This report provides analysis and commentary on the results of the 2015/16 south African national survey of Research and experimental Development (R&D survey). it is a companion piece to the statistical Report, which presents detailed data tables for 2015/16 in the context of trend data for the past ten years. The survey covers the main institutional sectors that perform R&D in south Africa, namely the business, not-for-profit, government, science council and higher education sectors. This approach is followed in order to satisfy national data needs and, at the same time, maintain consistency with the international sector categorisation for measuring R&D.