Abstract:
South Africa is a water constrained country with a complex history of resource
capture and human rights abuses. Science, as practiced by the national science councils,
could play a significant role in deepening our democracy. This paper explores two
possible paradigms - one where science is divorced from the national constitution, and
the other where our science is embedded in the national constitution. The paper argues
that the latter approach would make our national science more relevant, but of necessity
would embroil it in issues of historic legacy and therefore become “messy”.
