Updates and errata

August 2021

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2018/19, Table C.148 (p. 82). Incorrect data for Researcher (Headcount & FTE) and Postgrad (Headcount & FTE) was reported for four institutions in 2018/19 only, namely University of Limpopo, University of Pretoria, University of South Africa, and University of Stellenbosch. Please note that totals are not impacted by the correction, as the data was only incorrect insofar as it was placed next to the wrong institution. The correct data per institution is as follows:

Table C.148: Higher education sector overview (2018/19)

  2018/19
  R&D EXPENDITURE RESEARCHER HEADCOUNT RESEARCHER HEADCOUNT POSTGRAD HEADCOUNT POSTGRAD FTE
  R'000        
University of Limpopo 226 660 559 159.3 370 250.4
University of Pretoria 1 261 937 2 140 495.2 2 522 1 269.1
University of South Africa  899 839 1 844 368.8 2 479 1 756.7
University of Stellenbosch 1 701 657 1 827 572.0 2 014 1 147.4

June 2020

Update: Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, fieldwork for the South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development 2018/19 has been extended by an additional three months. The release of Survey results is also expected to be delayed by at least three months.  

March 2020

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2017/18, Table C.145 (p. 80). Incorrect data for FTEs AS % OF HEADCOUNTS for 2017/18 was given. The correct data is as follows:

2017/18 FTEs AS % OF HEADCOUNTS
Researchers 24.2
Technicians directly supporting R&D 33.7
Other personnel directly supporting R&D 39.1
Total 26.9

February 2020

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2017/18, (p. 6). The data in tables C.2 was incorrectly placed. The correct table data is as follows:

Table C.2: R&D expenditure by sector, constant 2010 Rand values (2008/09 to 2017/18)

YEAR GERD GOVERNMENT

SCIENCE COUNCILS

HIGHER EDUCATION BUSINESS NOT-FOR-PROFIT
  R'000 R'000 R'000 R'000 R'000 R'000
2008/09 24 056 681 1 303 016 3 586 992 4 792 079 14 099 455 275 139
2009/10 22 285 515 1 135 087 3 677 697 5 425 204 11 846 693 200 833
2010/11 20 253 802 1 011 340 3 596 022 5 424 601 10 059 009 162 830
2011/12 20 847 389 1 159 901 3 500 987 6 203 958 9 822 399 160 144
2012/13 21 283 167 1 281 658 3 589 510 6 538 113 9 424 677 449 209
2013/14 21 551 944 1 425 413 3 615 334 6 125 162 9 896 243 489 792
2014/15 23 351 132 1 506 354 3 982 443 6 666 417 10 576 214 619 704
2015/16 24 466 688 1 523 099 4 343 697 7 472 884 10 452 748 674 259
2016/17 25 190 793 1 481 148 4 330 693 8 228 677 10 432 079 718 196
2017/18 25 962 839 1 559 379 4 232 771 8 722 451 10 632 765 815 473

April 2019

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Main Report 2016/17, (p. 7). Government expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GERD is incorrectly stated as 4.3%. The correct percentage value is 5.9%.

June 2018

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Main Analysis Report 2015/16, Figure 19 (p. 29). The R&D personnel headcounts data point for 2005/06 is stated incorrectly as 27 275. The correct data entry is 57 275.

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Main Analysis Report 2015/16 (p. 35). There is a data error in the following two sentences: “Women accounted for almost half of the total number of researchers, where their share peaked at 45.0 % in 2015/16. There has been a steady annual increase in the percentage of female researchers, from 42.3% in 2011/12 to 45.0% in 2015/16.” The correct number of female researchers expressed as a percentage of the total number of researchers in 2015/16 is 44.4%.

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2015/16 (p. 3). There is a data error in the following sentence: “The proportion of female researchers increased by 0.1 of a percentage point to 44.3% (Table C.29).” The correct number of female researchers expressed as a percentage of the total number of researchers in 2015/16 is 44.4%.

April 2018

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2015/16, Table C. 96 (p. 53). The data for the 2013/14  period that appears under Provincial departments should appear under National departments, and vice versa.

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2015/16, Table C. 96 (p. 53). Minor adjustments were made to expenditures in the 2015/16 period under Provincial and National departments. Adjustments are available on request to cestiidata@hsrc.ac.za.

February 2018

Error: Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators: Annual Review Report 2016/17, Box 1 (p. 8). There is a duplication of the term ‘higher education’ in the second paragraph. The correct sentence is: “The largest performer of R&D in 2014/15 was the business sector (45.3% of GERD), followed by higher education (28.5% of GERD), then science councils (17.1%), government (6.5%) and not-for-profit organisations (2.7%).”

January 2018

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2015/16, Table C. 96 (p. 53). The data for the 2015/16 period that appears under Provincial departments should appear under National departments, and vice versa.

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2015/16, Table C. 128 (p. 71). Researcher FTEs for the Medical Research Council is missing a decimal point. The correct number is 171.0.

Error: South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development: Statistical Report 2015/16, Table C.33 (p. 19). The data in the Male and Female columns was incorrectly placed. The correct table data is as follows:

Table C.33: Researcher headcounts by gender (2006/07 to 2015/16)

*Doctoral degree or equivalent includes South African doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows.

YEAR

TOTAL RESEARCHERS* 

(HEADCOUNTS)

MALE FEMALE
2006/07 29 303 17 913 11 390
2007/08 29 327 18 022 11 305
2008/09 28 952 17 694 11 258
2009/10 29 255 17 614 11 641
2010/11 25 300 14 823 10 477
2011/12 25 954 15 065 10 889
2012/13 27 314 15 378 11 936
2013/14 28 014 15 520 12 494
2014/15 28 723 15 824 12 899
2015/16 29 455 16 150 13 305