Annual Report

www.assaf.org.za

CTable of Contents Abbreviations & Acronyms...... 3

Message from the President...... 6

Molaetsa go tswa go Poresidente...... 8

Message from the Executive Officer...... 10 PART A: STRATEGIC OVERVIEW...... 12 1 Vision...... 13 2 Mission...... 13 3 Values...... 13 4 Legislative and Other Mandates...... 14 4.1 The Academy of Science of South Africa Act (No 67 of 2001)...... 14 4.2 Science and Technology Laws Amendment Acts (No 16 of 2011 and No 7 of 2014)...... 14

5 Organisational Structure...... 14 6 Council...... 16 6.1 Council Composition...... 16 6.2 Council Meeting Attendance...... 20 PART B: PERFORMANCE INFORMATION...... 22 1 Overview...... 23

1.1 Service Delivery Environment...... 23 1.2 Alignment with Government Policies...... 23 1.3 Significant Developments/Major Projects...... 25 1.4 Service Delivery Improvement Plan...... 26 1.5 Strategic Outcome-oriented Goals...... 26

2 Performance Information by Programme...... 28

2.1 Programme 1: Governance and Administration...... 28 2.1.1 Governance...... 28 2.1.2 Finance and Risk...... 28 2.1.3 Human Resources...... 28 2.1.4 Knowledge Management...... 29 2.1.5 Communication...... 29

2.2 Programme 2: Scholarly Publishing Programme...... 30 2.2.1 Open Science...... 31 2.2.2 Quality Assurance...... 33 2.2.3 Research Publishing...... 34 2.2.4 South African Journal of Science...... 35 2.2.5 Quest: Science for South Africa...... 36 2.3 Programme 3: Liaison Programme...... 39 2.3.1 Member Liaison...... 39 2.3.2 National Liaison...... 40 2.3.3 International Liaison...... 46 2.3.4 Overseas Collaborations...... 48 2.3.5 African Collaborations...... 50 2.3.6 Young Scientists’ Activities...... 54 2.3.7 Gender and STI Activities ...... 55

2.4 Programme 4: Science Advisory Programme...... 58 2.4.1 Health Studies...... 58 2.4.2 Education Studies...... 61 2.4.3 Poverty-related Studies...... 63 2.4.4 Humanities Studies...... 63 2.4.5 Biosafety and Biosecurity Studies...... 64 2.4.6 Energy and Climate Studies...... 64

3 South African Young Academy of Science...... 67

3.1 Introduction...... 67 3.2 New SAYAS Members Inaugurated...... 67 3.3 SAYAS General Assembly...... 67 3.4 SAYAS Food Security and Policy Workshop...... 67 3.5 SAYAS Collaborates with Young Academy of Sweden...... 68 3.6 ASSAf Young Scientists’ Conference...... 68 3.7 SAYAS Capacity Building and Science Leadership Meeting...... 68

4 South African Academy of Engineering...... 69

4.1 Financial Management...... 69 4.2 Executive Committee ...... 69 4.3 Annual General Meeting...... 69 4.4 Induction...... 69 4.5 Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences ...... 70 4.6 Lectures...... 70 4.7 Government Relations...... 70 4.8 Co-operation with ASSAf...... 71 4.9 SFSA2018...... 71 4.10 International Relations ...... 71

5 International Council for Science Regional Office for Africa...... 72

5.1 Governance...... 72 5.1.1 Personnel...... 72 5.2 Scientific Activities...... 72 5.2.1 Events Organised and Attended...... 72 PART C: FINANCIAL INFORMATION...... 78

General Information...... 80

Council’s Responsibilities and Approval...... 81

Audit and Risk Committee Report...... 82

Council’s Report...... 84

Independent Auditor’s Report to Parliament on the Academy of Science of South Africa...... 86

Statement of Financial Position...... 90

Statement of Changes in Net Assets...... 92

Cash Flow Statement...... 92

Statement of Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts...... 93

Accounting Policies...... 94

Notes to the Annual Financial Statements...... 103

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Programme. 1: Performance Indicators for the 2018/19 Financial Year...... 30

Table 2: Programme. 2: Performance Indicators for the 2018/19 Financial Year...... 38

Table 3: Programme. 3: Performance Indicators for the 2018/19 Financial Year...... 57

Table 4: Programme. 4: Performance Indicators for the 2018/19 Financial Year...... 66 AAbbreviations & Acronyms

vi ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science AAS African Academy of Sciences ACU Association of Commonwealth Universities AET Agricultural Education and Training AFEC African Future Earth Committee AIMS African Institute for Mathematical Sciences AfLS African Light Source AMASA Annual Meeting of African Science Academies AOSP African Open Science Platform APP Annual Performance Plan ARC Agricultural Research Council ASLP Africa Science Leadership Programme ASRIC Africa Scientific Research and Innovation Council ASSAf Academy of Science of South Africa AU African Union AUC African Union Commission AVE Advertising Value Equivalent AWARD African Women in Agricultural Research and Development BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa BVA BioVisionAlexandria BWC Biological Weapons Convention CAE Chinese Academy of Engineering CAETS Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences CAPRISA Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa CEO Chief Executive Officer COHORT Committee of Heads of Organisations for Research and Technology CPUT Cape Peninsula University of Technology CREST Centre for Research on Evaluation of Science and Technology CSPiSA Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research DEA Department of Environmental Affairs DFG German Research Foundation DHET Department of Higher Education and Training DIRCO Department of International Relations and Cooperation DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals DOIs Digital object identifiers DST Department of Science and Technology DUT Durban University of Technology DVC Deputy Vice-Chancellor DVS Distinguished Visiting Scholar EEDSM Energy Efficiency Demand Side Management ELSIs Ethical, legal and social implications EO Executive Officer ESEID Economic Sectors, Employment and Infrastructure Development Cluster ESASTAP Strengthening of Technology, Research and Innovation between Europe and South Africa EU European Union FAIMER Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research FNSA Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture GAAS Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences GCGC Global Change Grand Challenge GCRF Global Challenges Research Fund GenderInSITE Gender in Science, Innovation, Technology and Engineering GM Genetic modification GMO Genetically modified organisms GYA Global Young Academy H2020 Horizon 2020

3 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 HSRC Human Sciences Research Council IAP InterAcademy Partnership ICEE International Centre for Engineering Education ICSU International Council for Science ICSU ROA ICSU Regional Office for Africa ICT Information and communications technology IID Innovation for Inclusive Development IKS Indigenous knowledge systems INGSA International Network for Government Science Advice IP Intellectual property IPECP Inter-professional education and collaborative practice IRP Integrated Resource Plan ISC International Science Council IT Information technology JIAS Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study LIRA Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa MNS Mental, neurological and substance use MoU Memorandum of understanding MRC Medical Research Council MTAWA Mentoring Network of African Women in Academia MTSF Medium-Term Strategic Framework NACI National Advisory Council on Innovation NAE National Academy of Engineering NAS Nigerian Academy of Science NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASAC Network of African Science Academies NDP National Development Plan NeDICC Network of Data and Information Curation Communities NEF Next Einstein Forum NEHAWU National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union NGO Non-governmental organisation NHI National Health Insurance NHLS National Health Laboratory Service NMU Nelson Mandela University NRF National Research Foundation NSBPF National Scholarly Book Publishers’ Forum NSEF National Scholarly Editors’ Forum NSI National System of Innovation NSTF National Science and Technology Forum NWISET National Women in Science, Engineering and Technology NWU North-West University NYAs National Young Academies OA Open access OJS Open Journal Systems OWSD Organisation for Women in Science in the Developing World OWSD SANC Organisation for Women in Science in the Developing World South African National Chapter PAP Pan-African Parliament PASA Publishers’ Association of South Africa PCCr Pan-African Crystallography PFMA Public Finance Management Act RAE Royal Academy of Engineering RAS Rwanda Academy of Sciences R&D Research and development RCA Regional Committee for Africa RISDP Regional Indicative Development Plan ROCASA Regional Office for Central & South Asia ROSSA Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa

4 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 RU Rhodes University SAAE South African Academy of Engineering SAAHE South African Association of Health Educationalists SAASTA South African Agency of Science and Technology Advancement SACMEQ Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality SAJS South African Journal of Science SADC Southern African Development Community SAICE South African Institution of Civil Engineering SAP Science Action Plan SARChI South African Research Chair Initiative SAREP Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Partner SAYAS South African Young Academy of Science SciELO Scientific Electronic Library Online SciELO SA Scientific Electronic Library Online – South Africa SCSfRPI Standing Committee on Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SDH Social Determinants of Health SfS Science-for-Society SFSA Science Forum South Africa Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SITE Science, innovation, technology and engineering SKA Square Kilometre Array SNAS Sudanese National Academy of Sciences SPP Scholarly Publishing Programme S&T Science and technology STEM Science, technology, engineering and mathematics STI Science, technology and innovation STISA Science Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa STLCs Science and technology lagging countries SU Stellenbosch University TIA Technology Innovation Agency TUT Tshwane University of Technology TWAS The World Academy of Sciences UCT University of Cape Town UFH University of Fort Hare UFS University of the Free State UJ University of Johannesburg UK United Kingdom UKZN University of KwaZulu-Natal UN United Nations UNAS Uganda National Academy of Sciences UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Unisa University of South Africa UP University of Pretoria USA United States of America USAf Universities South Africa UWC University of the Western Cape VC Vice-Chancellor WEF World Economic Forum WHO World Health Organisation WISET Woman in Science, Engineering and Technology WoK Web of Knowledge WoS Web of Science WRC Water Research Commission YAS Young Academy of Sweden

5 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Message from the President

The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) reports on a year with a new Executive Officer (EO) at the helm of the organisation. With the departure of long-serving EO, Profes- sor Roseanne Diab, an atmospheric scientist, ASSAf is now led by a distinguished human geneticist from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Professor Himla Soodyall, who joined ASSAf on 1 November 2018. I am pleased to welcome Professor Soodyall to the task of executive leadership of the Academy.

One of our key functions and indeed a highlight of Academy life is the election of new Members. In the latest election process 73 scholars were nominated from a range of disciplines and 20 were elected as Members of ASSAf. An ongoing commitment of the Acad- emy is to increase the diversity of our Membership and we now have 557 (as at 31 March 2019).

As new Members come, others depart and we have been saddened by the loss of five prominent MembersP of the Academy: Professors Johan Henning (University of the Free State), Bongani Mayosi (University of Cape Town), Paul O’Brien (University of Manchester, United Kingdom), Claire Penn (Wits) and Dave Walker (University of KwaZulu-Natal).

One of the major shifts in the policy environment affecting ASSAf has been the adoption of the White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation in March 2019 which promises a new science and technology landscape for South Africa.

Aimed at positioning the country for the wave of rapid global technological advancement and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the White Paper points the way to boosting economic development and inclusive growth by leveraging the role of science, technology and innovation (STI) in a prosperous and inclusive society.

Specifically, the new White Paper seeks to: • Raise the profile of STI in South Africa by instilling an innovation culture and integrating STI into cross-cutting government planning at the highest levels. • Strengthen partnerships between business, government, academia and civil society, and creating a more enabling environment for STI.

6 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 • Spur innovation for social benefit and fundamental economic transformation. • Expand and transform the human resource base of the national system of innovation. • Increase public and private investment in STI.

As the national academy of science of the country, it is perhaps time to reflect once again on the role and unique position and offerings of an academy.

Academies of science, medicine and engineering are typically independent, national institutions that recognise scholarly excellence and achievement. Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, a founder of the first global network of science academies, the InterAcademy Panel (IAP) defines a science academy as having the characteristics of providing independent critique and ideas; relating to the government of the day, while remaining independent of it; relating to the public; and, establishing interdisciplinary links.

Since its inception in 1996, ASSAf adopted the Preamble to the Constitution of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

“Scientific thought and activity enrich us profoundly; they empower us to understand and to shape our living environment; they are keys that can open the doors to a peaceful and prosperous future. The function of science is to create in a disciplined and systematic way, a continuum of coherent, rational and universally valid insights into observable reality in all its various facets. Scientific thinking and knowledge are fundamental to the best work done in the applied natural sciences and in technology, and this applies also to much of the human and social sciences.

An Academy, which effectively harnesses the minds and energies of the most able practitioners of scientific thought, reflects, as almost nothing else does, the strong bonds between scientific disciplines and the unique character of the scientific contribution to the lives of all citizens. The Academy of Science of South Africa is constituted to ensure that leading scientists, acting in concert and across all disciplines, can promote the advancement of science and technology, can provide effective advice and can facilitate appropriate action in relation to the collective needs, threats, opportunities, and challenges of all South Africans.”

For the past 23 years ASSAf’s offering to society through its authoritative evidence-based studies on a range of pressing challenges of the nation have given voice to the promises embedded in its Constitution.

Landmark evidence-based studies among the 32 consensus studies highlight challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment in the national landscape and uses a knowledge-based economy to encourage redress through recommendations to influence policy.

In the past year, ASSAf published six consensus study reports – The State of Research, Development and In- novation of Electrical Energy Efficiency Technologies in South Africa, Reconceptualising Health Professions Education in South Africa, Human Genetics and Genomics: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications, Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa and two Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Humanities II: Visual and Performing Arts and Communication and Information Sciences, respectively. A study, the Biennial Report on the State of Climate Change Science and Technology in South Africa was completed and will be printed in 2019.

The report Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa builds on an earlier Acad- emy study, namely the PhD Study, published in 2010, which gave a comprehensive overview of, inter alia, the numbers of doctorates being produced, the demographic characteristics, supervisory capacity and how to escalate the production across all disciplinary fields. The report Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa speaks to government priority of strengthening the skills and resource base of SA.

ASSAf’s science advisory function is consistently evidence-based advice, anchored in a distinctive methodology and protocols that enable the Academy to navigate the science landscape as envisaged in the new White Paper.

As one of the custodians of scientific excellence in the country, the Academy of Science of South Africa certainly looks forward to be a critical partner in this new venture.

Prof Jonathan Jansen President

7 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Molaetsa go tswa go Poresidente

Sekolo sa Saense sa Afrika Borwa (The Academy of Science of South Africa [ASSAf]) se tsena mo ngwageng ka Mokaedimogolo (Executive Officer [EO]) yo mosha yo o okametseng setlamo. Fa EO yo o dirileng nako e telele, Porofesa Roseanne Diab, rasaense wa lefaufau, a tsamaya, ASSAf jaanong e etelelwa pele ke moitse yo o itlhomileng kwa pele yo o tswang kwa Yunibesithing ya Witwatersrand, Porofesa Himla Soodyall, yo a ileng a nna karolo ya ASSAf ka 1 November 2018. Ke itumelela go amogela Porofesa Soodyall mo setlhopheng sa bakaedibagolo ba baeteledipele ba Sekolo.

Nngwe ya ditiro tsa rona tsa konokono mme tota e bile e le kgangkgolo ya botshelo jwa Sekolo ke go tlhophiwa ga Maloko a masha. Mo thulaganyong ya bosheng ya go tlhopha go ne go tlhophilwe baithuti ba le 73 go tswa mo mehameng e e farologaneng mme ba le 20 ba ne ba tlhophiwa go nna Maloko a ASSAf. Boikaelelo jo bo tswelelang pele jwa Sekolo ke go oketsa mefuta ya Maloko a rona mme ga jaana re na le 557 (ka 31 March 2019).

Jaaka Maloko a masha a tla, ba bangwe ba a tsamaya mme re utlwisitswe botlhoko ke go latlhe- gelwa ke Maloko a le matlhano a a tlhomologileng a Sekolo: Boporofesa Claire Penn (Wits), Bongani Mayosi (UCT),U Dave Walker (UKZN), Johan Henning (UFS) le Paul O’Brien (Yunibesithi ya Manchester, UK).

Nngwe ya diphetogo tse dikgolo mo molawaneng wa tikologo e e amang ASSAf e nnile go amogela Pampiri e Tshweu ya Saense, Thekenoloji le Tlhabololo (White Paper on Science, Technology and In- novation) ka March 2019 eo e solofetsang popego e ntšha ya saense le thekenoloji mo Afrika Borwa.

Ka boikaelelo jwa go baya naga gore e gatele pele mo go tsa thekenoloji le Phetogo ya Bonè ya Madirelo, Pampiri e Tshweu e supa tsela e e godisang kgatelopele ya ikonomi le kgolo e e kgethegileng ka go bontsha seabe sa saense, thekenoloji le tlhabololo (science, technology and innovation [STI]) mo setšhabeng se se golang le se se akaretsang dilo tse dintsi.

Ka tlhamalalo, Pampiri e ntšha e Tshweu e batla go: • Godisa tiro ya STI mo Afrika Borwa ka go tsenya mokgwa o o tlhabololang le o o kopanyang STI mo pusong e e dirang dilo go rulaganyetsa maemo a a kwa godimo. • Nonotsha dikamano fa gare ga kgwebo, puso, dikolo le setšhaba se se tlhabologileng, le go dira maemo a a tla dirang gore STI e kgone go bereka. • Rotloetsa tlhabololo go solegela setšhaba molemo le go dira phetogo e e tlhokegang ya ikonomi.

8 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 • Godisa le go fetola thulaganyo ya bosetšhaba ya tlhabololo ya didirisiwa tsa batho. • Oketsa peeletso ya morafe le ya poraefete mo STI. Jaaka setheo sa bosetšhaba sa saense mo nageng, gongwe ke nako ya go leba gape seabe le maemo a a kgethegileng dilo tse sekolo di neelanang ka tsone.

Dikolo tsa saense, kalafi le enjenereng ke dikolo tse di ikemetseng tsa bosetšhaba tse di lemogang mat- setseleko le phitlhelelo ya go ithuta. Rre Michael Francis Atiyah, mosimolodi wa dikolo tsa ntlha tsa lefatshe lotlhe tsa saense, Setlhopha sa Dikolo tse di Kopaneng (InterAcademy Panel [IAP]) o tlhalosa sekolo sa saense e le se se nang le mekgwa ya go naya tlhatlhobo le dikakanyo tse di ikemetseng; e e amanang le puso ya gompieno, fa e ntse e sa ikaega ka yone; e e amanang le batho botlhe; le, go tlhoma dikamano tsa kotlhao e e kopaneng.

Fa e sa le e tlhomiwa ka 1996, ASSAf e amogetse Ketapele ya Molaotheo wa Sekolo sa Saense sa Afrika Borwa (the Preamble to the Constitution of the Academy of Science of South Africa).

“Kakanyo le tiro ya saense di re ungwisa thata; di re thusa go tlhaloganya le go rulaganya tikologo e re tshelang mo go yone; ke ditsela tse di ka re bulelang dikgoro tsa go bona isagwe e e nang le kagiso le katlego. Tiro ya saense ke go dira tsela e e siameng le e e rulaganeng sentle, tsweletso ya tsela e e lomaganeng, e e utlwalang le tshedimosetso e e nepileng go lemoga boammaaruri jwa dikarolo tsotlhe tsa yone tse di farologaneng. Go akanya ga saense le kitso go botlhokwa mo tirong e e molemo e e dirwang mo saenseng ya tlholego le thekenoloji, mme gape seno se dira mo bontsing jwa saense ya batho le ya loago.

Sekolo, seo se bopang megopolo le matlhagatlhaga a bontsi jwa badirisi ba kakanyo ya saense, se sekas- eka, jaaka go se sepe se sengwe se se dirang jalo, dikamano tse di nonofileng fa gare ga melao ya saense le mekgwa e e sa tshwaneng le epe ya tlhotlheletso ya saense mo matshelong a baagi botlhe. Sekolo sa Saense sa Afrika Borwa se dirilwe go tlhomamisa gore borasaense ba ba gatetseng pele, ba ba dirang ka ditsela tsotlhe tse di lomaganeng, ba kgona go rotloetsa tswelelopele ya saense le thekenoloji, ba kgona go naya kakantsho e e berekang le go tlhokomela tiro e e maleba e e amanang le go kgobokanngwa ka dilo tse di tlhokegang, matshosetsi, ditshono, le dikgwetlho tsa Maafrika Borwa otlhe.”

Ka dingwaga di le 23 tse di fetileng thuso ya ASSAf mo setšhabeng ka dithuto tsa yone tse di theilweng mo bosuping jo bo tlhomameng jo bo theilweng mo dikgwetlhong tse dikgolo tsa morafe di ka tswa di dirile gore go nne le tsholofelo ya gore di tsenngwe mo Molaotheong wa yone.

Dithuto tsa botlhokwa tse di theilweng mo bosuping mo gare ga dithuto di le 32 tse do dumalanwang ka tsone di bontsha dikgwetlho tsa go sa lekalekane, khumanego le go tlhoka tiro mo morafeng ka kakaretso mme di dirisa ikonomi e e theilweng mo kitsong go rotloetsa go dipuisano go ya ka dikatlenegiso tse di ka tlhotlheletsang molawana.

Mo ngwageng o o fetileng, ASSAf e gatisitse dipego di le thataro tsa thuto tse di dumalanang – The State of Research, Development and Innovation of Electrical Energy Efficiency Technologies in South Africa, Recon- ceptualising Health Professions Education in South Africa, Human Genetics and Genomics: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications, Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa le tse pedi tsa Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Humanities II: Visual and Performing Arts le Communica- tion and Information Sciences, ka go latelana. Biennial Report on the State of Climate Change Science and Technology in South Africa e weditswe le go gatisiwa ka 2019.

Pego ya Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa e ikaegile ka thuto ya pelenyana ya Sekolo, e leng PhD Study, e e gatisitsweng ka 2010, e e nayang tshekatsheko e e feletseng ya, inter alia, palo ya dingaka tse di tlhagisitsweng, dintlha tsa dipalopalo, bokgoni jwa go okamela le go fetisetsa tlhagiso mo dikarolong tsotlhe. Pego ya Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa e bua ka gore puso e tseelwa kwa godimo go nonotsa bokgoni le didirisiwa tsa mo Afrika Borwa.

Tiro ya bagakolodi ba saense ba ASSAf ke go naya kakantsho e e theilweng mo bosuping, e e theilweng mo mokgweng o o tlhomologileng le ditsela tse di thusang Sekolo go dirisa popego ya saense jaaka e akantshiwa mo Pampiring e ntšha e Tshweu.

Jaaka mongwe wa batlhokomedi ba baitse ba saense mo nageng, ruri Sekolo sa Saense sa Afrika Borwa se lebile pele go nna molekane yo o botlhokwa mo tseleng eno e ntšha.

Porof Jonathan Jansen Poresidente

9 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Message from the Executive Officer

I am most grateful to the ASSAf Council for affording me the opportunity to lead the Academy as

the new EO succeeding Prof Roseanne Diab. In the weeks we overlapped between 1 November

2018 to the middle of December, Prof Diab oriented me to the operational activities within ASSAf,

making the transition a smooth and collegial process.

In my first 151 days in this role for the period under review in this Annual Report, I have just ridden the wave created by Prof Diab and staff within the four programmes (Governance & Administra- EOtion; Science Advisory; Scholarly Publishing and Liaison). I would like to acknowledge all the staff who work unstintingly towards delivering on the mandate of ASSAf. It is through their efforts and engagement of the ASSAf Membership and other stakeholders, that we continue to grow the ASSAf footprint of evidence-based science in the service of society.

My first task as incoming EO was to lead a delegation from ASSAf to the AMASA-14 meeting in Cotonou, Benin (15 – 16 November 2018). In addition to ASSAf and the International Science Council Regional Office for Africa (ISC ROA) staff, Prof Barney Pityana (Deputy President of AS- SAf) attended in his capacity as General Secretary of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) and Prof Robin Crewe, past-President of ASSAf and Co-chair of the IAP working group Harnessing Science, Engineering and Medicine to Address Africa’s Challenges were also in attendance. ASSAf’s participation at this meeting highlighted the contribution of ASSAf in advancing the role of woman in science, the support from ASSAf and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in promoting early career scientists on the continent, and the collaboration between ASSAf and various African academies in advancing science for the benefit of society at large.

Before the end of the year, ASSAf in partnership with the National Research Foundation (NRF), hosted the German Research Foundation (DFG) and jointly organised a workshop to inform and raise awareness on the South African and German efforts to support equity in the research land-

10 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 scape. This workshop focused on issues related to gender equity, diversity and inclusion in research, as well as research integrity as it pertains to the evolving aspects of gender-related programmes. ASSAf hosts the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World South African National Chapter (OWSD SANC), as well as the GenderInSITE National Chapter. ASSAf will continue to work with these partners to ensure that the gender lens would be a prominent feature in all of our activities so that we continue to advance the objectives of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, as well as other SDGs which link to this goal directly, or indirectly.

In December 2018 the Department of Science and Technology (DST), in partnership with ASSAf, hosted the first Annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in the implementation of the SDGs. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the cooperation and coordination of efforts in achieving the SDGs, thus informing the DST’s national plan for STI in support of the SDGs. In discussions it was clear that while a multitude of stakeholders and active players were connected to any one SDG, there was a concerning lack of awareness or collaboration between entities and their individual efforts. Going forward, ASSAf is committed to playing the role of fostering partnerships among the various stakeholders working towards achieving the objectives of the SDGs.

ASSAf also partnered with the DST in hosting the first Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) workshop in December 2018. The workshop was aimed at supporting the BRICS memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Cooperation on Science, Technology and Innovation through inter-BRICS Academy collaboration. Discussions focused on aligning the activities of the BRICS Academies of Science to the priorities of the BRICS member states by providing evidence-based science advice to the BRICS Ministerial meetings and other executive structures within BRICS. It was suggested that a Network of BRICS Academies of Science be established to strengthen and sustain productive joint activities within BRICS with a view to augment capacity development in STI and provide evidence-based science advice. Structuring of the network will continue in 2019 when Brazil assumed the role of hosting the BRICS countries.

The calendar year ended with a very successful Science Forum South Africa 2018 (SFSA2018) Conference. The ASSAf team participated in and hosted several sessions with the focus on SDGs, the role of young scientists, gender-related issues and science for policy. As always, this conference affords various stakeholders’ opportunities to “ignite conversations in science”, to network and to foster collaborations locally, regionally within the SADC region and the African continent, as well as with other international partners.

With the new year came the realisation that I was now firmly installed in my new position with the overlap period of the incoming and outgoing EOs ended. The first order of business was to ensure that the Annual Performance Plan (APP) was submitted timeously to the DST. This was followed by the presentation of the APP to the Minister. In quick succession, I hosted the first Council meeting for the year and a Strategic Plan- ning meeting. I used this opportunity to present to Council a summary of the breadth of ASSAf’s footprint in delivering the ASSAf mandate, and conveyed my vision for the Academy going forward. My initial assessment was that we seemed to work in silo’s, and that we could be more impactful if we strategically used the skills available within ASSAf to achieve our goals and objectives. I will focus more on this as we work on our next Five-year Strategic Plan.

Leadership is learned, but respect is earned. Very few people get an opportunity to take on new challenges while thriving on issues that they are passionate about. I have both opportunities in this position. Together, the staff and I will strive to conduct our activities with the utmost of pride, dignity, respect and in keeping with the highest ethical code of conduct while we continue to use science to address issues of relevance to society.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the DST for the warm welcome to ASSAf and the support in growing the ASSAf brand.

Prof Himla Soodyall Executive Officer

11 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 PartA A: Strategic Overview

12 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 1 Vision

The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) aspires to be the apex organisation for science and scholarship in South Africa, recognised and connected both nationally and internationally. Through its Membership which represents the collective voice of the most active scholars in all fields of scholarly en- quiry, ASSAf aims to generate evidence-based solutions to national problems.

2 Mission

The mission of the Academy is to: • Recognise scholarly achievement and excellence in the application of scientific thinking for the benefit of society. • Mobilise Members to ensure that they are available to contribute their expertise in the service of society. • Conduct systematic and evidence-based studies on issues of national importance, producing authoritative reports that have significant impact on policymaking. • Promote the development of an indigenous system of South African research publications, increasing their quality, visibility, accessibility and impact. • Publish science-focused periodicals that will showcase the best of southern African research to a wide national and international audience. • Develop productive partnerships with national, regional and international organisations with a view to building our capacity in science and its application within the National System of Innovation (NSI). • Create diversified sources of funding for sustainable functioning and growth of a national academy. • Communicate effectively with relevant stakeholders through various media and fora.

3 Values

ASSAf’s strength resides in the quality and diversity of its Membership; internationally renowned scholars elected by their peers, who give of their time voluntarily in the service of society. The Membership could be regarded as the ‘brains trust’ of the nation. ASSAf is able to use its Membership as a collective resource for evidence-based solutions to national problems. Through the well-recognised convening power of academies, ASSAf is able to mobilise the best scientific minds from across the nation, as well as internationally, to provide authoritative advice to government and other stakeholders based on scientifically rigorous analysis of evidence and consensus of diverse experts. As such, ASSAf is an independent, non-biased and cred- ible source of scientific advice. The diversity of its Membership, embracing the full disciplinary spectrum, enables ASSAf to focus on issues of a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral nature and to bring the strengths of a fully inclusive approach to bear on the issues of national and international concern.

ASSAf fully embraces the principles espoused in the Constitution of South Africa.

The further value of the Academy is its promotion of excellence through election to Academy Membership and awards, and the fostering of scholarly activity through the provision of fora for scholarly activities and debate.

Science advisory activities in support of policy development are a common feature of academies around the world, all using an evidence-based approach based on the convening of experts with diverse perspectives to discuss and illuminate issues.

It is important to distinguish the niche of the Academy from other organisations within the NSI in terms of science advice. Key universal elements of academy advice are that it is: • Authoritative • Independent • Objective • Free of vested interests • Trusted • Based on volunteer contributions • Based on rigorous analysis of evidence and peer review • Transparent • Multi-disciplinary and able to address complex issues that transcend disciplinary boundaries.

13 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 4 Legislative and Other Mandates

The Academy’s activities are guided by the ASSAf Act (No 67 of 2001), as amended by the Science and Technology Laws Amendment Acts (No 16 of 2011 and No 7 of 2014), and a set of established regulations that collectively comprise the Academy’s Constitution.

4.1 The Academy of Science of South Africa Act (No 67 of 2001)

This Act establishes the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), which provides evidence-based scientific advice on issues of public interest to government and other stakeholders. ASSAf regularly publishes its findings and recommendations. It acknowledges the achievements of South African scientists in order to develop the intellectual capacity of the nation and promote innovative, scholarly thinking.

4.2 Science and Technology Laws Amendment Acts (No 16 of 2011 and No 7 of 2014)

The purpose of the Acts was to amend the Acts of various science entities, including ASSAf, so as to harmonise processes relating to membership of boards.

Additional policies that are taken into account when identifying strategic priorities of ASSAf are: • Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) (No 1 of 1999). • National priorities outlined in the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF). • White Paper on Science and Technology (1996). • Ten-Year Innovation Plan for Science and Technology (2008 – 2018). • New Growth Path (2010). • National Skills Development Strategy (2011). • National Development Plan (NDP) (2012). • White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation (2019).

5 Organisational Structure

As a Membership-based organisation, the key intellectual resources of the Academy reside in its Member- ship, which currently comprises 557 Members as at the end of March 2019. Twenty new Members were elected in 2018. Five Members of the Academy, Professors Johan Henning (University of the Free State (UFS)), Bongani Mayosi (University of Cape Town (UCT)), Paul O’Brien (University of Manchester, United Kingdom (UK)), Claire Penn (University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)) and Dave Walker University of KwaZulu- Natal (UKZN)) passed away during the year.

14 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The secretariat, with 37 staff members, is headed by an Executive Officer (EO), Prof Himla Soodyall, who succeeded Prof Roseanne Diab in this position from 1 November 2018.

During the reporting year, there were three resignations and three new staff members appointed to fill vacant positions.

ASSAf has been the host organisation of the International Council for Science (ICSU) Regional Office for Africa (ROA), now renamed as the International Science Council (ISC) Regional Office for Africa (ROA) with effect from May 2015, and which is planned for a period of five years. Since March 2015, ASSAf has also hosted The World Academy of Sciences Regional Office of sub-Saharan Africa (TWAS ROSSA), now renamed as TWAS Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Partner (SAREP). The responsibilities attached to these two offices align closely with ASSAf’s strategic goals and strengthen co-operation within Africa.

