FILLING OF THE VACANCY ON THE NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION (NRF) BOARD

FILLING OF THE VACANCY ON THE NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION (NRF) BOARD PRESENTATION TO THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND RECREATIONDATE: 05 JUNE 2013

Composition and status of the NRF Board. Current process. Shortlisted candidates. Conclusion. PRESENTATION OUTLINE

COMPOSITION AND STATUS OF THE NRF BOARD • The appointment of the NRF Board is informed by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Act, 1998 (Act No. 23 of 1998) “the Act”. • The current Board was appointed by the Minister for a three year term of office, starting from 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2014. • The Minister appointed 12 members including the Chairperson; Dr Khotso Mokhele. On approval by Cabinet, Dr Mokhele indicated that he was no longer available for the appointment as Chairperson and member of the Board.

COMPOSITION AND STATUS OF THE NRF BOARD • Prof Robin Crewe who was appointed as a member of the Board was designated as an Interim Chairperson and later permanent Chairperson for the current Board in April 2013. • Previously, Prof Crewe could not be appointed as Chairperson due to his Chairpersonship of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) Council which expired at the end of October 2012.

COMPOSITION AND STATUS OF THE NRF BOARD • The DPSA Handbook for the Appointments of Persons to Boards of State and State Controlled Entities approved by Cabinet promotes that persons may serve on a maximum of 3 Boards but hold the Chairperson position in 1 Board. • Although the current NRF Board members are within the required minimum number, it is recommended that the Minister appoints the maximum number of members in order to have members fairly distributed to Board Committees.

COMPOSITION AND STATUS OF THE NRF BOARD • The Act requires the Board to consist of a Chairperson and not fewer than nine and not more than eleven other members and the CEO. • The gender and race distribution of the current Board is per slide below.

COMPOSITION AND STATUS OF THE NRF BOARD continued ... Gender and Race distribution of the current Board

CURRENT PROCESS… • To fill the vacancy, the Minister followed section 6 of the NRF Act as indicated below: • Advert was published in the national newspapers and Government Gazette inviting the public to nominate candidates to the NRF Board; • The Minister appointed a panel to compile a shortlist of potential candidates consisting of the following members: Chairperson:Dr Phil Mjwara Members: Dr. Thomas Auf dey Heyde Mr David Mmakola Mr Martin Mulcahy Dr Phethiwe Matutu Mr Chief Mabizela ( DHET)

CURRENT PROCESS… • The panel held its meeting on 25 January 2013 to consider 39 nominations received by the Department; • The panel compiled the shortlist from the nominations received informed by section 6(3) and (4) of the Act; • The Act requires the members of the NRF Board to be persons who have achieved distinction in the field of research and technology, research and technology management, business, public affairs or civil society and that they are broadly representative of the sectors stipulated in subsection (4) of the Act;

CURRENT PROCESS… • The Panel submitted the shortlist to the Minister who in turn consulted the Minister of High Education and Training; • Following receipt of response from the Minister of Higher Education and Training, the Minister is now consulting the two houses of Parliament (National Assembly (NA) & National Council of Provinces (NCOP) as per section 6(2)(c) of the Act. • The shortlist consists of the 3 candidates and their summarised profiles.

SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES • Prof Burton: She is a Vice-Principal for Research and Postgraduate Education at the University of Pretoria. In her current portfolio, she is responsible for research, postgraduate education, internationalisation and library services. Her expertise includes: Biochemistry, Microbiology and Management. • Dr Konar: He is a chartered accountant. In his portfolio he gained experience in aligning initiatives and resources with overall business strategy, he received numerous accolades for his leadership, academic, board and committee participation, achievements and teaching abilities. His expertise includes: Internal Audit, Controls, Leadership, Strategic Planning and Business Project Management.

SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES… • Dr Marcus: He is a Chief Executive Officer of the Da Vinci Holdings (Pty) Ltd. In his current and past portfolio, he is responsible for research. He was an advisor to the former Minister of the then Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. His duties included working with the Government of various international strategic relations on science and technology agreements, interfacing with the department on developing strategies for policy formulation, industrial programmes and ensuring that the Minister was advised on the most effective way to leverage technology to gain competitive advantage. His expertise includes: Research, Engineering and Management.

CONCLUSION • The appointment process of filling a vacancy is in line with the prescripts of the Act; • The member to be appointed will serve for the unexpired portion of the term (until 30 September 2014); and • It is therefore recommended that the Select Committee on Science and Technology consider a shortlist presented in line with section 6 of the NRF Act.

Thank you Dankie EnkosiHa khensaRe a lebogaRo livhuwa Siyabonga Siyathokoza

FILLING OF THE VACANCY ON THE NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION (NRF) BOARD