The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) says it has noted with concern the numerous media reports of leading scientists and researchers coming under attack from members of the public.
The department says the work of scientists is even more crucial as the world battles coronavirus.
This comes amid reports South Africa’s top scientists, including Medical Research Council CEO, Professor Glenda Gray, and Head of KwaZulu-Natal Genetic Sequencing Body, Krisp, Tulio de Oliveira, have been targeted, with some even receiving death threats.
More than 5 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide.
The Department has called on the public to support members of the scientific community for the sterling work they have been doing since the outbreak of the pandemic in late 2019, and not to vilify, threaten or seek to intimidate them.