Since 2008, ASSAf has hosted the National Chapter of the Organisation of Women in Science for the Devel- oping World (OWSD), which provides an anchor for ASSAf’s gender and science activities.

Human resources, financial and information technology (IT) services are provided as part of the hosting agreement.

ASSAf continues to provide secretariat support to the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). Office space and support services (such as IT, finance) are provided to the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE) at no cost.

The ISC ROA comprises five fixed-term employment staff members, an intern and one part-time employee.

The activities of the Academy are structured into four programmes as follows: Governance and Administra- tion Programme; Scholarly Publishing Programme; Liaison Programme; and Science Advisory Programme.

ASSAf is currently accommodated in rented premises in Persequor Park, Pretoria. The lease has been re- newed until June 2020. The acquisition of a building remains a key imperative for ASSAf in order to avoid the escalating rental costs, to cater for expansions and to be able to secure a permanent home for the Academy.

15 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 6 Council

ASSAf is governed by a Council, comprising 12 elected members and a 13th member appointed by the Minister as a representative of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI).

6.1 Council Composition

President Vice-Presidents

Prof Jonathan Jansen is the imme- Prof Nyameko Barney Pityana was Prof Brenda Wingfield holds the diate past Vice-Chancellor (VC) the Rector of the College of the Department of Science and Tech- and Rector of the University of the Transfiguration, Grahamstown. He nology-National Research Foun- Free State (UFS) and currently Dis- is the former Principal and VC of dation (DST-NRF) South African tinguished Professor in the Faculty the University of South Africa (Uni- Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) of Education at the Stellenbosch sa). He was Chairperson of Higher Chair in Fungal Genomics and is University (SU). He is a Fellow of the Education South Africa and Chair- Professor of Genetics at the Uni- American Educational Research man of the African Council for Dis- versity of Pretoria (UP). She also Association, a Fellow of The World tance Education. served as the Chair of the Nation- Academy of Sciences (TWAS) al Science and Technology Fo- and also President of the South rum (NSTF) until recently and is the African Institute of Race Rela- recipient of the prestigious Harry tions. His book, Knowledge in the Oppenheimer Fellowship for her Blood: Confronting Race and the outstanding research. Apartheid Past published in 2009 won the Nayef Al Rodhan Prize, the largest award from the British Academy for the social sciences and humanities, for its contribution to scholarly excellence and trans- cultural understanding. In 2013, he was awarded the Education Africa Lifetime Achiever Award in New York and the Spendlove Award from the University of Cali- fornia for his contributions to toler- ance, democracy and human rights. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Vermont and Cleveland State University. His recent books include As by Fire – The End of the South African University on the current crisis in, and future prospects of, the South African university, and Leading for Change.

16 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 General Secretary Treasurer

Prof Himla Soodyall is a Principal Prof Sabiha Essack is the DST-NRF Prof Thomas Eugene Cloete is Medical Scientist at the National SARChI Research Chair in Antibi- Vice-Rector, Research and Inno- Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) otic Resistance and One Health vation at SU. He is a former recipi- and Associate Professor at Wits. and Professor in Pharmaceutical ent of the ASSAf Science-for-Soci- She is a recipient of the National Sciences at the UKZN. ety Gold Medal award. He is the Order of Mapungubwe (Bronze). Founding Director of the SU Water She resigned in October 2018 Institute. when she was appointed EO of ASSAf. She was succeeded by Prof Sabiha Essack.

Council Members

Prof Stephanie Burton is Vice-Prin- Prof Wim de Villiers succeeded Prof Norman Duncan is Professor cipal: Research and Postgradu- Prof Himla Soodyall who was ap- in Psychology and Vice-Principal: ate Education at UP. pointed as EO of ASSAf in No- Academic at UP. vember 2018. He is Rector and Vice-Chancellor of SU, Vice-Chair- person of Universities South Africa (USAf) and a Council Member of the Association of Common- wealth Universities (ACU).

17 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Prof Johann Mouton is Professor Prof Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya is Prof Mary Scholes is a Professor in in, and Director of the Centre for the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC): the School of Animal, Plant and Research on Evaluation, Science Research and Innovation of the Environmental Sciences at Wits. and Technology (CREST) and the North-West University (NWU) and She serves as Vice-Chairperson for DST-NRF Centre of Excellence Honorary Professor at Nelson Man- the Climate Change, Agriculture for Scientometrics and Science, dela University (NMU). and Food Security Committee, Technology and Innovation Poli- Max-Planck-Institute for Chemis- cy at SU. try and the Secretary-General for the Standing Committee of Pub- lic Enterprise. She succeeded Prof Shireen Hassim who resigned to accept a position abroad.

NACI Representative

Prof Zeblon Vilakazi is DVC: Re- Dr Shadrack Moephuli is the search and Postgraduate Affairs President and Chief Executive at Wits. Officer (CEO) of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and is appointed by the DST Minister as a NACI representative.

18 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Advisors

Prof Wieland Gevers is Emeritus Prof Evance Rabban Kalula is Pro- Prof Sunil Maharaj is Director of Professor of Medical Biochemistry fessor and Director of the Inter- the Astrophysics and Cosmology and former Senior DVC at UCT. national Academic Programmes Research Unit and holds the SAR- He is a former President of ASSAf Office and the Confucius Insti- ChI Research Chair in Gravitating (1998 – 2004), a Fellow of TWAS tute. He holds a personal chair as Systems and is a Senior Professor and a recipient of the National Professor of Employment Law and of Applied Mathematics at the Order of Mapungubwe (Silver). Social Security, UCT. UKZN. He is the former Treasurer of ASSAf (2011 – 2016).

19 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 6.2 Council Meeting Attendance

The ASSAf Council met five times during 2018/19, one being the Strategic Planning Meeting held on 12 February 2019. Office-bearers’ attendance of the Council meetings averaged 96%, while the average attendance rate of non-office-bearers, including the Advisors to Council, was 56%.

Council Members Attendance Prof Stephanie Burton 2 Prof Eugene Cloete 5 Prof Wim de Villiers 0 Prof Norman Duncan 4 Prof Sabiha Essack 5 Prof Wieland Gevers1 5 Prof Jonathan Jansen 5 Prof Evance Kalula1 1 Prof Sunil Maharaj1 3 Dr Shadrack Moephuli 4 Prof Johann Mouton 2 Prof Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya 4 Prof Barney Pityana 5 Prof Himla Soodyall2 3 Prof Mary Scholes 3 Prof Zeblon Vilakazi 1 Prof Brenda Wingfield 5 1 Council Advisors. 2 Appointed EO of ASSAf on 1 November 2018.

20 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 21 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Part BB: Peformance Information

22 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 1 Overview

1.1 Service Delivery Environment

ASSAf is the official national science academy of South Africa, established by an Act of Parliament (No 67 of 2001), as amended, and represents South Africa in the international community of science academies.

ASSAf is part of a network of over 130 global science academies known as the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) and is also a member of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC).

ASSAf has a dual role – to honour distinguished scholars through election to Membership of the Academy, and to provide science advice to government and other stakeholders on critical national and global issues.

ASSAf’s science advisory role in support of policy development is informed by key national challenges, particularly those outlined in the NDP, and is executed in both a responsive and proactive manner. ASSAf strives to address cross-cutting and complex issues that suit the particular convening strength and niche of an Academy. The Academy’s strength lies in undertaking in-depth, evidence-based studies, and also seeks to implement projects in collaboration with other science academies in Africa and abroad, in its efforts to influence regional and global policy.

ASSAf has been the host organisation of ISC ROA with effect from May 2015, and which is planned for a period of five years. Since March 2015, ASSAf has also hosted the The World Academy of Sciences Sub- Saharan Africa Regional Partner (TWAS SAREP). The responsibilities attached to these two offices align closely with ASSAf’s strategic goals and strengthen co-operation within Africa.

ASSAf supported the founding of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) and continues to provide secretariat support and funding to support their activities. Office space and support services are provided to the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE) at no cost.

ASSAf continues to act as secretariat to the Committee of Heads of Organisations for Research and Tech- nology (COHORT).

1.2 Alignment with Government Policies

ASSAf is committed to the outcomes approach as developed by government (http://www.info.gov.za/ issues/outcomes/index.html).

It will contribute towards addressing impact indicators and achieving outputs and targets associated with the 14 outcomes outlined in the government’s MTSF for 2015 to 2020 that have been linked to objectives set in the NDP.

In order for ASSAf to fulfil its science advisory role regarding key challenges facing the nation, a variety of consensus studies and policy commentaries are undertaken. Over and above their scientific advisory function, evidence-based study activities provide an important mechanism for establishing and strengthening international links, securing external project-related funding, and in mobilising ASSAf Members to volunteer their service on committees and panels. Studies generally fall into broad categories related to health; education; climate change; energy; the science-policy nexus; biosafety and biosecurity; and poverty reduction. Once concluded, considerable effort is expended in disseminating the findings to ensure effective uptake of the recommendations and enhance their impact.

23 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Their alignment with government priorities and DST’s grand challenges is shown in the following table. DST Grand Challenges ASSAf Evidence-based Study Activities Government Priorities From Farmer to Pharma • Genetically modified organisms • Improvement of rural development (Biotechnology) (GMOs) in African agriculture: and food security Challenges & opportunities • Improvement of health profile of • Regulation of Agricultural genetic society modification (GM) Technology • Strengthening of the skills and • Clinical Research & Related Training resource base of SA in SA • Improved Nutritional Assessment • State of Biosafety & Biosecurity in SA • The Regulatory Implications of New Breeding Techniques • Legal, Ethical and Social Considerations of Human Genetics and Genomics • Revitalising Agricultural Education and Training in SA Space Science and Technology (S&T) Energy • Improving Access to Energy in sub- • Improvement of rural development Saharan Africa and food security • Nuclear Energy Safety • Improvement of environmental assets • State of Energy Research in SA and natural resources • Technical Readiness of SA for the Shale Gas Industry • State of Green Technologies in SA • State of Energy Efficiency in SA Global Change • Low Carbon Cities • Improvement of environmental assets • Science, Water and Sanitation and natural resources • State of Green Technologies in SA • Technological Innovations for a Low Carbon Society • Environment and Health • Biennial Review of the State of Climate Science Research and Technology in SA • Mid-term Review of Global Change Grand Challenge Human and Social Dynamics • PhD Study • Strengthening of the skills and • State of Humanities in SA resource base of SA • STEM Education • Scholarly Publishing Programme • Revitalising Agricultural Education and Training in SA

The triple challenges of the NDP, namely unemployment, poverty and inequality are addressed largely through ASSAf’s third goal related to the provision of evidence-based scientific advice. Through the ASSAf Standing Committee on Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality (SCSfRPI), appropriate studies are identified and implemented.

24 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Contribution to the Reduction of Poverty, Inequality and Unemployment

ASSAf Contribution Poverty Inequality Unemployment Direct In 2015, the Standing Transformation of the AS- Employment of DST/NRF interns and Committee on Science SAf Membership in terms ensuring that they are equipped for the Reduction of of race and gender. with marketable skills. Poverty and Inequality was reconstituted and Ensuring that the Mem- renamed to align more bership of ASSAf panels closely with the NDP triple and committees is fully challenges of poverty, representative in terms of inequality and unemploy- race and gender. ment.

Published a policymakers’ booklet on Social Protec- tion in Africa. Indirect Hosted the Annual Meet- The values of ASSAf, Raising of science awareness and ing of African Science which was formed explic- providing information on science Academies (AMASA) in itly after the democratic careers through the publication of November 2016, with the elections in 1994, fully Quest science magazine. theme Poverty Reduction. embrace the principles of the Constitution of SA.

1.3 Significant Developments/Major Projects

Authoritative evidence-based studies aimed at providing critical scientific advice take cognisance of the NDP’s triple challenges, as well as the government outcomes. Many of the Academy’s current studies address skills development challenges for a knowledge-based economy. ASSAf published six consensus study reports during the year – The State of Research, Development and Innovation of Electrical Energy Efficiency Technologies in South Africa, Reconceptualising Health Professions Education in South Africa, Human Genetics and Genomics: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications, Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa and two Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Humanities II: Visual and Performing Arts and Communication and Information Sciences, respectively. A study, the Bien- nial Report on the State of Climate Change Science and Technology in South Africa was completed and will be printed in 2019.

A concise report of Human Genetics and Genomics: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications was also published. The report Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa was undertaken on behalf of the DST and builds on an earlier Academy study, namely the PhD Study, published in 2010, which gave a comprehensive overview of, inter alia, the numbers of doctorates being produced, the demographic characteristics, supervisory capacity and how to escalate the production across all disciplinary fields. The report Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa speaks to government priority of strengthening the skills and resource base of SA. The Biennial Report on the State of Climate Change Science and Technology in South Africa was presented to the DST Executive Commit- tee on 12 February 2019. It was well received with explicit compliments on certain sections. A section was added to the report which synthesised key (national) developments as a result of national research and development (R&D). The report was presented to the Economic Sectors, Employment and Infrastructure Development Cluster (ESEID) meeting on 14 March 2019 and was well received. The report was meant to be tabled at the Cabinet meeting of 27 March 2019. This was postponed until after the elections.

ASSAf currently has a Membership of 557 top scholars in South Africa across diverse scientific disciplines who could be regarded as the ‘brains trust’ of the nation to be drawn upon as a collective resource for evidence-based solutions to national problems.

Scientific Electronic Library Online South Africa (SciELO SA), has the first fully open access (OA) platform for scholarly publishing in South Africa and on the continent, 1 739 South African open access journal issues on the platform, 27 619 articles and 76 journal titles. Comparative statistics show a 47% increase in views from March 2018 to March 2019. http://www.scielo.org.za/ scielo. php? script=sci_alphabetic&lng=en&nrm=iso

25 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Internationally, ASSAf has strengthened collaboration with African and overseas academies of science. It continues to represent South Africa on a number of continental and global science advice bodies, including NASAC and the IAP. ASSAf also hosts two regional offices of key international partners, namely ISC and TWAS.

1.4 Service Delivery Improvement Plan

With its Membership its biggest strength, one of the challenges facing the Academy is the need to transform its Membership better to reflect transformation and equality as envisaged in the Constitution.

The Academy has embarked on a dedicated drive to enhance its Membership transformation through greater regionalisation of activities with regular networking and information sharing sessions at universities around the country.

As part of its Member engagement, and to further its profile and mandate of pursuing an evidence-based approach to building knowledge, the Academy has embarked on a series of round-table discussions around the country to discuss science and society and address and draw national and international attention to issues of pressing public concern.

ASSAf has been actively involved in the international community of academies of science and has started to align itself more strategically with academies in important groupings, such as the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) group.

ASSAf’s contribution to improving and supporting scholarly publishing in multiple ways was viewed as a groundbreaking initiative. The African Open Science Platform (AOSP) initiative which started in 2016 promotes the development and coordination of data policies, data training and data infrastructure. AOSP continued to explore the African landscape in terms of open data, and valuable relationships were established with many key stakeholders. This project was officially launched at Science Forum South Africa (SFSA2018).

While ASSAf’s activities are niched within its four programmes, the mandate of evidence-based science in the service of society is primarily driven by the Science Advisory Programme. The EO’s vision going forward is to transform the Academy into becoming more activity-driven in three broad categories: science for science, science for society and science for policy. These will be driven with a solid research agenda and backed up by other activities such as lectures and workshops that will engage multiple stakeholders, with a strong commitment to advancing the role of women and young scientists in these activities.

A strategic approach in the science engagement and science communication mandate is needed. AS- SAf has several stakeholders and different outputs. Activities should be aligned to specific stakeholders and to stimulate public dialogue around these initiatives. Different audiences are to be targeted to reach a vision of science for science (eg. academics, South African Journal of Science (SAJS), Quest magazine), science for policy (government departments) and science for society (all levels of society) through its various activities.

In building an Academy that is more representative of the South African demography, ASSAf recognises that a better pipeline of scholars who meet the requirement of academic excellence and service to society is to be created. ASSAf is working towards preparing future professors through a process of mentorship and building capacity through seeking out talent and nurturing these scholars to overcoming obstacles in the pipeline. Once a pool of academics with these attributes is established, better outcomes for the nomination process for ASSAf Membership can be expected.

1.5 Strategic Outcome-Oriented Goals

The ASSAf Act provides the framework for identifying the Academy’s overarching goals, within which the strategic priorities and focus for the next five-year period are outlined.

Overarching goals of ASSAf are as follows: • Recognition and reward of excellence • Promotion of innovation and scholarly activity • Promotion of effective, evidence-based scientific advice • Promotion of public interest in and awareness of science and science education • Promotion of national, regional and international linkages

26 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 These are closely aligned with those of the NDP and the DST as shown in the following summary table. The broad goals of government, applicable within the context of ASSAf activities, are as follows: • Responsive, coordinated and efficient NSI • Increased knowledge generation • Human capital development • Using knowledge for economic development • Knowledge utilisation for inclusive development

Strategic Outcome-oriented Activities Government Goal Goals Statements 1 Recognition and reward of • Targeted Membership drives to increase and • Human capital excellence diversify Academy Membership development • Award of Science-for-Society gold medals annually • Award of Humanities Book Prize • Support of South African Young Academy of Science • Nomination of SA scientists for international awards and opportunities 2 Promotion of innovation and • Hosting of Distinguished Visiting Scholar annually • Human capital scholarly activity • Hosting of regional scholarly lectures development • Hosting of annual ASSAf Humanities Lecture • Publication of SA Journal of Science • Convening of workshops/symposia on a wide variety of topics • Conducting project-related activities • Implementation of Scholarly Publishing Programme • Promotion of young scientists’ activities • Promotion of women in science activities 3 Promotion of effective, • Implementation of Scholarly Publishing Programme • Increased knowledge evidence-based scientific • Implementation of evidence-based studies in generation advice targeted areas such as health, education, climate • Human capital change, energy, etc. development • Dissemination of study reports for improved uptake • Using knowledge and impact of evidence-based studies for economic development 4 Promotion of public interest • Publication and promotion of Quest: Science for • Human capital in and awareness of science South Africa magazine development and science education • Participation in national science events • Hosting of public lectures on a wide variety of topics • Implementation of STEM Education Committee activities 5 Promotion of national, • Strengthening and initiating bilateral Academy • Increased knowledge regional and international agreements generation linkages • Strengthening and initiating science academies in Africa, particularly the SADC region • Taking a leadership role in implementing the NASAC Strategy 2016-2020 • Hosting and support for ISC ROA and TWAS SAREP

The triple challenges of the NDP, namely unemployment, poverty and inequality are addressed largely through ASSAf’s third goal related to the provision of evidence-based scientific advice. Through the SCSfRPI, appropriate studies are identified and implemented. The NDP acknowledges the role that STI can play in addressing poverty, unemployment and inequality. ASSAf has begun to identify a transformation strategy and implementation plan in which its work within the NSI could contribute to the reduction of inequality, poverty and unemployment. ASSAf’s activities to promote international liaison will align with the NDP’s Chapter 7 (Positioning South Africa in the World) and respond directly to the MTSF outcome 11: Creating a better South Africa and contributing to a better and safer Africa in a better world.

27 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 2 Performance Information by Programme

2.1 Programme 1: Governance and Administration

This programme is central to the efficient functioning of the Academy, providing essential administrative and financial support to the Council and the secretariat. The programme is also responsible for all reporting requirements and compliance matters, including the annual audits, the Strategic Plan, the Annual Performance Plan (APP) and quarterly reports. A monitoring and evaluation component is also part of this programme’s responsibilities.

2.1.1 Governance

The overall strategic objective is to ensure good governance of the Academy through the ASSAf Council. This includes execution of Council elections, support of Council meetings and committees, efficient and effective execution of Council resolutions and efficient and effective financial and human resource management activities.

Four Council meetings are held each year, with a fifth being held in the year of new Council elections. Standing committees of Council include the Audit and Risk Committee, the Human Resources Committee and the Executive Committee, which are tasked with taking decisions in the intervals between Council meetings. The Annual General Meeting was held on 10 October 2018 and was attended by some 30 Members.

Academy governance activities are executed in accordance with the requirements as outlined in the AS- SAf Act and the Science and Technology Laws Amendment Acts. A concerted effort, hampered by bud- getary constraints, is being made to ensure full compliance with the PFMA and the Treasury regulations.

Council is the highest decision-making body of the Academy entrusted with the responsibility to ensure smooth and effective governance in the execution of the Academy’s mandate. All activities relating to the ASSAf Council, ASSAf legislation and regulations fall into this sub-programme.

2.1.2 Finance and Risk

This sub-programme ensures that financial management systems are in place so that ASSAf’s resources are prudently and optimally utilised. Compliance is central to all activities.

Responsibilities include budgeting, financial reporting, procurement and risk management. With effect from mid-2015, there has been an increased focus on supply chain management and risk management.

Four Audit and Risk Committee meetings were held during the reporting year.

2.1.3 Human Resources

This function provides ASSAf with human resources management services as follows: staff recruitment and retention; staff training and development; staff performance monitoring; staff disciplinary procedures; development and implementation of human resources systems; and development, implementation and monitoring of organisational policies and procedures.

The secretariat, with 37 staff members, is headed by an EO. Prof Himla Soodyall started as EO on 1 Novem- ber 2018, succeeding Prof Roseanne Diab who retired at the end of December 2018.

Three staff members resigned and three new staff members joined ASSAf.

ASSAf currently hosts the ISC ROA and provides human resources, financial and information technology services as part of the hosting agreement. The ISC ROA comprises five fixed-term employment staff members and one intern.

28 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU), although no longer a majority union, remains a substantively representative union within the organisation. A Relationship Agreement has been drafted to regulate the relationship between the parties.

The Human Resources Committee of the ASSAf Council meets on a monthly basis, except for during the wage negotiations period when more regular meetings are held at shorter intervals. The NEHAWU de- clared a deadlock during the last wage negotiations meeting and has since referred the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration for arbitration.

2.1.4 Knowledge Management

This is a new function, the need for which has been identified as a result of ASSAf’s increased activities and an increased focus on reporting and compliance. It involves, inter alia, the development of systems and processes for comprehensive records and documents management, both electronic and paper-based, to support decision-making and performance auditing.

All ASSAf reports are digitally archived in the Research Repository allowing for impact monitoring, specifically downloads and citations.

2.1.5 Communication

The main purpose of this sub-programme is to provide effective and targeted communication with ASSAf stakeholders to support the vision of the Academy to be the apex organisation of science and scholarship in South Africa and to increase the visibility and standing of ASSAf. It aims to build the ASSAf brand and to communicate the achievements of ASSAf and its Members to ASSAf stakeholders. ASSAf stakeholders include Members, representatives of government and science councils, universities, sponsors and the public.

The sub-programme ensured visibility of ASSAf and its activities in the media through the issue of 27 media releases. The print, online and broadcast media are monitored regularly to determine uptake and impact of Academy activities. The Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) summary for ASSAf news generated some R 5 485 124. AVE is a measure used to calculate the rand value benefit to ASSAf from media coverage.

The sub-programme is also responsible for the ASSAf website, the quarterly ASSAf e-newsletter and the production of reports. Four Science-for-Society e-newsletters were distributed, reaching some 12 000 recipients per edition.

ASSAf has introduced a social media strategy and policy and has seen a significant increase in following.

The sub-programme undertook the production of 15 reports, of which six were consensus studies. An e- publication strategy for study reports has been adopted, thereby considerably reducing production and printing cost of ASSAf’s various reports. The ASSAf evidence-based reports produced were:

The State of Research, Development and Innovation of Electrical Energy Efficiency Technologies in South Africa – June 2018 Reconceptualising Health Professions Education in South Africa – June 2018 Human Genetics and Genomics: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications – December 2018 Human Genetics and Genomics: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications Concise – December 2018 Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa – March 2019 Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Humanities II: Visual and Performing Arts – Septem- ber 2018 Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Communication and Information Sciences – March 2019 Proceedings Report – 3rd Worldwide Meeting of National Young Academies – May 2018 Proceedings Report – 3rd South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) Science and Society Sympo- sium – June 2018 Proceedings Report – The State of Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity in the Southern African Develop- ment Community (SADC) Region – July 2018 Proceedings Report – SAYAS Food Security and Policy Workshop: Policy Direction, Eradication of Hunger and Achievement of Food Security – September 2018 Proceedings Report – Neonicotinoids and Their Impact on Ecosystem Services for Agriculture and Biodiver- sity in Africa – February 2019

29 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Proceedings Report – Poverty, Inequality and Global Climate Change: Connecting the Discussions – March 2019 Proceedings Report – Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Annual Multi-stakeholder Forum – March 2019

In addition, the 2017/18 ASSAf Annual Report was produced in August 2018 and the ASSAf APP 2019/20 in March 2019.

Various online platforms were supported. The ASSAf website had 33 498 sessions over the period under review, with 67 824 page views. A total of 130 posts was loaded.

An ASSAf Facebook account was established on 27 May 2016; the account had 1 191 Followers at the end of March 2019. Over the period under review the page received 496 Likes with an average post reach of 550 users per posts and 6 837 engagements on all posts during the period.

ASSAf has grown its Twitter follower audience from 3 338 on 1 April 2018 to 5 303 on 31 March 2019. The Twitter account had an average post reach of 15 000 users per post and 5 663 engagements on all post during the period.

The sub-programme delivered support to 40 conferences, workshops and other events hosted by the Academy.

Table 1: Programme 1: Strategic Objective Annual Targets and Performance Indicators for 2018/19

Strategic Planned Performance Actual Actual Variance Status Comment objective target indicator performance performance 2017/18 2018/19 No media Exceeded Increased ASSAf 20 28 27 +7 To increase the releases target activities visibility and No issues standing of electronic 4 4 4 - Achieved ASSAf Science-for- Society newsletter

2.2 Programme 2: Scholarly Publishing Programme

The Scholarly Publishing Programme (SPP) is regarded as a major intervention into the NSI in South Africa. The strategic goal of the SPP is to enhance the national capacity to produce and publish research, on the one hand, and to increase the quality and visibility of South African research publications, on the other. It is also making a valuable contribution to improved access to international scholarly publications, an essential ingredient for human capital development in a modern, rapidly developing knowledge-based economy such as South Africa.

30 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The responsibilities for the publication of the South African Journal of Science (SAJS) and Quest: Science for South Africa (Quest) are also included in this programme, consolidating all ASSAf’s activities related to scholarly publishing in a single programme. The SAJS aims to promote the visibility and impact of South African and African research and Quest promotes awareness of science amongst the youth.

Activities of this programme are clustered into the following three thrusts: • Open Science • Quality Assurance • Research Publishing

2.2.1 Open Science

SciELO SA: Open Access Platform

The Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) SA Collection (www.scielo.org.za) was started in 2009 as a full-text searchable database of selected, high-quality open access South African scholarly journals.

There are currently 1 739 South African open access journal issues on the Scientific Electronic Library On- line - South Africa (SciELO SA platform), 27 619 articles and 76 journal titles. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo. php?script=sci_alphabetic&lng=en&nrm=iso

Due to reprioritisation of the budget within ASSAf some new titles were added to the collection this year.

The usage of the articles in the platform attests to the value the platform offers. The total number of views of South African open access research via SciELO SA since 2009 totals more than 16,5 million to date.

All SciELO SA journals assign digital object identifiers (DOIs) to articles to provide a persistent link to their location on the Internet. Most of the journals have been included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

The SciELO Network celebrated its 20-year anniversary in September 2018 in São Paulo, Brazil. Mrs Susan Veldsman and Mrs Louise van Heerden attended the national collection meeting and conference and Mrs Van Heerden presented a paper on SciELO SA: Past, Present and Future.

At the end of November 2018, the bi-annual evaluation by the SciELO Network took place to assess whether the SciELO SA collection is adhering to the strict criteria and that all the titles adhere to the SciELO Cita- tion Index (which forms part of the Web of Knowledge (WoK) search portal) criteria with regard to publishing according to the stated periodicity. The collection was awarded a score of 98,8%.

SciELO SA Collection (1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019)

Date Articles Issues Titles Date 1 April 2018 24 104 1 526 72 1 April 2018 31 March 2019 27 619 1 739 76 31 March 2019 Percentage Collection Increase 5,5%

31 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 ASSAf Research Repository

At the end of March 2019 the ASSAf Research Repository included 89 publications http://research.assaf.org.za/. The collection includes ASSAf Consensus Study Reports, Workshop Proceedings and Other Reports, Policy- makers’ Booklets, and Quest.

The number of views and downloads increased exponentially over the past year:

End March 2018 End March 2019 % Increase Views 18 698 36 664 96.09 Downloads 10 492 24 555 134.04

The top ten downloaded ASSAf publications at the end of March 2019 were as follows

Publication title Downloads 1 State of Biosafety and Biosecurity in South Africa 2 435 2 South Africa’s Technical Readiness to Support the Shale Gas Industry 2 236 3 Legends of South African Science 2 176 4 Reconceptualising Health Professions Education in South Africa 1 527 5 The State of Climate Change Science and Technology in South Africa 1 443 6 Evidence-based Practice: ‘Double Symposium’ Proceedings on Problems, Possibilities and Politics 1 183 7 Quest Volume 13 Number 2 2017 891 8 Regulatory Implications of New Breeding Techniques 885 9 Revitalising Agricultural Education and Training in South Africa 820 10 Social Protection in Africa 683

African Open Science Platform (AOSP)

The AOSP project is now in its third and final year (November 2018 – October 2019). Findings from the first two years of the AOSP were documented in a landscape report to inform the next phase, which vision is: “African scientists are at the cutting-edge of contemporary, data-intensive science as a fundamental resource for a modern society. They are innovative global exponents and advocates of open science, and leaders in addressing African and Global Challenges”. The landscape study reported on existing policies in and open data, training opportunities in data science, incentives for sharing data, and the current information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. Frameworks were developed to guide Afri- can countries towards the implementation of open data policies, establishing ICT infrastructures enabling collaboration and data sharing, creating opportunities for data science training and incentivising the sharing of data and research. Both the landscape report and frameworks are expected to inform future global partnerships, funding for the next phase, and contribute to Africa being a global partner in data science.

AOSP had two opportunities to test the findings from the landscape report. A presentation was made during a meeting of the Network of Data and Information Curation Communities (NeDICC) on 14 March 2019, as well as during the UP and Carnegie Corporation of New York Capstone Conference on 26 March 2019.

Open Access Week

The University of Limpopo, in collaboration with the DVC Research, Innovation and Partnerships and the library, hosted a one-day symposium on open science during the Open Access Week 15 & 16 October 2018. Mrs S Veldsman made a presentation on The Role of Open Access in Scholarly Communication. She participated in a panel discussion on open access on a documentary on the plea for open access publishing from the research community, which resulted in expensive ‘pay-to-publish’ models from publishers. It questions the rationale behind the $25.2 billion a year that flows into for-profit academic publishers, examines the 35 – 40% profit margin associated with the top academic publisher Elsevier and looks at how that profit margin is often greater than some of the most profitable technology companies like Apple, Facebook and Google.

32 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 OJS Journals Platform

ASSAf hosts six open access journals, including the South African Journal of Science (SAJS), on this platform, which provides online journal content management through open source software, Open Journal Systems (OJS).

The first User Group Meeting of the ASSAf OJS Journals was held on 4 – 5 June 2018 in Pretoria. The editors and journal managers of the six journals on the platform comprise the user group. The meeting included discussions on the future of the platform, a formal memorandum of agreement and business plan, as well as OJS technical training.

Altmetric – a programme which provides a score or article-level metric that indicates engagement via Facebook, Twitter, social bookmarking, blogs and general news coverage – was introduced for all journals on the OJS Journals platform in May 2018. To accompany the metric, social share buttons were activated for the journals to allow readers to be able to share the articles via their social media. Plans to introduce a Twitter page for the ASSAf OJS Journals platform are underway. Article-level metrics, specifically Views and Downloads, were introduced on the platform in November 2018. Dimensions – a digital tool that gath- ers citation data from various platforms, indexers and harvesters – has been added to the platform for all journals. Dimensions calculates and displays the citation count on the landing page of each article.

