On 18 and 19 June 2026, government, industry, academia and civil society convened at the Radisson Blu OR Tambo for the National Advisory Council on Innovation’s (NACI) Inaugural Policy Dialogue on Industrialisation through Innovation, a two-day gathering hosted by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the OR Tambo Special Economic Zone. Located in the City of Ekurhuleni, the venue significant in terms of geography. Ekurhuleni is South Africa’s primary industrial, manufacturing and logistics hub and home to OR Tambo International Airport which connects the country to global markets and anchors the Gauteng economy.
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Blade Nzimande, delivered the opening address, underscoring that the dialogue marked the first joint ministerial engagement between his department and the DTIC on industrialisation through innovation and, in his own tenure, one of the most significant gatherings of its kind. On the second day, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Parks Tau, delivered the Call to Action during the Ministerial Session, setting out the commitments and priorities emerging from the discussions.
South Africa’s industrial base has been on a rapid decline for the past three decades. According to Statistics South Africa, manufacturing’s contribution to GDP has roughly halved since 1993, when it stood at about 23%, with more than 300 000 manufacturing jobs lost along the way. In addition to this, there has been a slow post-Covid recovery, deepening inequality, and the disruption and promise of the fourth industrial revolution and artificial intelligence. All these factors make it clear why reimagining South Africa’s industrial base through innovation has increased in importance.
A particular focus of the dialogue was catalysing debate and action on aligning the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Decadal Plan with Sectoral Master Plans. In the words of Minister Tau, who highlighted the importance of the dialogue: “The answer lies in innovation-led industrialisation. Innovation and industrialisation are mutually reinforcing. Innovation drives productivity, competitiveness and technological advancement. Industrialisation creates jobs, expands productive capacity and unlocks new opportunities for economic participation. Together, they provide a pathway to inclusive growth and sustainable development.” He was equally transparent about the scale of the challenge which is declining industrial capacity, persistently high unemployment, and the disconnect between scientific research and commercial industrial application.
Business does not experience industrial policy as an abstraction, it experiences it as the cost of capital, the speed of regulatory approval, the reliability of infrastructure, and the predictability of the rules governing market entry. Running through everything raised over the two days was a clear call for greater coherence between policy instruments, institutions and critically, the public and private sectors.
That is exactly the gap the ST&I Business Forum is stepping into on 8 July, when we host our Inaugural Public Lecture in the City of Ekurhuleni under the theme “A Public-Private Partnership Model for Science and Innovation.” Where the NACI Dialogue set the policy direction, our Lecture will interrogate the mechanics that determine whether a PPP model for ST&I succeeds, or merely exists on paper.
As an advocacy body representing business across South Africa’s metros, the ST&I Business Forum sees its mandate as the connective tissue between dialogues like NACI’s and the firms, financiers and innovators who must ultimately deliver on their outcomes. We will keep convening these conversations, feeding business perspective into the National Innovation System, and holding the public-private partnership conversation to a standard of practical accountability.
On 8 July, the ST&I Business Forum will launch its Inaugural Public Lecture and formally launch the Forum itself at the Emperors Palace Convention Centre. The work between now and then is to keep that throughline of coherence alive.