Cape Town - Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande faced tough questions in Parliament on whether the state-owned pharmaceutical company known as Ketlaphela has been established.
“The establishment of Ketlaphela was part of the vision to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for drugs against the most problematic diseases in South Africa, in particular HIV/Aids. This was part in a process of many other activities and investigations into the sustainability of such an entity which included a number of studies, and the establishment of public private partnerships seeking expert and legal opinions. Much work in this regard was done between 2011 and 2014.
“The need for finding yet another partner was based on the fact that all APIs used in drug formulations in South Africa are imported and as such, a technology partner would facilitate technology and skills transfer. This phase was implemented through open calls for expressions of interest. Unfortunately, no bidder could meet the minimum qualifying criteria. The collapse of this phase ushered the process into the third phase.
Nzimande said for the period 2011 to 2015, the Department of Science and Technology funded the establishment of Ketlaphela to an amount of R13 747 152.