The ASSAf Council approved the continuation of the ASSAf OJS Journals platform beyond the pilot stage in February 2019. Subject to capacity, the hosting service can now be extended to other qualifying journals at an annual cost.

In terms of ASSAf’s agreement with DST to provide additional publishing support to one of the journals on the platform, the Journal of Energy in Southern Africa (JESA), the branding of JESA was revitalised with a new logo and masthead and the first email dissemination of the Table of Contents, including links to the full articles, were sent with the publication of the June 2018 issue. The recipients currently number 850, including 220 media recipients. In the first week after distribution, the first electronic distribution sent in June 2018 had an open rate of 34% and a click rate of 6.9% – both well above the industry averages of 22% and 4.6%, respectively. A Twitter account for JESA was created in October 2018 to more widely disseminate the articles published in JESA, and thereby increase the impact and reach different audiences; JESA currently has 37 Followers.

2.2.2 Quality Assurance

Discipline-grouped Peer Review of South African Scholarly Journals

Two discipline-grouped peer review reports on scholarly journals were published. These were the Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Humanities II: Visual and Performing Arts which was finalised in September 2018 (http://www.assaf.org.za/index.php/publications/evidence-based-reports) and the Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Communication and Information Sciences published in March 2019 and available on http://hdl.handle.net/ 20.500.11911/111.

Reviews in the following three subject groups are underway, Education (17 journals); History, Philosophy and Politics (25 journals) and Mathematics and Science (22 journals).

National Scholarly Book Publishers’ Forum (NSBPF)

The forum’s annual meeting was held on 28 August 2018 at the Wanderer’s Club in Johannesburg to coincide with the meetings of the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA). The Scholarly Publishing Programme’s Director, Mrs Susan Veldsman, reported on the CREST/ASSAf study on scholarly journal and book publishing (2005 – 2014) which will result in a publication.

National Scholarly Editors’ Forum (NSEF)

ASSAf hosted a meeting of 62 members of the NSEF on 20 November 2018 at the Southern Sun Hotel OR Tambo, Johannesburg.

Prof David Walwyn of the School of Technology Management, UP, gave feedback on the Incentives for Collaborative Research Project, which ASSAf initiated, and shared the recommendations and conclusions from the study. Collaboration enhances research and publishing, although measurement is a challenge. Ms Elizabeth Marincola, Senior Advisor of Communications and Advocacy in the African Academy of

33 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Sciences (AAS), presented on the AAS Open Research and the advancement of open scholarship. Prof Robin Crewe, Chairman of the Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa (CSPiSA), gave a presentation on the twists and turns of authorship with an emphasis on conflicts of interest and misconduct.

2.2.3 Research Publishing

Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa

The CSPiSA met on 10 April 2018 to discuss the activities of the Scholarly Publishing Programme.

Peer-Review Panel of Journal Applications for DHET Accreditation

The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) requested ASSAf’s assistance in constituting a peer-review panel to evaluate the new and re-applications of journals for DHET accreditation. A panel of 14 expert scholars were selected from ASSAf Membership, SAYAS and the NRF databases. Twenty-three journals were under review from various fields of humanities, social sciences, education, health and law. The panel reviewed the journals on 5 November 2018 in Johannesburg and reports were sent to the DHET in early December 2018.

Twelve Years Later: Second ASSAf Report on Research Publishing in and from South Africa (2018)

In 2016, the Academy commissioned Prof Johann Mouton from CREST at SU to do a thorough, largely bib- liometric study of scholarly publishing in and from South Africa for the period 2005 – 2014, with all forms of peer-reviewed scholarly publications included, whether in journals, books or conference proceedings. This study formed the basis for this second report on scholarly publishing in South Africa.

The report includes concise but essential summaries of the two earlier ASSAf reports; a review of the work of the SPP’s research publishing system over the past 12 years; an analysis of the problems of access for South African researchers to the problematic international commercial research literature; the concise version of the CREST report; a consideration of the threat posed by predatory publishers and questionable editorial and authorship practices; a discussion of the generally good progress that has been made in enhancing the quality of scholarly publishing with an analysis of the unresolved problems that still remain; and a set of headline recommendations for the future. The status and challenges of scholarly publishing in South Africa were highlighted in this consensus study.

The consensus report seeks to provide a firm evidential basis for informed, inclusive and comprehensive debate, and wise policymaking for the future.

The study will be launched in 2019.

National Site Licence Initiative

A project to understand how best to procure a national site licence for journals and other information databases was instituted by DHET and DST when they commissioned a study by ASSAf on ways in which institutions in the NSI were procuring journals and the cost of such procurement. From the study it was clear that costs of procurement of national site licences was prohibitively large, which indicated the need for new models to be considered.

The OA2020 project formulated in 2015 has since challenged major publishing houses for the development of a new system of provision of scientific information and data.

OA2020 called on publishing houses to convert their journals from being ‘pay to read’ to ‘pay to publish’ arguing that once payments were made for articles to be published, it would move these into a state of global open access. Together with returning copyright to the author, this model is what is referred to as new transformative agreements as a way to move towards more complete open access. The 14th OA2020 meeting was held in Berlin in December 2018.

34 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 2.2.4 South African Journal of Science

A total of 566 submissions was received by the SAJS in 2018 and 108 articles, of which 58 were peer reviewed, were published from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 across six issues.

SAJS in 2018

400 000 Views

2573 Twitter Followers

1 382 Facebook Likes

566 Submissions

88% Rejection Rate

58 Peer-reviewed Publications

32 Media Reports

1.2 WoS Impact Factor

The May/June 2018 issue was published on 30 May 2018. An article in this issue entitled Farmer Groups and Inorganic Fertiliser Use among Smallholders in Rural South Africa attracted immediate media interest with three media reports appearing in The Conversation Africa, allAfrica and Uncova. The Altmetric score for this article is currently 21 – a score that places this article in the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric globally. The July/August 2018 issue was published on 30 July 2018. The daily website views more than doubled to almost 1 000 views on 30 July. Several of the articles featured in the Highlights of the July/ August issue – namely Bt maize, road traffic accidents and ‘the old boys’ network’ – were reported on in the media in July and August 2018. The September/October 2018 issue was published on 11 September 2018. On the same day, two media reports appeared on two articles in this issue: First ground-based ob- servations of sprites and The ecology of drought. The November/December 2018 issue was published on 27 November 2018 and included an Invited Commentary from the winner of the 2017/2018 NSTF-South32 Special Annual Theme Award entitled Reducing inequality and carbon emissions: Innovation of develop- mental pathways and a Commentary on the Draft 2018 White Paper on STI. The January/February 2019 issue was published on 30 January 2019 and included an article entitled The Pleistocene fauna of the Cape south coast revealed through ichnology at two localities which received a high Altmetric score of 57 – placing this article in the top 5% of all research outputs ever scored by Altmetric. The article also received attention from various news platforms including The Conversation Africa. The March/April 2019 issue was a Women in Science-themed issue and was published on 27 March 2019. Six papers from the Second International Women in Science Without Borders indaba – three peer-reviewed Research Articles and three Commentaries – comprised the themed portion of this issue. A total of 32 media reports appeared between April 2018 and March 2019 which reported on articles published in SAJS.

A new science engagement initiative – #SAJS_Spotlight – was introduced with effect from the July/August issue in the form of a Twitter Q&A with the author of a July/August article: I believe I can do science. The aim of this initiative is to highlight an article that is of wider public interest as a means to more widely disseminate the research, as well as to engage with the public. The potential audience reach of the Q&A was 5 300. According to Altmetric, there were 42 tweets from 12 users, with an upper bound of 33 001 Fol- lowers; of the 12 users, 67% were from South Africa, 75% were members of the public, 17% were science communicators and 8% were scientists. The #SAJS_Spotlight initiative continued with the article Recent emergence of CAT5 tropical cyclones in the South Indian Ocean from the November/December issue. The potential audience reach of the Q&A was 2 610 users. This article also garnered a lot of attention in traditional media outlets with news articles in the Daily Maverick, The Conversation Africa and Saturday Star. Based on the article’s Altmetric score of 208, it is in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric. The #SAJS_Spotlight initiative was expanded with effect from the November/December issue to

35 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 include a spotlight on an emerging researcher who authored an article in the issue. A short biography of the author and questions related to their research were posted on the Facebook page.

The Associate Editor Mentorship Programme was introduced in April 2018 with appointment in May 2018 of the first Associate Editor mentees for the SAJS: Dr Maitumeleng Nthontho from UP (for Social Sciences & Education) and Prof Yali Woyessa from the Central University of Technology (for Earth & Environmental Sciences). The mentees underwent an induction to the role and are actively participating in the review of manuscripts. This one-year mentoring programme is open to early career researchers with a PhD who have a strong publication record but little or no editorial experience; mentees gain valuable editorial experience working with an experienced SAJS Associate Editor. Forthcoming calls will cater to the other disciplines represented in the journal.

The annual Editorial Advisory Board meeting took place on 12 March 2019 in Pretoria. The current Editor-in- Chief, Dr John Butler-Adam, presented his last report as Editor-in-Chief. Prof Jane Carruthers was appointed to succeed Dr Butler-Adam with effect from 1April 2019. The annual Associate Editors’ meeting took place on 28 March 2019 in Pretoria.

2.2.5 Quest: Science for South Africa

ASSAf’s popular science magazine, Quest, is a full-colour, quarterly science magazine directed at a target audience comprising learners, educators and the public. Quest has expanded its boundaries in this past reporting year in terms of reach and has made a contribution in the science literacy space and in science engagement.

With a print run of 13 000 per quarter, Quest is distributed to schools, public libraries, universities, government departments, embassies, media houses and subscribers. The balance is used for science promotion and career guidance.

Figure 1 below show the distribution of the magazine to schools nationally:

Schools

255 614 359 179 109 780 206

462

1214

EC WC NC FS GP KZN LP MP NW Figure 1: Distribution of the magazine to schools nationally

Quest is growing in popularity both as a tool in science engagement and outreach and as support material in the classroom. This is evident in the number of requests from various organisations for back copies and for workshops on how the magazine can be used in the classroom.

The Gauteng Education Department has subscribed for 2018 for all curriculum leaders in the sciences. The magazine is used to inform curricular activities and to examine possible contributions to the magazine.

The Quest outreach programme reached seven provinces and 21 events in total. Thirteen of the events were science festivals, five were career festivals and three were national days. Fig 2 shows the number of festivals in which Quest outreach participated:

36 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Number

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Science Festival Career Festivals National Days

Fig 2 Quest outreach participation

The Quest outreach organised and participated in the National Science Week, with the support of the South African Agency of Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) in Graaff-Reinet, where five schools received curricular-related Quest lectures, information technology presentations and career lessons. Quest partnered with the DHET, Rupert Foundation, Big-Flag and the Pendula ICT.

The social media platform is growing modestly in terms of science promotion and showcasing of Quest’s involvement in national science events. The Quest Facebook page Likes have grown from 1 670 in March 2018 to 2 257 and Twitter has 1 128 Followers.

Ms Sue Matthews has been appointed to succeed Dr Bridget Farham as Editor of Quest with effect from 1 January 2019.

The annual Quest Editorial Advisory Board meeting took place on 28 February 2019 in Pretoria. The content and themes for Quest for 2019 were discussed.

The new EO, Prof Himla Soodyall, took over as Chair of the Board, the new Editor took over from the previous Editor and three members came to the end of their term. Nominations were invited for approval by the ASSAf Council.

Science Engagement

All promotions and popularisation events are aligned to the objectives and aims of the DST Science En- gagement Strategy. Entities of the DST are expected to have engaged with at least 80% of the target publics by the end of each year.

Quest has sought to reach all publics in every event per term. Quest has partnered with event organisers to strategically plan events to reach 50 – 60% of the publics.

Quest participated in 18 outreach events. Chief among these were the SciFest in Grahamstown which took place from 6 –12 March 2019; the SFSA2018 held between 10 – 14 December 2018 at the CSIR Con- vention Centre; and the National Science Week launch organised by DST at the University of Mpumalanga in Mpumalanga between 27 – 29 July 2018.

37 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Table 2: Programme 2: Strategic Objective Annual Targets and Performance Indicators for 2018/19

Strategic Planned Performance Actual Actual Variance Status Comment objective target indicator performance performance 2017/18 2018/19 To increase 0 No of new 3 5 +5 Exceeded The re- the visibility, journal titles on target allocation of accessibility and the SciELO SA funds internally searchability of open access enabled the SA accredited platform addition of journals new titles to the collection To improve 0 No of peer 0 1 +1 Exceeded Reprioritising of the quality of review reports target ASSAf funding SA scholarly published1 journals, books, 0 No of National 1 1 +1 Exceeded Combine NSPF and conference Scholarly target and PASA proceedings Publishers’ meetings to Forums hosted save cost 0 No of National 1 1 +1 Exceeded The re- Scholarly target allocation of Editors’ Forums funds internally hosted enabled the hosting of the NSEF Annual meeting this quarter To promote 6 No of issues of 6 6 0 Achieved visibility and SAJS published impact of SA research through the publication of the South African Journal of Science To promote 4 No of issues 4 4 0 Achieved awareness of Quest of science published amongst the youth through Quest science magazine 1Peer-review reports are defined as a review report evaluating books and conference proceedings; a review report evaluating new journal applications; or a peer review of discipline-grouped scholarly journals.

2.3 Programme 3: Liaison Programme

The Liaison Programme is structured into a number of sub-programmes, each of which is designed to establish and strengthen partnerships and engagement with key stakeholders and organisations, with the overall purpose of promoting and recognising excellence and scholarly achievement; strengthening and enhancing international scientific linkages; and advancing engagement with key policymakers in government, including Parliament and relevant national scientific organisations.

The internal structure of the programme is as follows: • Member Liaison, which includes all aspects pertaining to Academy Member elections and communication with Members. • National Liaison, which is divided into strategic partnerships; scholarly lectures; prizes and awards; and science engagement.

38 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 • International Liaison, which is divided into Strategic Partnerships; Africa Collaboration; and Overseas Collaboration. • Young Scientists’ Liaison, which ensures young scientists’ participation in STI activities nationally, regionally and globally. • Gender and STI, which aims to promote gender mainstreaming and the application of a gender lens. • Hosting international organisations, including TWAS SAREP and ISC ROA.

Strategic objectives of this programme are to: • Increase and diversify the Membership of the Academy. • Recognise and reward excellence in science and promote scholarly activity. • Collaborate with and strengthen African science academies. • Increase participation of young scientists in science-related activities. • Increase participation of women in science-related activities and promote the application of a gender lens in Academy activities.

2.3.1 Member Liaison

The core asset of science academies is their Membership and their ability to draw on highly qualified scientists from a large range of disciplines to assist in the science advisory role.

In its criteria for Membership, ASSAf places particular emphasis on the application of scientific thinking to the problems and challenges facing South African society. It draws its Membership from all population groups and from all scientific disciplines. Although Academy Membership has increased, there is still under- representation of blacks, women and certain disciplines. Each year in its Membership call, ASSAf strives to reflect more accurately the changing profile of South African scholars. The current gender and racial profile of ASSAf is 26% female and 30% black.

The anticipated amendments to the ASSAf Act in terms of Membership are expected to contribute to re- alising transformation targets of the Academy.

Twenty new Members were elected and inaugurated in October 2018.

New Members elected to ASSAf are:

Prof Montaz Ali is Professor in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Wits.

Prof Lyn-Marie Birkholtz is Professor in Biochemistry at the UP and holds a DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control at the same institution.

Prof Juanita Bornman is both Professor and Director of the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Com- munication at UP.

Prof Daniel Bradlow holds the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in International Development Law and African Economic Relations at UP.

Prof Basil Brooke is Head: Vector Control Reference Laboratory at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Professor, Research Institute for Malaria, Wits.

Prof Kelly Chibale is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the UCT and a Full Member of the UCT Institute of Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine.

Prof Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu is the Director of the School of Public Management and Administration, UP.

Prof Mark Cotton is the Director of the Children’s Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Tygerberg Children’s Hospital.

Prof Michael Davies-Coleman is Professor Emeritus and Dean of Natural Sciences and Professor of Chem- istry, University of the Western Cape (UWC).

Prof Erika de Wet holds the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in International Constitutional Law in the Faculty of Law, UP.

39 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Prof Rangan Gupta is a Professor at the Department of Economics, UP.

Prof Chaudry Khalique is Professor of Applied Mathematics at NWU.

Prof Lise Korsten is the Co-Director in the DST Centre of Excellence Food Security. She is also the Head of Plant Pathology in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at UP.

Prof Helena Kuivaniemi is Professor in the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Department of Biomedical Sciences, SU.

Prof Virna Leaner is Professor in the Division of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT.

Prof Kevin Naidoo holds the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Scientific Computing and is Director of the Scientific Computing Research Unit, Chemistry Department, UCT.

Prof Jan Neels is Distinguished Professor of International Commercial Law, University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Prof Charles Ngwena is Professor at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, UP.

Prof João Rodrigues is Head of School of Physics, Wits and Director of the Centre for Theoretical Physics at the same institution.

Prof Marissa Rollnick is Professor Emeritus at the Wits School of Education.

ASSAf Membership now stands at 557. The full list of ASSAf Members is available on www.assaf.org.za.

ASSAf Membership by Discipline 2018 (n=557)

120 118

100

80 81 73 60 69 58 40 27 15 18 26 46 20 26 0

2.3.2 National Liaison

Strategic Partnerships

ASSAf’s strategic national partners include organisations in the NSI, particularly science councils and industry. ASSAf is the secretariat for COHORT and has a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NACI. Engagement with Parliament is a focus of activity, primarily to ensure that ASSAf’s many and varied study outputs are brought to the attention of the country’s policymakers.

40 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Scholarly Lectures

The key objective is to contribute to scholarly activity and discourse through, amongst others, the Distin- guished Visiting Scholar (DVS) Programme and Regional Scholarly Lectures.

Distinguished Visiting Scholar Programme

The Academy annually brings outstanding international scholars to South Africa for approximately two weeks for a nationwide lecture tour. The purpose is to promote scholarly activity and to contribute towards strengthening scientific endeavour in South Africa.

Prof Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Professor in the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies and the Com- parative Literature Studies Programme at Rutgers University in New Jersey United States of America (USA), delivered a series of public lectures at universities across the country in March 2019 as the Academy’s DVS for 2018/19. Institutions visited included UWC, UCT, NMU, University of Fort Hare (UFH), UP and Wits.

Maldonado-Torres is an expert on the work of the Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist, writer and philosopher, Frantz Fanon, who is renowned for his contributions to the critical study of race and racism, colonisation and its deep impact on knowledge, self, society and decolonisation.

With decolonisation having become a major theme in academic debates in various parts of the world, his lectures offered a general overview of some major engagements with the concept of decolonisation, and, more precisely, with the idea of decoloniality, in South Africa, USA, Europe, and Latin America, as well as a view of decoloniality in dialogue with Frantz Fanon’s work and the Spirit of Bandung.

In terms of youth engagements, the DVS participated in the following activities:

Western Cape: • An engagement with postgraduate students at the UWC on understanding decoloniality. • An engagement with a group of youth working in human rights.

Eastern Cape • An engagement with Activist ConneXions: Gender and Women’s studies group Gauteng. • An open conversation with postgraduate students from the faculties of humanities, law, education and theology at UP. • A discussion with a group of learners from various high schools in Soweto.

Regional Scholarly Lectures

ASSAf co-hosts scholarly lectures that are open to the public. The most successful regular series are those co-hosted with the Royal Society of South Africa in Cape Town. ASSAf also partners with other organisations (e.g. The SAAE and the Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns) as and when appropriate, to host scholarly lectures and to publicise such lectures as widely as possible.

ASSAf continues to collaborate with the Royal Society of South Africa by co-hosting monthly scientific talks. For the period under review, the following lectures were held in Cape Town:

16 May 2018 The Old Man and the Fish: The Extraordinary Story of Professor JLB Smith and the Coelacanth. Prof Mike Bruton – Honorary Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown.

20 June 2018 Seabirds: Their Biology and Conservation. Prof Peter Ryan – Director of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, UCT.

15 August 2018 How South African Languages Have Influenced Each Other Over the Course of History – Prof Raj Mesthrie, SARChI Chair in the Linguistics Section of the School of African and Gender Studies in Anthropology and Linguistics, UCT.

41 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 19 September 2018 Managing Complex Situations: Lessons from the World’s First Heart Transplant – Emeritus Prof Kobus Visser, Former Dean of Economic and Management Science, UWC.

17 October 2018 Towards Sustainable Food Systems: Bambara Groundnut Goes beyond Bounds – Prof Victoria Jideani, Founder and Leader of the Cereals and Legumes Biopolymers Research for Food Security, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

21 November 2018 Antarctica and South Africa: New Evidence of Mass Extinction – Prof Roger Smith, Evolutionary Studies In- stitute, Wits and Karoo Palaeontology, Iziko South African Museum.

20 February 2019 Wetlands in the Highlands and the Lowlands: Reinterpreting African Landscapes through Quartenary Pa- laeoecology – Prof Mike Meadows, Department of Geographical and Environmental Science, UCT and East China Normal University.

20 March 2019 Research Lessons from Risky Business – Prof Andrew Argent, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, UCT and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

Embassy Lecture Series

The Academy collaborates with embassies of various overseas countries to organise the Embassy Lecture Series. The Embassy Lecture Series serves as an entry point to the academies of different countries with embassy missions in South Africa. The following lectures were held:

14 August 2018 New Zealand High Commission in South Africa, Pretoria. The lecture, titled Science Policy & Diplomacy: Can We Accelerate Progress on the SDGs? was delivered by Prof Sir Peter Gluckman a Science Envoy for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Chair of the International Network of Government Science Advice (INGSA). Prof Sir Gluckman re- flected on the SDGs, the challenging scientific and technological environment and the role that science, science-policy and science-diplomacy can play in accelerating progress.

27 August 2018 Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa and the University of Cape Town Neuroscience Institute, Cape Town. The lecture titled Being Human – Where Neuroscience Meets Culture, was delivered by Prof Stephanie Clarke the Head of Neuropsychology and Neurorehabilitation at CHUV – University of Lausanne. Prof Clarke shared information on how the human identity is constituted by the interplay of cognitive functions and culture. The talk focused on external representations and transmit knowledge, beliefs and codes of behaviour between individuals, generations and populations.

15 November 2018 US Embassy, jointly with CSIR, Pretoria. The lecture titled Landing on Mars – What it Means for the Earthlings, was delivered by Major General Charles Frank Bolden Jr, US Marine Corps, retired (USM-RET), the 12th administrator of the National Aeronau- tics and Space Administration (NASA).

At NASA, he oversaw the safe transition from 30 years of space shuttle missions to a new era of exploration focused on full utilisation of the international space station and space and aeronautics technology development. The agency’s dynamic science activities under Bolden include an unprecedented landing on Mars with the Curiosity rover, launch of a spacecraft to Jupiter and continued progress toward the 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Bolden’s lecture shared insights into New Aviation Horizons. The lecture attracted over 160 participants representing academics, government officials, people from the private sector, university students and high-school learners from Mamelodi, Pretoria.

13 – 14 March 2019 British High Commission in South Africa, jointly with the UKZN and Rhodes University (RU), Durban and Makhanda.

42 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 A series of public lectures on Truth and Trustworthiness in Science was aimed at contributing to public science engagement in South Africa.

The lecture at UKZN and was titled A Case Study of Mistrust: Official Policy, Legislation, Regulation and Benefit Sharing. The guest speaker was Prof Doris Schroeder, Director of the Centre for Professional Ethics, from UCLAN College of Health who gave the keynote address on Overcoming Mistrust: Benefit Sharing, In- clusion and the San Code of Research Ethics. The keynote address was followed by a panel discussion, facilitated by Prof Himla Soodyall. The panellists included Prof Shenuka Singh from UKZN, Ms Natasha Joseph from The Conversation Africa and Dr Hester du Plessis from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

The second lecture facilitated by Dr Hester du Plessis was hosted at RU and was titled Misunderstandings and Misuses: Science Journalism. A round-table discussion was held with a panel consisting of Prof Schro- eder, Prof Harry Dugmore from RU, Ms Natasha Joseph, Prof Janice Limson from RU and Prof Himla Soodyall from ASSAf.

Presidential Round Tables

The first in a series of round-table discussions, titled University Rankings: Helpful or Harmful, was hosted on 7 February 2018 at SU. It was moderated by ASSAf President, Prof Jonathan Jansen. These discussions focus on thought-provoking and sometimes controversial issues facing the academic and higher education community in the country.

University rankings provide insights into how universities compare globally. They place a major emphasis on research productivity and impact, the ability to attract research grants, the quality of staffing, internation- alisation and perceptions of the quality of graduates by the international community.

Panel members were:

• Prof Dr Robert Tijssen, Chair of Science and Innovation Studies at Leiden University. He leads the Science, Tech- nology and Innovation Research Programme at the Centrum voor Wetenschapen Technologische Studies. • Prof Nico Cloete, Director of the Centre for Higher Education Trust and Coordinator of the Higher Educa- tion Research and Advocacy Network in Africa. • Prof ZeblonVilakazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs at Wits and Member of the ASSAf Council. • Prof Lis Lange, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning at UCT.

The second Presidential Round Table moderated by Prof Jansen took place on 30 May 2018 in Johannes- burg. The purpose of the discussion titled Changing Campus Cultures and the Future of South African Uni- versities was to bring the best minds together to make sense of the presumed cultural shifts on campuses and to question what these tendencies might mean for the future of the Academy in South Africa.

Panel members at the round table were:

• Prof Penelope Andrews, Dean and Professor at UCT, Faculty of Law. • Prof Somadoda Fikeni, honorary Professor at Unisa and an expert and specialist in the areas of political science, public policy development and analysis, history, political economy and heritage. • Prof Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits.

The third Presidential Round Table took place on 21 November 2018 at NMU, Port Elizabeth. The discussion was titled To Get High or Not to Get High?: An Evidence-based Dialogue on the Legalisation of Cannabis Use in a Private Capacity.

A multi-disciplinary panel of experts debated the implications of the recent legislation amendment by the Constitutional Court that saw the decriminalisation of cannabis use in private capacity. The panellists offered evidence-based and scientific views on this controversial subject and the related issues to an audience comprising students, academics, members from the business community and the general public.

Panel members at the round table were:

• Dr Abdul Kader Domingo, Specialist Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer at SU and a member of the SA So- ciety of Psychiatrists Special Group on Addictions. • Prof Keymanthri Moodley, Director of the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, Faculty of Health Sciences, SU.

43 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 • Prof Fraser McNeill, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at UP. • Prof Eva Manyedi, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, NWU and a member of the Central Drug Authority.

Science and Business

ASSAf embarked on a strategy to enhance dialogue and cooperation between science, business and society. Businesses in the country have been engaged to attend a forum where science matters and their role therein are discussed. The President of ASSAf, Prof Jonathan Jansen, facilitate these fora.

ASSAf, in partnership with Investec Johannesburg, hosted the first ASSAf Science − Business Leadership Forum, titled Mathematics and Science Education under Spotlight on 30 November 2018 at Investec in Sandton.

The goal of the forum was to build relationships between business and the Academy to secure ongoing support of business for strengthening science education in schools in future years and for continued dialogue on and between science and industry.

Innovation for Inclusive Development (IID) Policy Dialogues

The purpose of the IID seminars is to demonstrate how innovative technology solutions may be used to improve the capacity of the State to deliver and improve access to basic services, and thereby advance local economic development. The practical knowledge and insights generated from these seminars can be used as tools to support evidence-based policy and decision-making to enhance service delivery, and building capacity in relevant State institutions and communities.

The Academy hosted the second of three IID seminars titled The Water-Energy Nexus and the Application of Green Technologies on 14 June 2018 in Pretoria. The seminar was supported by DST and set out to discuss the state of green technologies pertaining to the water-energy nexus in South Africa and how the current and new technologies have been and will be used to improve basic human rights by applying technologies that improve environmental sustainability. Keynote addresses were delivered by Mr Peter Lukey, Chief Policy Advisor: Strategic Environmental Intelligence, Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and Pro- fessor Steven Kenway, an Associate Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, on the landscape of the water-energy nexus in South Africa and globally, respectively.

Other guest speakers included: • Prof Godwell Nhamo, Programme Manager: Exxaro Chair in Business and Climate Change, Institute for Corporate Citizenship, College of Economic and Management Sciences, Unisa. • Prof Ochieng Aoyi, Director: Research and Development, Botswana International University of Science and Technology. • Dr Sylvester Mpandeli, Research Manager: Water Utilisation in Agriculture, Water Research Commission (WRC). • Prof Andrew Thatcher, Professor and Chair: Industrial/Organisational Psychology, Wits. • Dr Henry Roman, Director: Environmental Services and Technologies, DST.

The seminar was attended by various stakeholders, including business, government officials, academics and civil society. The seminar was facilitated by Mr Stanley Maphosa from the Academy.

The third IID seminar titled Deployment of Open Data-Driven Solutions for Socio-Economic Value through Good Governance and Efficient Public Service Delivery was hosted on 30 August 2018 in Pretoria. The seminar set out to discuss how open data-driven solutions can create social and economic value. The discussions aimed to disseminate evidence-based knowledge to inform and influence decision-making and identify policy gaps related to open data in South Africa. The discussions addressed open data from a national and international perspective, as well as exploring frameworks to support open data security and privacy. The speakers included Prof Tracy-Lynn Humby, Professor of Law, Wits; Dr Paul Mungai, Researcher: Department of Information Systems, UCT and Dr Uche M Mbanaso, Executive Director: Centre for Cyber- space Studies, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria.

The seminar was attended by 60 stakeholders, including business, government officials, academics and civil society.

44 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Annual ASSAf Humanities Lecture

The ASSAf Annual Humanities Lecture took place on 20 September 2018 in Cape Town. ASSAf partnered with HSRC to host this event in celebration of the humanities. The HSRC presented their gold medal award.

The lecture, entitled Intergenerational Trauma, Past and Present: Why the Internal Worlds of Black Lives Matter, was delivered by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and aimed at promoting the importance of the humanities and social sciences in the country.

Prof Gobodo-Madikizela, Research Chair in Historical Trauma and Transformation at SU, presented the annual lecture on the timely subject of intergenerational trauma among South African students. The audience of mainly senior scholars from the sciences and humanities enjoyed a skillful account of the international scholarship on the transmission of trauma over generations, but also the manifestation of trauma among students in the wake of the historic student protests of 2015 – 2016. Linking theory, research and practice in her lecture, she said the dilemma of South African students was not simply the transfer of second-generation trauma from the past, but also the traumas of everyday struggles in post-apartheid society. Black and poor students were acutely aware of the fact that promise of freedom was not delivered in social and economic terms and that this was made worse by ‘the proximity of privilege’ as more and more black and white students now studied together in our public universities. It is a trauma, she emphasised, that must be recognised and addressed in the ongoing turmoil on campuses and in communities.

Prizes and Awards

Central to the purpose of an Academy is the recognition and reward of outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge and to society. While ASSAf has embraced the working Academy model, the value of celebrating scholarly achievements speaks directly to the Academy’s mandate.

ASSAf has instituted prestigious Science-for-Society Gold Medal awards to recognise outstanding scientific achievements in the service of society. Each year up to two Science-for-Society Gold Medals are awarded. Provision is made for awarding, on an irregular basis, a Gold Medal for Outstanding Meritorious Service, of which only two have been awarded to date.

ASSAf recognised two of South Africa’s foremost scholars with gold medals at its prestigious Annual Awards Ceremony held in Pretoria on 10 October 2018. The awards were presented to physician-scientist, Prof Linda-Gail Bekker, and palaeoanthropologist, Prof Lee Berger.

