South Africa has separate ministers for science and higher education once more, after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his long-awaited coalition cabinet late on Sunday 30 July, write Anina Mumm and Linda Nordling for Research Professional News.

The announcement at the Union Buildings in Pretoria follows weeks of tense coalition negotiations after Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) lost its absolute parliamentary majority in the country’s 29 May election.

Long-serving higher education minister Blade Nzimande stays in charge of science, technology and innovation – a brief he headed after the higher education and science departments were merged in 2019 in an attempt to rein in government spending. The much larger (in terms of budget) higher education portfolio has been given to cabinet newcomer Nobuhle Nkabane who has served as deputy minister of energy and mineral resources since 2021.
Full report on the Research Professional News site