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Welcome to ResearchSpace, the institutional repository of the CSIR. ResearchSpace is an open access electronic archive collecting, preserving and distributing scholarly digital materials created by the CSIR.

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Sorghurm Beer Unit
The Sorghum Beer Unit is housed in the National Food Research Institute which is one of the institutes making up the CSIR. Unit is also administered by the N Food R I, The The Unit, as with other bodies in the CSIR, is subject to the general rules and regula tions of the CSIR which include the scrutiny of accounts by the Government Auditors. At the present time, the head of the SBU is also director of the N Food R I. The Unit has two divisionsThe N Food R I has Brewing Technology and Cereal Biochemistry, divisions for food chemistry, food technology, fermentation technology, biological evaluation, microbiology, and techno-economics. All divisions, whether within the Food Research or in the SBU, couraged to help and advise one another. are enAny institute within the CSIR, say Food Research, can consult another laboratory or institute, e.g. the N Chem Research Laboratory. Since the great majority of the institutes and laboratories are housed on one site, (Meiring Naude Road, Pretoria), consultation and collaboration i viz. "Scientia" IS easy.

Recent Submissions

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South African country study on climate change. Vulnerability and adaptation assessment for plantation forestry

(CSIR, 1999) Fairbanks, DHK; Scholes, Robert J

The South African forestry industry is sensitive to climate, for better or for worse. Only 1.5% of the country is suitable for tree crops under the current climate. Much of this area is relatively marginal. The relatively long period between planting and harvest makes tree plantations vulnerable to environmental change. Shifts in the optimum tree-growing location can have a big impact on the profitability of fixed capital investments, such as sawlog and pulp mills. The results of forest growth models suggest that if the climate changes to the degree predicted, and if no action is taken to select and plant heat tolerant cultivars, there will be substantial loss of production in the core area of current forestry, particularly in Pinus patula and Pinus radiata plantations.

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A model-based systems engineering framework for technology roadmaps (MBSE-TRM): Application to electronic warfare systems

(2026-02) Reddy, Reeshen; Sinha, S

Technology-intensive industries face accelerating change driven by disruptive innovations, geopolitical shifts, and the dynamics of Industry 4.0. In this environment, managers require strategic tools that can align markets, products, and technologies over time while retaining adaptability. Technology roadmaps (TRMs) are widely used for this purpose; however, current practice remains largely qualitative, workshop-led, and reliant on subject matter expertise. This constrains their utility in dynamic environments. This paper develops a Model-Based Systems Engineering framework for Technology Roadmaps (MBSE-TRM) to address these limitations. The research advances theory by introducing a conceptual metamodel that captures the ontology of TRM, formalizing its structure and lifecycle using SysML, and demonstrating how tacit practitioner logic can be represented explicitly. Validation is undertaken in the domain of Electronic Warfare (EW) against radar, a technology-intensive field characterized by rapid innovation cycles and strategic importance. The findings show that MBSE-TRM enables improved transparency, traceability, and adaptability, supporting managers and engineers in steering innovation strategies under conditions of volatility. By bridging systems engineering principles with technology strategy, MBSE-TRM provides a structured yet flexible framework for aligning strategic intent with evolving technology options in Industry 4.0 and beyond.

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Shedding light on loadshedding with natural language processing: A social media case study on public perspectives of the South African electricity crisis in 2022