Prof Bekker is an outstanding South African physician-scientist who has made major contributions to the prevention and treatment of HIV and tuberculosis. As Deputy Director, she co-leads the UCT’s Desmond Tutu HIV Centre with her husband and scientific collaborator, Prof Robin Wood. This centre, which has a 450-person strong research team, is internationally renowned for its contributions to tuberculosis and HIV research in the country.

She is a Professor of Medicine at UCT and served as the President of the International AIDS Society until recently. She has published over 350 peer-reviewed journal articles that have garnered over 14 000 citations, several of which are in high impact journals such as Science, The Lancet, and The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

While her research interests are in HIV and tuberculosis, her passion is the research she undertakes with young people. Within the field of HIV, her studies have included approaches to the scale-up of antiretrovi- ral therapy as well as the prevention of HIV in women, youth and men who have sex with men. Prof Bekker is deeply committed to improving health care services for the poor, which has been evident right from her early research. She has made substantial contributions to creating several HIV treatment and prevention centres in the community of Cape Town that primarily serve vulnerable and marginalised populations.

Prof Lee Berger, ASSAf Member and the PV Tobias Chair in Palaeoanthropology and Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society is an outstanding scientific and scholarly thinker who is among the most highly cited scholars in the world. He is described as a pioneer in the use of social media and other communication platforms to promote public understanding of science. His work in the area of palaeoanthropology has gained world renown, particularly with his team’s work on the hominid fossil discoveries of Australopithecus sediba, Homo naledi and the Rising Star Expedition. His commitment to making his work accessible to ordinary people, particularly in encouraging girls to take up science, technology, engineer-

45 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 ing and mathematics subjects at school and at tertiary level, has helped to lift the veil of mystery around science and its impact on society. Prof Berger was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influ- ential People in the World for 2015 and was the 2016 Rolex Explorer of the Year.

The discovery of Homo naledi provided him with the opportunity to push the boundaries of open access of fossil materials, improve the visibility of women in palaeoanthropology and push the technological boundaries of 3D-printing by making fossil data printable. 3D-printing has made the teaching and research of palaeoanthropology immediately accessible to universities across the world. Prof Berger is a pioneer in the field of palaeoanthropology in ensuring that barriers to access of knowledge are removed. He recognised the potential that exists in the technical aspects of 3D-printing coupled with the philosophy of open access to make information in his discipline accessible. This has served to inspire excellence in the discipline as it promotes debate and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and discussion.

2.3.3 International Liaison

The purpose of this sub-programme is to establish, strengthen and sustain productive collaborations with African and overseas academies of science and like-minded organisations, with a view to enhancing capacity in S&T, and its application within the NSI. The programme strengthens and enhances interactions with relevant stakeholders in key national government departments, other public entities of the DST, for example the NRF and policymakers in government, whose work has an international focus. The programme also engages in science diplomacy.

Strategic Partnerships

Strategic partners of ASSAf include the IAP. The IAP is based in Trieste, Italy. ASSAf plays a major role in the Executive Committee of this body. ASSAf is also a member of the IAP for Health Executive Committee and through this body has made input into various policies and statements of global impact.

TWAS is another strategic partner of ASSAf and with effect from 2015, ASSAf has hosted the TWAS SAREP. During the 2018/2019 financial year, TWAS SAREP promoted the goals of TWAS in the region, which included nominating TWAS Fellows and Young Affiliates; hosting of scientific meetings, awards and prizes, as well as supporting young scientists’ activities.

A third strategic partner is ISC ROA, which is hosted by ASSAf. During the period under review there was close alignment between the goals and activities of ASSAf and ISC ROA. This was particularly so in terms of African collaboration, thematic areas of interest and the promotion of young scientists and gender in STI.

All these areas presented significant opportunities for synergistic partnerships on activities.

ASSAf played a role in engagements with key strategic partners such as the World Science Forum, and the BRICS academies of science, as well as through engagements with the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Committee on Science and Technology, the European Union (EU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Science Desk, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNES- CO) and the African Union (AU), among other multilateral organisations as key partners.

ASSAf also participates actively in the G-Science grouping of academies, which consists of academies from the G20 countries.

InterAcademy Partnership

The Vice-President of ASSAf, Prof Brenda Wingfield, continued to serve in the IAP for Science Executive Committee. She was involved in the review of proposals that were submitted to the IAP by member academies. ASSAf continues to serve in the IAP for Health Executive Committee, with Prof Karen Hofman as the ASSAf representative. Dr Laila Asmal resigned as an ASSAf representative in the IAP Working Group on Urban Health and was replaced by Dr Kristy Langerman. Dr Chandre Gould has been nominated to represent ASSAf at the IAP’s Respect and Dialogue project. Prof Julian May represented ASSAf at the InterAcad- emy Partnership Science for Poverty Eradication Committee meeting hosted by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences from 27 – 29 March 2019.

46 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 ASSAf also endorsed an IAP statement on a call for action to declare trauma as a disease.

Report on Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture

ASSAf disseminated a media release on the Report on Opportunities for Future Research and Innovation on Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture – The InterAcademy Partnership’s Global Perspective. The report is part of the global IAP project Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture (FNSA). ASSAf contributed to the production of the report through Prof Cheryl Hendricks and endorsed it.

IAP-NASAC Regional Workshop on the SDGs and STISA

The IAP-Research and NASAC hosted a workshop on the SDGs and Science Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) 2024 from 19 to 20 September in Nairobi, Kenya. ASSAf was represented by Ms Edith Shikumo, Liaison Officer for young scientists’ activities. The workshop provided an interactive space in which to share insights and stimulate progressive and innovative thinking on the role of the NASAC and African National Young Academies of Science in supporting the implementation of the SDGs and STISA, and their place within national and regional systems of science and innovation.

BRICS Academies of Science

ASSAf partnered with the DST in nominating 80 young scientists to participate in the BRICS Young Scientist Conference which was held from 25 to 29 June 2018 in Durban. ASSAf was acknowledged as a partner for its involvement in the scientific part of the programme. Three ASSAf staff participated in the conference namely: Thato Morokong, Khutso Phalane and Stanley Maphosa. ASSAf was also invited to the BRICS Min- isters of Science and Technology meeting that followed the Young Scientists Forum.

ASSAf hosted a BRICS Science Academies Network from 10 –11 December 2018 as a side-event at the SFSA2018.

TWAS

ASSAf in collaboration with TWAS has appointed Mr Stanley Maphosa from ASSAf as the new TWAS SAREP Coordinator with effect from 15 January 2019. He succeeds Prof Roseanne Diab.

TWAS SAREP

TWAS has strategically renamed all its regional offices, effectively from 15 June 2018. TWAS ROSSA is now TWAS SAREP.

9th Biennial BioVision Conference 2018

TWAS SAREP selected five young scientists from Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa to participate in the ninth International Biennial Conference, BioVisionAlexandria (BVA) 2018. The event was organised by Bibliotheca Alexandrina and was hosted in Alexandria, Egypt from 20 – 22 April 2018. The theme of the conference was New Life Sciences: Towards Sustainable Development Goals, mainly to explore and showcase the significant role that science plays in attaining the SDGs. From the selected candidates, only Mr Sognan Dao (Mali), Dr Madichaba Chelopo-Mgobozi (South Africa), Mr James Kegere (Uganda), and Dr Rima Beesoo (Mauritius) attended.

Selected young scientists from the five TWAS regional offices (25 candidates) participated at the fifth TWAS/ BVA.NXT workshop. TWAS/BVA.NXT is an interactive event, intended for young scientists from the developing world and is held biennially within the framework of BVA. The event was held from 18 – 19 April 2018 to deliberate on Science Diplomacy: Voices of the South. The main aim was to explore the importance of science diplomacy to the young scientists in the developing world.

TWAS SAREP Prizes

Two annual TWAS SAREP prizes were awarded. The first prize for the TWAS Regional Prize under the theme, Science Diplomacy is aimed at honouring an outstanding scientist who has collaborated on trans-bound-

47 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 ary research projects contributing to, or made possible by, good international relations in the developing world. Dr Thula Sizwe Dlamini (Swaziland) was awarded the prize.

The annual TWAS SAREP Regional Young Scientists’ Prize themed Water and Sanitation (Sustainable Devel- opment Goal #6) which is awarded to an outstanding young scientist below the age of 40 who has made a significant contribution to research, development and capacity building to improve sustainability of water and sanitation-related activities and programmes in the developing world was awarded to Dr Etinosa Ogbomoede Igbinosa (Nigeria).

TWAS SAREP Regional Young Scientists’ 2018 Conference

The Sudanese National Academy of Sciences (SNAS) won the bid to host the annual regional young scientists’ conference in Sudan from 2 – 7 December 2018. The theme for the conference was Health, Society, Genomics, and History of East Africa. TWAS SAREP in collaboration with ASSAf will sponsor up to ten young scientists from sub-Saharan Africa, specifically from the science and technology lagging countries (STLCs). The funds for the conference are made available by TWAS and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The conference was attended by over 140 participants consisting of senior and young scientists from Benin, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, South Africa, and Zimba- bwe.

TWAS Young Affiliates

A total of 127 applications/nominations for the 2018 TWAS Young Affiliateship were received from Benin, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nige- ria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Of these, 64% were male and 36% female. The 2018 cohort of TWAS Young Affiliates are Dr Etotépé A Sog- bohossou (Benin), Dr Barbara Kabai Burmen (Kenya), Dr Mattheus Theodo Loots (South Africa), Dr Euginie Kayitesi (Rwanda) and Dr Cletos Mapiye (Zimbabwe). These young scientists were endorsed by the TWAS Executive Director. The young scientists were formally inaugurated at the TWAS general meeting on 27 November 2018 in Trieste, Italy. The 2018 cohort was joined by the 2017 group who were not fully inducted because the TWAS general meeting did not take place in 2017.

RUFORUM Conference

TWAS SAREP/OWSD SANC hosted an interactive side-event that was attended by over 70 participants and facilitated by ASSAf at the 2018 RUFORUM Biennial Conference from 22 – 26 October 2018. The theme was Applying a Gender and Young Scientists’ Lens to the Existing and Potential Opportunities to Attaining the SDGs. The RUFORUM Conference was entitled Aligning African Universities to Accelerate Attainment of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and more than 1 000 participants from approximately 25 countries from Africa and Europe attended.

AMASA 14

TWAS SAREP participated at the fourteenth AMASA in Benin. The meeting was attended by over 140 participants dominated by senior academies’ representatives. The theme Sustainable Development in Africa: The Role of Young and Senior Science Academies provided good ground for interaction between senior and young academies. TWAS SAREP’s main aim was to directly interact with representatives of academies on how to foster the established working relationship to increase the uptake of opportunities in STLCs and least developed countries in Africa. TWAS SAREP also sponsored a dinner at the AMASA and Prof Robin Crewe gave a keynote address on the vitality of the relations with senior and young academies on behalf of TWAS SAREP on 13 November 2018.

2.3.4 Overseas Collaborations

Infectious Diseases Symposium

ASSAf jointly with the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS) and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina hosted a symposium on infectious diseases titled Surveillance and Response to In- fectious Diseases and Comorbidities: An African and German Perspective. The event was held on 12 and 13 April 2018 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

48 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Senior and young scientists from Africa, Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) explored the challenges of diagnosis, surveillance and management of comorbidities; antimicrobial resistance; one health; among others.

The symposium was preceded, on 11 April 2018, by a workshop on Science Advice that was jointly hosted with the INGSA-Africa and the ISC ROA. The workshop brought together scientists and key stakeholders for a dialogue on models of science advice, promising practices for working at the interface between science and policy.

ASSAf and Leopoldina Renew MoU

ASSAf and the Germany National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina formally signed an MoU on 5 Au- gust 2013 in Pretoria. Over the past six years the two Academies have hosted a number of activities that encompass a wide range of topics associated with infectious diseases; environment and health; and, science-business dialogues.

The events have been of importance to South Africa and Germany and have provided a platform for mutual exchange of scientific expertise among experts from South Africa, Germany, BRICS member countries, other African countries and other countries. In addition, the organised events have been essential in analysing current research developments, identifying research gaps and discussing future scientific approaches to problem-solving. The platforms have been a valuable for exchanging ideas between senior and young scientists. Over the years about eight young and senior scientists from South Africa have been nominated to attend events in Germany that were jointly organised by ASSAf and Leopoldina.

On 12 April 2018 in Durban, ASSAf and the Leopoldina celebrated their relationship by signing an addendum on the existing MoU. The addendum was signed by Prof Jonathan Jansen and Prof Jörg Hacker, Presidents of ASSAf and Leopoldina, respectively.

ASSAf Participates in All European Academies Meeting

The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences hosted the All European Academies General Assembly and Scientific Symposium from 16 – 18 May 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The symposium titled Science in the Times of Chal- lenged Trust and Expertise was aimed at debating the challenges posed to science in its role as a trusted source of evidence and expertise.

Dr Siyavuya Bulani from ASSAf participated in a panel discussion on Science Advice Country Perspective.

Engaging with Human Rights in the National Academy Context

ASSAf, together with the US National Academies of Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Tanzanian Academy of Sciences, participated in an online meeting organised by the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Society on 2 October 2018. The Rel- evance of Human Rights for National Academies was discussed.

ASSAf was represented by Professor Peter Vale, ASSAf Member and Founding Director of the Johannes- burg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS). Prof Vale spoke about the work that ASSAf has done in the area of human rights. His presentation focused on the ASSAf consensus study on Diversity in Human Sexually: Im- plications for Policy in Africa. The consensus study published in 2015 confirms that “science has shown that there is no reliable evidence that homosexuality causes harm, either to the participating individuals or to society” and concludes that there is no justification for efforts to eliminate same-sex relationships from society. The presentation also highlighted the statements on xenophobic attacks produced by ASSAf in 2008 and 2015. The Academy condemned the attacks on migrants from neighbouring countries that resulted in riots and the death of foreign nationals.

The 13th Human Rights Network Biennial Meeting

The International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Society hosted a symposium on Sci- ence and the Right to Development on 25 – 27 October 2018. ASSAf was represented at the meeting by Prof Roseanne Diab. Talks centred around science and the right to development, with topics such as: The

49 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 University of Human Rights in a Changing World; Poverty and Inequality; and, Climate Change and Human Rights Violations. In addition, high-level panel discussions deliberated on; Human Rights and SDGs; and, Human Rights Impact of Climate Change.

Dr Siyavuya Bulani participated in a panel discussion on Finding the Connections: Science, Health and Human Rights. The panel discussion, which was moderated by Prof Édouard Brézin, included distinguished scholars such as Prof Pedro Leon Azofeifa and Prof Esther Mwaikambo, President of the National Academy of Sciences Costa Rica and the immediate past-President of the Tanzania Academy of Sciences, respectively.

Dr Bulani gave a historical context of the formation of ASSAf and the work that has been done by the Academy in advancing human rights issues in South Africa. ASSAf has conducted several consensus studies and hosted conferences that highlight human rights issues.

14th Human Rights Network Biennial Meeting

In February 2019, the ASSAf Council approved a request by the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Society to jointly host its 2020 biennial meeting in South Africa. The network, established in 1993, is focused on critical global issues of science and human rights, particularly cases of scientists, scholars, engineers, and health professionals who are subjected to severe repression for exercising their rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The network seeks to promote free exchange of ideas and opinions among scientists and scholars in order to encourage collaborative initiatives on educational, research, and human rights endeavours within academies.

Policy Workshop on Air Pollution and Health

ASSAf, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the US National Academy of Medicine, and US National Academy of Sciences hosted a workshop on Air Pollution and Health: Science-Policy Workshop to Address a Growing Global Crisis. The workshop took place on 20 and 21 March 2019 at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University in New York, USA. ASSAf was represented by Prof Angela Mathee (South African Medical Research Council (MRC)), Prof Stuart Piketh (NWU), Dr Kristy Langerman (UJ), Dr Caradee Wright (MRC) and Dr Siyavuya Bulani (ASSAf).

A statement, with scientific recommendations, will be submitted to the South African, Brazilian, German and US permanent representatives to the United Nations (UN) and other UN bodies on 19 June 2019 at the UN Headquarters.

2.3.5 African Collaboration

A major thrust of ASSAf’s international liaison is focused on African cooperation. It includes building and maintaining relationships with African academies of science, of which there are 22, and supporting NA- SAC.

ASSAf has MoUs with academies in Benin, Mauritius, Nigeria and Uganda and partners with these and other academies on both a bilateral and multilateral level.

Cooperation within Africa is implemented under NASAC’s Strategic Plan and aims, inter alia, to strengthen science academies in Africa. ASSAf has a critical role to play as it is one of the strongest and better resourced academies in Africa.

Specific objectives for ASSAf are to focus on academy development in the SADC region and to strengthen bilateral agreements with academies in countries in Africa where the DST already has bilateral agreements. ASSAf also engages with the STI hub of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development in enabling academies in the continent to participate in the implementation of the Science, Technology and Innova- tion Strategy for Africa and the PAP Committee on Science and Technology and the African Union.

Joint SADC Minister’s Meeting

The SADC secretariat in collaboration with the South African DHET, the Department of Basic Education and the DST hosted the ministerial meeting on education, training and science, technology and innovation in

50 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Durban. The meeting was preceded by the meeting of SADC senior officials on 18 and 19 June and the ministerial meeting was held from 20 to 22 June. The main focus of the meeting was to review progress on the education, training and science, technology and innovation programmes within the context of the revised SADC Regional Indicative Development Plan (RISDP) 2015 – 2020 and SADC industrialisation strategy (2015 – 2063) and other relevant continental and international policy frameworks. During the meeting, a ministerial policy dialogue focusing on digitisation and industrial revolution implication for skills development and science, technology and innovation was held. An official ministerial dinner was held on 22 June 2018 during which the SADC Charter on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET) was signed by Angola, eSwatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. The charter is a commitment to empower women and ensure SADC achieves gender equality. ASSAf was represented at the meeting by Ms Phyllis Kalele, Senior Liaison Officer, African Collaborations.

Inaugural Regional Workshop on Science Diplomacy

ASSAf in collaboration with TWAS and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) celebrated Africa month by hosting the first training workshop in Africa on science diplomacy for young scientists and science ambassadors. The workshop which was held from 21 to 25 May 2018 near Pretoria and deliberated on the role of science to better align Africa with Vision 2063 and the STISA 2024.

Participation in the workshop was by application and it attracted 30 delegates from 16 countries in sub-Sa- haran Africa including Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The workshop was designed for young scientists (below the age of 40) living and working in sub-Saharan Africa and whose research and wider engagement has brought them into the international policymaking arena.

Participants included policymakers, diplomats and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working at the science-diplomacy interface. The keynote speaker at the workshop was Dr Lassina Zerbo, a national of Burkina Faso and who is the Executive Secretary from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Or- ganisation and was also the 2018 recipient of the AAAS Science Diplomacy Award.

Sustainable African Cities

ASSAf participated at the Sustainable African Cities Conference; Debating Current Challenges and Ex- ploring Future Pathways that was held from 6 to 8 July in Accra, Ghana. The event was hosted by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) in Accra and was jointly organised by GAAS, Leopoldina the German National Academy of Sciences, NASAC and ASSAf. The conference was aligned to SDG 11, i.e. Make Cities and Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable. Key discussions were sustainable urban housing, urban ecosystems and ecological management, urban economic and spatial management, livelihood security, urban health security, disaster preparedness and management and climate change adaptation. This was a very strategic meeting for ASSAf considering that the Academy has an active MoU with Leopoldina. ASSAf was represented by Dr Siyavuya Bulani and Mr Kholani Mbhiza (African collaborations and TWAS SAREP Secretariat).

Root Causes of Low Coverage and Under-immunisation of an African Child

The study is being jointly undertaken by ASSAf and UNAS. ASSAf hosted a symposium titled Root Causes of Low Coverage and Under-immunisation in sub-Saharan Africa on 30 – 31 July 2018 at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rosebank as part of an information gathering.

Pan-African Parliament

ASSAf was invited by the PAP Committee on Education to present a draft MoU between the two organisations. Ms Phyllis Kalele presented the draft MoU on behalf of ASSAf. The draft MoU will be shared with other portfolio committees and thereafter presented during the plenary session before finalisation.

ASSAf was invited to attend the 5th Ordinary Session of PAP in Kigali, Rwanda. The session was held from 22 to 26 October. The Academy was invited to deliver a presentation to the Committee on Education and to participate as an observer of the debates of the parliament to see if they are relevant to science advice and whether the Academy can make input in the future. An MoU between PAP and ASSAf will be signed in March 2019 in South Africa. Other joint activities to be conducted will be identified.

51 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Angola-South Africa Bilateral

The Angolan Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation hosted a bilateral technical meeting and workshop on scientific research and innovation from 22 to 24 August in Luanda, Angola. ASSAf was represented by Ms Phyllis Kalele. Bilateral discussions were held with Dr Emmanuel Catumbela, National Director, Directorate of Postgraduate Studies at the Angolan ministry with the aim of establishing an Angolan Academy of Science.

SADC Instruments on Science Technology and Innovation

The Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology, in partnership with the German Develop- ment Cooperation Botswana, hosted a seminar on the Dissemination of the SADC STI instruments in Ezul- wini, Kingdom of eSwatini on 22 and 23 August 2018. Represented, among others, were the Kenya High Commission in South Africa, the University of eSwatini, the SADC Secretariat, the Department of Research, Science, Technology and Innovation, the Royal Science and Technology Park.

The domestication of the SADC STI Protocol emerged as a pertinent issue during the meeting, with some of the representatives speaking on the need to bring the protocol back home, thereby making it relevant and useful to the country. Delegates were of the view that the region needs to create an inter-country collaboration and synergy system to bridge the gap between the protocol’s regional commitments and the member states’ national implementation strategies. The national development plans which are long term, the annual plans, policies, frameworks and funding should align and ensure that the country delivers to the SADC STI Protocol impact areas.

ASSAf was commended for playing a crucial role in the development of the constitution of their forthcoming academy of science, an institution they deem necessary for the enhancement of their country’s state of STI.

Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture

NASAC, in collaboration with IAP and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina hosted a conference on opportunities and challenges for research on food and nutrition security and agriculture in Africa. The conference which was held from 17 to 18 September 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya was a culmina- tion of the completion and publication of a report titled Opportunities and Challenges for Research on Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture in Africa. Professor Sheryl Hendricks from UP was the editor of the report and was nominated by ASSAf to represent South Africa in the compilation of the report. ASSAf was represented at the conference by Dr Marizvikuru Manjoro from the University of Venda and a SAYAS member, Mr Stanley Maphosa and Ms Phyllis Kalele from ASSAf.

Fourteenth Annual Meeting of African Science Academies

The 14th AMASA 14 was hosted by the Benin Academy of Sciences Arts and Letters in Cotonou from 12 to 14 November 2018. The theme of this year’s meeting was Sustainable Development in Africa: The Role of Young and Senior Academies. ASSAf was represented at the meeting and Prof Himla Soodyall, EO, led the delegation from the Academy. ASSAf funded one representative from the leadership of nine national young academies to attend the meeting, hosted a panel discussion on open science and TWAS SAREP sponsored a dinner during which Prof Robin Crewe shared information about TWAS.

ASSAf and the Senegal Academy of Sciences signed an MoU, Ms Edith Shikumo, Young Scientist Liaison Officer from ASSAf, hosted a meeting with ten national young academies on voluntary action plans for the implementation of SDGs and ASSAf and the Mauritius Academy of Science and Technology held a bilateral meeting to discuss possible collaborative activities for 2019.

15th International Conference on Urban Health

ASSAf represented by Ms Nadia Algera, Programme Officer, Science Advisory Programme attended a workshop titled Healthy-Policy: A Global Initiative to Instigate a Clean Air, Low Carbon Transition towards Healthier and More Sustainable Cities which was held on 27 November 2018 in Kampala, Uganda. The workshop discussed interventions assisting the clean air, low carbon transition in rapidly growing low and middle-income countries cities (particularly Kampala) which could deliver substantial public health, envi-

52 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 ronmental, and socioeconomic benefits by lowering emissions from the most polluting sectors and reducing personal exposure to air pollution. The workshop was co-organised by the Institute of Occupational Medicine, Makerere University (Uganda), NWU (South Africa), and the International Consortium for Urban Environmental Health and Sustainability (Healthy-Polis). The workshop preceded the International Confer- ence on Urban Health which was held from 27 to 30 November in Kampala under the theme Managing Urbanisation for Health: A Priority for all Nation. Prof Roseanne Diab, outgoing Executive Officer, ASSAf, was a member of the scientific committee of the conference. Participation in these events was beneficial to South Africa since it experiences rapid urbanisation, unsustainable land use, resident health and environmental impacts in the light of the looming threat of climate change. Some useful ideas of further engagement with African academics were gained, and the kinds of interventions being implemented on the continent should be shared with South African academics researching similar topics, i.e. potential themes for future public engagements.

Kenya-South Africa Diaspora Colloquium

ASSAf in collaboration with DST hosted the Kenya-South Africa Diaspora Colloquium on 23 November 2018 in Pretoria. The event targeted Kenyan senior scientists, young scientists and PhD students in the social, physical and natural science fields working in South African research organisations, universities and the private sector. Also invited were South Africans who have had research collaboration with Kenyan coun- terparts and those who were interested in creating networks and seeking partnerships. Kenyan and South African innovators and entrepreneurs who could share their experiences with a view towards addressing challenges in both countries were also invited.

Kenya and South Africa share cordial relations with each other as exhibited by interactions between the South African DST, Kenyan Ministry of Education and the National Commission for Science, Technology & Innovation. Additionally, South African institutions like the NRF and ASSAf, and the Kenya National Acad- emy of Sciences have regular engagements on specific projects on an annual basis. South Africa and Kenya have also collaborated in research in various thematic areas including information, communication and technology, health and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The colloquium was held to ensure the successful and effective use of STI as tools for development and to strengthen collaboration between the two countries.

The event was opened by Dr Phil Mjwara, Director-General of the DST who delivered the keynote speech and the Minister Counsel of the High Commission of the Republic of Kenya who represented the High Com- missioner, Her Excellency Jean Kamau. The event was well attended by over 80 participants.

Kingdom of eSwatini Academy of Sciences

Swaziland launched the newly established Kingdom of eSwatini Academy of Sciences on 27 November 2018. The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology under which the Department of Science and Technology reports, Mr Masuku officiated on behalf of the Minister who could not attend. Various national, regional and international stakeholders attended. Messages of support were given by AAS, ASSAf, SADC, ISC. Five founding members of the academy were honoured – three male and two female who included Prof Lydia Makhubu, a TWAS Fellow. The role of NASAC, ASSAf and DST was acknowledged.

First Conference of African Scientific, Research and Innovation Council

ASSAf represented by Ms Phyllis Kalele participated in the launch and first congress of the Africa Scientific Research and Innovation Council (ASRIC) that was held from 27 to 29 November in Abuja, Nigeria. ASRIC is an agency of the African Union Commission (AUC) that will serve as a continental platform to mobilise African research excellence, innovation for dialogue and the voice of the scientific community in building and sustaining continental research-policy nexus with the aim of addressing Africa’s socio-economic development challenges. The congress was opened by Her Excellency, Prof Sarah Anyang Agbor, the AUC Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology. ASRIC will be hosted by the AUC’s Scientific Technical Research Commission which is based in Abuja. During the congress, member states representing all five regions of the continent (North, South, East, West, Central) were elected.

STI Diplomacy, Leadership and Negotiation Workshop

ASSAf, in collaboration with DST and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) hosted a workshop on STI diplomacy, leadership and negotiation. The purpose of the training was to ex-

53 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 pose participants to key contemporary international and regional science policy issues including complex foreign policy, geopolitics, large scientific collaborative infrastructure amongst others. The workshop was held from 4 to 7 March 2019 in Pretoria.

2.3.6 Young Scientists’ Activities

Since 2010, ASSAf has hosted an Annual Young Scientists’ Conference, aligned to the International Year themes of the UN or AU, as part of its commitment to supporting the development of young scientists.

In its quest to support the growth of SAYAS, ASSAf continues to provide secretariat support to the young academy.

68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

ASSAf, as the official partner of the Lindau Foundation and with funding from DST, annually nominates young scientists to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings which are designed as a forum for young scientists from all over the world to have an in-depth exchange with Nobel Laureates.

Nominees attending the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on Physiology/Medicine attended a pre- travel meeting organised by ASSAf on 10 –11 May 2018 in Pretoria. The event served to brief candidates on expectations and to enable them to meet South African Lindau Nobel Alumni and representatives of other relevant science organisations such as DST, NRF and SAASTA.

Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Associate Scientific Director at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Re- search in South Africa (CAPRISA) presented the keynote address at the send-off meeting, noting how research has the power to influence South African and global public health policy. Dr Andreae Lissette, the Science Counsellor, German Embassy in Pretoria joined the young scientists for dinner on 10 May 2018.

The 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on Physiology/Medicine took place from from 24 – 29 June in Lindau, Germany. The ASSAf-nominated delegates were Ms Blessing Ahiante (NWU), Ms Shireen Mentor (UWC), Ms Edith Phalane (NWU), Ms Zimkitha Soji (UFH), Dr Eileen Thomas (SU), and Dr Bianca Verlinden (UP). Other South African delegates this year include Mr Keith Ncube, Ms Elsa Nolte and Dr Michelle Visagie (all from UP) and Dr Balindiwe Sishi (SU).

Information sessions to increase awareness of the Lindau meetings and the benefits thereof for young scientists were held at the UCT, Unisa, University of Limpopo, UFH, Wits, University of Venda and UKZN.

Four Lindau Alumni served as panellists at an SFSA2018 session entitled: Nerd Heaven: Networking and Connecting for Science which was held on 14 December 2018. The session aimed to engage young scientists attending the SFSA on the potential of career growth through networking and connecting for science, using the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting as a case study. The Lindau Alumni shared anecdotes of their experiences at the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meetings and its contribution towards their research careers.

Annual Young Scientists’ Conference

Young scientists deliberated on corruption and its negative effects on South Africa’s progress at the 9th Young Scientists’ Conference which was held from 13 – 14 September 2018 in Johannesburg at the Protea OR Tambo Hotel. The theme of the Conference was: Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Trans-disciplinary Approach.

Seventy young scientists from ten academic institutions and representatives from civil society organisations attended the conference. The keynote address was given by Mr Denis Menoe, Deputy Director of Corrup- tion Watch who spoke on Doing Accountability Differently: Connecting Anti-Corruption Efforts to Active Citizenry and Civic Engagement.

ASSAf-BA Early Career Symposium

ASSAf and the British Academy hosted 40 early career researchers in the humanities and social sciences at a research collaboration symposium on the broad theme of Urban Lives, held on 21 to 23 February 2019

54 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways, Gauteng. The symposium was to incentivise and establish engagement and collaboration between early career researchers from a broad range of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences in South Africa and the UK, encouraging the exchange of ideas across disciplinary and national boundaries. The British Academy provided funding for the symposium.

Prof Himla Soodyall, ASSAf EO, noted that ASSAf and the embassy shared the same ideals in terms of ensuring that young scientists and early career researchers are afforded opportunities to further their research interests as well as network among each other. H.E. Ben Llewelyn-Jones, Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission in SA welcomed participants.

2.3.7 Gender and STI Activities

All gender-related activities in ASSAf are coordinated by the OWSD SANC, which is hosted by ASSAf. ASSAf also hosts the focal point for GenderInSITE for the southern African region. GenderInSITE is a global initiative to raise the awareness of decision-makers on the gender and science, innovation, technology and engineering (SITE) dimensions of development, aimed at both men and women.

Italy-SA Round Table

OWSD SANC partnered with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and the NRF to host a discussion on Women and Research: Experiences of, and Contributions to, the Knowledge Enterprise, which was held on 18 April 2018 in Pretoria. This discussion was attended by some 70 individuals, including high-school learners. The purpose of this bilateral discussion was to commemorate the longstanding collaborations between Italy and South Africa in the arts, culture, science, technology and innovation; to celebrate the contributions of women to research and knowledge. OWSD SANC, with its partners, sought to inspire and empower emerging and established researchers, educators and policymakers on the importance of representation and diversity in the how, what and who of the production of knowledge.

