The National Research Foundation (NRF) announced in August 2012 that the first five year review of the South African Research Chair in Property Law (SARCPL) was successful and that the Chair would be funded for another five years (2013 – 2017). The Research Chair is funded by the Departement of Science and Technology (DST) and administered by the NRF as part of the Departement’s South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI).
The SARCPL was awarded in 2007, for an initial period of five years, and started functioning in 2008. During 2012 the Chair was subjected to a review process, as all the SARChI Research Chairs are in the final year of each funding period. The review process included the compilation of a comprehensive five-year report, a site visit by NRF officials, and a review of the Chair’s activities by an international panel of reviewers. The Chair’s five-year report included the 10 LLM degrees and 11 LLD degrees that would be awarded to SARCPL bursary holders by the end of 2012 and the 4 books and more than 30 other publications emerging from the Chair during the review period.