The Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, has noted with disappointment, the intention by Germany to withdraw from the Square Kilometre Array Organisation (SKA) in June 2015.
According to the SKAO website, www.skatelescope.org, Germany informed the SKAO about its intention to leave the organisation yesterday.
While the decision is regrettable, Minister Pandor is satisfied that it is not due to lack of confidence in the SKA project, rather because of “difficult national financial circumstances around the funding of large research infrastructures in Germany and Europe,” as reported in the SKAO statement.
Minister Pandor will, in the coming weeks, set-up a meeting with her Germany counter-part to further discuss this issue.
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Lunga Ngqengelele, Media Liaison Officer
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