Budget Vote speech by the Minister of Science and Technology, honourable Mosibudi Mangena, Parliament, Cape Town

Chairperson
Honourable members
Ambassadors
Chairpersons of science councils
Chief executive officers (CEOs) of Science Councils
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

We are on a path we have chosen for ourselves. We embarked on this road when we made a commitment to transform our science and technology system from an inward looking and embattled sector, into one that is far more innovative, flexible and responsive to the needs of our liberated society. We do not know precisely how long our journey will take but we do have a firm belief that the full meaning of our liberation will not be realised until all our people are freed from the dehumanising poverty and inequality and we call on science and technology to accelerate our progress.

Let me also remind you that as a country we have long decided that what is good for Africa is good for South Africa. The growth and progress of the States on our borders, their neighbours and theirs in turn across the entire continent, therefore occupy a very special place both in our hearts and in our endeavours. And it is therefore wholly appropriate that today, 25 May, we celebrate Africa Day together with the whole continent. This is the day on which we celebrate our uniqueness and the extraordinary contribution we have made to the progress of humankind.

Today we observe the anniversary of the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and pay tribute to the founding Heads of State, who in the 1960s through a shared vision of unity and common purpose decided to seek a joint African solution to the problems and challenges facing Africa.

This bold initiative was given further impetus in Durban in 2002 with the formation of the African Union (AU) and the subsequent incorporation of New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), as the implementation programme of the AU. This signalled a new determination by Africans to take the destiny they share into their own hands, to work together to eliminate debilitating legacies like slavery and colonialism and to encourage all Africans together with those who love Africa wherever they are located to work together, to build the continent collectively and to ensure its progressive prosperity.

From the earliest times, the advancement of science and technology has consistently produced economic development, across the face of the world. Regrettably in today's world these benefits are not shared, either widely or equally. Africa, in particular, has been largely sidelined by the modern day technological revolution and has thus not shared in its attendant dividends of prosperity. As a result today the knowledge and technology gap between Africa and other continents is wide and growing.

It was partially in recognition of this increasingly dangerous and unwelcome divide, that when the Heads of State and government met during the Eighth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in January this year chose as their focal theme, "Science and Technology, Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Africa."

Some of the subsequent decisions and declarations from that AU meeting have a significant bearing on the work of my department, as well as on Africa's collective drive to take our continent to the next level of innovation in scientific and technological development.

It is particularly significant that the Heads of State made a solemn undertaking to put science and technology in the service of development by reinforcing the autonomous capacity of our countries in this field. Central to this declaration, is a pledge that each country will devote 1% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to supporting research and development (R&D) by the year 2010. They also endorsed a 20-year Biotechnology Action Plan, which calls for co-operation among African nations in specific regions to bolster research in different fields of research according to regional strength.

In addition, the Heads of State designated 2007 as the 'Year for Scientific Innovations.' They also took note of the need to establish a single Pan-African Intellectual Property Organisation to protect indigenous innovations and urged all member states to lend full support for the implementation of such a decision. Lastly, they endorsed the need for both south-south and north-south co-operation in science, technology and innovation and to enhance Africa's role in international partnerships.

In this regard, honourable members, I am pleased to report that South Africa is on course in implementing the decisions and resolutions of the eighth ordinary session of the AU.

South Africa is hosting the Nepad focal points such as the African Laser Centre (ALC), the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) and the biosciences initiatives on which we reported extensively during our last budget vote speech. Most of these programmes are growing from strength to strength. For example, every two years, the African Laser Centre hosts summer schools co-funded by the United States based National Science Foundation and AIMS is in the process of establishing a network of institutes in the rest of the continent.

We have strengthened and enhanced south-south co-operation by fostering partnerships with the countries of the South and in particular African countries. We are spearheading a number of bids to host significant international facilities in Africa and we are doing this not in competition with our partner African countries. This is how we approached the decision to host the regional offices of the World Association for Industrial and Technical Research Organisations (WAITRO), the International Council for Science (ICSU), the third component of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). In the same spirit, we are working towards winning the bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope in partnership with and for the benefit of the entire continent.

Now let me turn to what my department is doing to engage the sciences and technology to influence and accelerate the growth and development of our own country.

It is important to remember that, in scientific terms, the time frames between commitment to action, implementation of action and the subsequent results of action can often be irritatingly lengthy.

With this in mind I'm sure you will be pleased to learn that the National Research and Development Strategy (NRDS) has been well received in the science system and substantial financial resources have already been committed by National Treasury for the attainment of its stated objectives. The department will receive an additional allocation of R1,2 billion over the medium term and this is intended to help us achieve our aim of having 1% of our GDP devoted to R&D spending by the 2008/09 financial year.