(2025-11) Moodley, Avashlin; Naidoo, Privolin

In times of collective discomfort and dissat isfaction, people often find solace in shared adversity on social media platforms like X (for merly known as Twitter). These platforms offer a unique window into the public’s emotions and viewpoints concerning common challenges. In 2022, South Africa experienced an electricity crisis, during which the country was subjected to rolling blackouts, commonly known as load shedding, by Eskom, the country’s primary electricity provider, to prevent a national elec tricity grid shutdown. This study conducted a data-driven exploration of the public discourse surrounding Eskom and loadshedding on X us ing natural language processing and data sci ence techniques. The dataset utilised for this study comprised tweets containing keywords related to Eskom and loadshedding. The study delved into the topics of discussion by apply ing topic modelling techniques to uncover la tent themes within the discourse. The topics were analysed through a multifaceted lens to unpack and highlight patterns within the sen timents, emotions and biases that underpin conversations related to loadshedding and Es kom. A notable inclusion in the analysis was the incorporation of sarcasm classifications, which enhanced the interpretation of the emo tion and sentiment within the topics discussed. The findings uncovered from the analysis were contrasted with loadshedding-related events in 2022 to understand the public discourse as the electricity crisis escalated. The methodology of this study provides a framework for utilis ing natural language processing techniques to uncover and examine the perspectives of a col lective within discourse related to events of shared interest.

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Resource recovery and water reclamation from acid mine drainage: Market analysis, industry trends, and future research directions

(2026-01) Mahlohla, MB; Masindi, Vhahangwele; Muedi, KL; Tekere, M; Baloyi, Siwela J; Foteini, S

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a highly recalcitrant wastewater that is typically generated from coal and metal mining activities and contains elevated levels of (heavy) metals and sulphates, along with rare earth elements (REEs) and radionuclides in some instances. This review seeks to elucidate AMD’s physicochemical characteristics and resource recovery avenues that can underpin circularity and introduce the waste-to-resource paradigm. Opportunities for major metals (e.g., iron (Fe) aluminum (Al), and manganese (Mn)) and critical minerals, such as v cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), and notably rare earth elements (REEs), recovery, along with other minor constituents such as radionuclides were explored. Other valorization avenues such as sulfates transformation to sulfuric acid and recovery and water reclamation were further explored. The techniques for resource recovery from AMD, such as precipitation, adsorption, solvent extraction and ion exchange, were discussed, as well as possible industrial uses of the recovered materials (e.g., coagulants, adsorbents, pigments and catalysts). AMD beneficiation and valorization can minimize the ecological footprint of AMD and reduce virgin resource extraction, such as REEs, while water reclamation can provide water security in water-scarce countries. The recovered resources can provide an important revenue stream, via offsetting treatment costs and even making the process self-sustainable due to the high value of certain products. For example, the REEs global market in 2023 was USD$5.9 billion and is expected to reach USD$14.2 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12%, thus denoting that recovering REEs from AMD could be profitable, while it also reduces mining requirements and associated environmental impacts. Finally, knowledge gaps in terms of recoverability, along with their challenges and prospects and avenues for further research, were also distilled.

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Cyber Warfare

(Oxford University Press, 2025-03) Mtsweni, Jabu S; Thaba, James M

The African battlespace is rapidly changing, driven among others by several socio-economic factors. These factors in turn create a more complex, unpredictable, and volatile operating environment for African armed forces. The evolution of technology is forcing African governments to modernise the delivery of services through digital means, which in turn opens the door for multi-dimensional vector attacks. This has also led to the proliferation of advanced weapons, as well as the increasing use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in warfare, making it easier for non-state actors to wage asymmetric war and carry out terrorist attacks. The African cyberspace faces increasing cyber threats and several cyber incidents have been observed at government levels including attacks on militaries and sovereignty of Africa countries through election attacks, critical information infrastructure attacks, and cyber-terrorism. The loss of huge financial resources in Africa due to cyber-crime is also widely reported in the academic and business space. Moreover, state actors and non-state actors are increasingly targeting African states using cyber weapons. Therefore, the dominance of the cyberspace even for African militaries implies the need to be prepared to operate in this unfamiliar environment to maintain their security and stability. African militaries need to therefore develop new capabilities, especially in terms of cyber defence, to meet the emerging ICT challenges and multi-dimensional threats on the continent. This chapter, therefor, discusses how African militaries and nation-states could systematically establish and deploy new cyber warfare capabilities to the modern battlespace. It begins by outlining the challenges that Africa faces in the cyber domain, including a lack of resources, expertise, and infrastructure. It then discusses how African nation-states have responded to these challenges at the distinct levels of warfare. The chapter covers four case studies comprising four countries in Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya