Inside Education Reporter
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, has paid tribute to Dr Phil Mjwara, the retiring Director-General of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI).
Mjwara has a long and distinguished career as a senior public servant. With 18 years of service, he is the country’s longest-serving Director General.
“He played a leading role in shaping the policy and institutional architecture of South Africa’s National System of Innovation (NSI) and led the establishment of some of our country’s key science institutions, such as the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the South African National Space Agency (SANSA),” said Nzimande.
Nzimande said the DG also played a leading role in laying the basis for and repositioning National Science Innovation through such policy interventions as South Africa’s first national Science and Technology Foresight Exercise in the 1990s and later the White Paper on Science, Technology, and Innovation and the Decadal Plan for Science, Technology, and Innovation.
“As chairperson of the Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD), he was critical in coordinating some of the key government projects and ensuring inter-departmental synergies.”
Dr Mjwara leaves the public service with a solid visionary and ethical leadership reputation.
Daan Du Toit has been appointed acting Director General for the Department of Science and Innovation for 12 months.
Du Toit brings with him a wealth of experience. He started his career in government at the then Department of Foreign Affairs, where he trained as a diplomat. Since 2002, he has been attached to the Department of Science and Innovation and has served as the Department’s representative in Europe.
Du Toit has big shoes to fill in Dr Mjwara’s place.
A three-time graduate of the University of Fort Hare (UFH), Mjwara was lauded by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) for his immense contribution to promoting SA’s science, technology, and innovation when the council bestowed him with the Presidential Award during its 10th Annual Merit Awards held recently.
The award was granted a few days before the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Nzimande, announced Mjwara’s retirement from being the country’s longest-serving Director-General as the DG of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI).
Dr Mjwara obtained a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master of Science degrees from UFH between 1981 and 1987.
SAMRC President Professor Glenda Gray said: “Dr Mjwara has set the vision for all policy development in the science and technology sector in SA. He saw the need to create sustainable programmes, infrastructure, and human capacity to ensure SA achieves excellence in critical areas of science and technology,”
At Fort Hare, the university said that, as a community, it prides itself on alumni such as Dr Mjwara, who continue to portray Excellence in their roles.
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