New Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor has expressed concern about progress with South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope array. She was responding to a question at a press conference in Pretoria on Wednesday, after she took up the post for a second time. MeerKAT is one of South Africa's flagship scientific programmes, if not the flagship project.

She noted that the dates for the commissioning of the MeerKAT seem to be changing. Originally, it was set for 2016, but she reported that more recently she has seen 2017 and even 2018 suggested instead. "If there is a timeline, we must adhere to it or explain to the South African people why the delay is happening," she said.

In her prepared statement to the media at the start of the media conference, Pandor highlighted the importance of the MeerKAT project, and its role as part of the first phase of the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project. She remarked that she had been excited to hear of the UK government's funding commitment for the construction of the first phase of the SKA.

She emphasized that the SKA formed part of the Department of Science and Technology's African Agenda, which included the development of the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (AVN). "We will be working on the construction of the SKA and the realisation of its potential for scientific development on the African continent," she affirmed.

Regarding cooperation with other African countries, Pandor stated that this would be particularly with the lands of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). "We don't want to be over ambitious and think that we can address the whole of Africa." However, she did not limit such scientific cooperation to only SADC countries. (The AVN, for example, involves Ghana and is likely to involve Kenya as well as SADC and other non-SADC countries.)