COVID-19 laid bare tensions between govt and scientists, Nzimande tells WEF
Science and Technology Minister Blade admitted that politics often clashed with matters of public interest.
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande addresses members of the media in Pretoria on 8 March 2021 on funding discussions for prospective students for the 2021 academic year. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande said the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the tensions between government and scientists as global leaders continue to draw lessons from the outbreak.
Nzimande made the reflection at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Friday.
The annual meeting, which draws to a close on Friday, has seen global elites talk shop on a range of global challenges.
This includes conflict, climate change and the global economic environment.
Nzimande admitted that politics often clashed with matters of public interest.
“We had that big problem in South Africa during COVID-19, and it was my biggest frustration. At the time when South Africa came up with the first variant of COVID-19, the scientists were so excited. They went full-blown to the media to announce this, without engaging the government. We told them ‘We don’t want to arrest you to communicate but what you communicate may have political implications that you as scientists, on your own, may not be able to deal with.'”
He said post the pandemic, government had to reign in some industries to ensure that the public and private sectors sang from the same hymnbook.
“We then had to have a dialogue with the scientists to say ‘when there are new things that you are coming up with, let’s first have a discussion amongst us, then have a division of labour. We will announce, we will accredit that to you but then we will have to announce what that means for the people. So that tension is and will always be there – we need to handle it better.”