When she was the Minister of Science and Technology in 2016, Dr Naledi Pandor ‘bent the rules’ and made it a point to grant 42 South African Research Chairs Initiative chairs (SARChI) exclusively to women. This was her response to the overwhelming number of male researchers previously awarded SARChI chairs; as a result, almost half of the National Research Foundation’s (NRF) funded research professors are women.

One of these outstanding women is Professor Mmantsae Moche Diale, the recently appointed NRF SARChI Chair in Clean and Green Energy at the University of Pretoria. Prof Diale believes that more women are needed in science in order to mature renewable energy technology for the country.

              Professor Mmantsae Moche Diale

“Energy from Eskom is very expensive, and renewable energy is still not affordable, but the advantage of renewable is that it is clean to the environment,” says Prof Diale, whose research focuses on harnessing energy from solar panels and hydrogen fuel. She says this high energy cost “affects the poorest the most, where people resort to stealing electricity to survive”.

“My general belief about the poor is that if we can put solar panels on houses in Soweto or Mamelodi, we would drastically reduce the issue of stolen electricity and non-payment of electricity to Eskom.” In turn we can pay the small suppliers of electricity from their panels on roof tops, and consequently reduce unemployment.

Prof Diale believes there are still too few women doing research in South Africa, and in particular black women. “We have not yet done enough to ensure that we get more women involved in research,” she says. “We should bend the rules in order to attract young, black women into research and help them survive this difficult and sometimes hostile environment.”

UNESCO statistics paint a bleak picture that shows a lack of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and innovation in South Africa, and Prof Diale wants to change that by mentoring young women from basic degree to PhD.

She suggests that the environment needs to be made more enjoyable for women and for them to feel safe. “Some women are scared of being attacked by predatory men, especially when they work at late hours in the lab,” she says.  

The key to attracting young women in science lies in investing time and resources in finding them at an early stage, such as in high school. As more women become part of the solution to expensive energy production, Prof Diale believes that the technology will mature to help the poor, and vulnerable people of South Africa.

Read more profiles on other amazing #WomenofUP featured in this series celebrating Women's Month:

• If you do your job well, you will be successful, says UP's Prof Susan Adendorff
• UP's Dr Rakgadi Phatlane is fighting adversity with love and empathy
• Don’t be afraid of outperforming others, says UP innovator Prof Alice Chan
• It’s easier to succeed when you have role models who look like you – UP Nuclear Physicist Dr Thabsile Thabethe
• UP’s Professor Ana Naidoo: Getting students off to a good start and to the finish line on time
• Keeping UP safe is security manager Linda-Louise Meyer’s priority
• From the office to the change room: AmaTuks team manager Khathochelo Mbanda lets her work ethic speak for itself
• 'No matter where you are from, your dreams are valid' – a motto UP's Professor Alisa Phulukdaree lives by
• Working towards achieving inclusive social justice with UP Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender’s Vuyisa Mamanzi
• ‘The opportunities in this space are limitless,’ says UP’s Director of Research and Innovation Dr Nthabiseng Taole
• UP researchers call for women to lead socio-economic transformation
• UP researchers lead the charge to protect women and children from the effects of HIV
• Professor Sheryl Hendriks: Making a difference in people’s lives through food security research