(1) (a) What programmes of the National Research Foundation's (NRF's) budget will benefit from its decision to cut funding to over 2 000 rated researchers by 90% from 1 January 2018, (b) what amount will be saved, and (c) what precisely will the savings be used for;
(2) were other areas of possible savings considered so as to reduce the shock effect of the 90% decrease; if not why not; if so, (a) what are the details, and (b) why were these areas not included in the NRF's savings plan,
(3) has the NRF done a cost-benefit analysis of what will be lost as a result of the 90% decrease, in terms of (a) student education and (b) research outputs; if not, in each case, why not, if so, what were the findings in each case?