Appointment of Dr Phil Mjwara as Director General of the Department of Science and Technology

9 February 2006

Yesterday Cabinet approved the appointment of Dr Philemon Mphathi Mjwara (47) as Director General of the Department of Science and Technology. Dr Mjwara is currently group executive responsible for Research and Development (R&D) at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and he will most likely begin at DST on 1 April 2006.

Before becoming group executive for the CSIR in 2005, Dr Mjwara was the head of the CSIR National Laser Centre where he was instrumental in creating a network of laser centres in Africa.

Dr Mjwara said; "I am looking forward to this new challenge. I see this as an opportunity to contribute to directing Science and Technology (S&T) activities towards socio-economic ends, thereby increasing the relevance of S&T to socio-economic development. I also hope to see the fruits of S&T diffusing through to society in the best possible way."

When he joined CSIR he was director of technology development at the department of arts, culture, science & technology, as it was then known.

He was a member of the core team responsible for developing scenarios for SA (1999 to 2010) as part of the first technology foresight project. For this, Dr Mjwara set up a team of 12 sector co-ordinators, designed the framework for conducting the study, and ran the project for five years. The outputs of the project were presented to President Thabo Mbeki and cabinet ministers in 2000.

His project approach led to a number of institutions from abroad inviting the core team members to share their knowledge at conferences in Japan, Austria and Hungary. Dr Mjwara was recently asked to participate in the development of scenarios for SA for the years 2004 to 2014. This was run from the office of the President.

Dr Mjwara’s experience in academia includes serving as professor of S&T policy at the University of Pretoria and as a physics lecturer at Wits, Unisa and Fort Hare universities. He has published and presented numerous papers on physics, technology analysis and technology foresight processes.

Dr Mjwara completed his MSc part-time at the University of Fort Hare in 1987, followed by his PhD at Wits in 1995.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, said; "I am delighted to have appointed a DG that has been an active and key role player in the National System of Innovation."

Click here for Dr Mjwara’s CV.

For more information contact:
Nhlanhla Nyide
Cell: +27 (0) 82 871 6767