South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: key sector results and trends: science council sector R&D at a glance. Fact sheet 47

South African science councils are created by an Act of Parliament, granted a specific research mandate and form an integral part of the national system of innovation. R&D performed by science councils in areas such as the social sciences, health, agriculture, mining, industrial development and health innovation, inform critical policy decisions by government. True to their mandate, science councils allocated most of their R&D expenditure in 2020/21 to research areas closely mirroring national priorities, such as economic development, health, and education.