Introduction

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) commemorated 50 years of existence in 2019, while its predecessor, the National Bureau of Educational and Social Research (NBESR), would have commemorated its 90th anniversary in the same year if it still existed. The latter was established in 1929 in the context of perceived 'sporadic efforts', and 'little continuity or coordination when it came to investigating problems which confronted the country as a whole.