Government must move to ensure that US funding cuts do not affect South Africa’s Research Excellence, says committee chair

The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries, Mr Makhi Feni, has called on the Department of Higher Education to be proactive in plugging the gap left by the US cuts in grant funding that occurred earlier in 2025.

Mr Feni said a deliberate drive is needed, even if it means going on tour abroad to mobilise resources for research purposes. “The grant funding impact was massive and at a time when South Africa found itself operating in a fiscally constrained environment. We must not allow a situation where community-based research programmes suffer and get aborted due to this decision,” he said.

The Minister of Higher Education, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, had informed the committee that work to address this issue is being done. In addition, the government had opted for a collaborative approach, as cuts affected programmes administer by the departments of Health and of Science and Technology. Minister Nkabane said a technical team has been set up to coordinate and collate the affected programmes.

Mr Feni said the committee welcomes the news that the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation is contributing to resource mobilisation. “We would appreciate if all these efforts yield results. Our institutions are research intensive and that is one area we excel in and could not lose momentum. The committee is looking forward to receiving the report on the sector-wide impact of the funding cuts,” Mr Feni said.

Minister Nkabane led a strong departmental delegation to present the department’s annual performance and strategic plans.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.