the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Bill to the National Assembly, Cape
Town
13 September 2007
Madam Speaker
The Human Sciences Research Council Bill is intended to bring the HSRC in
line with the research and development strategies of the Government of the
Republic of South Africa, as outlined in the 1996 White Paper on Science and
Technology, the National Research and Development Strategy and the Ten Year
Plan for Science and Technology. Furthermore, the last amendments to the HSRC
Act of 1968 were made before the promulgation of the Public Finance Management
Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) and the publication of the recommendations of the
King Report on Corporate Governance. As such, it became necessary to align the
Bill with these developments for purposes of the proper governance of the
HSRC.
The social sciences and humanities, by their very nature, enable us to
understand the way in which societies are organised and governed, and how they
evolve and change. The social sciences and the humanities, including, among
others, philosophy, history, economics and psychology, must play a role in
addressing the central challenges facing South Africa.
This legislation provides the HSRC with a stronger 'public purposes'
research mandate to provide government and society with a better understanding
of human and social behaviour, and identification of the factors which
contribute to social, economic, political and cultural change. The revised
research, research support and national co-ordination mandate will strengthen
the contribution of the HSRC to the social sciences and humanities body of
knowledge in addressing policy and interventions on issues of poverty, the
impact and the consequences of human-induced environmental change, the dynamics
of social justice, democracy, national identity and higher levels of
inclusiveness in economic activities.
The purpose of the Bill is to repeal and substitute the Human Sciences
Research Council Act, 1968 (Act No. 23 of 1968) (the Act) as amended, and
thereby provide for the continued existence of the HSRC.
The objects of the HSRC are to:
* initiate, undertake, foster and undertake strategic basic research and
applied research in human sciences, and to gather, analyse and publish data,
relevant to the development challenges in South Africa, elsewhere in Africa and
the rest of the world, especially by means of projects linked to public sector
oriented, collaborative programmes
* inform the effective making and monitoring of policy, and to evaluate the
implementation of policy
* stimulate public debate through the effective dissemination of fact-based
results of research
* help build the research capacity and infrastructure for the human sciences in
South African and elsewhere in Africa
* foster and support research collaborations, networks and institutional
linkages within the human sciences research community
* respond to the needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups in society by
researching developmental problems, and thereby contribute to the improvement
of the quality of their lives
* develop and make publicly available new data sets to underpin research policy
development and public discussion of key issues of development, and to develop
new and improved methodologies for use in their development.
The Human Sciences Research Council, together with my department, organised
a consultation meeting of role players in February 2005 to discuss a draft
Bill. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Human Sciences
Research Council, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South African
University Vice-Chancellors Association, the Economic and Social Research
Institute of Ireland, and the South African unit on Policy Co-ordination and
Advisory Services in The Presidency where further refinement was made on the
Bill.
After its tabling in Parliament, the Bill was referred to the Department of
Public Service and Administration, where comments were made in respect of the
appointment of Board members of the Council. The Portfolio Committee on Science
and Technology held its public hearings on the Bill on the 14 August 2007 in
Parliament, which hearings were advertised in major national newspapers calling
for comments. Comments were received from the National House of Traditional
Leaders and the Human Sciences Research Council pursuant to the said
advertisement.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again express my gratitude to
the Deputy Minister, Derek Hanekom, the Portfolio Committee led by the
Honourable N Nqcobo, the Director-General, Dr Phil Mjwara, and the management
team and staff of the department for working as a collective in the drafting
and consultative processes of this Bill.
Madam Speaker, I request the House to approve the Human Sciences Research
Council Bill.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
13 September 2007
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za)