NWISET Consultation Meeting

OWSD SANC partnered with DST to host the National Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (NWISET) consultation meeting held on 8 May 2018 in Pretoria. The meeting was attended by some 50 individuals, from various organisations, whose work and activities focus on gender equality and promoting women in science. The main purpose of the consultative meeting was to present the charter and discuss modalities for forming a South African National WISET Chapter in terms of the SADC Charter. The National Chapter for WISET will be affiliated to the SADC Charter for the WISET organisation. An initial steering committee of eight members was elected to draft the constitution for the national chapter for South Africa.

OWSD SANC ExCo

A new executive committee for OWSD SANC was elected to serve for the next three-year term, starting 2018. The committee constitutes six women, representing various regions of the country. The first meeting was held at the ASSAf offices on 13 June 2018. The committee members are Ms Dorothy Ngila (Chair), Ms Caroline Pule (Vice-Chair), Ms Phyllis Kalele, Prof Tricia Naicker, Prof Jennifer Thomson, and Dr Rakeshnie Romoutar-Prieschl.

OWSD SANC held a strategy planning meeting at the NRF on 18 October 2018 to review the strategy and purpose of ExCo for the term ahead and determine the types of activities to take on going forward, to best showcase OWSD, as well as OWSD SANC, considering South African institutions host a vast majority of the OWSD Fellowship holders.

Gender Summit 15

ASSAf in collaboration with OWSD SANC, and GenderInSITE was represented at the Gender Summit 15 in London which was held from 18 to 19 June 2018 by Ms Elzarie Swanepoel. The Gender Summit 15 was a first in the series for London. The outcome of the Gender Summit 2018 was to produce a report that will inform policy to advance gender equality in institutions. During the Gender Summit 15, ASSAf presented on Human Scientific Africa. ASSAf was invited to Gender Summit16 to present as a case study the work done through OWSD and GenderInSITE.

55 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 MTAWA Career Workshop

The Mentoring Network of African Women in Academia (MTAWA) in partnership with the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology held a workshop on equipping of women scholars/graduates for academic and professional advancement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The two-day workshop was held on 24 and 25 July at the Sino Africa Joint Research Centre at the university. Ms Phyllis Kalele attended the workshop and presented on the fellowship opportunities available from TWAS and OWSD. MTAWA is an organisation that establishes and builds networks for African women in academia in support of their academic and professional growth and success.

SAASTA Women and Girls in Science

SAASTA hosted an event titled Women & Girls in Science. This first event was held at the SAASTA Johan- nesburg Observatory on 7 August 2018. It aimed to bring together women scientists and women working in the scientific field to engage with and inspire young girls who wish to pursue careers in science. ASSAf and OWSD SANC engaged in this event to establish links with young girls to initiate mentoring activities and possibilities. Ms Elzarie Swanepoel from ASSAf was a speaker at this event.

OWSD Regional Conference Africa

The OWSD Kenya National Chapter hosted a Regional Conference preceding the launch of their National Chapter, at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya. Ms Phyllis Kalele and Ms Elzarie Swanepoel from ASSAf presented at the event.

RUFORUM Side-Event

The TWAS SAREP/OWSD SANC event was held on 23 October 2018 in Kenya, during the RUFORUM Confer- ence week from 22 – 26 October 2018. The objectives were to showcase available opportunities (fellow- ships, prizes, scholarships, exchange programmes, affiliation and research grants) offered by TWAS and OWSD; to highlight the importance and benefits of being affiliated to these organisations; to address gender-related societal issues hindering women’s participation in sciences and research; and to address the critical need for African countries to establish OWSD national chapters to facilitate and promote women’s participation and country development. OWSD SANC assisted with the mobilisation of the OWSD Kenya National Chapters to attend the conference, and participate in the session, along with Prof Babalola, the Vice-President of OWSD, African Region representative.

ASSAf-DFG Workshop

ASSAf, DST, the German Research Foundation (DFG), and OWSD SANC, supported by SAYAS, TWAS SAREP, and NRF partnered to conduct the ASSAf-DFG workshop, held on 27 November 2018 in Pretoria. The objective of the workshop was to inform and raise awareness on the respective South African and German efforts. The workshop focused on gender equity, diversity and inclusion in the research landscape and the gender and diversity dimension in research (e.g. as part of research content, methodology); and research integrity as it pertains to the evolving aspects of gender-related programmes. The workshop was aimed at senior and young scientists, senior officials from science councils, civil society organisations, government departments, universities and research institutions and the private sector.

SFSA

Two sessions were held at the SFSA2018 on 13 December 2018.

This session on SADC Women in Science Engineering and Technology was sponsored by ASSAf and the DST. Panel discussions focused on the rationale, modalities, opportunities and challenges for forming Na- tional Chapters for SADC WISET in the member states. The value of such chapters in the industrialisation of SADC and Africa was highlighted.

In a session on gender equality for the advancement of STI for development, deliberations focused on how gender equality is used to advance science technology and innovation for escalating inclusive human capital of the country and the continent.

56 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 GenderInSITE Steering Committee

GenderInSITE held its annual steering committee meeting on 11 March 2019 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The committee of GenderInSITE is composed of representatives from the AAAS, Chinese Academy of Science, TWAS, OWSD, ISC and UNESCO. The GenderInSITE report, Pathways to Success: Bringing a Gen- der Lens to the Scientific Leadership of Global Challenges was launched.

Ms Phyllis Kalele from ASSAf is the new coordinator of the Africa regional focal point.

Table 3: Programme 3: Strategic Objective Annual Targets and Performance Indicators for 2018/19

Strategic Planned Performance Actual Actual Variance Status Comment objective target indicator performance performance 2017/18 2018/19 To increase 28% Proportion 26% 26% -2% Not achieved Continue to follow and of women Council approved diversify the Members transformation Membership of policy to address the Academy under-represented designated groups 30% Proportion 30% 31% +1% Exceeded Appeal to of black target Members Members successful regarding this indicator To recognise 2 No of 1 2 0 Achieved and reward Science- excellence for-Society in science Gold Medals and promote awarded scholarly 1 No of 1 1 0 Achieved activity Distinguished Visiting Scholars hosted 2 No of regions 3 5 +3 Exceeded Increased activities hosting public target lectures

57 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 To collaborate 1 No of joint 2 4 +3 Exceeded Increased in with and meetings target number of partners strengthen hosted with and activities African science an African academies science academy1 To increase 1 No of Young 3 3 +2 Exceeded Increased funding participation of Scientists’ target young scientists Conferences in science- hosted related activities To increase 8 No of new 38 79 +71 Exceeded Improving participation members target monitoring for of women of OWSD memberships, as in science- National well as recruiting related Chapter strategies to gain activities and more South African promote the members application of a gender lens in Academy activities

1 A joint meeting is defined as a workshop/conference/symposium that is organised by ASSAf in partnership with one or more African science academies or NASAC.

2.4 Programme 4: Science Advisory Programme

In order for ASSAf to fulfil its science advisory role in support of policy development regarding key challenges facing the nation, a variety of consensus studies is undertaken. In addition to the in-depth consensus studies, ASSAf produces concise policymakers’ booklets and workshop/symposium proceedings reports; the latter representing the products of various convening activities of the Academy, which in 2018/19 included topics such as education in the health professions, engineering and human genetics and genomics. In addition to evidence-based studies on various topics, ASSAf also undertakes policy commentaries and produces authoritative statements when appropriate.

Studies generally fall into broad categories related to health; education; humanities; climate change; energy; the science-policy nexus; biosafety and biosecurity, and poverty reduction. Once concluded, considerable effort is expended in disseminating the findings and ensuring effective uptake of the recommendations.

ASSAf has Standing Committees on Health; Scholarly Publishing in South Africa; Science, Technology, En- gineering and Mathematics Education; Humanities; Biosafety and Biosecurity; and Science for the Reduc- tion of Poverty and Inequality. Each of these committees provides strategic direction to ASSAf’s science advisory activities.

The Academy’s achievements in the Science Advisory programme are summarised below.

2.4.1 Health Studies

Standing Committee on Health

Activities are overseen by a Standing Committee on Health. The Committee endorsed two IAP for Health statements: A Call for Action to Tackle the Growing Burden of Dementia; and A Call for Action to Declare Trauma as a Disease. Through the committee, ASSAf also actively participated in the IAP for Health Work- ing Group on Urban Health.

A new consensus study was initiated by the committee and the study will be looking into The Challenges of Good Governance and Management in the South African Health System.

58 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Reconceptualising Health Professions Education in South Africa: Consensus Study

The consensus study Reconceptualising Health Professions Education in South Africa (http://research.assaf.org.za/handle/20.500.11911/95) was launched on 15 June 2018 and found that the burden of disease, shortage of trained health care personnel, particularly in rural areas, and the ongoing higher education crisis places unique challenges on the health sciences education sector.

The study was undertaken by a ten-member panel and addressed the full value chain in health sciences education from student selection, through pedagogical developments, unpacking of the current bottle- necks in the system and looking at how the future health sciences education system can be financed and regulated.

Sixteen recommendations aimed at a wide-ranging audience, including policymakers and educators, were made, some of which are:

• There is a need to reconceptualise student selection with the aim of evaluating a broader set of criteria than those currently in use. • Selection and training should be orientated towards addressing inequity and meeting the needs of the most underserved, through supporting a primary care focus and increasing the supply of health care professionals to rural areas. • Public sector academic institutions need to be strengthened to scale up the production of health care professionals. • Universities should take responsibility for education and professional development from undergraduate years through to internship and community service. • To enable inter-professional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) to become sustainably embedded in health professional education in South Africa, a multi-stakeholder, national working group should be formed to develop and guide the implementation of a strategic plan for IPECP. • There is a need to take urgent action to improve governance of health sciences funding by strengthening the capacity and accelerating the momentum of the Joint Health Science Education Committee. • Improve human resource planning, resource allocation and budgeting.

Some 60 participants attended the launch and included personnel from the different higher education institutions, relevant councils/associations and government representatives. The report was also presented and disseminated at the 2018 South African Association of Health Educationalists (SAAHE) Conference in Durban on 28 June 2018. Approximately 150 people attended this special session.

An article, written by Prof Jimmy Volmink, based on the report was published in the South African Journal of Sciences in the July/August 2018 issue.

Stakeholder engagements to discuss the implementation of the recommendations of the report were conducted with the National Treasury, the sub-Saharan Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Regional Institute, SAAHE, the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa and the South African Committee for Medical Deans.

Ethical, Legal and Social Issues Related to Human Genetics and Genomics in South Africa: Consensus Study

The consensus study report entitled Human Genetics and Genomics in South Africa: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (www.assaf.org.za) was published and launched on 4 December 2018 in Pretoria. The report addresses the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSIs) of genetics and genomics work as it relates to research, health service provision and forensic applications (medical and legal) in the country.

South Africa needs to develop policies, regulation and guidelines to address the ELSIs of genetic and genomic work. These need to be ethically and legally sound, culturally appropriate, feasible, enforceable and sustainable.

The face of health care delivery, biomedical research and forensics in South Africa is rapidly changing as a result of advances in the fields of genetics and genomics, with a corresponding need to consider the ELSIs of these fields and the technological advances that occur therein.

59 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Central to the report is the broad philosophical approach of Ubuntu, a philosophical notion that refers to the essence or quality of being human. The report describes the benefits to be derived from genetic and genomics work, the need for boundaries to be clearly defined and adherence monitored to ensure that benefits are shared by all and that no harm is done.

The report is divided into three thematic areas: Building Relationships, Respect for Persons and Good Stew- ardship.

Building Relationships focuses on the engagement between human genetics and genomics practitioners, communities and the general public, and includes academic research, genetic testing in the public and private sectors, as well as relationships between the public, the law and the forensic science sector.

The topic of Respect for Persons is addressed in accordance with the South African Constitution, which recognises and protects both autonomy and self-determination.

In the section on Good Stewardship the need for responsibility is highlighted in terms of sustainable and careful use of genomic resources by individuals, communities, organisations, companies and governmental institutions. A recommendation in this regard calls for a code of conduct and best practice for professionals working in the field of genetics and genomics in South Africa to be developed and other appropriate entities to promote good stewardship of resources, including data and biological specimens.

Overarching recommendations of the report call for capacity development as appropriately trained and skilled personnel at all levels of genetics and genomics work is currently in short supply.

An inclusive and cross-cutting legal framework with policies, regulations and guidelines for genetics and genomics should be developed taking into account national, regional and international contexts, and should avoid stifling innovation.

An independent and adequately resourced South African Human Genetics Advisory Board should be established at national level to provide oversight.

With regard to oversight, it is recommended that ethical and legal implications should be brought to the attention of the relevant authorities, the National Health Research Ethics Council and South African Law Reform Commission respectively, whose involvement in policy-drafting should be sought.

The report has had significant media impact. • https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07637-x • https://allafrica.com/stories/201812040625.html • https://mg.co.za/article/2018-12-04-science-body-pushes-for-better-human-genetics-ethics-guidelines/ • https://allafrica.com/stories/201812040625.html?utm_campaign=allafrica%3Ainternal&utm_ medium=soci... • http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/science-body-pushes-for-better-human-genetics-ethics- guidelines-in-south-africa-2018-12-04 • https://brainwavesdev.co.za/publication/launch-of-the-consensus-study-report-on-human-genetics- and-genomics-in-south-africa/ • https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/assaf-launches-study-human-genetics-genomics/ • https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-12-07-scientists-call-for-tighter-regulation-of-sa-human- genetics-research/?utm_source=homepagify • https://twitter.com/Duncan025/status/1069917996464922624 • https://www.news24.com/Green/News/science-body-pushes-for-better-human-genetics-ethics- guidelines-in-sa-20181204

The completed consensus study report was presented to the DST Exco on 4 March 2019. ASSAf and the panel will continue with stakeholder engagements to ensure that the recommendations are taken forward.

The report notes that “critical and highly topical fields of practice and research such as gene editing and gene therapy remain unregulated”. Gene editing is the alteration of the genome while gene therapy is the alteration of gene expression for therapeutic purposes.

60 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The consensus study did not address these topics directly because despite their potential for advancing health improvements, very little is known about how they are viewed by South Africans or how they would be applied in the South African context. A follow-up study to address these issues has been approved by the ASSAf Council.

Provider Core Competencies for Improved Mental Health Care of the Nation: Consensus Study

The panel is making good progress towards the drafting of the consensus study report. A consultative workshop titled What Do We Need to Provide Improved Mental Health Care for the Nation? was held on 16 October 2018. The aim of the workshop was to obtain more information to address any gaps or outstanding information as identified by the panel. A workshop proceedings report is in the pipeline and will feed into the consensus study report.

Root Causes of Low Coverage and Under-Immunisation of the African Child: Consensus Study

ASSAf is working in collaboration with UNAS on a consensus study that is looking into the Root Causes of Low Coverage and Under-Immunisation of the African Child. The study is focused on the sub-Saharan Africa region and includes panel members from eight sub-Saharan Africa countries. The ASSAf Council approved the study in May 2018.

The inaugural panel meeting and a public symposium took place in South Africa from 30 July – 1 August 2018. The symposium was attended by 70 participants and experts from different parts of the sub-Saharan Africa region covering: government/policymakers; non-government organisations; researchers; health economists; health information experts; vaccine producers; business; and media experts.

UNAS hosted the second collaborative symposium and panel meeting on 27 February – 1 March 2019 in Uganda. The symposium was attended by 42 participants from different countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region. Participants included pharmaceutical industry people, academics, government and non- government personnel, researchers and civil society organisations. The symposium discussions included: social, economic and political factors contributing to under-immunisation; drivers of change and innovation; and how the key stakeholders (policymakers, health care workers and communities) can work together to create solutions.

The discussions form from both collaborative symposia formed part of the contributions towards the consensus report.

The Challenges of Good Governance and Management in the South African Health System: Consensus Study

The consensus study was approved by the ASSAf Council at its meeting of 12 February 2019. The ASSAf Health Standing Committee had identified several gaps in governance and the need to consider options and make recommendations for improved accountability as the health system is transitioning to National Health Insurance (NHI).

2.4.2 Education Studies

STEM Education Standing Committee

The ASSAf Council had given its approval of a consensus study on the Implementation of the Hybrid/ Blended Learning Model for Tertiary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Heath Sci- ences Education in October 2018. Since, it had been established that much work was already on track in the university environment, and a consensus study by ASSAf would not make significant inroads.

The ASSAf Council allowed the retraction of the proposal for this consensus study.

Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering: Consensus Study

The consensus study report on the Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa (www.assaf.org.za) was launched on 27 March 2019 and officially handed over to DST. The study documented and assessed the status of postgraduate research training in engineering in South Africa regarding possible systemic challenges or shortcomings.

61 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The report finds that postgraduate engineering training and research to position South Africa in the high- technology manufacturing sector are critical and urge to develop such a vision, and the higher education sector to support it.

Some of the key challenges found are the low numbers of university staff with PhDs, limited supervisory capacity, the lack of critical mass in some engineering fields and the low participation rates of women in postgraduate engineering. The report makes ten recommendations.

The study builds on an earlier Academy study, the PhD Study, published in 2010, which gave a comprehensive overview of, inter alia, the numbers of doctorates being produced, the demographic characteristics, supervisory capacity and how to escalate the production across all disciplinary fields. As the field that produced the lowest share of doctorates and where the utilisation of skills obtained was the lowest of all disciplinary fields, with over 20% of those surveyed stating that they rarely or never used the skills obtained in the doctorate in the workplace, a follow-up study is relevant.

The latest study found that a perspective on postgraduate engineering training and research is inextrica- bly linked to the vision of South Africa in terms of its regional and global positioning and competitiveness.

The development and promotion of such a vision is primarily the responsibility of government. South Africa is not well positioned to be competitive in low-technology industries and should rather focus on high-technology manufacturing and service industries. A well-educated workforce will be required to support such a transition. The reticence of industry, which is presently predominantly positioned at the low to medium- technology levels to support the growth of postgraduate education is understandable. The profit motive of industry is paramount and engineers with postgraduate qualifications are viewed as unaffordable and unnecessary. A longer-term view that positions South Africa for future high-technology industries and un- derscores the value of postgraduate qualifications should be promoted. The mechanism to develop this vision to position South Africa as a high-technology country should be the joint responsibility of the DST and the Department of Trade and Industry.

Benchmarking South Africa against eight comparator countries on efficiency and effectiveness of postgraduate engineering training, South Africa scored relatively poorly across almost all measures. In terms of effectiveness, the highest demand for engineers seems to be in the Electrical, Electronic and Telecommu- nications Engineering; Civil Engineering; and Mining Engineering fields. The supply profile does not match the demand profile in all areas.

However, there is a demand for (and shortage of) engineers in all engineering fields, based on very low engineer unemployment rates. South Africa ranks relatively poorly in terms of the World Economic Forum’s Higher Education & Training Score and has the lowest number of engineering graduates per million population (265) across the comparator countries.

The report made ten recommendations.

ASSAf will further engage with stakeholders including the DST to ensure that the recommendations are taken forward.

Effective Intervention in Science and Mathematics Education: Consensus Study

The ASSAf Council has approved a consensus study on ‘what works’ (and what does not) in efforts to improve learning gains in science and mathematics education at a systemic level in South African schools on 12 February 2019.

Before and since 1994 both government and increasingly the private sector have poured hundreds of mil- lions of rands into improving science and mathematics education in South Africa. Yet the data on learning achievements in these gateway subjects (science, mathematics) over more than two decades reveal a consistent underachievement in learning attainments in and beyond the foundation years.

The proposed consensus study followed from a meeting with the business community and would be funded by business leaders.

62 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 2.4.3 Poverty-related Studies

Standing Committee on Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality

Activities are overseen by a SCSfRPI.

A workshop on Poverty, Inequality and Global Climate Change was held on 18 and 19 September 2018 at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo in Rhodesfield. The event included a keynote address by the Vice-President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management at the African Development Bank, Dr Célestin Monga. Mr Trevor Manuel was the guest speaker at the dinner on18 September 2018.

The proceedings report of the workshop on Poverty, Inequality and Global Climate Change, held 18 and 19 September 2018 at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo in Rhodesfield is in production.

The committee decided that connecting the sciences around climate change, poverty and inequality had not been sufficiently addressed and had agreed to follow through on a number of possible actions to raise the awareness of the lack of integration of the issues when looking at the themes of poverty, inequality and climate change. A policy brief on the topic is being drafted which, following the committee’s review and edits, may be used to engage relevant authorities together with the proceedings report to raise awareness and garner some action.

Prof Julian May represented ASSAf at the InterAcademy Partnership Science for Poverty Eradication Com- mittee meeting hosted by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences from 27 – 29 March 2019.

2.4.4 Humanities Studies

Humanities Standing Committee

The ASSAf Humanities Book Award is a biennial book award for publications that is categorised as a scholarly, well-written work of non-fiction, published up to three years prior to its nomination. The book should be noteworthy in its contribution to developing new understanding and insight of a topic in the humanities, social sciences and performing arts.

The award was presented to Prof N Chabani Manganyi for his book titled Apartheid and the Making of a Black Psychologist: A Memoir.

The book is described as an exceptional autobiography that tells the story of an extraordinary South Afri- can life. The Making of a Black Psychologist illuminates the history of a country through sensitive, insightful, personalised accounts of the devastating effects of rural poverty, family dislocation, migrant labour and Bantu Education on whole communities. The book on the life and times of Manganyi gains its authority as a result of the author’s formidable skills as a psychobiographer, and his remarkable restraint as a writer even as he recounts painful and recurring episodes of personal and family suffering through the course of his life. What is different about this is how Manganyi finds in the most oppressive circumstances – whether as a child being caned for missing school or an aspirant academic turned down for a job – opportunities for learning that advances his career; over a long period of time he refuses to yield to the many obstacles on his path as a black man and as a psychologist. This is a book on how ordinary black South Africans reached great heights in their lives and careers.

Legends of South African Science

The second book profiling Members of ASSAf is underway. Sixty-four Members will be profiled. Publication is scheduled for 2019.

63 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 2.4.5 Biosafety and Biosecurity Studies

Standing Committee on Biosafety and Biosecurity

The Committee participated in the IAP’s Respect and Dialogue initiative. The Committee also initiated the writing of an article on the gene drives technology which is planned for publication end of 2019.

The committee also oversees and gives strategic direction to ASSAf studies/initiatives that have a focus on: biosafety, biosecurity and biotechnology.

The State of Biosafety and Biosecurity in the SADC Region

The State of Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity in the SADC Region (http://research.assaf.org.za/handle/20.500.11911/101) ) workshop proceedings report was published in July 2018 and was widely disseminated . The workshop, attended by about 70 participants, had focused on the WHO Joint External Evalu- ation findings in the region.

As a follow-up to the March 2018 workshop on the State of Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity in the SADC Region, a consensus study with objectives that are based on recommendations made at that workshop was approved by the ASSAf Council at its meeting on 12 February 2019. On 29 March 2018, the new SADC Secretariat’s Programme Officer for Health gave his endorsement of the study during an e-meeting pending further discussions in April 2019.

Science and Technology: Developments Relevant to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) for Sub- Saharan Africa

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in collaboration with ASSAf and the US National Acad- emies hosted a regional workshop on science and technology with respect to the BWC on 25 – 26 July 2018 in Pretoria. A background paper, to which ASSAf contributed, was presented at the workshop. ASSAf also presented on its 2015 report on the State of Biosafety and Biosecurity in South Africa.

The workshop was attended by 60 participants from the region.

Neonicotinoids and Their Impact on Ecosystem Services for Agriculture and Biodiversity in Africa Workshop

ASSAf and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina hosted a workshop to assess the potential risk of neonicotinoids in Africa. The workshop entitled Neonicotinoids and Their Impact on Ecosystem Services for Agriculture/Biodiversity in Africa specifically focused on the threats that the systemic agricultural insecticides, neonicotinoids, hold for African economies and societies that are greatly dependent on agriculture for survival.

Increasing evidence from several scientific reviews indicating that the widespread prophylactic use of neonicotinoids has severe negative effects on non-target organisms that provide ecosystem services, including pollination and natural pest control, resulted in the partial ban of neonicotinoids in Europe in April 2018.

The workshop took place from 14 – 16 November 2018 in Centurion and was attended by some 50 researchers and experts on neonicotinoids insecticides from Africa and Europe.

The workshop proceedings report has been published and is available on the following link: https://www. assaf.org.za/ index.php/publications/proceedings-reports

2.4.6 Energy and Climate Studies

South Africa’s Technical Readiness to Support the Shale Gas Industry

ASSAf was requested by the DST to draft a Science Action Plan (SAP) on the way forward in terms of research in preparing for the advent of a shale gas industry. Publishing of the SAP is underway.

On 14 and 15 March 2019, a workshop was held, at Kievits Kroon Faircity Hotel, to discuss two of the six flagship topics proposed in the SAP, namely: Geology and Gas Resource, and Exploration, Development and Production Technology, and Electromagnetic Interference.

64 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The event was attended by 40 people, representing government (DST, Department of Water and Sani- tation, Department of Mineral Resources and Treasury), the ASSAf panel of the original ASSAf consensus study, academia and industry (including the South African Oil and Gas Alliance, Shell and PetroSA).

The proceedings report will be published in 2019.

The State of Energy Efficiency Technologies in South Africa: Consensus Study

The consensus study entitled The State of Research, Development and Innovation of Electrical Energy Efficiency Technologies in South Africa was launched on 19 June 2018 in Centurion. It found that South Africa’s energy efficiency activities should be prioritised in future and while energy efficient activities are currently small, they can be regarded as significant.

The availability of appropriate, reliable and affordable energy is central to the sustainability and further development of modern societies. The field of energy efficiency aims to promote efficiency in the conversion, distribution and usage of energy technologies and products and provides an attractive methodology for managing growth in energy consumption.

Energy efficiency is an economically and environmentally attractive way to meet growing energy de- mands but needs support to make a significant contribution as it may not be aligned with the aims of energy producers.

This ASSAf report comprises a review, assessment and analysis of the state of electrical energy efficiency technology research development and innovation in South Africa. It aims to inform the DST of opportunities for further development regarding human capital development, intellectual property output and technology development and innovation, in order to promote the adoption of energy efficiency technologies in South Africa.

The report also found that research output on energy efficiency in South Africa has increased markedly during the period 2007 to 2014 but appears to have stagnated since then. The focused funding of the Energy Efficiency Demand Side Management (EEDSM) hub at UP contributed significantly to this growth in research but needs to be sustained and increased to maintain the momentum to guide and support energy efficiency interventions with linked research and development activities.

International cooperation agreements serve as conduits for South African participation in energy efficiency projects. One that is highlighted is the BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Framework Pro- gramme that is opening up opportunities for research cooperation on micro-grids and the related fields of integrated building energy systems, distributed generation systems, smart grids and solid-state lighting.

Recommendations of the report are: • Energy efficiency must be accorded the priority that it deserves in future iterations of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). • Compile a national EEDSM roadmap, in support of the IRP and the new National Energy Efficiency Strat- egy. • Strengthen research and training facilities in EEDSM. • Establish a national monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework on energy efficiency. • Strengthen the research and training facilities in smart grids at South African universities. • Ensure the development of a coherent policy on solid-state lighting and provide support for local manu- facture of luminaires. • Consider the implementation of the energy efficiency aspects of the Tribology Roadmap as developed by the Technical Steering Committee on Tribology.

The report was commissioned by DST.

The launch was well attended with representations by the DST, DEA and the South African Institute of Tri- bology. The report has since been electronically disseminated and hard copies will be sent to the DST and any other departments requesting copies. The publication of the report has been reported by Business Day and Engineering News. Prof Roelf Sandenbergh was asked to be interviewed by Kumkani FM which is a community radio station based in East London. The ASSAf study was represented by Prof Kenneth Ozo- emena during the Sol Plaatje Municipality colloquium on innovation in July 2018.

65 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Biennial Report on the State of Climate Change Science and Technology in South Africa

The report was presented to DST ExCo on 12 February by Prof Bob Scholes from Wits.

The report was also presented to the Economic Sectors, Employment and Infrastructure Development Cluster (ESEID) meeting on 14 March 2019. The report is due for tabling at Cabinet in 2019.

ASSAf is finalising the report and preparing it for publication (including printing). A launch is intended for May 2019 during which the issue of communication of climate change science may be interrogated.

Evaluation of Alternative Telecommunication Technologies for the Karoo Central Astronomy Advantage Area: Consensus Study

The consensus study was approved by the ASSAf Council in February 2019. Potential panel members have been invited but the constitution has not yet been finalised.

Table 4: Programme 4: Performance Indicators for the 2018/19 Financial Year

Strategic objective Planned Performance Actual Actual Variance Status Comment3 target indicator performance performance 2017/18 2018/19 To facilitate scholarly 2 No of 2 2 0 Achieved engagement on key workshop national and global reports1 challenges published To provide evidence- 2 No of 4 3 +1 Exceeded Increased based science consensus target activities advice to support study reports2 policy development published

1 A workshop report is a published report summarising the presentations and discussions at a workshop/symposium hosted by ASSAf. 2 A consensus study report is a substantial evidence-based report that follows the standard Academy consensus study methodology, is peer-reviewed, approved by the ASSAf Council and contains a set of strong recommendations. 3 Additional workshop reports produced as a result of Liaison Programme activities have not been included here.

66 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 3 South African Young Academy of Science

3.1 Introduction

The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) was established on 27 September 2011. SAYAS was born out of the need for young scientists to contribute towards solutions to national and global challenges facing society. SAYAS represents the voice of young scientists on national and international issues and gives them a platform to influence policy decisions. SAYAS also aims to contribute towards the development of scientific capacity in South Africa through mentoring and role-modelling of future scientists, and by fostering opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations between young scientists.

SAYAS objectives are: • Promoting SAYAS and its value-adding initiatives. • Advancing scientific excellence for South Africa and Africa. • Influencing science policy. • Translating science for society to promote science awareness.

There are currently 49 members and 39 alumni. ASSAf continues to provide secretariat support and funding to support SAYAS activities.

3.2 New SAYAS Members Inaugurated

In 2018, SAYAS inaugurated ten young scientists, comprising 40% males and 60% females.

Name Gender Age Race Institution Area of Specialisation Dr Amy Slogrove Female 39 White Stellenbosch Uni- Paediatrics & Child Health; versity Epidemiology Dr Fanelwa Ajayi Female 35 Black African University of the Drug Metabolism Sensor Western Cape Prof Fulufhelo Nemavhola Male 36 Black African University of South Computational Africa Biomechanics Dr Leyla Tavernaro- Female 36 Black University of Jo- Media & Journalism Haidarian hannesburg Dr Nhlanhla Mpofu Female 36 Black African Sol Plaatjie Univer- Teacher Education sity Dr Pradeep Kumar Male 34 Indian University of the Drug Delivery Witwatersrand Dr Sarah Fawcett Female 35 White University of Cape Marine Biogeochemistry Town Dr Samson Khene Male 35 Black African Rhodes University Physical Chemistry Dr Tatenda Dalu Male 32 Black African University of Plankton Ecology Venda Dr Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye Female 34 Black African Vaal University of Traditional Medicine Technology

3.3 SAYAS General Assembly

SAYAS held its sixth General Assembly on 17 October 2018 at the University of Fort Hare, East London campus. The following people were elected as Executive Committee members for 2018/19.

A/Prof Aliza le Roux (Co-Chair) Prof Philani Moyo (Co-Chair) Dr Fanelwa Ajayi (Executive Member) Dr Mardè Helbig (Executive Member) Prof Kanshukan Rajaratnam (Executive Member)

3.4 SAYAS Food Security and Policy Workshop

Young scientists from SADC deliberated on the eradication of hunger and food security at a workshop hosted by SAYAS which took place from 11 – 13 April 2018 at Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg. Titled, Policy Direction – Eradication of Hunger and Achievement of Food Security, the

67 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 workshop sought to link young scientists and early career researchers to policymakers to strengthen the science-policy interface.

Young scientists and early career researchers equally work in isolation with very limited linkages to policymakers for whom evidence-based research should be key. The workshop aimed to establish a relationship between young scientists to better inform policies and assessments; identify gaps and shortfalls in the achievement of goals and to utilise science to find solutions. Young scientists were also challenged to gear their research to be more responsive to the SDGs.

Some 70 delegates from nine SADC countries attended the workshop which was co-hosted by the Tan- zania Young Academy of Science, Mauritius Young Academy of Science and TWAS SAREP. The role that young academies can play as instigators and stimulators of science in national and regional arenas cannot be gainsaid. In its 2017 – 2021 Strategic Plan, SAYAS noted as one of its programmatic objectives the promotion of the UN SDGs in SAYAS programmes and activities. Undertaking this workshop focused on SDG2 was one of the direct outcomes.

Funding for the workshop was provided by IAP, the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, TWAS SAREP and OWSD SANC.

3.5 SAYAS Collaborates with Young Academy of Sweden

SAYAS and the Young Academy of Sweden (YAS) presented at a joint panel session on Supporting Young Scientists to Thrive in the Research System held on 15 May 2018 at UP as part of the South Africa-Sweden University Forum Research and Innovation Week 2018. The forum is a collaboration of 30 universities in Swe- den and South Africa, together with embassies, civil society organisations, funding agencies and ministries in both countries.

Prof Puleng Segalo, Head, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, College of Human Sciences, Unisa. addressed gender dimensions and challenges faced by young researchers while Prof Esther Akinlabi, Vice- Dean: Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, UJ, spoke of contributions made towards meeting industry needs and addressing the 4th Industrial Revolution. Dr Alisa Phulukdaree, Senior Lecturer, Department of Physiology, UP, presented on the Africa Science Leadership Programme as an initiative aimed at equipping young scientists and early career researchers in Africa in science leadership.

SAYAS also hosted members of YAS who paid the SAYAS Secretariat a courtesy call. Areas of possible joint cooperation were discussed at this meeting.

3.6 ASSAf Young Scientists’ Conference

Young scientists deliberated on corruption and its negative effects on South Africa’s progress at the 9th Young Scientists’ Conference which was held from 13 – 14 September 2018 in Johannesburg at the Protea OR Tambo Hotel. The theme of the conference was Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Trans-disciplinary Approach.

The conference was hosted by ASSAf, DST and SAYAS. Seventy young scientists from ten academic institutions, as well as some speakers from civil society organisations attended the conference. Ms Ntshadi Mofokeng, Chief Operations Officer, Equal Education gave the welcome address while Mr Lucky Menoe, Deputy Director, Corruption Watch gave the keynote address. Mr Deprose Muchena, Regional Director, Amnesty International was the invited speaker at the official conference dinner.

Additional funding for the conference was provided by OWSD SANC and the South African MRC.

3.7 SAYAS Capacity Building and Science Leadership Meeting

SAYAS held a Capacity Building, Science Leadership and Policy meeting for its members on 16 to 17 Oc- tober 2018 at UFH, East London campus. At the same time the annual general meeting was held. Fund- ing was received from IAP’s African Academies Diaspora Fellows Programme. The funding from the IAP’s Project on Harnessing Science, Engineering, and Medicine to Address Africa’s Challenges was a pilot programme that enabled African science academies to invite members of the African Diaspora to work with them on policy initiatives and/or other activities designed to strengthen the host academy. SAYAS hosted ASSAf Member, Prof Saleem Badat based in New York with the Mellon Foundation as its African Diaspora fellow.

68 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 4 South African Academy of Engineering

The South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE) provides access to the wealth of knowledge and experience of its 200 members who are eminent practitioners from all engineering disciplines. For the benefit of all people of South Africa and for the technological welfare of the nation, SAAE offers independent, evidence-informed advice, while promoting excellence in the science and application of engineering. In this endeavour the SAAE collaborates with academic and scientific institutions which have a similar mission and maintains bilateral and multilateral relations with academies in SA and other countries.

4.1 Financial Management

SAAE receives financial support from the DST to fund its membership of and participation in the activities of the Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS). ASSAf administrates these funds and provides office facilities to SAAE. Other activities of the SAAE and its administration are funded by annual subscription fees paid by its members and by ad hoc sponsorship of special events.

During the past year SAAE undertook the following activities in pursuit of these goals.

4.2 Executive Committee

In May 2018 the following persons were elected to the Executive Committee for the period 2018 – 2020: • Dr Musa Furumele, Chairman, Gandlati Strategic Equity (Pty) Ltd. • Dr Trueman Goba, Chairman of Hatch Africa (Pty) Ltd. • Prof Elsabe Kearsley, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, UP. • Dr Hylton Macdonald, Retired Construction Advisor Aveng Ltd and Director of HKM Consulting. • Mr Neil Macleod, Retired Head: Water and Sanitation in the eThekwini Municipality and Specialist Water and Sanitation Consultant and Honorary Research Fellow at UKZN. • Mr Stanford Mkhacane, Director, Nyeleti Consulting (Pty) Ltd. • Prof Cyril O’Connor, Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Scholar, UCT. • Mr Bob Pullen, Independent Civil Engineering Consultant: Management of Water Resources and related fields. • Dr Mike Shand, Consultant, Aurecon Consulting Engineers. • Prof Wikus van Niekerk, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, SU.

The 96th Executive Meeting took place by video conference on 15 May 2018 between the offices of Au- recon in Pretoria and Cape Town. Ten of the 12 committee members participated in the meeting. At this meeting, the outgoing Executive Committee re-elected Dr Trueman Goba as President and elected Prof Elsabe Kearsley as Vice-President for the next term of office of the committee.

SAAE’s 97th Executive Meeting took place on 14 August 2018 at the offices of ASSAf in Pretoria. Seven of the ten members attended the meeting.

SAAE’s 98th Executive Committee Meeting took place by teleconference on 13 November 2018 between Aurecon’s offices in Pretoria and in Cape Town. The meeting was attended by nine members.

SAAE’s 99th Executive Meeting took place by teleconference on 26 February 2019 between the offices of Aurecon in Pretoria and Cape Town. The meeting was attended by eight members.

4.3 Annual General Meeting

In terms of a decision taken at the 2015 Annual General Meeting the 21st Annual General Meeting of the SAAE took place by electronic communication with all members on 28 June 2018. At this meeting the An- nual Report and the audited Financial Statements were accepted and eight new members were elected as Fellows of the Academy.

4.4 Induction

The induction dinner for new SAAE members in the Western Cape took place on 10 October 2018 in Stel- lenbosch. The dinner was attended by 41 Fellows, spouses and guests and was sponsored by Aurecon, MLS Tests Systems and Reutech Radar Systems. New Fellows, Dr Rob Adam, Prof Neil Armitage, Ms Marna

69 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 de Lange and Prof Pilate Moyo were inducted by President Dr Trueman Goba and Honorary Fellowship was bestowed on Fellow Dr Mike Shand. Leon Nel of Reutech Radar Systems delivered a presentation. The Gauteng induction dinner took place at the Pretoria Country Club on 25 October 2018 and was attended by 48 Fellows, spouses and guests. The dinner was sponsored by Aurecon and Nyeleti. New Fellows, Dr Rodney Jones, Prof Gerrit Jordaan, Mr Seetella Makhetha and Dr Quentin Shaw were inducted. Mr Edwin Kruger of the South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL) made a presentation on the construction of the N2 between Port St Johns and Durban which has recently commenced after many delays.

4.5 Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences

The 2018 CAETS Convocation and Annual Meeting, Engineering for a Better World, took place in Montevi- deo, Uruguay, from 10 – 14 September 2018. SAAE was represented by its President, Dr Trueman Goba, Dr Mike Shand, Mr Bob Pullen and Mr Felix Reinders. Dr Goba also currently serves on the CAETS Board, and he attended their meeting on 10 September 2018.

The 2019 meeting of the CAETS Energy Committee was hosted by the Korean Academy of Engineering in Seoul, South Korea, from 6 to 9 March 2019. The theme of the meeting was Generation Towards the Infrastructure (Infrastructure, Smart Grids with Digital Components, Electric Vehicles, Compilation of Ap- proaches). SAAE was represented at this meeting by SAAE Fellow, Dr Steve Lennon.

4.6 Lectures

Hendrik van der Bijl Lecture

On 25 September 2018 Dr Gustav Rohde, CEO of Aurecon, presented the Annual Hendrik van der Bijl Memorial Lecture in the Senate Hall of UP. The memorial lecture is presented annually by the SAAE in collaboration with UP. The topic of the lecture was The Fourth Industrial Revolution Digital Transformation – An Opportunity to Reposition. The lecture was attended by 120 people.

Academy Lectures

On 15 March 2019, SAAE presented a lecture by Dr Gustav Rohde entitled The Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Reitz Hall on the campus of SU. Dr Rohde is a Fellow of SAAE and has served on the Executive of Au- recon for the past 18 years. The lecture was attended by 102 people.

On 18 March 2019, Prof Anton Eberhard repeated the 2018 SAAE Academy Lecture entitled The Global Revolution in Energy at UP. The lecture was attended by 52 people. Prof Eberhard argued that the rapid rate of innovation in energy may cause the institutional design of Eskom to become increasingly irrelevant and that a new business model is needed for the utility to survive. The lecture was attended by more than 200 people.

The Executive Committee of SAAE disseminated information emanating from the 2017 CAETS Convocation in Madrid, Spain for the South African public to benefit from SAAE’s CAETS membership. The theme of the 2017 CAETS Convocation was Engineering a Better World – Challenges of the Bio-economy and presentations focused on the future of food, genetic engineering, the blue bio-economy and energy. Overviews of the Madrid convocation were presented on 29 August 2018 at SU, 4 September at UP, and on 25 Sep- tember 2018 at the UFS by Mr Felix Reinders, Fellow of SAAE, President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage and Manager of the Irrigation and Drainage Engineering Division at the ARC’s Institute for Agricultural Engineering, who represented SAAE at the 2017 CAETS Convocation. The lectures were presented with the cooperation of the Deans of Engineering of the respective universities.

The presentation at the UFS in Bloemfontein marked SAAE’s first venture into that province. Being an important agricultural hub as well, Bloemfontein was found to be a good choice as one of the venues for this lecture.

These lectures were presented with financial support from NSTF proSet.

4.7 Government Relations

During October 2018, SAAE undertook a project to evaluate the support provided by the Strategic Water Partners Network for the No-Drop Programme of the Department of Water and Sanitation. Fellows Bob Pul-

70 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 len and Neil Macleod undertook the project on behalf of SAAE with the assistance of other experts in the field of water supply.

On 15 February 2019, SAAE President Dr Trueman Goba and SAAE member Prof Stephan Heyns attended an urgent meeting of engineering institutions called on behalf of Minister Pravin Gordhan jointly by the Department of Public Enterprises and the Engineering Council of SA to discuss possible interventions to operational challenges currently facing Eskom.

4.8 Co-operation with ASSAf

Consensus Study Report on the Status of Postgraduate Research Training in Engineering in South Africa

The report on this study was launched on 27 March 2019 by ASSAf. SAAE Fellow, Prof Roelf Sandenbergh chaired the panel for the study and SAAE Fellows, Prof Bea Lacquet, Prof Sue Harrison, Prof Tania Douglas, Prof Cristina Trois and Prof Deresh Ramjugernath served on the panel. Dr Goba and two stakeholder representatives formed a panel which presented initial responses on the report.

Consultative Workshop on the Shale Gas Science Action Plan for South Africa

ASSAf and SAAE hosted a consultative workshop at Kievits Kroon in Pretoria on the SAP for a shale gas industry on 14 and 15 March 2019. The event was designed to discuss two of the six flagship research programmes proposed by the SAP, drafted by ASSAf and SAAE at the request of DST. Dr Goba presented the welcome address at the workshop which was attended by SAAE Fellows Dr Mike Shand, Prof Cyril O’Connor and Mr Bob Pullen.

4.9 SFSA2018

SAAE presented a session at SFSA2018 entitled The Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Context of Developing Countries. Executive Committee Member, Prof Wikus van Niekerk was the Coordinator and Moderator and Fellows Dr Gustav Rohde, Dr Reabetswe Kgoroeadira and Dr Vukosi Marivate were the panel members.

4.10 International Relations

Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and other Organisations in China

In November 2018 Dr Trueman Goba was invited to speak at a conference in Xian, China on highway engineering standards, arranged jointly by Chang’an University and UP.

Executive Committee Member Bob Pullen, who serves on the Advisory Board of the International Centre for Engineering Education (ICEE) at Tshinghua University, Beijing, China, attended a meeting of the Advi- sory Board in October 2018. ICEE is financed by CAE, is located in the Tshinghua University, and is approved by UNESCO. While he was in China Mr Pullen met with Prof WANG Chen, Vice-President of CAE, to finalise an MoU between the Chinese Academy of Engineering and SAAE.

An MoU between the CAE and SAAE, in which joint activities over the next three years are defined in terms of a long-standing Cooperation Agreement, will be signed early April 2019 when Dr T Goba, and Mr R Pul- len, will be attending the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. Dr Goba and Mr Pullen have been invited to this event by His Excellency, Prof WANG Zhigang, the Minister of Sci- ence and Technology of China, on the recommendation of the CAE.

Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE)

The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) in the UK are the implementing agents for the Africa Catalyst Initiative of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) of the UK to develop and support professional institutions in engineering in sub-Sahara Africa. In 2017, SAAE was awarded a grant to undertake a Pilot Study in eSwatini for Phase 1 of this initiative. This was successfully completed and the SAAE attended a meeting of Africa Catalyst Grant Awardees in Ekurhuleni in July 2018. The SAAE has now been invited to attend the next meeting of GCRF Africa Catalyst Grant Awardees in Kigali, Rwanda, from 28 April 2019 to 1 May 2019.

71 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 5 International Science Council Regional Office for Africa

5.1 Governance

ISC ROA reports directly to the ISC Head Office in Paris and is hosted by ASSAf. It receives strategic guidance from the Regional Committee for Africa (RCA).

5.1.1 Personnel

The office is manned by the following personnel: Dr Daniel Nyanganyura – Regional Director Dr Richard LK Glover – Programme Specialist Ms Nomasomi Gasa – Project Coordinator Mr Bongani Mahlalela – Communications Officer Ms Lerato Mmatloa – Administrative Assistant

5.2 Scientific Activities

5.2.1 Events Organised and Attended

Post-ICSU 32nd General Assembly African Forum (5 – 6 April 2018, Pretoria, South Africa, 5 – 6 April 2018)

The forum was attended by representatives of 14 ISC African national members and seven International Scientific Unions who held constructive and zealous discussions on the agenda items, culminating in the passing of several resolutions that will be shared with relevant bodies. The forum sought to update the ICSU family in Africa on the ICSU-International Social Science Council merger, as well as to deliberate on issues and implications related to the merger. The event produced an African statement in support of the merger, as well as highlighting avenues how members can be actively involved in new Council activities/ programmes while improving its visibility in their respective spheres of influence, countries/regions, etc. The participants were also given an update on other ISC activities at global and regional levels.

Regional Offices’ Meeting (9 – 12 April 2018, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia)

The ISC Regional Offices implement the Council’s global strategy in their respective regions and agreed to meet regularly to harmonise activities. This meeting was the first in a series of meetings proposed to offer face-to-face interactions between the RCA Chairs, Regional Directors and Science Officers of the three Regional Offices. The meeting sought to: (a) strengthen the position and standing of Regional Offices; (b) share the strategies respective regional strategies; and (c) discuss and propose activities to enhance regional collaboration. The meeting brainstormed and set up process to formulate a draft of new Council’s Regional Strategy to be submitted to the Council’s Governing Board for consideration. The RCA Chair, Regional Director and Programme Specialist participated in this meeting.

Transdisciplinary Training and Coaching Workshop for LIRA2030 Grantees

The Office organised the Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA2030) Transdisci- plinary Training and the Project Coaching Workshop that were held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 5 – 6 May and on 7 – 8 May 2018, respectively. The two events brought together LIRA2030 grantees and offered a platform to interact and foster collaboration, enhance networking, as well as an opportunity for grantees to present their progress and share experiences in project implementation. The training helped create the conditions for successful proposal development, production and dissemination of knowledge on global sustainability. Post the workshop, ten grantees participated in the Seedbeds of Transformation Future Earth Conference.

Fourth Meeting of the African Future Earth Committee (8 May 2018, Port Elizabeth, South Africa)

The fourth meeting of the African Future Earth Committee (AFEC) was attended by most members of the Committee as well as representative of the global Future Earth Secretariat and Future Earth Regional Of- fice for Southern Africa. The meeting provided a platform for the Committee members together with the Future Earth Global Secretariat and the Future Earth Southern Africa Office, to put together a regional Future Earth strategy, as well as prepare an action plan with short, medium and long-term objectives. The meeting also identified tasks that are of a high priority for the Future Earth community on the continent and

72 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 decide on how best the Committee can work together with the Future Earth Global Secretariat and the Future Earth Regional Office.

Seedbeds of Transformation Conference: The Role of Science with Society and the SDGs in Africa (9 – 11 May 2018, Port Elizabeth, South Africa)

The conference, which was co-convened by Future Earth, the South African DST, the NRF and the Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training, sought to explore potential trade-offs and synergies associated with the SDGs in different contexts across Africa, and to identify opportunities to build on relevant action and research initiatives to advance SDGs implementation efforts. It provided a collaborative, transdisciplinary space for people with diverse perspectives to explore transformations and the SDGs in Af- rica. The meeting drew on a wide range of knowledge and regional contexts to identify appropriate pathways for achieving these goals in Africa. Designed around the concept of an innovation marketplace, this three-day conference brought together innovators from research, government, industry, NGOs, the media and more. ISC ROA sponsored the participation of AFEC members, as well as representatives from the Consortia, Regional Committee, INGSA-Africa Chapter, Network of Young Scientists and the Office’s staff.

8th Africa Unity for Renaissance Conference and Africa Day Expo and Exhibition (23 – 25 May 2018, Johan- nesburg, South Africa)

The Office, in collaboration with the HSRC, DST, NRF and other partners from South Africa, organised the th8 edition of the conference and Africa Day Expo and Exhibition. The conference was aimed at interrogat- ing key factors that impinge on Africa’s industrialisation aspirations with particular focus on the global and local policy and institutional regime, hard infrastructure, local and regional economic linkages, human capital development, national systems of innovation and the role of natural resources endowment in the milieu. This event, which drew participation from the natural and social scientific community (both established and early career scientists), policymakers and think-tanks, UN agencies, the diplomatic community ended with an Outcome Statement to governments and policymakers of African countries, emphasising their responsibilities towards attaining Africa’s industrialisation in this era of the 4th Industrial Revolution globally. The Office chaired a panel discussion and served as rapporteur in a number of sessions during the conference. The Office also manned an exhibition stand during the Africa Day Expo and Exhibition that was held at the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History in Pretoria, South Africa.

Joint SADC Ministers Meeting on Education and Training and Science, Technology and Innovation (18 – 22 June 2018, Durban, South Africa)

The main purpose of the meeting was to review the progress of the implementation of the Education and Training and Science, Technology and Innovation Programmes within the context of the Revised SADC RIS- DP 2015 – 2020 and the SADC Industrialisation Strategy (2015 – 2063), as well as other relevant continental and international policy frameworks. The meeting was attended by senior officials of SADC member states, as well as experts responsible for education and training (basic and higher education), and STI from the sub-region. The participants discussed SADC STI programme priorities that require the attention of member states. The participation of ISC ROA gave the Office an opportunity to work with member states, experts and other partners in reviewing the progress on the implementation of STI decisions taken by member states in the sub-region, as well as an opportunity to give inputs to the SADC Regional Indicative Strategy in relation to education and training and science, technology and innovation. The Office presented its science activities, highlighting the expectations of ISC ROA from the governments in the region to support the Office’s activities. The Regional Office also manned an exhibition stand and distributed ISC ROA as well as ISC marketing material.

13th Annual AfricaArray Workshop (24 – 27 June 2018, Johannesburg, South Africa)

The Office participated in the 13th series of the Annual AfricaArray Workshop organised for early career scientists in the geosciences at the School of Geosciences, Wits. Under the initiatives allied to the AfricaAr- ray segment, the Office made a presentation on the Africa Science Plans with special emphasis on the Natural and Human-induced Hazards and Disasters.

Science Seminar (31 August 2018, Maseru, Lesotho)

ISC ROA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology and the Univer- sity of Lesotho, organised a one-day Science Seminar at the University in Lesotho on 31 August 2018 as a

73 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 side-event to the ISC RCA. The seminar was officially opened by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lesotho and officially closed by the Minister of Communication, Science and Technology. The one-day research symposium served as a platform for RCA members to interact with senior government officials, share knowledge/good practices and network with the local scientists on issues of priority to the host country, as well as explore avenues for scientific collaboration.

Post-ISC Founding General Assembly Regional Consultative Forum for African ISC National Members and Scientific Unions (17 October 2018, Pretoria, South Africa)

The Regional Office organised a Post-ISC Founding General Assembly Regional Consultative Forum for Afri- can ISC national members and scientific unions. The Forum sought: (i) to update the ISC family in Africa on the newly formed organisation founding general assembly, as well as deliberate on the vision and mission of the ISC and how it relates or can better impact Africa; (ii) to give inputs to the ISC Regional Strategy, deliberating on issues around the concept, modus operandi and relevant activities to maximise impact of the continent; and (iii) to look into the current structure of ISC ROA and brainstorm on how this can be re- structured to effectively realise the mission and vision of the new Council in Africa. The forum was attended by several ISC members in Africa and ASSAf gave the welcome remarks during the event.

7th Africa Water Week Conference (30 October 2018, Libreville, Gabon)

ISC ROA co-convened a session with UNESCO titled Promoting Youth Engagement in Water Governance through Youth during the Africa Water Week that was organised by the African Ministers Council on Water in collaboration with the African Union Commission and other development partners. Fifty-three people (30 males and 23 females) attended. The main recommendations of the session were adopted as the Youth Declaration of the 7th Africa Water Week and were presented by one of the facilitators during the closing ceremony of the conference. The declaration calls for the strengthening of water education in Africa, improved representation and participation of youth in decision-making processes in the water sector and increased support for the use of youth-led research and innovation products in the governance of the water sector.

Workshop on Health-Promoting and Disease-Preventing African Food Plants and Animals from SADC Re- gion (13 – 15 March 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa)

The workshop was successfully organised by the Office in partnership with the Southern African Network of Biosciences, the DST and the SADC Secretariat. The event brought together different indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) stakeholders at different parts of the value chain, which included indigenous IKS holders/community workers, researchers, policymakers, and bio-industries/entrepreneurs, in order to close gaps within the value chain and to strategise on ways to improve production, marketing and the use of these nutritious foods to combat the non-communicable diseases.

Recommendations of this workshop will be submitted to the upcoming meeting of the SADC Ministerial Meeting on Education, Science and Technology that will be held in Namibia in June 2019.

2nd ISC Regional Committee for Africa Meeting (20 – 21 March 2019, Dakar, Senegal)

Statutory committee members and three ex-officio members attended the meeting and were updated on planned activities and budgets for 2019/20 of ISC ROA. The financial performance of the Office was reported. Members also made recommendations on the Office’s Annual Performance Plan and budget for the 2020/21.

The meeting was organised in collaboration with and partial supported of the National Academy of Sci- ence and Technology of Senegal.

2nd ISC Regional Committee for Africa Science Seminar (22 March 2019, Dakar, Senegal)

ISC ROA, in collaboration with the National Academy of Science and Technology of Senegal, organised a one-day Science Seminar in Dakar, Senegal, on 22 March 2019. The seminar was organised as a side-event to the ISC RCA2. The theme of the seminar was Innovative and Emerging Technologies: A Paradigm Shift in Doing Contemporary Science in Africa? The event was attended by a number of members from the Na- tional Academy of Science and Technology of Senegal and other local scientists. It was officially opened by the president of that academy. The seminar served as a platform where RCA members could interact with members of the academy, as well as other local scientists on issues of priority to the host country, as

74 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 well as explore avenues for scientific collaboration. As an ex-officio member of the RCA and the ASSAf EO, Prof Himla Soodyall, gave a presentation during the seminar.

LIRA2030 2nd Annual Research Forum (25 – 27 March 2019, Dakar, Senegal)

The Second Annual Research Forum brought together all the LIRA2030 grantees, to present project progress. Nineteen of the funded projects were represented. The main objective of the meeting was for the appointed trainers to assist the grantees in harnessing their projects and utilising timelines efficiently to complete their projects in the allocated funding period of two years. Most of the grantees found the forum deliberations vital to the implementation of their work, and having a meaningful impact on the projects going forward. The future of the programme was discussed as it is in the 4th year of its five-year lifespan.

The LIRA2030 Science Advisory Committee also met during this event to select ten projects for funding, as well as charter a way forward for the LIRA initiative in general.

Joint 2nd Pan-African Crystallography (PCCr2) and 2nd African Light Source (AfLS2) Conference (28 January – 02 February 2019, Accra, Ghana)

The PCCr2, which focused on crystallography as a scientific tool for sustainable development of African economies, is a collaborative activity between ISC ROA and the International Union of Crystallography. The conference brought together African crystallographers, mineralogists, solid state and structural scientists to increase awareness for crystallography and improve the educational opportunities for African researchers and students of all levels. The AfLS2, with the title Towards a Brighter Future, took place at the same time.

Both meetings are ISC projects with financial support from ISC ROA (partially) and ISC (fully), respectively. The Office visited the Ghana Academy of Arts and Science (ISC national member for Ghana) to update them on the ISC developments/activities at regional and global levels.

Scifest Africa (6 – 12 March 2019, Grahamstown, South Africa)

ISC ROA organised a Talk Shop on the Africa Science Plans and the activities of the Regional Office and exhibited on its programmes and activities at the Scifest Africa.

Inaugural ISC General Assembly (3 – 5 July 2018, Paris, France)

The inaugural ISC general assembly was hosted by the Academy of Sciences of France – the ISC member organisation in France from 3 – 5 July 2018. ISC was successfully launched and two renowned scientists from South Africa were selected to the ISC Governing Board: Prof Daya Reddy as President; and Prof Saths Cooper as one of the ten ordinary members on the Board.

ISC Regional Strategy Working Group (4 July 2018, Paris France)

The ISC Regional Strategy Working Group was held on 4 July 2018. The chairs of the regional committees, the regional directors and science officers from the different regions of ISC had a side-meeting to continue the work toward the development of a regional strategy.

ISC Inter-Regional Meeting (7 – 9 August 2018, San Salvador, El Salvador)

The meeting was held from 7 to 9 August 2018, with El Salvador as the host country. This meeting was the second in a series of meetings to provide a forum for the RCA chairs, regional directors and science officers of the three regional offices of the ISC to discuss the ISC regional strategy and aspects such as challenges and opportunities, successful programmes/priority areas of collaboration, added value of regional structures, cross-regional collaboration, etc. The event was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Sci- ence and Technology of El Salvador. Staff from regional offices had the opportunity to interact and share ideas with senior government officials and scientists from El Salvador and the region.

Joint Research Centre of the European Commission Summer School, Pretoria, South Africa (9 – 11 Decem- ber 2018)

The Summer School was organised by INGSA-Africa Chapter (host at ROA) in collaboration with the African Academy of Sciences and the African Union Commission. This Summer School had three main objectives:

75 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 (i) development of new skills and competences on the use of evidence in policymaking for better research impact/uptake in policy; (ii) establishment and support to the community of practitioners in Africa in the framework of #EU4FACTS – Evidence for Policy Community of Practice; and (iii) transfer and implementation of skills and competences acquired in local policy environments. This event brought together top African scientists and policymakers to discuss challenges in Africa, share best practices on how to address them and share their knowledge with participants.

INGSA-Africa Chapter Steering Committee Meeting (11 – 12 December 2018, Pretoria, South Africa)

This meeting was attended by all but one steering committee member. Participants reviewed the 2018 workplan against updates on activities accomplished over the year and brainstormed outstanding activities and upcoming activities/new ideas for the coming year. The main outcome of the meeting was the 2019 workplan for the Africa Chapter.

INGSA-Africa Chapter, SFSA (14 December 2018, Pretoria, South Africa)

The INGSA-Africa Chapter held a panel session during the SFSA2018 on Science Advice in Africa: Opportu- nities and Challenges. Panellists were drawn from the steering committee, NASAC and UNAS to elucidate the challenges and opportunities in providing evidence-informed science advice to governments and policymakers on the continent.

SADC High-level Meeting (20 – 21 February 2019, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe)

The meeting, which was organised by the Zimbabwe Ministry of High Education, Science and Technology in partnership the UNESCO Southern Africa Office, sought to bring together Vice-Chancellors and Deans of Science Engineering and Technology, as well as other partners to develop a framework for accelerating higher education and STI as drivers for SADC industrialisation. The conference provided a platform for university leaders, policymakers, academics, development partners, international scientific and engineering networks and the private sector to deliberate on why, what and how to revitalise higher education STEM training research and innovation towards achieving sustainable development goals in Southern Africa and beyond. It also served as a forum to engage stakeholders in higher education, deliberate on key issues on sustainable and inclusive quality higher education in the region, and sensitise main stakeholders on the implementation of the provisions of the 2014 Addis Convention on Higher Education. Participants committed to a 13-point final statement to be submitted to the next meeting of the SADC Ministers of Edu- cation, Science and Technology in June 2019, in Namibia.

Training Programme for Science Diplomacy/Science Advice for Future Perspectives (10 – 11 March 2019, Cairo, Egypt)

The Office was invited to present on science advice as it is currently the INGSA-Africa Chapter Secretariat. The training was an opportunity for ISC ROA to share their experience in diplomacy and advice and link them with relevant activities from other parts in and outside the continent. The speakers represented different science advice organisations who are also funding organisations.

3rd International Conference for Women in Science without Boarders Network (12 – 14 March 2019, Cairo, Egypt)

The theme for this conference was science diplomacy for sustainable development. A vast number of the talks covered both natural and social sciences and was attended mainly by African female scientists. This was a gender-inclusive conference and the discussions were focused around the role, influence and impact of women in science diplomacy for sustainable development. The Office supported the travel for three scientists from the region, who gave presentations during the breakaway sessions. This conference provided an opportunity to re-establish connections with Egypt as one of the ISC national members and update them of the ISC activities at regional and global level.

The 3rd Meeting of the International Science Council Governing Board (18 – 19 March 2019, Paris, France)

The ISC Governing Board deliberated on a number of issues including the existing and proposed ISC activities; ISC Regional Strategy and future regional engagement; new ISC priorities and activities including ISC Science Action Plan for 2019 – 2021; and governance that included the ISC working groups and operations of the Governing Board; membership application, dues and engagement; and ISC finance.

76 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 77 77 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 PartC C: Financial Information

78 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Index The reports and statements set out below comprise the annual financial statements presented to the Parliament:

General Information 80

Council’s Responsibilities and Approval 81

Audit and Risk Committee Report 82

Council’s Report 84

Independent Auditor’s Report to Parliament on the Academy of Science of South Africa 86

Statement of Financial Position 90

Statement of Changes in Net Assets 92

Cash Flow Statement. 92

Statement of Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts 93

Accounting Policies 94

Notes to the Annual Financial Statements 103

Abbreviations AGSA Auditor-General of South Africa GRAP Generally Recognised Accounting Practice IAS International Accounting Standards IRBA Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors ISA International Standards on Auditing PFMA Public Finance Management Act

79 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 General Information

Nature of business and principal activities Promotion and application of scientific thinking in the service of society.

