In recognition of this international day, the NSTF proudly honours Prof Andrew Forbes, Distinguished Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and winner of the 2025 Special Annual Theme Award: Quantum Science and Technology of the ‘Science Oscars’ of South Africa (SA), the highly acclaimed NSTF-South32 Awards. The award acknowledges his pioneering contributions to quantum photonics and his leadership in developing South Africa’s (SA) quantum technology research capacity.

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We are excited to welcome our newest node: the University of Pretoria.

The new UP node (UPQust) becomes the sixth national node of SA QuTI, marking a significant milestone in strengthening South Africa’s quantum technology landscape. The node will be led by Prof. Tjaart Krüger and brings together outstanding interdisciplinary expertise from Physics, Chemistry, Engineering and Computer Science.

UPQust’s projects will span all three SA QuTI flagships, addressing real-world challenges across sectors such as agriculture, cybersecurity, and fraud detection.

We look forward to the impactful research, collaboration, and innovation ahead as we continue building a vibrant quantum ecosystem in South Africa!

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“Beam me up, Scotty!” A brave new South African-led study aims to solve exactly the quantum physics challenge that the fictional starship Enterprise’s transporter system is designed to overcome.

Unfortunately, we’re not looking to dematerialise people and put them together again somewhere else, which certainly would be very exciting. What we envisage, however, is far more fundamental: we’re going to show people the future – and unlock South Africa’s development potential.

To make the nascent field of harnessing quantum entanglement viable, we – myself, a vibrant, young team of South African researchers and select international partners, including leading scientists from China’s Huzhou University, France’s Sorbonne University and Australia’s Monash University – aim to practically demonstrate an entirely novel way for managing quantum information.

This will have revolutionary implications: with quantum computing, which will be exponentially more powerful than current technology, we will be able to quickly solve very hard problems in fields such as chemistry, pharmacology, logistics, finance and many more.

We will also be able to truly harness artificial intelligence – without the unsustainably huge energy price (environmentally speaking) that we currently pay for it. In quantum communications, it will enable long-distance links, essential for a global quantum network that is fundamentally secure.

Our quantum physics research, which stands to offer manifest benefits for humanity, is generously funded to the tune of R2.5-million by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust through its annual Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award, for which I am the 2024 co-recipient.

SA a potential global leader

I envisage South Africa, which has no Silicon Valley of its own, becoming a leader in quantum software – much like apps on cellphones, but harnessing quantum technology. I see us creating a quantum-literate workforce that will realise our country’s immense human potential and create human and economic opportunities that we cannot yet imagine.

Allow me to explain.

The big picture to consider is quantum as a new paradigm for future technologies. In the past decade or two, humanity has begun to harness the spooky property of quantum theory that had hitherto remained elusive: entanglement – a form of connecting particles no matter how far apart they are, enabling faster computing, more secure communications and measuring with higher precision.

This is an extremely valuable resource, and I (and others around the world) believe that this promises an entirely new economy for our planet, one based on quantum technologies.

South Africa has a national quantum strategy – into which significant resources are being poured – to not only move us into the quantum economy we believe is coming, but also position our country as a major global player.

It’s a very exciting time to be involved in this field; indeed, 2025 is Unesco’s International Year of Quantum Science and Technology to celebrate the progress made so far, but also to highlight how quantum can be used to address grand societal challenges.

Entanglement

At the heart of this promise is an aspect of quantum called entanglement that physicist Albert Einstein himself deplored; in fact, he called it “spooky”.

Entanglement is the unusual, but proven idea that two particles can be connected and if you do something to one of them, this will be replicated in the other, regardless of the distance between them (in theory, they can be infinitely far apart).

Entanglement holds enormous potential for the nascent field of quantum computing. Unlike in classical computing in which particles have only the binary, one-bit value of 1 or 0, in quantum computing, entanglement will allow particles to be 1 and 0 at the same time.

This means that you can do multiple things with one bit (in quantum computing, called a qubit). Imagine going through a maze using classical computing: every time you arrive at a junction, you have to turn left or right, 1 or 0, and then choose again at the next junction and so on.

With quantum computing, you can turn left and right, 1 and 0, and map out the maze’s pathways many times faster.

Entanglement is also fantastic for communications. Modern cryptography works on the principle of mathematical complexity – that a code is sufficiently complex that it cannot quickly be cracked – but it doesn’t guarantee security. The Enigma machine of World War 2 proved that if your adversary has a machine you’re unaware of, they can break your code.

Quantum computers will be able to decipher mathematical codes with ease. However, entanglement offers an exciting solution, too: if I send you a particle and retain its entangled partner particle, and I change something about my particle, it will similarly change your particle. But if someone tries to intercept that message, according to the laws of physics, it will be destroyed; this will enable all communications to be fundamentally secure.

