1. (a) The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) was established in 2005; and to date, 199 research chairs have been awarded, of which 195 are filled and four are vacant.
(b) (i) Of the 195 filled research chairs, 81 (42%) are in the natural and agricultural Sciences, 59 (30%) are in the humanities and social sciences 39 (20%) are in health and medical sciences, and 16 (8%) are in engineering and applied technology fields.
(ii) of the 199 awarded research chairs, 12 (6%) are hosted by the universities of technology (UoTs), 25 (13%) by comprehensive universities and 162 (81%) by traditional universities;
(iii) SARChI is a strategic programme of government aimed at attracting established researches from industry and abroad to the higher education sector. Of the 195 filled research chairs, 152 (78%) research chairs are occupied by established researchers drawn from local higher education institutions, and 43 (22%) research chairs are occupied by established researchers attracted from industry and abroad; and
(iv) a total amount of R2 billion has been invested by the Department of Science and Technology (DST); and in the same period, more than 4 billion was leveraged from other sources by the research chairs. The total cost of SARChI in each specified year is summarized in Table 1.
Table 1: SARChI investment over years
Service Year |
Award Year |
Total No. of Chairs |
Total (R '000) |
0 |
2017 |
195 |
482 200 |
1 |
2016 |
190 |
471 500 |
2 |
2015 |
149 |
376 500 |
3 |
2014 |
142 |
350 400 |
4 |
2013 |
124 |
309 800 |
5 |
2012 |
91 |
229 700 |
6 |
2011 |
90 |
227 000 |
7 |
2010 |
79 |
183 500 |
8 |
2009 |
72 |
166 000 |
9 |
2008 |
70 |
161 000 |
10 |
2007 |
34 |
80 000 |
11 |
2006 |
3 |
7500 |
2. (a) All research chairs that underwent the first five-year review cycle were renewed. In 2015/16 financial year, a research chair in indigenous Knowledge Systems that was held by Prof. NI Goduka at the Walter-Sisulu University (WSU) was rescinded due to internal institutional issue which led to lack of performance by chair.
(b) During the last quarter of the 2016/17 financial year, a second five-year review process was initiated for a total of 70 research chairs that were established between 2005 and 2008. This process is still underway. A comprehensive report with reasons for not renewing some research chairs will be made available before the end of the 2017/18 financial year.