Projections of future R&D spend show that in the year 2008, when it is anticipated our GDP would have reached about R1,991 billion, an additional R6 billion would be required for investment in R&D, in order to attain the 1% of GDP target. However, our ability to measure and understand the National System of Innovation (NSI) has moved forward significantly in the past few years, all because of the critical path that we have chosen in leading our country in science, technology and innovation.

In April, we launched the highlights of the first official innovation survey carried out by my department. That survey shows considerable levels of innovation occurring in the business sector at levels comparable with our international competitors. Our rate of innovation is well above that of the European average of 42% for 2004. This is a welcome finding indeed.

South African enterprises spent about R28 billion on innovation activities in 2004, which includes research and development, acquisition of machinery, equipment and software and the acquisition of technology through licensing. In addition, some 10% of successful innovators in industry received public funding for innovation activities. And that shows that the funding programmes of government are having a penetrating effect in the private sector.

Today I am pleased to announce the high-level results of the 2005/06 Survey on Research and Development. The 2004/05 results indicated that two years ago business, universities, science councils, government research institutes and non-government organisations (NGOs) spent R12 billion on R&D, equivalent to 0,87% of GDP. The 2005/06 R&D survey reports expenditure that has risen even faster than the increase in GDP. This has resulted in the current spending of R14 billion or 0,91% of GDP. The business sector share of this R&D activity has risen from 56% to 59%. Honourable members, once again, these achievements reflect the milestones on the path we have chosen.

As our business sector engages in innovation and R&D, their returns contribute to economic growth. We are delighted with this trend. And to encourage further R&D investments, last year we worked together with National Treasury and the South African Revenue Services (SARS) to introduce enhanced tax incentives for R&D. But I must, however, report a concern that few business leaders appear to be aware of the new incentives. We urge businesses to carefully examine their production processes, correctly identify their R&D activities and increase their investments further. The target of spending 1% of GDP on R&D by the 2008/09 reporting period is now well within our sights.

The surveys I mentioned earlier indicate that we have increased our national spending on R&D by about R4,5 billion over the past five years. This is a substantial amount of new spending. As the custodians of the NSI, we recognise that our investment decisions can be enhanced with a strong information base on research activities funded from the public purse. For these purposes, my Department is in the process of setting up a Research Information Management System (RIMS) that will serve to gather and make available information on the research activities within science councils and other government research agencies. This will strengthen our capacity to monitor the performance of the science and technology (S&T) system and provide a rigorous long-term planning platform for the national system of innovation. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is also providing resources and co-operating with universities and the National Research Foundation (NRF) to use a licensed information technology platform to gather and make available information on research activity within tertiary education institutions.

The lion's share of the department's budget, over the medium term, about R323 million goes to our human capital development programme which addresses the adequate development and renewal of the human scientific resources. It will strengthen our current programmes which include but are not limited to:

* the Research Professional Development Programme which targets young SET Masters and Doctoral students
* the Post-Doctoral Fellowship Programme
* the Centres of Excellence Programme.

The research chairs initiative which has been consolidated with the announcement of the first group of scientists appointed as university research chairs last year in December. We have allocated R200 million to the South African Research Chairs Initiative and we have seen the first 21 scientists in different fields assume their duties at the beginning of this year. This initiative has been well received by all role players. The aim is to create 56 research chairs by 2008 and 210 by 2010.

And there is no doubt that we have to do more to address the very real problem of South Africa's weak supply of qualified human resources in practically every scientific field of activity. We need to be innovative and inventive to solve this problem.

We have also allocated R178 million to provide modern research facilities and infrastructure for the research community. This money will be used to acquire or upgrade instrumentation for national research institutions and to provide infrastructure for research capacity development. Working with the National Advisory Council on Innovation, the department has produced a comprehensive report on the infrastructure requirements for both science and innovation and this will form the basis of a long-term infrastructure plan for science and technology.

Other infrastructure projects that we expect to benefit from include, the Centre for High Performance Computing, Nanotechnology Characterisation Centres, Astronomy and Space Science. With regard to nanotechnology and nanoscience, we are in the process of creating the physical infrastructure that will enable first class basic research, exploration of applications, development of new industries and the commercialisation of innovations.

Now, as you know, we are bidding to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) which will be the largest radio telescope ever constructed. The other country to make it onto the SKA site shortlist is Australia. A final decision on the matter is not expected before the end of the decade. This year's budget allocated R500 million, both for the SKA and for the construction of the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT) which will in turn provide the means to train scientists and engineers to acquire relevant capabilities and skills.

Initially, in our bid for the SKA we intended to be considered only as a site. However, during the bid process it soon became clear that we could play a far greater role in the development of the SKA technology and its science. Recognising this we have assembled an excellent team to build the KAT which will be equivalent to approximately 1% of the SKA. And this in turn has, in a short time, ushered us into a leading role in the global SKA development. One of the welcome results of this mission driven innovation has been a steady attraction of key personnel back to South Africa in affirmation, once again, of the correctness of the path we have chosen.

The KAT team has already been recognised for its competence and is being called upon to assist and advise the international SKA project office on system engineering, costing and other key technology areas. The team is playing a lead role in collaboration with researchers in the United Kingdom (UK), Holland, Australia and the United States of America (USA) in the development of digital signal processing for the telescope, software development and in partnership with industry in the development of innovative telescope antennas using composites. In support of the astronomy programme we will be submitting to Parliament this year the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Bill which will enable the introduction of the measures to protect the sensitive astronomy sites and maintain South Africa's geographic advantage.

In the past year we have been engaging with various space players in the country to formulate the framework for the establishment of the South African Space Agency (SASA). Legislation leading to the creation of the SASA is being drafted and we hope to present it to Parliament later in the year.

The construction of the low earth observation satellite, SumbandilaSat, was completed on time and handed over to us in November last year. We intend to build on the success of the SumbandilaSat project by continuing to support efforts within the space science and technology arena. This year the nine black engineering interns will finish building the training model satellite. At the same time we have commissioned the technology development of a new sensor which we expect to use in a future remote sensing satellite.

During the last five years we have made significant contributions in the fields of biotechnology and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and we are looking to harness investments to take these further. Firstly, I would like to share with you what we propose doing with biotechnology followed by IKS.

Commonly, the results of biotechnology investments have long lead times, sometimes up to 15 years, yet some success stories resulting from the investments and interventions made by the biotechnology institutions are already being reported. Our goal is to expand the country's biotechnology platform and develop a bio-economy base. Our plans were given a major boost at the end of 2006, when the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) decided to locate its African component here in Cape Town. The organisation currently has components in Trieste, Italy and New Delhi, India. The new Cape Town component, we intend launching before the end of this year, will focus initially on infectious diseases but its remit is expected to expand to include fields such as agricultural biotechnology.

Since we launched the IKS policy in 2004 we have achieved a number of successes on key cross cutting issues, not least the timely establishment of a Ministerial Advisory Committee which will assist on the establishment of IKS chairs to be located within higher education institutions based on nationally prioritised areas such as traditional medicines, knowledge studies and indigenous food security.

In March, South Africa and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Zambia, successfully hosted the second Southern African Development Community (SADC) workshop on IKS policy development in the region. Emanating from this workshop is a number of compelling recommendations for member states, amongst which is the need to harmonise the region's policy framework within the next two years. This will be another healthy step forward on our chosen path.

In the coming year, we will start the development of IKS databases following an audit of those residing at various institutions. It is also envisaged that a hardware multimedia recordal system to capture synchrotextual documentation such as the registration of holders of indigenous knowledge, interviews and satellite information linkages will be developed. In this way the IKS centres will be the vehicles, at local level, through which the indigenous knowledge (IK) wealth located in various communities can be captured. The first pilot IKS centre is being established at the University of Zululand. It will support the IKS Laboratory on traditional medicines at the Medical Research Council (MRC).

I should add that all our activities always include initiatives to deal with poverty and its impact on people's lives. We continue to undertake a number of projects in the field of job creation and poverty alleviation using established and effective technology platforms. These projects have demonstrated that positive results can be achieved by combining technology with the entrepreneurial skills of our people.

However, we are concerned that not enough of our research results are being turned into products and to this end we will soon be presenting to Cabinet for approval an entity we hope to name the Foundation for Technological Innovation (FTI). This is a public institution that will stimulate the development of technology enterprises in the South African system by utilising the talent and skills within that knowledge base to develop products, services and processes and to creating the right support environment for commercialisation.

Let me once again congratulate Professor Okkie de Jager and his team for winning the European Union's (EU's) prestigious Descartes Prize for Research for 2006. Professor De Jager and his team have put South Africa on the map through their groundbreaking research on the Milky Way Galaxy using our High-Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS).

Chairperson, honourable members, on the path we have chosen we have come thus far. Our encounters and discoveries, our challenges and triumphs have made us more determined and more focused. So with our eyes firmly on the road ahead we shall increase our speed to inch closer and closer to our destination of a better quality life for our people.

In closing, chairperson, honourable members, my ministry cannot possibly make all these achievements without the unwavering support of Deputy Minister, Derek Hanekom. I wish to thank him for his hard work and comradeship. But the Deputy Minister and I do not run the various projects and programmes. Therefore, our gratitude and congratulations go to the fantastic team of officials in my department led by the dedicated and insightful Director-General, Dr Mphathi Mjwara. Thank you all for a job well done. Since the establishment of this ministry three years ago, we expect that all of you have now learnt how to walk properly on the path we have chosen from now on, we look forward to the strides you will be making on the road ahead.

I wish you a joyful Africa Day and I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
25 May 2007