Human Sciences Research Council & Academy of Science of South Africa on their Strategic and Annual Performance Plans

Meeting report

The Chairperson emphasised the importance of this Committee, as South Africa was a developing country and therefore needed to improve the socio-economic situation facing its people through science and innovation, and in turn compete on the same footing as developed countries. It was said that a bulk of the Committee’s funds was dispersed to entities and it was of vital importance that they were scrutinized to determine whether they were in fact transforming the country or not.

Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) briefing 

Ms Nasima Badsha, Chairperson of the HSRC Board apologised for the absence of the CEO, as she had had to fulfill urgent commitments for which the date had been set some time ago. She then referred to the statement made by the Chairperson regarding the ‘bulk’ of the Committee’s funds being dispersed to various entities, saying she did not agree with this as according to the size of their budget, they were comparatively small, and this did not align with the fact that the HSRC made a sizeable impact towards a just and equitable society. In the presentation, an attempt would be made to highlight its impact and the pressures put on the HSRC.

Ms Vijay Reddy, HSRC Executive Director, officially commenced the presentation and introduced her colleagues to the Committee. In attendance was Ms Priya Singh (CFO), Prof Thomas Rehle (Research Director in the area of health sciences) and Prof Daniel Plaatjies (Executive Director for democracy, governance and service delivery).

Ms Reddy provided a strategic overview which mentioned the vision, mission, values, and objectives of the HSRC in terms of section 3, Act 17 of 2008, the National Development Plan (NDP) and national priorities for the next four years, specific policy mandates, the work the HSRC conducts, the strengthening of humanities-centered research in 2015-2016, flagship projects for 2015-2016 and strategic outcome-orientated goals. Among the strategic outcome-orientated goals were knowledge advancement, contribution to development and social progress in Africa, enhanced skills, preserved data and knowledge, transformation and financial sustainability.

The funding highlights were then covered. Major funders included the Departments of Science and Technology, Higher Education and Rural Development and Land Reform, the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and the Centre for Disease Control. One of the challenges was that large surveys, especially population-based ones, were expensive and the Centre for Disease Control often had to assist them in conducting these surveys. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) had awarded the HSRC R19.8 million for the procurement of research infrastructure, demonstrating a commitment to finance the infrastructure for repeat surveys. The HSRC would receive the funds in 2015- 2016 financial year. The funding provided by the DST was greatly appreciated, as it would enhance the quality of HSRC research.

The strategic outcome-orientated goals were knowledge advancement, contribution to development and social progress in Africa, enhanced skills, preserved data and knowledge, transformation and financial sustainability.

Ms Singh, Chief Financial Officer, went through the budget summary for the 2015- 2016 financial year. The HSRC had a budget of R481.8 million and of this, R288.7 million was funded by Parliamentary grants. The other two streams of income, which came by way of research, provided for R157.3 million. Other income sources provided for R35.8 million. The expenses of the HSRC consisted of salaries, which accounted for R262.7 million, project related expenses of R133.7 million, and administration and other costs amounting to R85.3 million. The ratio between the parliamentary grant and (total) external income was 60:40. The total budget had increased by 3.6%, while salaries had increased by 6.4%, and 5.7% for the following financial year, which had been determined in line with the rise in inflation. The percentage of salaries to total budget had increased by 1%, from 53% to 54%, and would be 55% in the following financial year.

The challenges faced by the HSRC included:
• The misalignment between research demands and information technology (IT) capabilities/capacity, which the HSRC had to fund from its own resources;
• The attracting of critical skills -- the market for this was competitive as the HSRC had to get staff that specialised in a particular area of research;
• The requirements for compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to its Pretoria building, where the capacity had put increased financial strain on the HSRC to support the building as it was over 25 years old. Proposals submitted via the DST to the National Treasury over the last ten years had been unsuccessful;
• The greater concentration of high impact, large multi-year projects that addressed big societal and policy challenges;
• The undue donor/funder influence on the research agenda and pressure on the HSRC to secure income.

