Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has expressed concern about the budget allocated to her department, saying officials are in discussion with Treasury to appeal for more funds."We are not happy with the level where we are. We understand the constraints the country is facing, [but] indeed we are concerned," she said on Wednesday ahead of her budget speech to Parliament.The department’s budget increases by on average 4.8% a year over the medium term, rising from R7.6bn in 2017-18 to R8.7bn by 2020-21. As part of the Treasury’s drive to cut spending in the face of the revenue shortfall and the need to fund free higher education, the Cabinet approved a R186.1m cut to the department’s budget over the period. These cuts affect its own spending plans, as well as the baseline allocations of the entities that report to it.One of the entities feeling the pinch is the National Research Foundation, which announced in 2017 that it was slashing funding for top researchers, ...
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