Question NW933 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

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04 April 2022 - NW933

Profile picture: Boshoff, Dr WJ

Boshoff, Dr WJ to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

(1)What total number of patents have been registered by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) over the past four decades in the field of (a) water technology and (b) process engineering; (2) what total number of scientists have been (a) working at the CSIR annually over the past four decades and (b) specifically working on water-related technology and/or solutions for each of the periods; (3) what total number of (a) patents have been registered each year for the past four decades and (b) those technologies have been successfully commercialised and implemented (i) inside the Republic and (ii) outside of the Republic?

Reply:

Answering these questions would require extensive research, as they relate to a period spanning four decades. This is compounded by the unreliability of some of the information, which relates to activities undertaken during the apartheid era. For example, some of the projects that were undertaken during the apartheid era were secret projects that were not properly or fully recorded. Therefore, the information required to answer the questions is not available.

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