Council members Prof Jonathan Jansen Prof Brenda Wingfield Prof Johann Mouton Prof Zeblon Vilakazi Prof Stephanie Burton Prof Norman Duncan Dr Shadrack Moephuli Prof Eugene Cloete Prof Sabiha Essack Prof Barney Pityana Prof Nancy Phaswana-Mafuya Prof Mary Scholes Prof Wim De Villiers

Registered office 41 De Havilland Crescent 1st Floor, Block A The Woods, Persequor Park Pretoria 0020

Business address 41 De Havilland Crescent 1st Floor, Block A The Woods, Persequor Park Pretoria 0020

Postal address P O Box 72135 Lynnwood Ridge 0040

Bankers Standard Bank

Auditors SizweNtsalubaGobodo - Grant Thornton Inc Registered Auditors

80 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Council’s Responsibilities and Approval

The Council members are required by the Public Finance Management Act (Act No. 1 of 1999), to maintain adequate accounting records and are responsible for the content and integrity of the annual financial statements and related financial information included in this report. It is the responsibility of the members to ensure that the annual financial statements fairly present the state of affairs of the entity as at the end of the financial year and the results of its operations and cash flows for the period then ended. The external auditors are engaged to express an independent opinion on the annual financial statements and were given unrestricted access to all financial records and related data.

The annual financial statements have been prepared in accordance with standards of Generally Recog- nised Accounting Practice (GRAP) including any interpretations, guidelines and directives issued by the Accounting Standards Board.

The annual financial statements are based upon appropriate accounting policies consistently applied and supported by reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates.

The Council members acknowledge that they are ultimately responsible for the system of internal financial control established by the entity and place considerable importance on maintaining a strong control environment. To enable the Council members to meet these responsibilities, the accounting authority sets standards for internal control aimed at reducing the risk of error or deficit in a cost-effective manner. The standards include the proper delegation of responsibilities within a clearly defined framework, effective accounting procedures and adequate segregation of duties to ensure an acceptable level of risk. These controls are monitored throughout the entity and all employees are required to maintain the highest ethical standards in ensuring the entity’s business is conducted in a manner that in all reasonable circumstances is above reproach. The focus of risk management in the entity is on identifying, assessing, managing and monitoring all known forms of risk across the entity. While operating risk cannot be fully eliminated, the entity endeavours to minimise it by ensuring that appropriate infrastructure, controls, systems and ethical behaviour are applied and managed within predetermined procedures and constraints.

The Council members are of the opinion, based on the information and explanations given by management, that the system of internal control provides reasonable assurance that the financial records may be relied on for the preparation of the annual financial statements. However, any system of internal financial control can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or deficit.

The Council members have reviewed the entity’s cash flow forecast for the year to 31 March 2020 and, in light of this review and the current financial position, they are satisfied that the entity has or has access to adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.

The entity is wholly dependent on the National Treasury for continued funding of operations. The annual financial statements are prepared on the basis that the entity is a going concern and that the National Treasury has neither the intention nor the need to liquidate or curtail materially the scale of the entity.

The external auditors are responsible for indepedently reviewing and reporting on the entity’s annual financial statements.

The annual financial statements set out on pages 86 to 116, which have been prepared on the going concern basis, were approved by the accounting authority on 24 July 2019 and were signed on its behalf by:

Prof Jonathan Jansen Chairperson

81 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Audit and Risk Committee Report

We are pleased to present our report for the financial year ended 31 March 2019.

Audit and Risk Committee members and attendance

The Audit and Risk Committee consists of the members listed hereunder and should meet four times per annum as per its approved terms of reference. During the current year four meetings were held.

Name of member Number of meetings attended

Prof S Maharaj (Chairperson) Four

Prof D van Wyk Three

Prof E Cloete (Treasurer) Four

Prof Z Vilakazi One

Prof J Kleynhans Two

Audit and Risk Committee responsibility

The Audit & Risk Committee discharged its responsibilities within its current terms of reference. The Audit and Risk Committee reports that it has complied with its responsibilities arising from section 51(1)(a)(ii) of the PFMA and Treasury Regulation 27.1.

The effectiveness of internal control

The Audit & Risk Committee, in executing its oversight role, considers ASSAf’s internal controls to be effective. The Audit & Risk Committee and management are committed to ensuring that ASSAf’s internal controls continue to be enhanced in order to ensure that they are effective and efficient and that they are responsive to the principles of good governance.

The Audit & Risk Committee is always prepared to welcome the external auditor’s recommendations on internal control processes and procedures and is willing to ensure that they are implemented. The Audit & Risk Committee reports that it has complied with the requirement to submit reports to the Accounting Authority, the National Treasury and the Office of the Auditor-General. The Audit & Risk Committee is satisfied with the content and quality of the reports that were prepared and issued by the management of the entity during the year under review.

82 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Evaluation of annual financial statements

The Audit and Risk Committee has:  reviewed and discussed the audited annual financial statements to be included in the annual report, with the Auditor-General and the Accounting Authority;  reviewed SizweNtsalubaGobodo-Grant Thornton (SNG-GT)’s management report and management’s response thereto;  reviewed changes in accounting policies and practices;  reviewed the entity’s compliance with legal and regulatory provisions; and  reviewed significant adjustments resulting from the audit.

The Audit and Risk Committee concurs with and accepts SizweNtsalubaGobodo-Grant Thornton’s report on the annual financial statements, and is of the opinion that the audited annual financial statements should be accepted and read together with the report of SizweNtsalubaGobodo-Grant Thornton.

Internal audit

During the year under review, the outsourced internal audit service providers, KPMG, undertook reviews of the Information and Technology General Controls as well as the Human Resource. To this effect three reports, including a progress report, were issued.

One of the functions of internal audit is to provide the Audit & Risk Committee and management with assurance on the effectiveness of internal controls. According to their progress report KPMG considered the internal controls to be operating effectively and noted possible opportunities for improvement in certain instances.

The Audit & Risk Committee is alert to the controversy that surrounds KPMG, and it engaged the firm in a rigorous manner to ensure that the integrity of ASSAf’s internal audit process is not compromised. The Audit & Risk Committee is satisfied that the internal audit function is operating effectively and that it comple- ments efforts that are intended to address risks.

Prof SD Maharaj Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee Date: 23 July 2019

83 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Council’s Report

The members submit their report for the year ended 31 March 2019.

1. Incorporation

The entity was incorporated on 22 March 1996 and commenced with its business on the same day.

2. Review of activities

Main business and operations

The entity is engaged in the promotion and application of scientific thinking in the service of society and operates principally in South Africa.

The operating results and state of affairs of the entity are fully set out on page 86 to 116 of the accom- panying annual financial statements.

3. Going concern

We draw attention to the fact that as at 31 March 2019, the entity had a sustainability fund of R 7 712 071 and that the entity’s total liabilities do not exceed its assets.

The annual financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis. This basis presumes that funds will be available to finance future operations and that the realisation of assets and settlement of liabilities, contingent obligations and commitments will occur in the ordinary course of business.

The ability of the entity to continue as a going concern is dependent on a number of factors. The most significant of these is that the Council members continue to procure funding for the ongoing operations for the entity and note 24 of these annual financial statements will remain in force for so long as it takes to restore the solvency of the entity.

4. Subsequent events

The Council members are not aware of any matter or circumstance arising since the end of the financial year.

84 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 5. Council

The Council members of the entity during the year and to the date of this report are as follows:

Name Nationality Changes Prof Jonathan Jansen South African appointed: 18 October 2016 Prof Himla Soodyall South African resigned: 30 October 2018 Prof Brenda Wingfield South African appointed: 31 October 2012 Prof Johann Mouton South African appointed: 31 October 2012 Prof Zeblon Vilakazi South African appointed: 31 October 2012 Prof Stephanie Burton South African appointed: 31 May 2014 Prof Norman Duncan South African appointed: 20 February 2015 Dr Shadrack Moephuli South African appointed: 20 February 2015 Prof Eugene Cloete South African appointed: 14 October 2016 Prof Sabiha Essack South African appointed: 14 October 2016 Prof Shireen Hassim South African resigned: 01 May 2018 Prof Barney Pityana South African appointed: 14 October 2016 Prof Nancy Phaswana-Mafuya South African appointed: 14 October 2016 Prof Mary Scholes South African appointed: 01 July 2018 Prof Wim De Villiers South African appointed: 01 February 2019

6. Auditors

SizweNtsalubaGobodo - Grant Thornton Inc will be retained as auditors pending concurrence by the Office of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) for the next financial year.

85 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Independent Auditor’s Report

To Parliament on the Academy of Science of South Africa

Report on the audit of the financial statements

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) set out on pages 86 to 116, which comprise the statement of financial position as at 31 March 2019 and the statement of financial performance, statement of changes in net assets, cash flow statement and the statement of comparison of budget and actual amounts for the year then ended, as well as the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.

In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Academy of Science of South Africa as at 31 March 2019, and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the Standards of Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP) and the requirements of the Academy of Science of South Africa Act, 2001 (Act No. 67 of 2001) (ASSAf Act).

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report.

We are independent of the entity in accordance with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors’ code of professional conduct for registered auditors (IRBA code) and other independence requirements applicable to performing audits of the financial statements in South Africa. We have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the IRBA code and in accordance with other ethical requirements applicable to performing audits in South Africa. The IRBA code is consistent with the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ Code of ethics for professional accountants (parts A and B).

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Responsibilities of the accounting authority

The Council, which constitutes the accounting authority is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with (GRAP) and the requirements of the ASSAf Act and for such internal control as the accounting authority determines necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the accounting authority is responsible for assessing the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters relating to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the appropriate governance structure either intends to liquidate the entity or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with the ISAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

86 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is included in the annexure to the auditor’s report. Report on the audit of the annual performance report

The entity is not required to prepare a report on its performance against predetermined objectives as it does not fall within the ambit of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and such reporting is also not required in terms of the entity’s specific legislation. Report on the audit of compliance with legislation

Introduction and scope

In accordance with the Public Audit Act (PAA) and the general notice issued in terms thereof we have a responsibility to report material findings on the compliance of the entity with specific matters in key legislation. We performed procedures to identify findings but not to gather evidence to express assurance.

The material findings on compliance with specific matters in key legislations are as follows:

ASSAf’s public entity status

In terms of section 47(2) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), the accounting authority for a public entity that is not listed in either Schedule 2 or 3 must, without delay, nofity the National Treasury, in writing that the public entity is not listed for the Minister to classify the entity in accordance with the defini- tions in section 1 of the PFMA.

As at the date of writing this report, the status of ASSAf was not finalised in order to determine the framework for the review and monitoring of compliance with legislation. It should be noted that the matter is before Parliament.

Other information

The Academy of Science of South Africa accounting authority is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report. The other information does not include the financial statements and the auditor’s report.

Our opinion on the financial statements and findings on the compliance with legislation do not cover the other information and we do not express an audit opinion or any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work we have performed, on the other information obtained prior to the date of this auditor’s report, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. Internal control deficiencies

We considered internal control relevant to our audit of the financial statements and compliance with legislation, however the objective is not to express any form of assurance thereon. The matters reported below are limited to the significant internal control deficiencies that resulted in the findings on compliance with legislation included in this report.

Leadership

Oversight responsibility with respect to the finalisation of the status of ASSAf in order to determine the framework for the review and monitoring of compliance with legislation was not completed.

87 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Other reports

We draw attention to the following engagements conducted by various parties that have or could po- tentially have an impact on the matters reported on the entity`s financial, performance and compliance related matters. The reports noted do not form part of our opinion on the financial statements or our findings on the compliance with legislation.

Audit-related services and special audits

An agreed-upon procedures engagement was performed relating to the expenditure incurred and income received for the year ended 31 December 2018 by the International Science Council (ISC) Regional Office Africa (ROA) for the Building Capacity for Integrated Research on Global Sustainability funded by the Swedish International Development Agency hosted by ASSAf. The report was issued to ASSAf management on the 13th of March 2019.

Auditor tenure

In terms of the IRBA rule published in Government Gazette Number 39475 dated 4 December 2015, we report that SizweNtsalubaGobodo Grant Thornton Incorporated has been the auditor of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) for 5 years.

SizweNtsalubaGobodo - Grant Thornton Inc Registered Auditors

Viwe Tini Director Registered Auditor 29 July 2019

88 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Annexure – Auditor’s responsibility for the audit

As part of an audit in accordance with the ISAs, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout our audit of the financial statements and on the entity’s compliance with respect to the selected subject matters.

Financial statements

In addition to our responsibility for the audit of the financial statements as described in the auditor’s report, we also:  identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.  obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control.  evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the accounting authority.  conclude on the appropriateness of the accounting authority’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements. We also conclude, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Academy of Science of South Africa ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements about the material uncertainty or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify the opinion on the financial statements. Our conclusions are based on the information available to me at the date of the auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause an entity to cease to continue as a going concern.  evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

Communication with those charged with governance

We communicate with the accounting authority regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

We also confirm to the accounting authority that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and communicate all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to have a bearing on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.

89 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2019 Figures in Rand Note(s) 2019 2018

Assets

Current Assets Other financial assets 5 12 152 463 8 597 149 Receivables from exchange transactions 6 887 171 4 436 607 Receivables from non-exchange transactions 7 1 711 172 - Cash and cash equivalents 8 4 570 165 16 221 802 19 320 971 29 255 558 Non-Current Assets Property, plant and equipment 3 400 094 329 068 Intangible assets 4 - 38 790 400 094 367 858 Non-Current Assets 400 094 367 858 Current Assets 19 320 971 29 255 558 Total Assets 19 721 065 29 623 416 Liabilities

Current Liabilities Payables from exchange transactions 11 3 634 409 7 855 231 ISC ROA 10 1 486 769 3 562 830 Unspent conditional grants and receipts 9 6 887 816 8 578 615 12 008 994 19 996 676 Non-Current Liabilities - - Current Liabilities 12 008 994 19 996 676 Total Liabilities 12 008 994 19 996 676 Assets 19 721 065 29 623 416 Liabilities (12 008 994) (19 996 676) Net Assets 7 712 071 9 626 740 Reserves Sustainability Fund 7 712 071 9 626 740 Total Net Assets 7 712 071 9 626 740

90 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Statement of Financial Performance Figures in Rand Note(s) 2019 2018

Revenue

Revenue from exchange transactions Fees earned 12 1 258 642 670 302 Interest received 12 1 354 592 1 765 541 Gain on foreign exchange 159 12 513 Fair value adjustments 16 63 335 44 077 Total revenue from exchange transactions 2 676 728 2 492 433 Revenue from non-exchange transactions

Transfer revenue Government grants & subsidies 13 41 063 181 32 620 664 Local grants and donations 12 9 154 706 8 168 534 Foreign grants and donations 12 3 582 534 5 628 789 Total revenue from non-exchange transactions 53 800 421 46 417 987 2 676 728 2 492 433 53 800 421 46 417 987 Total revenue 56 477 149 48 910 420 Expenditure Employee-related costs 14 (26 594 309) (24 469 959) Depreciation and amortisation 3&4 (260 528) (307 357) Lease rentals on operating lease 18 (1 782 564) (1 831 277) Provision for doubtful debts (149 602) (184 004) Loss on disposal of assets (17 794) (1 815) General expenses 15 (29 587 021) (21 941 987) Total expenditure (58 391 818) (48 736 399) (Deficit) surplus before taxation (1 914 669) 174 021 Taxation - - (Deficit) surplus for the year (1 914 669) 174 021

91 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Statement of Changes in Net Assets Sustainability Operating fund Total reserves Total net Figures in Rand fund assets Balance at 01 April 2017 4 445 084 5 007 635 9 452 719 9 452 719 Changes in net assets Surplus for the year 174 021 - 174 021 174 021 Transfer of operating fund to 5 007 635 (5 007 635) - - sustainability fund Total changes 5 181 656 (5 007 635) 174 021 174 021 Balance at 01 April 2018 9 626 740 - 9 626 740 9 626 740 Changes in net assets Deficit for the year (1 914 669) - (1 914 669) (1 914 669) Total changes (1 914 669) - (1 914 669) (1 914 669) Balance at 31 March 2019 7 712 071 - 7 712 071 7 712 071

Cash Flow Statement Figures in Rand Note(s) 2019 2018

Cash flows from operating activities

Receipts Fees 4 600 917 (1 977 024) Grants 52 089 249 46 536 660 Interest received 1 354 592 1 765 541 58 044 758 46 325 177

Payments Employee costs (26 594 309) (24 469 959) Suppliers (39 506 869) (23 475 327) (66 101 178) (47 945 286) Total receipts 58 044 758 46 325 177 Total payments (66 101 178) (47 945 286) Net cash flows from operating activities 19 (8 056 420) (1 620 109)

Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of property, plant and equipment 3 (103 238) (151 036) Acquisition of additional financial assets (3 491 979) (666 739) Net cash flows from investing activities (3 595 217) (817 775) Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (11 651 637) (2 437 884) Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 16 221 802 18 659 686 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 8 4 570 165 16 221 802

92 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Statement of Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts Budget on Cash Basis Approved Adjustments Final Actual Difference Reference budget Budget amounts on between final comparable budget and basis actual Figures in Rand

Statement of Financial Performance

Revenue Revenue from exchange transactions Fees earned 136 000 250 000 386 000 1 258 642 872 642 27 Interest received - investment 1 200 000 - 1 200 000 1 354 592 154 592 27 Total revenue from exchange 1 336 000 250 000 1 586 000 2 613 234 1 027 234 transactions Revenue from non-exchange transactions Transfer revenue Government grants & subsidies 34 815 652 4 947 886 39 763 538 41 063 181 1 299 643 27 Local grants and donations 2 588 270 1 956 655 4 544 925 9 154 706 4 609 781 27 Foreign grants and donations - 2 965 708 2 965 708 3 582 534 616 826 27 Total revenue from non- 37 403 922 9 870 249 47 274 171 53 800,421 6 526 250 exchange transactions ‘Total revenue from exchange 1 336 000 250 000 1 586 000 2 613 234 1 027 234 transactions’ ‘Total revenue from non- 37 403 922 9 870 249 47 274 171 53 800 421 6 526 250 exchange transactions’ Total revenue 38 739 922 10 120 249 48 860 171 56 413 655 7 553 484 Expenditure Personnel (20 998 538) (1 883 558) (22 882 096) (26 594 309) (3 712 213) 27 Depreciation and amortisation - - - (260 528) (260 528) Lease rentals on operating lease (1 138 611) - (1 138 611) (1 782 564) (643 953) 27 Provision for doubtful debts - - - (149,602) (149 602) General Expenses (16 602 773) (8 236 691) (24 839 464) (29 587 021) (4 747 557) Total expenditure (38 739 922) (10 120 249) (48 860 171) (58 374 024) (9 513 853) 38 739 922 10 120 249 48 860 171 56 413 655 7 553 484 (38 739 922) (10 120 249) (48 860 171) (58 374 024) (9 513 853) Operating deficit - - - (1 960 369) (1 960 369) Loss on disposal of assets and - - (17 794) (17 794) liabilities Gain on foreign exchange 159 159 Fair value adjustments - - - 63 335 63 335 - - - 45 700 45 700 - - - (1 960 369) (1 960 369) - - 45 700 45 700 Deficit before taxation - - (1 914 669) (1 914 669) Deficit before taxation - - - (1 914 669) (1 914 669)

Taxation - - - - - Actual Amount on Comparable - - (1 914 669) (1 914 669) Basis as Presented in the Budget and Actual Comparative Statement

93 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Statement of Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts Budget on Cash Basis Approved Adjustments Final Actual Difference Reference budget Budget amounts on between final comparable budget and basis actual Figures in Rand Reconciliation of Actual amounts on a Comparable Basis and Actual amounts on the Annual Financial Statements. Net Cash flows from Operating Financing Investing Total Activities Activities Activities Actual amounts on comparable basis as (9 513 853) - - (9 513 853) presented in the budget and actual comparative statement Basis difference 1 457 433 - (3 595 217) (2 137 784) Timing difference - - - - Entity difference - - - - Actual amount in Cash Flow Statement (8 056 420) - (3 595 217) (11 651 637)

Accounting Policies

1. Presentation of Annual Financial Statements

The annual financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Standards of Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP), issued by the Accounting Standards Board in accordance with Section 91(1) of the Public Finance Management Act (Act No. 1 of 1999).

The annual financial statements have been prepared on an accrual basis of accounting and are in accordance with historical cost convention as the basis of measurement, unless specified otherwise.

A summary of the significant accounting policies, which have been consistently applied in the preparation of these annual financial statements, are disclosed below.

1.1 Presentation currency

The annual financial statements are presented in South African Rand (rounded off to the nearest Rand), which is the functional and presentation currency of the entity.

1.2 Going concern assumption

The annual financial statements have been prepared based on the expectation that the entity will continue to operate as a going concern for at least the next 12 months.

1.3 Significant judgements and sources of estimation uncertainty

In preparing the annual financial statements, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts represented in the annual financial statements and related disclosures. Use of available information and the application of judgement is inherent in the formation of estimates. Actual results in the future could differ from these estimates which may be material to the annual financial statements. Significant judgements include:

Trade receivables / Held to maturity investments and loans and receivables

The entity assesses its trade receivables, held to maturity investments and loans and receivables for impairment at the end of each reporting period. In determining whether an impairment loss should be recorded

94 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 in surplus or deficit, the surplus makes judgements as to whether there is observable data indicating a measurable decrease in the estimated future cash flows from a financial asset.

The impairment for trade receivables, held to maturity investments and loans and receivables is calculated on a portfolio basis, based on historical loss ratios, adjusted for national and industry-specific economic conditions and other indicators present at the reporting date that correlate with defaults on the portfolio. These annual loss ratios are applied to loan balances in the portfolio and scaled to the estimated loss emergence period.

Fair value estimation

The fair value of financial instruments traded in active markets (such as trading and available-for-sale securities) is based on quoted market prices at the end of the reporting period. The quoted market price used for financial assets held by the entity is the current bid price.

The fair value of financial instruments that are not traded in an active market (for example, over-the- counter derivatives) is determined by using valuation techniques. The entity uses a variety of methods and makes assumptions that are based on market conditions existing at the end of each reporting period. Quoted market prices or dealer quotes for similar instruments are used for long-term debt. Other techniques, such as estimated discounted cash flows, are used to determine fair value for the remaining financial instruments. The fair value of interest rate swaps is calculated as the present value of the estimated future cash flows. The fair value of forward foreign exchange contracts is determined using quoted forward exchange rates at the end of the reporting period.

The carrying value less impairment provision of trade receivables and payables are assumed to approxi- mate their fair values. The fair value of financial liabilities for disclosure purposes is estimated by discounting the future contractual cash flows at the current market interest rate that is available to the entity for similar financial instruments.

Provisions

Provisions were raised and management determined an estimate based on the information available. Ad- ditional disclosure of this estimate of provision is included in note 11 - Provision for leave pay and for bonus.

Allowance for doubtful debts

Impairment loss on debtors is recognised in surplus and deficit when there is objective evidence that it is impaired. The impairment is measured at the amount equal to an invoice.

1.4 Property, plant and equipment

The cost of an item of property, plant and equipment is recognised as an asset when: • it is probable that future economic benefits or service potential associated with the item will flow to the entity; and • the cost of the item can be measured reliably.

Property, plant and equipment is initially measured at cost.

The cost of an item of property, plant and equipment is the purchase price and other costs attributable to bring the asset to the location and condition necessary for it to be capable of operating in the manner intended by management. Trade discounts and rebates are deducted in arriving at the cost.

Where an asset is acquired through a non-exchange transaction, its cost is its fair value as at date of acquisition.

Where an item of property, plant and equipment is acquired in exchange for a non-monetary asset or monetary assets, or a combination of monetary and non-monetary assets, the asset acquired is initially

95 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 measured at fair value (the cost). If the acquired item’s fair value was not determinable, it’s deemed cost is the carrying amount of the asset(s) given up.

When significant components of an item of property, plant and equipment have different useful lives, they are accounted for as separate items (major components) of property, plant and equipment.

Costs include costs incurred initially to acquire or construct an item of property, plant and equipment and costs incurred subsequently to add to, replace part of, or service it. If a replacement cost is recognised in the carrying amount of an item of property, plant and equipment, the carrying amount of the replaced part is derecognised.

The initial estimate of the costs of dismantling and removing the item and restoring the site on which it is located is also included in the cost of property, plant and equipment, where the entity is obligated to incur such expenditure, and where the obligation arises as a result of acquiring the asset or using it for purposes other than the production of inventories.

Recognition of costs in the carrying amount of an item of property, plant and equipment ceases when the item is in the location and condition necessary for it to be capable of operating in the manner intended by management.

Items such as spare parts, standby equipment and servicing equipment are recognised when they meet the definition of property, plant and equipment.

Major inspection costs which are a condition of continuing use of an item of property, plant and equipment and which meet the recognition criteria above are included as a replacement in the cost of the item of property, plant and equipment. Any remaining inspection costs from the previous inspection are derecognised.

Property, plant and equipment is carried at cost less accumulated depreciation and any impairment losses.

Property, plant and equipment are depreciated on the straight line basis over their expected useful lives to their estimated residual value.

The useful lives of items of property, plant and equipment have been assessed as follows:

Item Depreciation method Average useful life Furniture and fixtures Straight line 6 to 7 years Office equipment Straight line 6 to 7 years Computer equipment Straight line 3 years The depreciable amount of an asset is allocated on a systematic basis over its useful life.

Each part of an item of property, plant and equipment with a cost that is significant in relation to the total cost of the item is depreciated separately.

The depreciation method used reflects the pattern in which the asset’s future economic benefits or service potential are expected to be consumed by the entity. The depreciation method applied to an asset is reviewed at least at each reporting date and, if there has been a significant change in the expected pattern of consumption of the future economic benefits or service potential embodied in the asset, the method is changed to reflect the changed pattern. Such a change is accounted for as a change in an accounting estimate.

The entity assesses at each reporting date whether there is any indication that the entity expectations about the residual value and the useful life of an asset have changed since the preceding reporting date. If any such indication exists, the entity revises the expected useful life and/or residual value accordingly. The change is accounted for as a change in an accounting estimate.

96 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The depreciation charge for each period is recognised in surplus or deficit unless it is included in the carrying amount of another asset.

Items of property, plant and equipment are derecognised when the asset is disposed of or when there are no further economic benefits or service potential expected from the use of the asset.

The gain or loss arising from the derecognition of an item of property, plant and equipment is included in surplus or deficit when the item is derecognised. The gain or loss arising from the derecognition of an item of property, plant and equipment is determined as the difference between the net disposal proceeds, if any, and the carrying amount of the item.

Assets which the entity holds for rentals to others and subsequently routinely sell as part of the ordinary course of activities, are transferred to inventories when the rentals end and the assets are available-for- sale. Proceeds from sales of these assets are recognised as revenue. All cash flows on these assets are included in cash flows from operating activities in the cash flow statement.

1.5 Intangible assets

An asset is identifiable if it either: • is separable, i.e. is capable of being separated or divided from an entity and sold, transferred, licensed, rented or exchanged, either individually or together with a related contract, identifiable assets or liability, regardless of whether the entity intends to do so; or • arises from binding arrangements (including rights from contracts), regardless of whether those rights are transferable or separable from the entity or from other rights and obligations. An intangible asset is recognised when: • it is probable that the expected future economic benefits or service potential that are attributable to the asset will flow to the entity; and • the cost or fair value of the asset can be measured reliably.

The entity assesses the probability of expected future economic benefits or service potential using reasonable and supportable assumptions that represent management’s best estimate of the set of economic conditions that will exist over the useful life of the asset.

Intangible assets are carried at cost less any accumulated amortisation and any impairment losses. An intangible asset is amortised on a straight line basis over their useful life.

The amortisation period and the amortisation method for intangible assets are reviewed at each reporting date.

Reassessing the useful life of an intangible asset with a finite useful life after it was classified as indefinite is an indicator that the asset may be impaired. As a result the asset is tested for impairment and the remaining carrying amount is amortised over its useful life.

Internally generated brands, mastheads, publishing titles, customer lists and items similar in substance are not recognised as intangible assets.

Internally generated goodwill is not recognised as an intangible asset.

Amortisation is provided to write down the intangible assets, on a straight line basis, to their residual values as follows:

Item Useful life Computer software, other 3 years

Intangible assets are derecognised: • on disposal; or • when no future economic benefits or service potential are expected from its use or disposal.

97 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The gain or loss arising from the derecognition of an intangible assets is included in surplus or deficit when the asset is derecognised (unless the Standard of GRAP on leases requires otherwise on a sale and lease- back).

1.6 Financial instruments

A derivative is a financial instrument or other contract with all three of the following characteristics:

A financial liability is any liability that is a contractual obligation to: • deliver cash or another financial asset to another entity; or • the entity designates at fair value at initial recognition; or • are held for trading. Financial instruments at fair value comprise financial assets or financial liabilities that are: • derivatives; • combined instruments that are designated at fair value; • instruments held for trading. A financial instrument is held for trading if: - it is acquired or incurred principally for the purpose of selling or repurchasing it in the near-term; or - on initial recognition it is part of a portfolio of identified financial instruments that are managed together and for which there is evidence of a recent actual pattern of short term profit-taking; - non-derivative financial assets or financial liabilities with fixed or determinable payments that are designated at fair value at initial recognition; and - financial instruments that do not meet the definition of financial instruments at amortised cost or financial instruments at cost.

1.7 Employee benefits

Short-term employee benefits

The cost of short-term employee benefits, (those payable within 12 months after the service is rendered, such as paid vacation leave and sick leave, bonuses, and non-monetary benefits such as medical care), are recognised in the period in which the service is rendered and are not discounted.

The expected cost of compensated absences is recognised as an expense as the employees render services that increase their entitlement or, in the case of non-accumulating absences, when the absence occurs.

The expected cost of surplus sharing and bonus payments is recognised as an expense when there is a legal or constructive obligation to make such payments as a result of past performance.

1.8 Revenue from exchange transactions

Measurement

Revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable, net of trade discounts and volume rebates.

Sale of goods

Revenue from the sale of goods is recognised when all the following conditions have been satisfied: • the entity has transferred to the purchaser the significant risks and rewards of ownership of the goods; • the entity retains neither continuing managerial involvement to the degree usually associated with ownership nor effective control over the goods sold; • the amount of revenue can be measured reliably; • it is probable that the economic benefits or service potential associated with the transaction will flow to the entity; and • the costs incurred or to be incurred in respect of the transaction can be measured reliably.

Rendering of services

When the outcome of a transaction involving the rendering of services can be estimated reliably, revenue associated with the transaction is recognised by reference to the stage of completion of the transaction at the reporting date. The outcome of a transaction can be estimated reliably when all the following conditions are satisfied:

98 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 • the amount of revenue can be measured reliably; • it is probable that the economic benefits or service potential associated with the transaction will flow to the entity; • the stage of completion of the transaction at the reporting date can be measured reliably; and • the costs incurred for the transaction and the costs to complete the transaction can be measured reliably.

When services are performed by an indeterminate number of acts over a specified time frame, revenue is recognised on a straight line basis over the specified time frame unless there is evidence that some other method better represents the stage of completion. When a specific act is much more significant than any other acts, the recognition of revenue is postponed until the significant act is executed.

When the outcome of the transaction involving the rendering of services cannot be estimated reliably, revenue is recognised only to the extent of the expenses recognised that are recoverable.

Service revenue is recognised by reference to the stage of completion of the transaction at the reporting date. Stage of completion is determined by the proportion that costs incurred to date bear to the total estimated costs of the transaction.

Revenue from publications, secretarial, consulting, workshop and membership is recognised when it becomes due.

Interest, royalties and dividends

Revenue arising from the use by others of entity assets yielding interest, royalties and dividends or similar distributions is recognised when: • It is probable that the economic benefits or service potential associated with the transaction will flow to the entity, and • The amount of the revenue can be measured reliably. Interest is recognised, in surplus or deficit, using the effective interest rate method.

1.9 Revenue from non-exchange transactions

Recognition

An inflow of resources from a non-exchange transaction is recognised as revenue when funds arere- ceived.

