These are stakeholders to whom the CSIR accounts in various ways by virtue of compliance with legislation such as the Scientific Research Council Act and the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999), as well as industry bodies such as International Organization for Standardization, etc. Examples include: 

• The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation (Shareholder); 
• Parliament; 
• The Auditor-General of South Africa; 
• National Treasury; and 
• The CSIR Board.