
"The CSIR is committed to pushing boundaries in the quest for excellent research, technological innovation, and industrial and scientific development. This is evident in the many sectors of our economy that it is impacting through the support it provides to government and citizens, addressing the majority of the focus areas outlined in the National Development Plan," he said.
Issued by:
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
DSI Building (53), CSIR Campus
Meiring Naudé Road
Brummeria
Pretoria
Enquiries: Ishmael Mnisi 0660378859
