Celebrating 30 years of impact through collaborative effort

The National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) is a unique and proudly South African organisation that exists to represent all stakeholders in science, engineering, technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa (SA). The NSTF marked its 30th anniversary last year as the largest, longest-standing and most representative independent stakeholder body of its kind. The NSTF represents organisations (councils / associations / institutions / societies / companies, etc) across both the public and private sectors. The membership serves as a map of role-players in the national system of innovation (NSI) currently consisting of over 150 organisations across six sectors, in addition to government. History: SA celebrated Freedom Day Monday, 27 April, marking the start of the democratic dispensation and the 32nd anniversary of the country’s first democratic, non-racial elections held in 1994. This milestone in the nation’s journey holds significant relevance for the founding of the NSTF. Its precursor, the National Science and Technology Initiative (NSTI), was established in 1991 and actively participated in the historic Convention for a Democratic SA (Codesa) discussions. As a result of the findings and recommendations of the NSTI, government together with key stakeholders founded the NSTF in 1995 to oversee the establishment of a new democratic science system. The majority of founding members are still involved in the NSTF (constituting about 17% of NSTF’s current membership). The then Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Dr Ben Ngubane made his intention clear by recognising the body as a forum for consultation and addressing issues in the broader science community, a mandate that NSTF still proudly fulfils. And now: Since those early days, the NSTF has maintained its role as consultative forum for the government sector in matters related to SET and innovation. However, it has also grown and developed, playing a role in thought leadership and convening stakeh