Approval of the Annual Financial Statements
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© Academy of Science of South Africa, August 2008 ISBN-13: 978-0-9814159-2-5 RP: 119/2008 Published by: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) PO Box 72135, Lynnwood Ridge, Pretoria, South Africa, 0040 Tel: +27 12 843 6481 • Fax: +27 0866 810 185 E-mail: [email protected] Reproduction is permitted, provided the source and publisher are appropriately acknowledged. The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) was inaugurated in May 1996 in the presence of then President Nelson Mandela, the Patron of the launch of the Academy. It was formed in response to the need for an Academy of Science consonant with the dawn of democracy in South Africa: activist in its mission of using science for the bene- fit of society, with a mandate encompassing all fields of scientific enquiry in a seamless way, and including in its ranks the full diversity of South Africa's distinguished scientists. The Parliament of South Africa passed the Academy of Science of South Africa Act, Act. 67 in 2001, which came into operation on 15 May 2002. This has made ASSAf the official Academy of Science of South Africa, recognised by government and representing South Africa in the international community of science academies. Applying scientific thinking in the service of society ASSAf Annual Report 2007/8 Contents Abbreviations & Acronyms 4 Message from the President 7 Message from the Executive Officer 8 Academy of Science of South Africa: 11 An Introduction ASSAf's Strategic Intent 12 ASSAf's Vision 12 ASSAf's Mission 12 ASSAf's Objectives 13 ASSAf's Values 13 Governing Body: ASSAf Council 14 Council Composition 15 Office-Bearers 17 • President and Chairperson of ASSAf Council 17 • Vice-Presidents of ASSAf Council 17 • General Secretary of ASSAf Council 17 • Treasurer of ASSAf Council 17 Advisors to the Council 18 ASSAf Council Members 18 ASSAf Council Role & Function 19 ASSAf Council Evaluation & Performance 19 Record of Attendance at Council Meetings 20 ASSAf Council Remuneration of Members 20 ASSAf Council Committees 20 ASSAf Membership 21 Introduction 22 New Members in 2007/08 23 Membership Survey 24 Membership Composition by Science Discipline, Gender and Race, 2007/08 25 Membership Benefits 25 ASSAf Secretariat 26 ASSAf Performance Report: An Overview 29 2 ASSAf Annual Report 2007/8 Contents ASSAf Programmes: Performance Reporting 30 Programme 1: Administration and Governance 31 Programme 2: Scholarly Publishing in South Africa 32 Programme 3: International Academy Relations 32 Programme 4: National and Regional Activities 34 ASSAf Consensus Studies: An Overview 35 Summary of ASSAf Studies in 2007/08 36 Committee on Scholarly Publishing 37 Committee on Science for Poverty Alleviation 44 Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences 46 Committee on Science Education 47 Consensus Panel on HIV/AIDS, TB and Nutrition 48 Consensus Study on Clinical Research 49 ASSAf Publications and Corporate 50 Communication Activities Communication Activities 51 • Internal Communication 51 • External Communication 52 Publications Activities 52 • Corporate Publications 52 • Periodical Publications 52 - Quest: Science for South Africa 53 - South African Journal of Science 55 • Academy Reports 57 Monitoring and Evaluation 57 • Media Coverage 58 Annual Financial Statements for the year 60 ended 31 March 2008 Council's Responsibility for Annual Financial Reporting 62 Approval of Annual Financial Statements Report of the Independent Auditors to the Trustees of the Academy of Science of South Africa 63 Balance Sheet at 31 March 2008: (Statement of Financial Position) 65 Income Statement for the year ended 31 March 2008 (Statement of Financial Performance) 66 Statement of Changes in Reserves for the year ended 31 March 2008 67 Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2008 68 Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2008 69 Detailed Income and Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2008 73 Annexure A: Abbreviated Biographies 74 of ASSAf Members ASSAf Annual Report 2007/8 3 Abbreviations & Acronyms AGM Annual General Meeting AJOL African Journals Online ASADI African Science Academies Development Initiative AsgiSA Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa ASSAf Academy of Science of South Africa CHE Council on Higher Education COHORT Committee of Heads of Organisations for Research and Technology CSfPA Committee on Science for Poverty Alleviation CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research CSIRO Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation DoE Department of Education DST Department of Science and Technology HEQC Higher Education Quality Committee HESA Higher Education South Africa HSRC Human Sciences Research Council IAC InterAcademy