Question NW1345 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
04 May 2022 - NW1345
Boshoff, Dr WJ to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
What was the contribution of the Water Research Commission to the successful outcome of each of the novel technologies and processes developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in the past two decades?
Reply:
Over the past two decades, the CSIR has not partnered/collaborated with WRC in the development of novel technologies and processes developed by the organisation. However, the CSIR has over the decades competed for project funding following various WRC calls for funding and succeeded in securing some of the funding which were mainly for basic research without novel technologies outputs.
The Municipal Finance Management Act remains a challenge when fostering collaborations for technology development among the two organs of state due to the tendering system which does not effectively support easy contractual agreements between organ of states as more investment is required for successful novel technologies and processes for water.