Measurement

Revenue from a non-exchange transaction is measured at the amount of the increase in net assets recognised by the entity.

When, as a result of a non-exchange transaction, an entity recognises an asset, it also recognises revenue equivalent to the amount of the asset measured in accordance with GRAP 23 paragraph .41, unless it is also required to recognise a liability. Where a liability is required to be recognised it will be measured in accordance with the requirements of GRAP 23 paragraph .57, and the amount of the increase in net assets, if any, recognised as revenue. When a liability is subsequently reduced, because the taxable event occurs or a condition is satisfied, the amount of the reduction in the liability will be recognised as revenue.

Transfers

Apart from services in kind, which are not recognised, the entity recognises an asset in respect of transfers when the transferred resources meet the definition of an asset and satisfy the criteria for recognition as an asset.

The entity recognises an asset in respect of transfers when the transferred resources meet the definition of an asset and satisfy the criteria for recognition as an asset.

Transferred assets are measured at their fair value as at the date of acquisition.

99 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Grants and subsidies

Grants are recognised as revenue when: - it is probable that the economic benefits or service potential associated with the transaction will flow to the entity, - the amount of the revenue can be measured reliably, and - to the extent that there has been compliance with any restrictions associated with the grant.

The entity assesses the degree of certainty attached to the flow of future economic benefits or service potential on the basis of the available evidence. Certain grants payable by one level of one to another are subject to the availability of funds. Revenue from these grants is only recognised when it is probable that the economic benefits or service potential associated with the transaction will flow to the entity. An announcement at the beginning of a financial year that grants may be available for qualifying entities in accordance with an agreed programme may not be sufficient evidence of the probability of the flow. Revenue is then only recognised once evidence of the probability of the flow becomes available, which in most cases is on receipt.

Restrictions on grants may result in such revenue being recognised on a time proportion basis. Where there is no restriction on the period, such revenue is recognised on receipt or when the act becomes effective, whichever is earlier.

When grants are remitted on a re-imbursement basis, revenue is recognised when the qualifying expense has been incurred and to the extent that any other restrictions have been complied with.

Other grants and donations (Conditional grants etc)

Other grants and donations are recognised as revenue when: - it is probable that the economic benefits or service potential associated with the transaction will flow to the entity; - the amount of the revenue can be measured reliably; and - to the extent that there has been compliance with any restrictions associated with the grant.

If goods in-kind are received without conditions attached, revenue is recognised immediately. If conditions are attached, a liability is recognised, which is reduced and revenue recognised as the conditions are satisfied.

1.10 Investment income

Investment income is recognised on a time-proportion basis using the effective interest method.

1.11 Translation of foreign currencies

Foreign currency transactions

A foreign currency transaction is recorded, on initial recognition in Rands, by applying to the foreign currency amount the spot exchange rate between the functional currency and the foreign currency at the date of the transaction.

At each reporting date: • foreign currency monetary items are translated using the closing rate; • non-monetary items that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are translated using the exchange rate at the date of the transaction; and • non-monetary items that are measured at fair value in a foreign currency are translated using the exchange rates at the date when the fair value was determined.

Exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items or on translating monetary items at rates different from those at which they were translated on initial recognition during the period or in previous annual financial statements are recognised in surplus or deficit in the period in which they arise.

100 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 When a gain or loss on a non-monetary item is recognised directly in net assets, any exchange component of that gain or loss is recognised directly in net assets. When a gain or loss on a non-monetary item is recognised in surplus or deficit, any exchange component of that gain or loss is recognised in surplus or deficit.

Cash flows arising from transactions in a foreign currency are recorded in Rands by applying to the foreign currency amount the exchange rate between the Rand and the foreign currency at the date of the cash flow.

1.12 Fruitless and wasteful expenditure

Fruitless expenditure means expenditure which was made in vain and would have been avoided had reasonable care been exercised.

All expenditure relating to fruitless and wasteful expenditure is recognised as an expense in the statement of financial performance in the year that the expenditure was incurred. The expenditure is classified in accordance with the nature of the expense, and where recovered, it is subsequently accounted for as revenue in the statement of financial performance.

1.13 Irregular expenditure

Irregular expenditure as defined in section 1 of the PFMA is expenditure other than unauthorised expenditure, incurred in contravention of or that is not in accordance with a requirement of any applicable legislation, including - (a) this Act; or (b) the State Tender Board Act, 1968 (Act No. 86 of 1968), or any regulations made in terms of the Act; or (c) any provincial legislation providing for procurement procedures in that provincial government.

National Treasury practice note no. 4 of 2008/2009 which was issued in terms of sections 76(1) to 76(4) of the PFMA requires the following (effective from 1 April 2008):

Irregular expenditure that was incurred and identified during the current financial year and which was condoned before year end and/or before finalisation of the financial statements must also be recorded appropriately in the irregular expenditure register. In such an instance, no further action is also required with the exception of updating the note to the financial statements.

Irregular expenditure that was incurred and identified during the current financial year and for which con- donement is being awaited at year end must be recorded in the irregular expenditure register. No further action is required with the exception of updating the note to the financial statements.

Where irregular expenditure was incurred in the previous financial year and is only condoned in the following financial year, the register and the disclosure note to the financial statements must be updated with the amount condoned.

Irregular expenditure that was incurred and identified during the current financial year and which was not condoned by the National Treasury or the relevant authority must be recorded appropriately in the irregular expenditure register. If liability for the irregular expenditure can be attributed to a person, a debt account must be created if such a person is liable in law. Immediate steps must thereafter be taken to re- cover the amount from the person concerned. If recovery is not possible, the accounting officer or Council may write off the amount as debt impairment and disclose such in the relevant note to the financial statements. The irregular expenditure register must also be updated accordingly. If the irregular expenditure has not been condoned and no person is liable in law, the expenditure related thereto must remain against the relevant programme/expenditure item, be disclosed as such in the note to the financial statements and updated accordingly in the irregular expenditure register.

1.14 Budget information

Academy of Science of South Africa presents its approved budget on a cash basis and the financial statements on the accrual basis.

101 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 The budget is approved on a cash basis by functional classification as well as economic classification.

The approved budget covers the fiscal period from 01/04/2018 to 31/03/2019.The budget and the accounting basis differ.

The financial statements for the entity are prepared on the accrual basis using a classification based on the nature of expenses in the statement of financial performance.

The financial statements differ from the budget, which is approved on the cash basis.

The statement of comparison budget and actual amounts is prepared on a comparable basis to the budget. The reconciliation of the actual comparable amounts to the net cash flows per the cash flow statement is presented on the statement of comparison of budget and actual amounts.

1.15 Related parties

A related party is a person or an entity with the ability to control or jointly control the other party, or exercise significant influence over the other party, or vice versa, or an entity that is subject to common control, or joint control.

Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities.

Joint control is the agreed sharing of control over an activity by a binding arrangement, and exists only when the strategic financial and operating decisions relating to the activity require the unanimous con- sent of the parties sharing control (the venturers).

Related party transaction is a transfer of resources, services or obligations between the reporting entity and a related party, regardless of whether a price is charged.

Significant influence is the power to participate in the financial and operating policy decisions of an entity, but is not control over those policies.

Management are those persons responsible for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the entity, including those charged with the governance of the entity in accordance with legislation, in instances where they are required to perform such functions.

Close members of the family of a person are considered to be those family members who may be expected to influence, or be influenced by, that management in their dealings with the entity.

The entity is exempt from disclosure requirements in relation to related party transactions if that transaction occurs within normal supplier and/or client/recipient relationships on terms and conditions no more or less favourable than those which it is reasonable to expect the entity to have adopted if dealing with that individual entity or person in the same circumstances and terms and conditions are within the normal operating parameters established by that reporting entity’s legal mandate.

Where the entity is exempt from the disclosures in accordance with the above, the entity discloses nar- rative information about the nature of the transactions and the related outstanding balances, to enable users of the entity’s financial statements to understand the effect of related party transactions on its annual financial statements.

102 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Notes to the Annual Financial Statements

2. New standards and interpretations

2.1 Standards and interpretations issued, but not yet effective

The entity has not applied the following standards and interpretations, which have been published and are mandatory for the entity’s accounting periods beginning on or after 01 April 2019 or later periods:

Standard/ Interpretation: Effective date: Expected impact: Years beginning on or after IGRAP 1 (revised): Applying the Probability Test on Initial 01 April 2020 Impact is currently being assessed Recognition of Revenue Directive 7 (revised): The Application of Deemed Cost 01 April 2019 Impact is currently being assessed Guideline: Guideline on the Application of Materiality to To be confirmed Impact is currently being assessed Financial Statements GRAP 104 (revised): Financial Instruments To be confirmed Impact is currently being assessed GRAP 20: Related parties 01 April 2019 Impact is currently being assessed GRAP 108: Statutory Receivables 01 April 2019 Impact is currently being assessed

103 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

3. Property, plant and equipment

2019 2018 Cost / Accumulated Carrying Cost / Accumulated Carrying Valuation depreciation value Valuation depreciation value and and accumulated accumulated impairment impairment Furniture and fixtures 1 507 218 (1 439 988) 67 230 1 507 218 (1 393 591) 113 627 Office equipment 377 150 (327 275) 49 875 362 769 (300 639) 62 130 Computer equipment 1 266 085 (983 096) 282 989 992 322 (839 011) 153 311 Total 3 150 453 (2 750 359) 400 094 2 862 309 (2 533 241) 329 068

Reconciliation of property, plant and equipment - 2019

Opening Additions Disposals Depreciation Total balance Furniture and fixtures 113 627 - - (46 397) 67 230 Office equipment 62 130 14 381 - (26 636) 49 875 Computer equipment 153 311 296 180 (17 795) (148 707) 282 989 329 068 310 561 (17 795) (221 740) 400 094

Reconciliation of property, plant and equipment - 2018

Opening Additions Disposals Depreciation Total balance Furniture and fixtures 160 156 - - (46 529) 113 627 Office equipment 76 625 15 191 - (29 686) 62 130 Computer equipment 183 230 135 844 (1 815) (163 948) 153 311 420 011 151 035 (1 815) (240 163) 329 068

4. Intangible assets

2019 2018 Cost / Accumulated Carrying Cost / Accumulated Carrying Valuation amortisation value Valuation amortisation value and and accumulated accumulated impairment impairment Computer software, other 410 721 (410 721) - 410 721 (371 931) 38 790

Reconciliation of intangible assets - 2019 Opening Amortisation Total balance Computer software, other 38 790 (38 790) -

Reconciliation of intangible assets - 2018 Opening Amortisation Total balance Computer software, other 105 983 (67 193) 38 790

104 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

5. Other financial assets

Designated at fair value Stanlib Income Fund 12 152 463 8 597 149 Investment is measured at the value of the listed investment at reporting date.

Current assets Stanlib Income Fund 12 152 463 8 597 149

Financial assets at fair value

Fair value hierarchy of financial assets at fair value

For financial assets recognised at fair value, disclosure is required of a fair value hierarchy which reflects the significance of the inputs used to make the measurements. The fair value hierarchy have the following levels:

Level 1 represents those assets which are measured using unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets.

Level 2 applies inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets either directly (i.e. as prices) or indirectly (i.e. derived from prices).

Level 3 applies inputs which are not based on observable market data.

6. Receivables from exchange transactions

Trade debtors 673 352 814 743 Prepayments 341 009 3 723 575 Deposits 247 170 247 170 Provision for impairments (451 476) (397 880) Project advances 77 116 48 999 887 171 4 436 607

Credit quality of trade and other receivables

Trade receivables consist of a large number of customers, spread across different industries in the geographical area of the entity. Periodic credit evaluation is performed on the financial condition of accounts receivable and, where appropriate, credit guarantee is increased accordingly. Trade receivables are non-interest bearing and are generally on 30 day collection terms. The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date is the amortised cost of each class of receivable mentioned above. In determining the recoverability of a receivable, management considers any change in the credit quality of the debtor from the date credit was initially granted up to the reporting date. Any impairment on trade and other receivables exists predominantly due to the possibility that these debts will not be recovered. Management assesses these debtors individually for impairment and group them together in the Statement of Financial Position as financial assets with similar credit risk characteristics. The credit quality of trade receivables that are neither past due nor impaired are considered fair by the company taking into account the historical information available.

Trade and other receivables exchange transactions

Trade and other receivables that are outside their normal payment terms are considered to be past due. The following represents an analysis of the past due financial assets.

The ageing of amounts past due is as follows:

Current 376 404 3 375 660 30+ days 91 444 507 796 60+ days 57 768 184 206 90+ days 62 128 61 103 120+ days 750 903 705 722

105 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

Trade and other receivables impaired

As at 31 March 2019, trade and other receivables of R 149 602 (2018: R 184 004) were impaired.

The amount of the provision was R (456 023) as at 31 March 2019 (2018: R 397 880).

The ageing of these receivables is as follows:

120+ days 451 476 397 880

Reconciliation of provision for impairment of trade and other receivables

Opening balance (397 880) (319 686) Provision for doubtful debts (149 602) (184 004) Amounts written off as uncollectible 76 800 42 187 Unused amounts reversed 14 659 63 623 (456 023) (397 880)

In determining the recoverability of debtors, the allowance for impairment of trade receivables has been made for customer balances outstanding over 120 days. No further credit allowance is required in excess of the allowance for Impairment.

7. Receivables from non-exchange transactions

Public contributions and subsidies 1 711 172 -

Credit quality of receivables from non-exchange transactions

Periodic credit evaluation is performed on the financial condition of accounts receivable and, where appropriate, credit guarantee is increased accordingly. Trade receivables are non-interest bearing. The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date is the fair value of each class of receivable mentioned above. In determining the recoverability of a receivable, management considers any change in the credit quality of the debtor from the date credit was initially granted up to the reporting date. Any impairment on trade and other receivables (loans and receivables) exists predominantly due to the possibility that these debts will not be recovered. Management assesses these debtors individually for impairment and group them together in the Statement of Finan- cial Position as financial assets with similar credit risk characteristics. The credit quality of trade receivables from non-exchange that are neither past due nor impaired are considered fair by the company taking into account the historical information available.

Receivables from non-exchange transactions

Other receivables from non-exchange transactions that are outside their normal payment terms are considered to be past due. The following represents an analysis of the past due financial assets.

The ageing of amounts past due is as follows:

Current 861 798 - 30+ days 185 265 - 60+ days - - 90+ days 664 109 - 120+ days - -

Receivables from non-exchange transactions impaired

As at 31 March 2019, other receivables from non-exchange transactions of R4,547 (2018: R -) were impaired.

The amount of the provision was R - as of 31 March 2019 (2018: R -).

106 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

Reconciliation of provision for impairment of receivables from non-exchange transactions

Opening balance - - Provision for doubtful debts - - Amounts written off as uncollectible 4 547 - Unused amounts reversed - - 4 547 -

8. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consist of:

Bank balances 84 117 1 838 027 Short-term deposits 4 486 048 14 383 775 4 570 165 16 221 802

9. Unspent conditional grants and receipts

Unspent conditional grants and receipts comprises of:

Unspent conditional grants and receipts Deutsche Akademie 1 135 938 498 770 Department of Science and Technology - Energy Efficiency Technology 314 806 656 277 Department of Science and Technology - Genetics and Genomics 120 595 222 078 Department of Science and Technology - Hydraulic Fracturing 110 635 440 056 Department of Science and Technology - Lindau Nobel Laureate - 618 914 Department of Science and Technology - Postgraduate Engineering 388 324 547 370 Department of Science and Technology - SAAE 15 537 - European Union - ESASTAP PLUS 2020 - 166 944 Janssen Pharmaceuticals - M&S 489 397 - National Research Foundation - African Open Science Platform - 2 279 363 National Research Foundation - Third Worldwide Meeting of Young Scientists - 37 994 UNESCO - GenderInsite 13 402 - Department of Science and Technology - Energy Management Knowledge 156 576 998 708 Department of Science and Technology - Innovation for Inclusive Development 987 219 798 555 Department of Science and Technology - International Cooperation & Intra Academy 3 155 387 1 313 586 in Africa 6 887 816 8 578 615

107 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

Movement during the year

Agricultural Research Council Balance at the beginning of the year - 209 696 Revenue recognised during the year - (209 696) Balance at end of year - - Deutsche Akademie Balance at the beginning of the year 498 770 698 822 Additions during the year 1 475 103 2 426 023 Revenue recognised during the year (723 688) (1 972 341) Refund during the year (114 247) (653 734) Balance at end of the year 1 135 938 498 770 Department of Science and Technology - Energy Efficiency Technologies Balance at the beginning of the year 656 277 419 762 Additions during the year - 300 000 Revenue recognised during the year (231 471) (63 485) Refund during the year (110 000) - Balance at end of the year 314 806 656 277 Department of Science and Technology - SCM Balance at the beginning of the year - 296 712 Revenue recognised during the year - (296 712) Balance at the end of the year - - Department of Science and Technology - Genetics Engineering Balance at the beginning of the year - 29 905 Revenue recognised during the year - (18 785) Refund during the year - (11 120) Balance at the end of the year - Department of Science and Technology - Hydraulic Fracturing Balance at the beginning of the year 440 056 313 399 Additions during the year - 1 798 526 Revenue recognised during the year (329 421) (1 671 869) Balance at end of the year 110 635 440 056 Department of Science and Technology - Lindau Nobel Laureate Balance at the beginning of the year 618 914 2 112 971 Additions during the year 3 169 841 - Revenue recognised during the year (3 788 755) (1 494 057) Balance at end of the year - 618 914 Department of Science and Technology - Postgraduate Engineering Balance at the beginning of the year 547 370 701 982 Revenue recognised during the year (159 046) (154 612) Balance at end of the year 388 324 547 370 Department of Science and Technology - SAAE Balance at the beginning of the year - 52 273 Additions during the year 265 000 - Revenue recognised during the year (249 463) (52 273) Balance at end of the year 15 537 - Department of Science and Technology - Energy Management Knowledge Balance at the beginning of the year 998 708 - Additions during the year 1 000 000 1 000 000 Revenue recognised during the year (1 842 132) (1 292) Balance at the end of the year 156 576 998 708

108 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

Department of Science and Technology - Genetics and Genomics Balance at the beginning of the year 222 078 - Additions during the year - 300 000 Revenue recognised during the year (101 483) (77 922) Balance at the end of the year 120 595 222 078 Department of Science and Technology - Innovation for Inclusive Development Balance at the beginning of the year 798 555 - Additions during the year 1 000 000 999 900 Revenue recognised during the year (811 336) (201 345) Balance at the end of the year 987 219 798 555 Department of Science and Technology - International Cooperation and Intra Academy in Africa Balance at the beginning of the year 1 313 586 - Additions during the year 11 380 000 1 500 000 Revenue recognised during the year (9 538 199) (186 414) Balance at the end of the year 3 155 387 1 313 586 European Union - ESASTAP PLUS 2020 Balance at the beginning of the year 166 944 237 813 Additions during the year 297 144 - Revenue recognised during the year (464 088) (70 869) Balance at end of the year - 166 944 Global Young Academy Balance at the beginning of the year - 72 733 Revenue recognised during the year - (72 733) Balance at end of the year - - National Research Foundation - African Open Science Platform Balance at the beginning of the year 2 279 363 1 394 542 Additions during the year - 2 588 270 Revenue recognised during the year (2 279 363) (1 703 449) Balance at end of the year - 2 279 363 National Research Foundation - Skills Development for Women in Science Balance at the beginning of the year - 23 541 Additions during the year - - Revenue recognised during the year - (23 541) Balance at end of the year - - National Research Foundation - Third Worldwide Meeting of Young Scientists Balance at the beginning of the year 37 994 - Additions during the year - 350 000 Revenue recognised during the year (37 994) (312 006) Balance at end of the year - 37 994 New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs - AMASA 12 Balance at the beginning of the year - 478 987 Revenue recognised during the year - (478 987) Balance at end of the year - - UNESCO - GenderINSITE Balance at the beginning of the year - 720 612 Additions during the year 588 779 575 433 Revenue recognised during the year (575 377) (1 296 045) Balance at end of the year 13 402 -

109 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

Janssen Pharmaceuticals - M&S Additions during the year 649 642 - Revenue recognised during the year (160 245) - Balance at end of the year 489 397 -

10. International Science Council - Regional Office for Africa

International Science Council - Regional Office for Africa (ISC ROA) is an entity being hosted by ASSAf for a duration of five years from 1 May 2015 to 30 April 2020 and it is not funded from ASSAf’s budget. Reconciliation Opening balance 3 562 830 3 942 542 Amounts received during the year 7 180 727 6 855 747 Expenditure incurred during the year (9 256 788) (7 235 459) 1 486 769 3 562 830

11. Payables from exchange transactions

Trade payables 1 705 058 1 363 038 Income received in advance 235 052 3 349 801 Salary control account 811 - Unallocated receipts 129 264 73 443 Provision for leave pay 1 297 542 1 196 375 Accrued bonus 266 682 - Accrued expenses - 76 850 Provision for bonus - 1 795 724 3 634 409 7 855 231

12. Revenue

Fees earned 1 258 642 670 302 Interest received 1 354 592 1 765 541 Government grants & subsidies 41 063 181 32 620 664 Local grants and donations 9 154 706 8 168 534 Foreign grants and donations 3 582 534 5 628 789 56 413 655 48 853 830

The amounts included in revenue arising from exchanges of goods or services are as follows: Publication fees 204 356 401 839 Consulting fees 919 860 92 140 Membership fees 104 800 95 800 Other income Bad debts recovered 14 659 63 623 Insurance recoveries 14 400 - Sundry recoveries 567 16 900 1 258 642 670 302

The amounts included in revenue arising from non-exchange transactions are as follows: Taxation revenue Transfer revenue Government grants & subsidies 41 063 181 32 620 664 Local grants and donations 9 154 706 8 168 534 Foreign grants and donations 3 582 534 5 628 789 53 800 421 46 417 987

110 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

13. Government grants and subsidies

Operating grants Department of Science and Technology - Baseline 25 668 000 25 557 712 Department of Science and Technology - Contract funding 12 301 316 4 082 053 South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement 49 604 - National Research Foundation 2 794 261 2 661 203 Agricultural Research Council - 209 696 South African Medical Research Council 250 000 50 000 Technology Innovation Agency - 60 000 41 063 181 32 620 664

14. Employee-related costs

Basic 22 524 208 19 215 545 Bonus - 1 690 729 Medical aid - 309 834 Unemployment Insurance Fund 155 370 142 316 Workers Compensation Assistance 53 522 49 101 Skills Development Levy 217 611 193 186 Other payroll levies 13 104 44 253 Leave pay provision charge 101 167 - Defined contribution plans 3 529 327 2 824 995 26 594 309 24 469 959

15. General expenses

Advertising 132 250 - Auditors remuneration 560 993 378 121 Bank charges 71 163 68 243 Cleaning - 15 082 Consulting and professional fees 466 163 631 157 Consumables 51 336 85 640 Gifts 9 950 16 268 Insurance 260 031 117 323 Conferences and seminars 113 680 225 917 IT expenses 362 239 466 734 Promotions and sponsorships 130 000 - Magazines, books and periodicals 47 700 8 625 Placement fees 78 700 114 703 Productions - 30 800 Postage and courier 5 937 4 413 Printing and stationery 306 205 500 882 Promotions - 32 645 Repairs and maintenance 26 548 18 269 Security services 8 952 8 246 Software expenses 605 219 - Staff welfare 20 380 39 499 Subscriptions and Membership fees 110 095 16 114 Telephone and fax 70 675 105 860 Training 161 454 81 692 Travel - local and overseas 907 990 1 624 659 Project expenditure 24 892 167 17 168 932 Office expenses 88 522 57 087 Casual workers 31 126 4 550 Layout and design 15 102 48 475 Catering and refreshments 26 396 29 120 Other expenses 26 048 42 931 29 587 021 21 941 987

111 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

16. Fair value adjustments

Other financial assets • Fair value adjustments - investment 63 335 44 077

17. Auditors’ remuneration

Fees 560 993 378 121

18. Lease rentals on operating leases

Premises 1 738 897 1 791 597 Photocopier 43 667 39 680 1 782 564 1 831 277

19. Cash used in operations

(Deficit) surplus (1 914 669) 174 021 Adjustments for: Depreciation and amortisation 260 528 307 357 Loss on disposal of assets 17 794 1 815 Fair value adjustments (63 335) (44 077) Provision for doubtful debts 149 602 184 004 Changes in working capital: Receivables from exchange transactions 3 342 116 (2 659 839) Provision for impairment of debtors (149 602) (184 004) Other receivables from non-exchange transactions (1 711 172) 118 673 Payables from exchange transactions (4 220 822) 46 788 ISC ROA (2 076 061) (379 712) Unspent conditional grants and receipts (1 690 799) 814 865 (8 056 420) (1 620 109)

20. Commitments

This committed expenditure relates to office rent, parking bays and photocopier.

Operating leases - as lessee (expense)

Minimum lease payments due - within one year 1 202 167 364 238 - in second to fifth year inclusive 278 650 - Photocopier - within one year 21 643 43 287 - in second to fifth year inclusive - 21 643

The total future minimum sublease payment expected to be received under non-can- 1 502 460 429 169 cellable sublease

Operating lease payments represent rentals payable by the entity for office rent and parking bays for ASSAf and ISC ROA. ASSAf’s lease duration is from July 2018 to June 2020 and ISC ROA lease duration is from September 2018 to August 2019. Monthly lease payment amount to R92 883 for ASSAf and R18 011 for ISC ROA. No contingent rent is payable.

112 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

21. Related parties

Relationships Controlling entity Department of Science and Technology Controlled entities Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Human Science Research Council National Advisory Council on Innovation National Research Foundation South African Council Agency for Natural Scientific Professions South African National Space Agency Technology Innovation Agency

ASSAf Council Members Prof H Soodyall Prof B Wingfield Prof J Mouton Prof S Burton Dr S Moephuli Prof Z Vilakazi Prof N Duncan Prof E Cloete Prof S Essack Prof M Scholes Prof J Jansen Prof N Phaswana-Mafuya Prof B Pityana Prof Wim De Villiers Members of key management Prof H Soodyall/Prof R Diab Mr M Chiloane Mr S Maphosa Mrs L du Plessis Ms P Scholtz Mrs S Veldsman

Related party balances

Unspent conditional grants Department of Science and Technology 5 249 079 5 595 545 National Research Foundation - 2 317 357

Receivables from exchange and non exchange transactions Department of Science and Technology 565 009 92 140 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 16 303 14 052 National Research Foundation 342 764 -

Income received in advance Department of Science and Technology - 2 443 702

Payables from exchange transactions National Research Foundation 34 251 - Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 80 300 -

113 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

Related party transactions

Grants received Department of Science and Technology 37 969 316 29 639 765 National Research Foundation 2 794 261 2 661 203 Agricultural Research Council - 209 696 Technology Innovation Agency - 60 000

Consulting fees Department of Science and Technology 919 860 -

Income from publications Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 14 252 14 052

Expenditure incurred Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - 31 646 Human Science Research Council 65 000 70 000 National Research Foundation 52 001 -

Remuneration of management

Executive management 2019 Basic salary Other short-term Other long-term Total employee benefits benefits

Name Executive Officer - current 745 000 3 750 - 748 750 Executive Officer - previous 1 499 832 6 750 9 060 1 515 642 Financial Manager 1 350 096 6 000 8 480 1 364 576 Human Resource Manager 922 725 6 000 - 928 725 Communications Manager 922 725 6 000 8 480 937 205 Liaison Manager 1 108 344 6 000 - 1 114 344 Scholary Publishing Manager 1 023 489 6 000 8 475 1 037 964 7 572 211 40 500 34 495 7 647 206

2018 Basic salary Bonuses and Other short- Other benefits Total performance term employee received related payments benefits

Name Executive Officer 1 703 638 141 970 9 000 - 1 854 608 Governance & National Liai- - - - 262 674 262 674 son Manager Financial Manager 1 285 805 107 151 6 000 - 1 398 956 Human Resource Manager 878 785 73 232 6 000 - 958 017 Communications Manager 878 785 73 232 6 000 - 958 017 Liaison Manager 1 028 160 83 073 6 000 - 1 1 17 233 Scholarly Publishing Manager 974 751 81 229 6 000 - 1 061 980 6 749 924 559 887 39 000 262 674 7 611 485

114 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 Figures in Rand 2019 2018

22. Council members’ emoluments

No emoluments were paid to the members or any individuals holding a prescribed office during the year.

23. Risk management

Financial risk management

Liquidity risk

Prudent liquidity risk management implies maintaining sufficient cash and marketable securities, the availability of funding through an adequate amount of committed credit facilities and the ability to close out market positions. Due to the dynamic nature of the underlying businesses, entity treasury maintains flexibil- ity in funding by maintaining availability under committed credit lines.

The entity’s risk to liquidity is a result of the funds available to cover future commitments. The entity man- ages liquidity risk through an ongoing review of future commitments and credit facilities.

Cash flow forecasts are prepared and adequate utilised borrowing facilities are monitored.

Credit risk

Credit risk consists mainly of cash deposits, cash equivalents, derivative financial instruments and trade debtors. The entity only deposits cash with major banks with high quality credit standing and limits exposure to any one counter-party.

Trade receivables comprise a widespread customer base. Management evaluated credit risk relating to customers on an ongoing basis. If customers are independently rated, these ratings are used. Otherwise, if there is no independent rating, risk control assesses the credit quality of the customer, taking into account its financial position, past experience and other factors. Individual risk limits are set based on internal or external ratings in accordance with limits set by the Council. The utilisation of credit limits is regularly monitored.

Market risk

Foreign exchange risk

The entity receives grants in foreign denomination. Foreign exchange risk arises from funding received in US dollar.

The entity does not hedge foreign exchange fluctuations.

24. Going concern

The annual financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis. This basis presumes that funds will be available to finance future operations and that the realisation of assets and settlement of liabilities, contingent obligations and commitments will occur in the ordinary course of business.

25. Events after the reporting date

Council is not aware of any material events that would impact the reporting of the annual financial statements.

The annual financial statements have been authorised for issue by the Council on 25 July 2019, as the audit opinion was provided on those annual financial statements

115 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 26. Irregular expenditure

Details of irregular expenditure

The Academy complied with the requirements of section 51(1)(a)(iii) of the Public Finance Management Act No. 1 of 1999, National Treasury Practice Notes and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act No. 5 of 2000.

27. Budget differences

Differences between actual and budgeted values basis of preparation and presentation

The budget and accounting basis differ. The financial statements are prepared on the accrual basis using a classification on the nature of expenses in the statement of financial performance. The financial statements differ from the budget, which is approved on the cash basis.

The amounts in the annual financial statements were recast from the accrual basis to the cash basis and reclassified by functional classification to be on the same basis as the final approved budget.

The variance between the actual and budgeted values are explained as follows:

The budget is approved on a cash basis by functional classification. The approved budget covers the period from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. The variance on the budget was as a result of the following;

27.1 Fees earned. Favourable variance of 226%. This was as a result of a consulting fee earned during the course of theyear. 27.2 Interest received. Favourable variance of 13%. This was as a result of interest capitalisation as well as cash and cash equivalents that was kept in a short-term interest generating bank account. 27.3 Government grants and subsidies. Favourable variance of 3%. This was as a result of some additional grants. 27.4 Local grants and donations. Favourable variance of 101%. This was as a result of additional grant funding secured during the year. 27.5 Foreign grants and donations. Favourable variance of 21%. This was as a result of additional grant funding secured during the year. 27.6 Personnel costs. Unfavourable variance of 14%. This was as a result of the annual salary increase as well as annual leave paid out to people who left. 27.7 Lease rentals on operating lease. Unfavourable variance of 57%. This was as a result of the office rental for an entity ASSAf is hosting. 27.8 General expenses. Unfavourable variance of 20%. This was as a result of more project activities undertaken.

116 ASSAf Annual Report 2018|2019 www.assaf.org.za