Madam Speaker;
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande;
Members of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology, led by the Honourable Mr Mohlopi Mapulane;
Honourable Members;
Director-General of the Department of Science and Innovation, Dr Phil Mjwara;
Chairpersons and CEOs of the entities;
Officials of the Department of Science and Innovation;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my honour and privilege to join the Minister in presenting the budget of the Department of Science and Innovation.
I dedicate this address to the people of Palestine and do so with the sincere hope that, one day, they too will know the taste of liberty and dignity.
Honourable Members, there is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down. It has not just changed the way our institutions function; it has essentially changed life as we know it.
This new reality has tested humanity's will to survive, but it has also tested the agility of our national system of innovation. Like all state institutions, we, as the Department of Science and innovation, have had to reorientate our resources and programmes in support of our nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our technology stations leapt into the breach immediately. For instance, our Downstream Chemicals Technology Station at Nelson Mandela University began producing an emergency supply of hand sanitiser for the university's internal use at the start of the pandemic, which led to a flood of requests for assistance from companies and government, including the Eastern Cape Department of Health and Chris Hani District Municipality.
The Product Development Technology Station and Medical Device Additive Manufacturing Technology Demonstrator at the Central University of Technology (CUT) began producing parts for the National Ventilator Programme. Owing to the exceptional product development capabilities in the province, the high-quality FMP2 CUT clinician respirator was developed, manufactured, tested and regulated all within two months.
Honourable Members, such responses would not have been possible without our previous deliberate investment in the development of human capital. The need for human capital development becomes even more urgent if viewed in the context of the South Africa Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the fourth quarter of 2020, which reported unemployment to be at 32,5%.
As you may be aware, this rate was even higher (an estimated 41,8%) among young people between the ages of 15 and 34. In addition to the persistence of historical and structural factors, unemployment in South Africa is exacerbated by a lack of workplace skills and formal work experience.
In response to this complex challenge, through our entities the Human Sciences Research Council and the National Research Foundation (NRF), we will place 750 graduates at various science, engineering, technology and innovation institutions in the country and award at least 3 000 research grants to researchers based at research-performing institutions in the country.
In our efforts to advance the development of women and young people, we are currently working with, among others, the South African Mobile Devices Distributors and Repairers Association, an industry organisation for the repair and distribution of electronic communication devices. The Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority is training 80 technicians in cellphone repair, which will enable them to operate from their areas of origin, mostly townships and peri-urban areas. The DSI and the MICT SETA are exploring the use of the SolarTurtle kiosks as the repair centres/workshops in areas where there are space challenges. As some of you may be aware, Solar Turtle aims to give women and young people the opportunity to run green enterprises.
Honourable Members, for scientific innovation to achieve broad societal impact, we need a capable, efficient and agile state. As part of our contribution in this respect, in partnership with the South African Local Government Association, the Human Sciences Research Council and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, we will be broadening the use of the Municipal Innovation Maturity Index (MIMI).
MIMI is a decision-support tool designed to measure the innovation capabilities and practices of municipalities, and their readiness to adopt innovations to improve the delivery of basic services. In the coming months, this initiative will be launched nationally to increase the percentage of municipalities participating in the MIMI initiative to over 50%.
To enhance the efficiency and agility of the state and in particular, our Department's capacity to implement its programmes in all nine provinces, over the past three years, through the CSIR, we have implemented the Regional Innovation Support Programme (RISP). This programme seeks to facilitate the establishment of innovation support interventions on behalf of the Department.
Honourable Members, we are pleased to report that the programme has grown from three initiatives in 2018 to 16 initiatives in 2020. There are currently interventions in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, the North West, the Free State, the Northern Cape, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
As the Honourable Members may recall, one of the key themes of my address at last year's budget vote debate was about how best to position our country to respond creatively to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
I am sure that the Honourable Members will be pleased to know that, in support of this goal, and in partnership with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, South Africa's Affiliate of the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is now operational. The planned inaugural summit had to be postponed because of the pandemic, but a first pilot programme is being implemented by the centre focused on the future-proofing of SMEs through the adoption of new technologies, such as Internet of Things technologies.
Related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in partnership with the national Department of Human Settlements, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements and the University of Johannesburg, we are currently piloting the use of 3D printing technologies for the construction of houses. This flagship project will be tested in housing units and will be used to assess the policy implications, social acceptance and financial implications of 3D printed homes in the built environment. This project will also support the participation of local SMMEs and entrepreneurs in the localisation of 3D printing machines for the human settlements sector.
Also related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we are pleased to report that progress is being made with a framework for quantum technology research and innovation in South Africa. The framework identifies niche opportunities that could kick-start a quantum technology industry in South Africa with modest investments. The potential applications of quantum computing cut across many industries and could help leapfrog the local high-tech industry to the forefront of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
In our efforts to prepare for a post-COVID economic recovery, we are making a number of investments in another emerging area with great potential – the circular economy. We are working with science councils, universities and other government departments, including the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
Our efforts are aimed at research, development and innovation in such areas as materials flow analysis, the beneficiation of forestry biomass waste streams, electronic waste dismantling and processing technology, marine plastic pollution, the use of waste plastic in road construction, and integrating waste pickers into the economy.
All these interventions are aimed at meeting the Paris Agreement's objectives of a low-carbon world and enabling a shift towards the circular economy that will be characterised by paradigms such as eco-innovation, a low-carbon economy, resource efficiency, the bioeconomy and environmental technology.
Honourable Members, it is our view that the circular economy is more inclusive than the current linear economy and will go a long way in addressing our problems of chronic inequality.
As far as future projects are concerned, in the 2021/22 financial year, two additional research infrastructures will be established as part of the continued roll-out of the South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap. These are the Nano-Micro Manufacturing Facility and the South African Polar Research Infrastructure.
This financial year we are also looking at the implementation of the National Big Data Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation. The primary aim of this strategy is to maximise the return on investments in research big data, and hence to realise the economic, social, educational, scientific and industrial beneficiation potential of research big data for South Africa.
The development of the National Big Data Strategy can be regarded as a major intervention by the research sector and several government departments. We also intend to reconfigure the National Institute for Theoretical Physics into a National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences.
This reconfiguration follows one of the findings of the review of the higher education, science, technology and innovation institutional landscape, namely, that South Africa's institutional landscape has expanded far less than the scope and scale of its research, scientific and technological activities. The reconfiguration is also in accordance with the White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation, which calls for an expansion of research outputs and the transformation of the research institutional landscape.
All these interventions are aimed at ensuring that the Department of Science and Innovation fulfils it mandate, and contributes to the imperative of ensuring that science, technology and innovation are also used to resolve the complex questions of social and economic justice.
In conclusion, Honourable Members, this Budget Vote debate takes place during an important month – Africa Month, which marks the 58th anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity. In this context, it is perhaps appropriate to conclude by borrowing from the wisdom of one of the founding fathers of African unity, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who once said:
The struggle against colonialism does not end with the attainment of national independence. Independence is only the prelude to a new and more involved struggle for the right to conduct our own economic and social affairs; to construct our society according to our aspirations, unhampered by crushing and humiliating neo-colonialist controls and interference.
I thank you.
