South Africa announces cooperation with war-torn Palestine to share technology and innovations

The Department of Science and Innovation in South Africa has announced plans to form a partnership with Palestine to share scientific knowledge, technology and innovation. 

This partnership will focus on rebuilding and developing Palestinian infrastructure and innovation capacity as well as its research centres. 

“The programme will also have a special focus support for safeguarding, rebuilding, and developing Palestine’s research and innovation capacities and infrastructure,” said South African science minister Blade Nzimande on Tuesday.

According to Nzimande, the programme was established after a series of collaborations between South Africa and Palestine. The said collaboration includes a joint research project, seed funding for developing, “South African-Palestinian knowledge networks,”  hosting of Palestinian scholars and students, exchange programmes and sharing of science and developmental initiatives and systems. 

“This new programme will be implemented by our entity the NRF [National Research Foundation] and will be funded from the department’s existing budget for international cooperation,” Nzimande said to the members of parliament.

South Africa recently launched a case at the International Court of Justice in January, alleging that Israel is committing systemic genocide in Palestine. 

The West Asian country continues to endure the impact of Israel's war on Gaza, where as of July 17th, over 40,000 people have been killed, the majority of whom are Palestinians. The conflict between both nations escalated in October 2023 when Hamas militants invaded and killed Israeli civilians indiscriminately, which led to a larger invasion of Palestinian territories. 

Allegations have also risen that the Israeli military has committed war crimes against the Palestinian population. Recent reports claim that Palestinians are being forced to live in just 20% of Gaza, the now-ruined capital city.

South Africa's Department of Science has a proposed budget of R10 billion ($5.45 million) for the 2024/2025 financial year, dedicating a small portion to the international cooperation mission. Earlier in March, the South African government also announced that it was nearing a "larger collaboration for science diplomacy" with the Czech Republic, a NATO member and a vocal supporter of Israel at that time.