Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande has congratulated South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on it 75th anniversary.

The research council was founded in 1945 through an act of Parliament with the primary focus on improving the lives of South Africans through science, engineering and technology.

“Over the years, I have been observing, with great pride, the work that the organisation does, work that has made a huge contribution to our country. We are proud of what the CSIR has achieved in the past 75 years through science, technology, engineering and innovation,” Nzimande said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We also pay tribute to the leadership, the scientists and all the support staff, who over the years, particularly since the new dispensation into our democracy, have passionately and are continuing to contribute to the transformation of the organisation,” said Nzimande.

Nzimande said that the CSIR has put South Africa on the map by leading research and technological development in the country in the past decades.

The council has been swift in its response to the coronavirus pandemic and has committed some of its laboratories to help the government speed up Covid-19 testing.

The CSIR has been a part of many notable internationally recognised science and innovation programmes.

In 2002, it made a breakthrough in biomedical stem cell technology by generating the first induced pluripotent stem cells in Africa. Scientists use these cells to study the interactions between pathogens and specific cell types in the context of African genetics.

In 2015, the council worked with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to provide a dedicated computing cluster in order to help with two particle detector experiments.

“The CSIR has been committed to pushing boundaries in our quest for excellent research, technological innovation, and industrial and scientific development,” the minister added.

Nzimande said that when compared with organisations of similar calibre in Africa, the CSIR’s research towers above the rest.