Ms Reddy commented on the strategic issues for future iterations of the annual performance plan (APP). These included clearer articulation of how the HSRC contributed to specific medium term strategic framework (MTSF) outcomes, specification of a clear strategic research agenda for the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) in the HSRC, reflections on the benefits, challenges, and future plans for collaborating with other players in the National System of Innovation (NSI), greater priority on research that informed policies for enhancing economic activities in townships and peri-urban areas, effective interface and collaboration with the various South African research chairs and centres of excellence, enhancing the impact of the work of the HSRC within the current financial constraints, redoubling efforts at communicating significant achievements that had been made by the NSI, and highlighting efforts being made to secure greater value for money.

The presentation was concluded by thanking the Minister and Deputy Minister of DST and the Portfolio Committee of the DST, the partners and funding agencies, the Board Chair, members and committees and the staff of the HSRC.

Discussion 

Dr A Lotriet (DA) asked to what the impact of the research on broader society was.

Mr Rehle replied that there was a direct impact at the policy level with some multi-year research projects. He then elaborated upon the issue of funding and the fact South Africa’s key data sources were funded by external sources. This needed to be addressed as soon as possible as it could affect the impact of research at the national level.

Prof Plaatjies said that the HSRC had to compete with private institutions and universities for research projects in order to generate income to sustain the programmes. Therefore the sustainability of programmes were determined by how many research tenders the Council could acquire. In other countries, research councils were all used and fully funded. The point was that because the HSRC was partially funded and continually needed to seek external funding, this opened the HSRC up to influence on the research agenda, whereas this risk would be restricted if the HSRC were self-sustaining.

The Chairperson asked which firms the HSRC was competing with, as it was a government-funded entity.

Prof Plaatjies replied that where there was an open competitive tender, the HSRC had to compete with the top consulting firms, university and school departments, various research institutions and non-profit organisations. It was also more expensive to put a tender in place to manage a research project, than to contract one of the research councils.

Dr Lotriet referred to the 60:40 ratios and the impact if the variable income was not realized, and the resulting staff implications. She asked for an indication of the split between self-initiated research and contract-based research and the size comparison between the two, as well as the implications involved.

Ms Singh replied that most of the research was self-initiated and every year the Board decided on key topics. However, because of the undue pressure to meet specific financial targets, the HSRC did respond to tenders, and that represented a large proportion of its income. A positive factor had been that over the past two financial years, government had provided more funding to the HSRC than other external donors. The big five auditing firms could conduct larger surveys more cheaply because of their national footprint, so giving the HSRC preferred status would help it to compete better and would also assist in getting larger scale multi-year research projects. This would alleviate the pressure to follow research projects that were not self-initiated.

Ms Badsha made mention of the procurement process of receiving tenders, as the HSRC lost many tenders to smaller research firms which claimed they could provide the service at a cheaper price. However, it had been noted that government departments often received poor delivery as a result. She asked how the HSRC could receive preferred provider status so that if a government department wanted to commission a large project, it did not fall foul of the procurement process. The HSRC needed assistance on this as it was an entity that could undertake large scale work.

Ms L Maseko (ANC) referred to the issue regarding entities making use of consultants, and questioned whether HSRC was making use of this, as it might result in increased income for the HSRC and eliminate the influence of donors or funders on the research agenda.

Ms Singh replied that cost restrictions were put in place on government entities by the National Treasury with regard to hiring consultants. The HSRC therefore permitted the hiring of research consultants only where there was a specific skill that was required which was not available within the HSRC. In addition the HSRC did a lot of collaboration with other entities and universities, and therefore the first point of call was looking to these partners when seeking consultation. The HSRC also had a policy that whenever working with a partner, it had to be the lead partner. This decreased the possibility of the research agenda being influenced and enabled the HSRC to control the output.

Ms Maseko questioned the ratio of budget to salaries, and the percentage increase.

Ms Singh said that the one percent salary increase was a result of the yearly rise in inflation, and the increase included the salaries for interns that needed to be hired on an annual basis.

Ms Maseko asked whether the performance plan objectives were reasonably achievable.

Ms Singh replied that the HSRC tried to balance the programmes so that they all contributed equally to the external income target. It reviewed the financial income targets on a monthly basis so if targets were not met, then it could look for efficiencies in operating divisions in order to meet them. For the next financial year, the HSRC was applying activity-based costing to its operations units to ensure that every project was linked to a strategic objective.

Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) briefing 

Prof Iqbal Parker, Vice President of ASSAf, initiated the presentation and introduced his colleagues that were present. They were Prof Roseanne Diab (Executive Officer), Mr Morakeng Chiloane (Financial Manager ASSAf) and Dr. Tolu Oni (Co-Chairperson of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS)).

Prof Diab commenced the presentation by giving details of the mandates, goals and alignment with governmental goals, and their publications. The various programmes of the academy included governance and administration, communication and publications, liaison activities, a scholarly publishing programme and the policy advisory programme.

Mr Chiloane took the Committee through the projected budget summary for the next financial year. The total projected income was R26.9 million. The majority of the funding came by way of the DST, which contributed R22.9 million through a baseline allocation, and R812 000 through contract funding. The rest was made up from foreign funding of R1 700 000, R240 000 from the Oppenheimer Trust, R500 000 through income from publications, R550 000 from interest, R86 000 from membership fees and R40 000 from the Cohort Secretariat.

One of the challenges facing ASSAf was that it did not have its own building and operated from a rented building which had become inadequate. This put unneeded pressure on ASSAf. However, it was positive that through the steps taken, and with outside funding, it would eventually acquire its own building

Mr Chiloane said that the total projected expenditure would amount to R26.9 million and the budget was very tight. The expenditure breakdown for the six programmes was:
• Administration and Governance R5 786 000;
• Communication R1 641 000;
• Liaison R3 888 000;
• Policy advisory programme R5 225 000;
• Publications R3 295 000; and
• Scholarly publishing programme, which amounts to the most at R7 084 000.

Dr Oni said that SAYAS had been established in 2011 based on the need for young scientists to have a representative voice on issues that affected them and to provide and to contribute to solutions that challenged society. SAYAS was made up of a membership of 50, of which ten members were elected each year and given five year terms. The elections were based on academic merit and proven enthusiasm for engagement in scientific areas beyond their specific disciplines. The entity was funded through ASSAf, the DST and the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust. The strategic goals included advancing scientific excellence for the country and continent, influencing science policy, translating science for society in order to promote science awareness and to promote science and its value-added initiatives.

The Chairperson said that it was important that SAYAS had been brought to the meeting as it represented the future scientists and was helping to restore the historical imbalances that had made the youth not want to pursue careers in science. It was suggested that SAYAS be given another date to meet with the Committee in future so as to have more time to elaborate further on its operations.

Discussion

Mr C Mathale (ANC) referred to the Policy advisory programme and the points made on the science for poverty alleviation project, which entailed developing an action plan for a standing committee and a refined focus, and the holding of a symposium on a key focus area. He asked for elaboration in order to get a better understanding.

Prof Diab replied that the standing committee guided the focus of the studies and the first objective was to hold a symposium to determine the measurement of poverty. The standing committee had directed that the focus should not be on the science for poverty alleviation, but rather on the reduction of poverty and inequality. She said that soon the standing committee should have more ideas and most likely would have a study they would like to conduct.

Ms L Maseko (ANC) referred to the issue regarding the fact that ASSAf does not have its own building and the effect there of on its already constrained budget as the rent expended could rather go towards the programs. She suggested ASSAf take steps to acquire a government building by approaching the DST.

Prof. I Parker replied to the question regarding the premises. He said that they have gone through processes of acquiring a building but have not pursued the avenue of public works and that’s something that will be looked into.

Ms Maseko took issue of with the 30% gender ratio, but was impressed that ASSAf was working towards meeting its objectives to balance the gender equality in the workplace, and were focused on developing young female scientists.

Prof Diab replied that they were determined and were working hard to achieve this, but it would be difficult as the members were elected, so other proactive means had to be undertaken to reach that goal.

Ms Maseko questioned the distribution of Quest Magazines, and asked if any concerted efforts were made to review the editorial board of the South African Journal of Science.

Prof Diab replied that not even all learners all grade 12 would receive the magazine in their hands, but ASSAf was planning an effective innovative dissemination which included social media and other electronic means.

Ms Maseko asked whether the performance plans were reasonably achievable

Prof Diab replied that they worked hard to ensure that the performance plans were achievable and that when they were audited they could safely confirm that they were on track to meet them.

The Chairperson said he accepted the performance plan and made specific reference to the Quest Magazine and the initiative to disseminate it, using social media and other electronic means.

The meeting was adjourned.