Date: 17/06/2004
Source: Ministry of Science and Technology
Title: D Hanekom: Science and Technology Dept Budget Vote 2004/2005
BUDGET VOTE SPEECH, DEREK HANEKOM, DEPUTY MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 17 June 2004
Madame Speaker
Honourable Members
Minister Mangena has explained the mandate of DST, our immediate policy priorities and what strategies we will be employing to deliver on them. I am going to provide some concrete examples.
Let me start with the planets and the stars. President Mbeki mentioned in his State of the Nation Address that we are developing Southern Africa as a global hub for astronomy. This is part of a broader strategy to develop critical areas where South Africa has a global niche advantage and can provide a service in research and development at a more competitive rate than is available elsewhere. Astronomy is an obvious example here, with a huge effort currently underway to position the subcontinent in all relevant areas of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio, to optical to gamma ray. The best optical and gamma ray observatories of their kind in the world have been built at Sutherland and in the Gamsberg in Namibia respectively, largely with international funds, but with highly favourable terms for African astronomers. We have now put in a bid for the mother of all radio telescopes, the so-called Square Kilometre Array. This will be the biggest telescope of its kind in the world and possibly the most ambitious scientific instrument ever built.
The question is often asked: why is the international scientific community prepared to spend so much on these instruments? Well, the simple answer is that human progress has always been driven by our desire to know more, from the earliest days of our ancestors seeking explanations to all the wonders surrounding us. The signals picked up by these instruments can be described as the faint whispers from the early years of the universe - billions of years ago! Reading these signals is a trip backwards in time: they tell us where we came from and, maybe more tantalisingly, they give us an idea of the ultimate destiny of our universe.
In a more applied area, the Medical Research Council has just won a bid to host the European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership Programme. This is a 700 million Euro programme and a significant proportion of these funds is now likely to flow into our medical research programmes. This will give a huge boost to our medical research capacity and will assist in the development of treatments for a range of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. There will be positive spin-offs for our research institutions in that the R&D associated with the programme will be carried out by them.
The key in these very large global ventures is to know your own strengths and how to match them with the world's needs. These needs and the associated opportunities clearly extend right across the research spectrum, from pure basic research in astronomy to experimental development in the EDCTP programme.
Minister Mangena mentioned our programme to deploy science and technology in support of poverty reduction. The DST Poverty Alleviation Projects, I am pleased to report, have had positive outcomes in businesses and cooperatives focused on, among others, bee-keeping, papermaking, African design incorporation in clothing and textiles based on natural fibres, and indigenous cattle production. These projects are concentrated in the poverty nodes as identified by the government's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Plan (ISRDP) and have yielded over 2900 jobs; employing 1675 women, 862 youth and 68 people with disabilities. However, as Minister Mangena has said, DST will now be putting an emphasis in providing technology assistance across a range of sectors, rather than simply running a handful of projects that could be run by other sector-specific departments. Our role will be to add value to such projects, and to achieve better results through the application of the best technology and innovation.
A great deal of the work done by researchers and scientists is in laboratories and out of the public eye. It is often painstakingly slow and the benefits to society are not always that immediately apparent. But Honourable Members should be assured that all our Scientific Councils that are present here today are driven by the same agenda that drives us as Members of Parliament, and that is to ensure a real improvement in the quality of the lives of all our people, in a sustainable way.
One of the challenges facing our national system is the attraction of young researchers, particularly young black people, to sustainable careers in science, engineering and technology. Amongst the set of interventions that the department has embarked upon to address this issue is the launch of the "Centres of Excellence Programme" in partnership with the National Research Foundation later this month. The Centres of Excellence that will be funded in this first round are aimed at focusing strongly on excellence in human resource development at the cutting edge of global science. These centres will also play a role in popularising science in South Africa and across the African continent. Our focus on human resource development is rooted in the dual need to radically increase the number of women and young black people entering and remaining in the sciences, and maximising the achievement of excellence. It is no accident that the R446 million that is transferred to the National Research Foundation, South Africa's premier agency for human resource development in science, engineering and technology, constitutes the single largest item on our budget.
It is clear from international experience that our economy will not achieve the growth targets we have set ourselves unless there is meaningful investment in science and technology. However, even the best technology in the world is of little value unless it is made available to the people and enterprises that are producing the goods and services that we consume. Technology Transfer is generally driven by imperatives to introduce manufacturing efficiencies, value-added product developments, novel products for competitive strength, efficiencies in service provision and also quality of life improvements in terms of access to basic goods and services.
We have a very good example of successful transfer of technology in the mining sector. Our country is richly endowed with mineral resources, but the mineral wealth of our country will remain in the hands of a small number of large companies if technological support is not provided to small companies and new entrants in the sector. Over seven hundred small scale miners have benefited from technology transfer, which includes simple, easy to use technologies for improved and safer extraction (using pool cleaner rather than mercury); training on techniques that can sometimes double or even treble the revenue raised from the sale of minerals extracted, and also support for beneficiation. In the Northern Cape copper is used in traditional crafts and enormous value is added to the product.
Almost one hundred manufacturing SMEs have been supported by GODISA so far, and we are set to double the level of services to SMEs in terms of technical support over the next two years. A further two centres are to be established this year to support the National Public Works' Emerging Contractors programme in Limpopo and KZN, and the Biodiesel Initiative in Limpopo.
There are now nine Tshumisano stations operating out of the Universities of Technology environment in specific sectors to enrich their research and development, teaching and learning activities with better equipment and more realistic understanding of industry and their needs. The sectors include chemicals, textiles, electronics, metals processing, mechanical engineering and food technology. By the end of last year Tshumisano had doubled its SME client base from 206 in the 2002/2003-year to just over 400 SMEs with about 1000 development projects. A key objective of these programmes is black economic empowerment through new SME development, and productivity improvements and technical mentoring and innovation services for existing SMEs.
In 2002 the National Biotechnology Strategy was approved by Cabinet. We have set aside R137 million in our present budget for the implementation of this strategy. Work done in this area has enormous potential to further enhance the quality of life of our people, and to contribute to economic growth.
The new DST organisational structures and staff are in place, and delivering. During the 2003/04 financial year DST spent over 99.8% of its budget! This gives confidence that the science and technology system has the capacity to absorb new resources and direct them towards our goals and that DST has competent financial management. The DST is also engaged in reconfiguring the Science and Technology landscape in partnership with other Departments and agencies of Government. This has resulted in an agreement to transfer the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research from the Department of Trade and Industry to DST and the transfer (effected last year) of the science portion of the South African National Antarctic Programme from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
This programme (SANAP) helps us in monitoring climate change in South Africa and the world with appropriate early warning systems. This is particularly relevant given our experience of periodic floods and droughts and the devastating social and economic impact of these events. This makes our membership of the Group on Earth Observations more relevant and beneficial to our country, our region, our continent and the entire world.
The de-proclamation of the National Zoological Gardens as a Cultural Institution and its incorporation as a key National Facility in the National Research Foundation was also completed. These changes, which are intended to strengthen research and technology in South Africa and ensure robust and sustainable institutional frameworks, we achieved as a result of the effective and constructive partnerships being forged with a number of Departments.
Of course there is much, much more to report on. I know that, given limited time, neither I nor the Minister has not been able to provide a full description of our portfolio. I hope, however, that these few highlights give a flavour of our exciting mandate, our passion for our work, and our real ability to deliver on what is asked of us. Our delivery is completely dependent on the pool of dedicated and talented people in and outside of the department. I would like to use this opportunity to salute all the annual NSTF Science and Technology awardees. Among them are Professor Tshilidzi Marwala and Dr Mamokgethi Setati, both of the University of Witwatersrand, and Professors Colleen Moloney and Wieland Gevers of UCT. Through their efforts and those of the whole of S&T community, we are poised to do our people and our continent proud, and to position ourselves as a truly winning nation.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Science and Technology
17 June 2004
Source: Ministry of Science and Technology
Title: D Hanekom: Science and Technology Dept Budget Vote 2004/2005
BUDGET VOTE SPEECH, DEREK HANEKOM, DEPUTY MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 17 June 2004
Madame Speaker
Honourable Members
Minister Mangena has explained the mandate of DST, our immediate policy priorities and what strategies we will be employing to deliver on them. I am going to provide some concrete examples.
Let me start with the planets and the stars. President Mbeki mentioned in his State of the Nation Address that we are developing Southern Africa as a global hub for astronomy. This is part of a broader strategy to develop critical areas where South Africa has a global niche advantage and can provide a service in research and development at a more competitive rate than is available elsewhere. Astronomy is an obvious example here, with a huge effort currently underway to position the subcontinent in all relevant areas of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio, to optical to gamma ray. The best optical and gamma ray observatories of their kind in the world have been built at Sutherland and in the Gamsberg in Namibia respectively, largely with international funds, but with highly favourable terms for African astronomers. We have now put in a bid for the mother of all radio telescopes, the so-called Square Kilometre Array. This will be the biggest telescope of its kind in the world and possibly the most ambitious scientific instrument ever built.
The question is often asked: why is the international scientific community prepared to spend so much on these instruments? Well, the simple answer is that human progress has always been driven by our desire to know more, from the earliest days of our ancestors seeking explanations to all the wonders surrounding us. The signals picked up by these instruments can be described as the faint whispers from the early years of the universe - billions of years ago! Reading these signals is a trip backwards in time: they tell us where we came from and, maybe more tantalisingly, they give us an idea of the ultimate destiny of our universe.
In a more applied area, the Medical Research Council has just won a bid to host the European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership Programme. This is a 700 million Euro programme and a significant proportion of these funds is now likely to flow into our medical research programmes. This will give a huge boost to our medical research capacity and will assist in the development of treatments for a range of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. There will be positive spin-offs for our research institutions in that the R&D associated with the programme will be carried out by them.
The key in these very large global ventures is to know your own strengths and how to match them with the world's needs. These needs and the associated opportunities clearly extend right across the research spectrum, from pure basic research in astronomy to experimental development in the EDCTP programme.
Minister Mangena mentioned our programme to deploy science and technology in support of poverty reduction. The DST Poverty Alleviation Projects, I am pleased to report, have had positive outcomes in businesses and cooperatives focused on, among others, bee-keeping, papermaking, African design incorporation in clothing and textiles based on natural fibres, and indigenous cattle production. These projects are concentrated in the poverty nodes as identified by the government's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Plan (ISRDP) and have yielded over 2900 jobs; employing 1675 women, 862 youth and 68 people with disabilities. However, as Minister Mangena has said, DST will now be putting an emphasis in providing technology assistance across a range of sectors, rather than simply running a handful of projects that could be run by other sector-specific departments. Our role will be to add value to such projects, and to achieve better results through the application of the best technology and innovation.
A great deal of the work done by researchers and scientists is in laboratories and out of the public eye. It is often painstakingly slow and the benefits to society are not always that immediately apparent. But Honourable Members should be assured that all our Scientific Councils that are present here today are driven by the same agenda that drives us as Members of Parliament, and that is to ensure a real improvement in the quality of the lives of all our people, in a sustainable way.
One of the challenges facing our national system is the attraction of young researchers, particularly young black people, to sustainable careers in science, engineering and technology. Amongst the set of interventions that the department has embarked upon to address this issue is the launch of the "Centres of Excellence Programme" in partnership with the National Research Foundation later this month. The Centres of Excellence that will be funded in this first round are aimed at focusing strongly on excellence in human resource development at the cutting edge of global science. These centres will also play a role in popularising science in South Africa and across the African continent. Our focus on human resource development is rooted in the dual need to radically increase the number of women and young black people entering and remaining in the sciences, and maximising the achievement of excellence. It is no accident that the R446 million that is transferred to the National Research Foundation, South Africa's premier agency for human resource development in science, engineering and technology, constitutes the single largest item on our budget.
It is clear from international experience that our economy will not achieve the growth targets we have set ourselves unless there is meaningful investment in science and technology. However, even the best technology in the world is of little value unless it is made available to the people and enterprises that are producing the goods and services that we consume. Technology Transfer is generally driven by imperatives to introduce manufacturing efficiencies, value-added product developments, novel products for competitive strength, efficiencies in service provision and also quality of life improvements in terms of access to basic goods and services.
We have a very good example of successful transfer of technology in the mining sector. Our country is richly endowed with mineral resources, but the mineral wealth of our country will remain in the hands of a small number of large companies if technological support is not provided to small companies and new entrants in the sector. Over seven hundred small scale miners have benefited from technology transfer, which includes simple, easy to use technologies for improved and safer extraction (using pool cleaner rather than mercury); training on techniques that can sometimes double or even treble the revenue raised from the sale of minerals extracted, and also support for beneficiation. In the Northern Cape copper is used in traditional crafts and enormous value is added to the product.
Almost one hundred manufacturing SMEs have been supported by GODISA so far, and we are set to double the level of services to SMEs in terms of technical support over the next two years. A further two centres are to be established this year to support the National Public Works' Emerging Contractors programme in Limpopo and KZN, and the Biodiesel Initiative in Limpopo.
There are now nine Tshumisano stations operating out of the Universities of Technology environment in specific sectors to enrich their research and development, teaching and learning activities with better equipment and more realistic understanding of industry and their needs. The sectors include chemicals, textiles, electronics, metals processing, mechanical engineering and food technology. By the end of last year Tshumisano had doubled its SME client base from 206 in the 2002/2003-year to just over 400 SMEs with about 1000 development projects. A key objective of these programmes is black economic empowerment through new SME development, and productivity improvements and technical mentoring and innovation services for existing SMEs.
In 2002 the National Biotechnology Strategy was approved by Cabinet. We have set aside R137 million in our present budget for the implementation of this strategy. Work done in this area has enormous potential to further enhance the quality of life of our people, and to contribute to economic growth.
The new DST organisational structures and staff are in place, and delivering. During the 2003/04 financial year DST spent over 99.8% of its budget! This gives confidence that the science and technology system has the capacity to absorb new resources and direct them towards our goals and that DST has competent financial management. The DST is also engaged in reconfiguring the Science and Technology landscape in partnership with other Departments and agencies of Government. This has resulted in an agreement to transfer the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research from the Department of Trade and Industry to DST and the transfer (effected last year) of the science portion of the South African National Antarctic Programme from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
This programme (SANAP) helps us in monitoring climate change in South Africa and the world with appropriate early warning systems. This is particularly relevant given our experience of periodic floods and droughts and the devastating social and economic impact of these events. This makes our membership of the Group on Earth Observations more relevant and beneficial to our country, our region, our continent and the entire world.
The de-proclamation of the National Zoological Gardens as a Cultural Institution and its incorporation as a key National Facility in the National Research Foundation was also completed. These changes, which are intended to strengthen research and technology in South Africa and ensure robust and sustainable institutional frameworks, we achieved as a result of the effective and constructive partnerships being forged with a number of Departments.
Of course there is much, much more to report on. I know that, given limited time, neither I nor the Minister has not been able to provide a full description of our portfolio. I hope, however, that these few highlights give a flavour of our exciting mandate, our passion for our work, and our real ability to deliver on what is asked of us. Our delivery is completely dependent on the pool of dedicated and talented people in and outside of the department. I would like to use this opportunity to salute all the annual NSTF Science and Technology awardees. Among them are Professor Tshilidzi Marwala and Dr Mamokgethi Setati, both of the University of Witwatersrand, and Professors Colleen Moloney and Wieland Gevers of UCT. Through their efforts and those of the whole of S&T community, we are poised to do our people and our continent proud, and to position ourselves as a truly winning nation.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Science and Technology
17 June 2004
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
