Stalwart David (Dawie) Botha passed away on 1 September 2025 after bravely fighting recurring cancer, whilst voluntarily continuing to serve the science, engineering, technology (SET) and innovation community in South Africa (SA), as he had done for decades, up to the very end.

Dawie, as he was popularly known within the community, is the first and immediate past chairperson of the NSTF-proSET Sector (Professionals in Science, Engineering and Technology), serving for two decades since his appointment in 2005. It was under hisleadership of the proSET Committee that the largest membership sector of the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF), currently representing over 50 professional and learned societies in SA, was established. proSET started its life as ‘SETAG’ in 2004 (Scientific, Engineering and Technological Societies and Allied Professions Group) in response to a call from the then Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Dr Ben Ngubane, to consolidate the professional bodies, associations, societies and academies of the SET community, under the auspices of the NSTF, for purposes of consultation.

SETAG held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 20 April 2005 in Centurion, Gauteng where an official committee was elected to steer the priority areas into the future. Dawie (the then Executive Director of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering – SAICE) was unanimously elected to the position of chairperson of SETAG. He has since represented SETAG and then its successor proSET on the NSTF Executive Committee (Exco). He formally retired from these positions in November 2024, although he steadfastly continued to serve as the immediate past chairperson on the proSET Committee and represented the committee on stage at the recent NSTF-South32 Awards on 31 July 2025.

NSTF Ukhozi Awardee: On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the NSTF non-profit organisation in 1995, Dawie was honoured for his volunteership, selfless service and outstanding contributions within the community, to both the NSTF and the country, as the third recipient of the NSTF Ukhozi Award (Ukhozi means eagle in isiZulu).

Said Dawie at the hybrid 2025 NSTF-South32 Awards to an audience of over 900 gala dinner guests in two cities, and online viewers via the NSTF YouTube channel:

… “The motto of the South African Coat of Arms is written in a Khoisan language and translates to ‘diverse people unite’. This motto emphasises unity and belonging within the nation, encouraging collective action and national pride.

I appeal to all … to also volunteer their services to support our country and its upcoming generations. A huge portion of my life consisted of volunteering and as such I am very thankful for what has been achieved by my colleagues and l. Keep walking!”

His significant influence was seen in numerous ways:

·Chairperson: His contributions over two decades as the first chairperson and later co-chairperson of the NSTF-proSET Sector representing engineering

·Serving the professionals: The major role he played in establishing, exponentially growing, and maintaining the activities of proSET amongst which are:

o    Mapping the SET professional landscape: Initiating the SET Professionals Who’s Who – a useful tool for organisations to network, and for students to understand the intricate SET landscape. It raises awareness among the public, creating interest in SET professions.

o    Ground-breaking learning tool: Contributing to the initiation and leadership of an online platform, STEMulator.org depicting the SET professions and landscape for career guidance, as well as to explore, discover and learn about the world. This ground-breaking learning tool is available on the internet and as a mobile phone app (Google and iStore). Many hundreds of memory sticks with STEMulator.org on them were distributed and reached educators and learners in deep rural areas with no internet. Some youth outreaches was done by Dawie personally whilst on holiday and travelling. Dawie served as a Director of the STEMulator.org non-profit company from 2020 to 2025.

·Civil engineer: The key and essential role he played in civil engineering in SA and the SET community through the NSTF, is noted by his other positions and achievements as:

o    Honorary Fellow of SAICE

o    Fellow of the Institute of Municipal Engineers of Southern Africa (IMESA) and the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE)

o    Recipient of the SAICE Presidential Award in 1995

o    Recipient of an NSTF Award in the management category in 2011

·Author and radio communicator: Authoring the book Travels with Civilspublished in 2014 – a guide covering infrastructure in all nine provinces of SA, thus literally ‘putting civil engineering on the map’ in SA. He passionately continued this work by conducting a series of talks on RSG radio’s 360 programme titled ‘So is die land gebou’ (How the country was built) with Martelize Brink from 2022-2024, which according to Martelize lasted for a record-breaking period for radio interviews.

·Role-model for the youth: He brought legendary inspiration as a role model through outreach and lecturing, of which the most recent (8 August 2025), was a career talk as part of the NSTF Share ‘n Dare Programme. This programmeprofiles NSTF award winners to the youth as role models and ambassadors for SET and innovation. The winners share their knowledge with the youth and communities, inspiring young people to pursue studies and careers in SET and innovation.

Dawie was also a retired Councillor of the Democratic Alliance serving the Overstand Municipality in Hermanus, Western Cape.

As recently as 20 August 2025, Dawie said to his NSTF colleagues on e-mail:

“Serving our country and our people has always been a privilege and I am thankful for the opportunities I had to serve in the SET environment with its endless challenges.”

The NSTF extends its deepest condolences to his beloved wife, Ria and children, Jac, Johnet and Maartje, friends and family, his business associates and colleagues. He will be sorely missed. NSTF mourns the loss of a great South African stalwart.