Nature wants the next South Africa government to talk to their researchers

Embracing xenophobic rhetoric in South African academia: The impact of globalization and economic development on the academic life of the country

Soodyall says that if you look at the publications of South African researchers relative to other international researchers where the GDP is much higher, he thinks they are doing well.

The gap between white and black South Africans is continuing to shrink according to the data for this year. There are also slightly more women than men in South African academia, but not at senior levels. Black women, the largest demographic group in South Africa, make up only 7% of its professoriate.

“We are increasingly relying on international collaborations,” says physicist Azwinndini Muronga, dean of science at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, South Africa. “If one was to cut that lifeline, we probably would be in a very dire situation.”

Even when based in more welcoming academic environments — usually ones where there are already a high number of international researchers — academics from other African countries and their families do not feel welcome on occasions when there are flare-ups of xenophobic rhetoric, says Vukosi Marivate, a computer scientist at the University of Pretoria. You get affected by it when you leave the academic bubbles, he says, and this is great when you are in the halls.

MeerKAT: Keep the young people in the education system: how South Africa has come a long way in combating xenophobia

Since 2018, its 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope has been capturing the Universe in unprecedented detail, including the chaotic region around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. One of the countries is home to the Square Kilometre Array telescope. MeerKAT will eventually form the heart of the SKA’s mid-frequency array.

Keeping young people in the education system is a challenge. A survey by Statistics South Africa found that nearly 10% of the 17-year-olds had left school in the previous decade. Between 50% and 40% of students drop out after the first year of school according to some estimates.

According to the study, four out of five children are unable to read something that is written in a book.

Several people who Nature spoke to lamented the leak of academia’s talent as universities struggle to attract and retain talent. They say the problem starts with basic education.

The most recent period for which data are available shows that spending on R&D is low for the public and private sectors. It accounts for less than half the government’s target of 1.5% by 2030.

The ANC has strong historical strengths in astronomy, geology, botany, and clinical medicine as well as nuclear technology. Military research and development (R&D) was also a strength.

The data shows that before the party took power, almost all the Black population was excluded from the scientific community. That has since changed.

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch cautioned political parties to avoid using xenophobic rhetoric, which could stoke further violence. At a ASSAF round table last year, participants said they had been attacked by staff and students from other African countries.

In South Africa, science is the last thing people talk about in politics. We’ll be talking at very material levels about what people need who are desperately poor,” says Jansen.

Over the past decade, the country’s economy has been faltering, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita falling from US$8,737 in 2011 to $6,766.50 in 2023. The World Bank found last year that more than 60 percent of people were living in poverty. One in three people are out of work. Frequent power cuts are needed because of a 17-year-long energy crisis.

Source: ‘Stop the xenophobia’ — South African researchers sound alarm on eve of election

The African National Congress: Dealing with South Africa’s First Free, Multi-Party, Liberationary Elections and the Problem of a Wealth Tax

The ANC has been in power since 1994, when Nelson Mandela, the leader of South Africa’s liberation struggle against the country’s previous apartheid rule, became its first democratically elected president.

Since 1994, when the country’s first free, multi-party election was held, South Africans have gone to the polls every five years to vote for a new parliament. The African National Congress, which has led the struggle for liberation in South Africa for 30 years, might have to share power with other parties for the first time after the votes are counted. The country is at risk of being overwhelmed by deep-rooted problems, and for the best chance of resolving these, all parties need to work together. Researchers are ready to play their part.

Progress seems to be reversing by a number of indicators. South Africa has debt problems, worsened by two big setbacks — economic growth nosedived after the 2008 financial crisis and again during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Progress towards a number of SDG targets could be improved with more funding. A World Bank study has found that it will cost between 8% to 11% of the country’s GDP to achieve climate resilience by the deadline of theSDG. This amount of money is not a small amount and requires the government to borrow more, tax people more or cut public spending.

It is a problem for South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries that their economy is not strong enough to sustain borrowing. It would hurt the people the SDGs aim to help if general taxation or cuts to public spending were put in place.

There is a possibility of adding an extra tax on the wealthiest citizens. South Africa is the world’s most equal society according to data available. The World Bank’s Econ. Rev 36 was published in the year 2022, The proceeds of a wealth tax would be used to boost public services for the poor. It does not need to be a recurring tax, but could be a one-off charge, for use in the aftermath of emergencies.

The idea of wealth tax is gaining ground among economists, notably at the Paris-based World Inequality Lab (WIL; see go.nature.com/3yyicmf). There are not enough relevant data. There is better information on income than there is on wealth according to Czajka. The international agreement needed to collect and share wealth data is important for a tax to work. This would allow governments to better anticipate the consequences of a wealth tax, as well as reducing the risk of more nations becoming tax havens.