SCORE: E

Blade Nzimande faces allegations of bribery for the procurement of tenders at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Although the minister has refuted the claims, his ethics have been questioned. The department received a clean audit but salary adjustments in the first quarter of 2024 caused variances. It planned to spend R1.711  billion by the end of the first quarter; actual spending was R1.6  billion — 17% of the total budget of R9.468 billion. On the plus side, the sector has seen an increase in the number of women participants in scientific education and has established a national solar research facility to promote technology transfer and localisation in support of the Renewable Energy Masterplan and the Cannabis Industrialisation Masterplan. But, according to the auditor general, the department has missed about 55% of its targets to support emerging research and research by black women.