President Jacob Zuma has congratulated two South African scientists for winning the prestigious African Union (AU) Scientific Awards.
Patrick Eriksson and Diane Hildebrandt won first prize in the science, technology and innovation category. They were chosen from 48 contestants from across Africa for the outstanding work in their fields. The awards resonated the theme of the African Union Summit which focused on improving Africa's Information and Communication Technologies infrastructure.
Hildebrandt is co-director at the Centre for Optimisation Modelling and Process Synthesis at Wits University and Eriksson is head of the Geology department at the University of Pretoria.
The two will receive $100 000 each for their achievements from the AU.