Minister Nzimande hosts the DSTI’s first Ministerial Management Meeting of the year
Earlier today the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof.Blade Nzimande presided over the first Ministerial Management Meeting (MMM) of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).
The MMM received updates on key strategic and policy issues and also set the tone for the DSTI’s strategic direction for the year 2026 and the remainder of the term of the 7th administration.
The Minister used today’s MMM to reflect on some of the key recent science, technology and developments, including the DSTI’s successful G20 programme, under the auspices of the Research and Innovation Working Group (RIWG).
The Minister further expressed his gratitude to the officials who were responsible for the implementation of the DSTI’s G20 programme.
The Minister also emphasised the need for the DSTI to scale up its Science Outreach and Engagement programmes and further highlighted the importance of raising public awareness about the DSTI’s contribution to key recent STI advances such as Biovac’s clinical trials for its Oral Cholera Vaccine, the African Union’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2034) and UNESCO’s designation of the African Institute on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIIKS), as a category II centre.
More fundamentally, Minister Nzimande reaffirmed that for the year 2026 and the remainder of the term of the 7th administration, the DSTI will maintain its focus on the following strategic priorities:
•Increasing the Gross Expenditure on Research and Development to 1.5% of Gross Domestic Product by 2030;
•Accelerating the transformation and expansion of science, technology and innovation human resources and the research workforce;
* Strengthening the coordination and direction of the National System of Innovation (NSI) and the STI Ecosystem;
* Maintaining and upgrading key science infrastructure and projects such as the Square Kilometre Array, Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI), and developing credible pandemic preparedness capacity;
* Building strategic innovation compacts by aligning the strategic focus areas of the DSTI’s Decadal Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation with the corresponding line function departments;
•Mobilising additional funding and resources to raise the scale of the DSTI’s key programmes such as artificial intelligence, energy security, space, vaccine innovation manufacturing, Indigenous Knowledge Systems; and
•Significantly raising public awareness and outreach programmes on the contributions of South Africa’s public science system and institutions to national development.
Enquiries: Veli Mbele (Media Liaison Officer and Spokesperson to the Minister) 064 615 0644 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION
