SOUTH Africa can break new ground in the world of science if only its scientists and researchers show the government the right way. In an impassioned speech made at a conference held at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Bernie Faranoff, the official in charge of South Africa's Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), declared that the government is anxious to invest on a larger scale in science, but it urgently needs advice.

So now "it is upto the universities and scientists themselves to come up with suggestions on how they can contribute to development in South Africa," he said -- for while he is a strong advocate of a "drastic increase" in expenditure on research and development, he is also convinced that the proposals must arise from a partnership of scientists, government officials and industry.