Decay

But, of course, all of this is easier said than done. This is because entanglement is very fragile and it begins to decay because of “noise” – essentially, various kinds of disturbance – for example, temperature or atmospheric disturbances.

To date, our efforts have been expended on trying to preserve entanglement from decay, and we have had very limited success in this regard. Think about Scotty in Star Trek, trying desperately to lock on to Captain Kirk and beam him safely back to the Enterprise; sometimes his transporter’s capabilities have been tested by energy fluctuations, gravitational anomalies and other kinds of external forces.

But this is where the Star Trek analogy ends. We need an alternative strategy, one that abandons the notion of preserving entanglement and asks: can we exchange information even though the link is decaying?

Let’s rather think of entanglement like a cellphone battery. Even though the battery is losing charge, the phone’s apps will continue to work fully while there is power; the apps’ functionality won’t deteriorate along with the loss of charge. We have an idea on how to make this metaphor a reality: quantum topology.

Essentially, topology allows us to ignore how something looks and instead focus on a feature of that “something” that does not change. A famous example of topology is that of a coffee mug and a doughnut, which both feature one hole. Physically, they are very different, but topologically, they are the same.

With the traditional alphabet (albeit including numbers), I would send you a 1 for the mug or a 0 for the doughnut, and you would receive the communication accordingly. Topologically, however, it doesn’t matter how noisy the channel is, and if what I sent you has been deformed in any way, you would just count the number of holes in the information you receive: 0 for no holes, 1 for one hole, 2 for two holes, and so on. 

This represents a topological alphabet formed out of the topology of things rather than how they look. It has two fantastic features: it is an infinitely large alphabet, not just 0 and 1, and most importantly, it is intrinsically invariant to noise: it doesn’t care how much the communication is distorted.

In the quantum world, this would mean that the communication would be preserved, even though the entanglement is weakening.

In our seminal academic paper in 2024, we showed that entanglement is inherently topological. What my team and I must now do is create a topological toolkit, with tools showing that topology can be used to communicate, regardless of entanglement decaying.

What Einstein really disliked about entanglement is that, without measurement, objects are not real. The Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award will allow us to dispel his doubt and unlock myriad possibilities that will largely only be revealed as we go.

Spooky, indeed.

Professor Andrew Forbes is a Distinguished Professor in the Structured Light Laboratory at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Physics, and a co-recipient of the 2024 Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award, presented on 15 July 2025.

This article was first published in Daily Maverick.

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The connection spanned a remarkable 12,900km: the longest intercontinental quantum communication link established to date. The longest before this was 7,600km and within the northern hemisphere only.

It was achieved with quantum key distribution, a method for a sender and receiver to share a secure key that they can use to safely send messages. Any interception during transmission leaves traces that can be detected. It involves sending single photons (tiny particles of light).

If someone tries to intercept the photons, the photons get disturbed because of quantum physics. Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. Sender and receiver use only undisturbed photons, making the key to the message ultra secure. The key can be sent via optical fibre or free-space, including satellites.

Quantum communication can be used to send data in many sectors such as the government, military and financial sectors.

I’m part of the group of quantum physics researchers who created a secure, real-time quantum link between Beijing in China and Stellenbosch University in South Africa. It’s the first quantum satellite link in the southern hemisphere. It’s also the first secure quantum communication between the northern and southern hemispheres.

The connection enabled the secure transmission of encrypted images, relying on the unique principles of quantum physics.

With this achievement, South Africa has joined the frontier of quantum communication. It’s a step towards an eventual fully integrated, secure and global quantum internet.

What we achieved

As researchers, we are interested in developing optical systems to deploy quantum communication links.

Our primary focus is on satellite-based quantum communication. Satellite links are vital for developing a secure quantum communication network since they work over distances of several thousand kilometres. Fibre networks on the ground have distance limitations.

We design instruments (optical payloads) capable of generating and detecting entangled photons in orbit.

Read more: Quantum entanglement: what it is, and why physicists want to harness it

Our work bridges quantum optics, aerospace engineering and communication theory to realise scalable, high-performance quantum links between ground stations and satellites.

To set up quantum communication links between China and South Africa, a microsatellite called Jinan 1 was launched into low Earth orbit, and a portable optical ground station was set up. This is basically a movable device equipped with a powerful telescope and special detectors that detect the encoded photons sent from the satellite.

The ultra-secure quantum satellite link between China and South Africa was achieved during a single pass of the satellite over the optical ground station. It was not only the longest quantum satellite link but also the most secure that’s been achieved. The key, the undisturbed photons, consisted of 1.07 million bits (units of data).

An operating superconducting quantum computer. Yuan Bing / CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Why this matters

Traditional secure communication methods rely on mathematical algorithms and the computational difficulty of solving certain problems, such as factoring large numbers. In contrast, quantum communication draws its security from the fundamental laws of physics. Such laws include the no-cloning theorem. It states that it is impossible to make an exact copy of an unknown quantum state and that the observer effect (measurement disturbance) of measuring a quantum state changes it. This makes eavesdropping detectable.

Quantum key distribution allows two parties to share encryption keys in a way that detects any attempt at eavesdropping. The keys are encoded using quantum states, typically single photons, and transmitted through optical fibres or free-space links. While fibre-based systems suffer from signal loss over long distances, satellites offer a promising solution by operating in the low-loss environment of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

Quantum satellite communication is a step towards building a global quantum internet – an interconnected network that enables secure communication, quantum computing, and sensing across continents.

The success of Jinan-1 points the way towards networks of quantum microsatellites, making secure global communication a real possibility.

Read more: Light is the science of the future – the Africans using it to solve local challenges

Moving forward

There are major opportunities for both industry and policymakers.

For businesses, especially in sectors like finance, defence and healthcare, these links enable ultra-secure communication systems that are resistant to hacking even from future quantum computers. This allows companies to protect and communicate sensitive data.

For policymakers, it presents a chance to strengthen national security, and set global standards for responsible use. Similarly, investment in research and education to build a skilled workforce.

It also encourages international cooperation, as countries work together to create a secure communication network.

Overall, quantum satellite links could reshape how the world communicates, making privacy and security more reliable than ever before.

Dr Yaseera Ismail is a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Physics at Stellenbosch University.

This article was first published in The Conversation.

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We are proud to announce that Prof. Andrew Forbes, Distinguished Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and Director of the South African Quantum Technology Initiative (SAQuTI), has been awarded the 2024/2025 NSTF-South32 Awards Special Annual Theme Award for Quantum Science and Technology.

He received the award for driving the strategy for developing a new generation of quantum scientists, with some 90 young researchers supported and supervised across the country, and for creating a lasting and far-reaching impact in quantum science and technology in South Africa.

Prof. Forbes and his team continue to push the boundaries of quantum research, ensuring that South Africa remains at the forefront of this transformative field.

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A groundbreaking study published in Nature Communications. Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in collaboration with Huzhou University, China have unveiled a novel technique to protect quantum information from noise. This breakthrough introduces a new approach to digitising quantum information using discrete topological observables. This paves the way for more robust quantum communication networks and computation.

Excerpt from the Wits media release. “This breakthrough could be used to overcome noise in quantum computers as well as global quantum networks, for the next generation of quantum technologies. It can be especially valuable in creating advanced medical imaging technologies and more powerful artificial intelligence systems harnessing entanglement,” says Forbes. 

Read more exciting developments occurring in South Africa here.

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South Africa & China have successfully established a 12,900 km ultra-secure quantum satellite link—the world’s longest intercontinental quantum satellite link to date! Using the Jinan-1 satellite, Stellenbosch University (led by Dr Yaseera Ismail, collaborating with Prof Francesco Petruccione) & University of Science and Technology of China achieved real-time Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), enabling ultra-secure encryption. This marks the first quantum satellite link in the Southern Hemisphere and a major leap for global quantum communication!

Key milestone: SA’s ground station achieved 1.07 million secure bits in a single satellite pass!

Excerpt from the Stellenbosch University media release. Dr Ismail highlights the importance of this breakthrough: “International and national collaborations are essential to drive cutting-edge research and push scientific boundaries. Implementing the first quantum satellite link in the Southern Hemisphere is an outstanding achievement for South Africa, demonstrating the significant potential to develop a thriving quantum ecosystem”.

Read more exciting developments occurring in South Africa here.

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This week, South African researchers proudly attended the global launch of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ2025) in Paris, joining leading scientists, innovators, and policymakers from around the world to celebrate the advancements and future potential of quantum technologies. The event is a testament to the global spirit of collaboration needed to unlock the transformative power of quantum technologies for industries, education, and society as a whole.

Dr Yaseera Ismail, a quantum physicist in Stellenbosch University’s Department of Physics, was an invited speaker on the panel on Public Engagement and Education in Quantum Science and Technology. Read more about her experience here.

A huge thank you to all the researchers and partners who are representing our country with pride and passion on this international stage!

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Quantum computing often feels like an abstract, complex field — but not when Dr. Isaac Nape is explaining it! In a fascinating lecture, Dr. Nape broke down his groundbreaking research on photon manipulation, making this intricate topic accessible and inspiring for everyone.

For anyone curious about how light particles can unlock the future of computing, we highly recommend reading this insightful article from The Colgate Maroon News.

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We are proud to share that Prof. Andrew Forbes will deliver a plenary talk at SPIE Quantum West 2025, part of the renowned SPIE Photonics West programme in San Francisco. His presentation, titled “Quantum Structured Light Takes Shape,” will explore how structured light at the quantum level offers a roadmap to high-dimensional and multi-dimensional quantum states.

This plenary is a significant recognition of Prof. Forbes’ leadership in the field and a proud moment for the South African quantum science community.

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