Council IAMP InterAcademy Medical Panel IAP InterAcademy Panel IBSS International Bibliography of the Social Sciences ICSU International Council for Science Unions ICT Information and Communications Technology ISI Institute of Scientific Information Jipsa Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition MoA Memorandum of Agreement 4 ASSAf Annual Report 2007/8 Abbreviations & Acronyms Science for Society MoU Memorandum of Understanding MRC Medical Research Council NACI National Advisory Council on Innovation NECSA Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa NEPAD New Partnership for Africa's Development NICD National Institute for Communicable Diseases NRF National Research Foundation NSEF National Scholarly Editors' Forum NSI National System of Innovation NSTF National Science and Technology Forum SAAO South African Astronomical Observatory SAASTA South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement SABINET Southern African Bibliographic Information Network SARUA South African Regional Universities Association SciELO Scientific Electronic Library Online S&T Science and Technology TWAS Academy of Sciences for the Developing World UCT University of Cape Town UKZN University of KwaZulu-Natal UNISA University of South Africa UP University of Pretoria US NAS United States National Academies of Science Wits University of the Witwatersrand WRC Water Research Commission ASSAf Annual Report 2007/8 5 6 Message from the President he strategic priorities of the Academy were set out in its multi-year strategic plan in 2005, and this Annual Report lays out the ways in which the tasks of achieving ASSAf's vision and realising its mission were taken further in the past year through activities opera- tionally divided into its four main programmes. The Academy's Tstrategic priorities are well-matched with those of the nation, focused especially on the urgent need for the greatly enhanced availability of high-level human cap- ital, and the equally important requirement for a much-increased use of the coun- try's best intellectual expertise in generating policy that is evidence-based and Prof. Robin Crewe, practically feasible. President of the The ability of South Africa to draw on the experience and knowledge of both Academy of Science developed and (strongly emerging) developing sister countries depends on setting of South Africa up effective channels and mechanisms by which these assets can be transferred to since 2004. South Africa without weakening our own capacities, and with marked synergies in respect of other components of our planned growth strategies. National science academies are increasingly recognised as key engines of productive international cooperation, provided their programmes are well aligned with national plans for leverage of international resources to promote our own socio-economic development. ASSAf is committed to partnerships (the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Department of Education (DoE), the National Research Foundation (NRF), science councils and higher education institutions) in implementing a broad strategy in this area. In the past year, significant steps were taken to enhance the Academy's capacity in two critical areas: international liaison and publications. In the first case, the participation of the ASSAf President in the annu- al meetings of the presidents of the national science academies of the so-called 'G8 plus 5' countries (with South Africa included among the world's five most weighty emerging countries) has given us a voice on a high-impact forum that will undoubtedly become increasingly valuable. ASSAf is a Vice-President of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), and a member of the 90-strong InterAcademy Panel (IAP) and candidate-member of the latter's advice-generating InterAcademy Council (IAC). The second new initiative is to strengthen ASSAf's capacity to produce well-branded publications that will effec- tively communicate its messages to many stakeholders throughout the National System of Innovation (NSI) and across a broader front. Apart from a newly launched quarterly newsletter, our consensus and forum reports and a variety of other publications, the Academy is the publisher of the country's premier scholarly journal (South African Journal of Science) and its acclaimed science magazine (Quest: Science for South Africa). I would like to pay particular tribute to the contribution that the outgoing Executive Officer, Prof. Wieland Gevers has made to the development of the Academy. He has made this contribution both as the former President of the Academy and subsequently as its first Executive Officer. He has been instrumental in taking the Academy from an honorific learned society to a truly national activist Academy of Science that fulfils the role of offering evidence-based advice to the nation