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The DA welcomes the news that the University of Cape Town (UCT)’s Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3-D) has identified a compound that has the potential to both prevent and cure Malaria.

The DA congratulates H3-D director Professor Kelly Chibale and his team, and joins him in commending the Department of Science and Technology for the fact that his research was made possible through the Department’s South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI), which he called “something unique and special about this country”. This SARChI funding model, which avoids dictating what should be researched and instead allows autonomy in that area, should be replicated elsewhere.

Malaria remains the single biggest killer of people in Africa. As Professor Chibale points out, 24% of total child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa alone are caused by the disease.

That we could have a viable cure and treatment for Malaria by 2020 is remarkably good news. The latent socio-economic benefits of alleviating our disease burden cannot be overstated. Moreover, the potential attraction of highly skilled scientists as a result of this discovery bodes well for critical human capital development in South Africa.

This good news collides, sadly, with news that the under-funded Medical Research Council (MRC) will have to ‘restructure’ as it cannot sustain all 23 of its research units. At risk, amongst others, is the Nutritional Intervention Unit (Niru), the country’s leading nutritional research institute.

Restructuring will involve a prioritisation of research dedicated to alleviating the top 10 causes of death in South Africa. However, nutritional imbalances among South Africans are an underlying cause of some conditions in those top 10 causes. A total budget of R400m a year, with only an estimated R5m going toward Niru, is thoroughly inadequate. At the same time, vast sums of money are squandered each year on unproductive causes or corruptly diverted for ministerial largesse and President Zuma’s Mangaung war-chest. R808m, for instance, is likely to be diverted from the Department of Agriculture’s budget for President Jacob Zuma’s pet Masibambisane rural development initiative projects.

The DA welcomes the good news that government funding has in part contributed to the discovery of a compound that will have an enduring positive impact. We also challenge government to redirect currently unproductive funds to ensuring that critical research units run by the MRC will be sustained.