Chairperson;
Honourable Members:
Deputy Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Ms. Nomalungelo Gina;
Senior officials from my Department:
It is my honour and privilege to be able to address the Portfolio Committee. It is perhaps appropriate that I start by offering my warm words of congratulations and that of my Department to you chairperson, on your election to this important position.
I also wish to extend the same congratulations to each of the Members of this Committee, on their appointment to this Committee.
The importance of parliamentary committees
Committees of Parliament are not just critical for ensuring that the executive arm of the state is held to account, but they also play a vital role in shaping the work that is done by various state departments and organs.
Because I am not entirely new, I can attest to the fact that, in the past, my Department has benefitted immensely from the input and feedback of the Members of this Committee.
Equally important is the fact that, as Minister, I regard a healthy and productive relationship between the Portfolio Committee and the Department as critical, not only for the work of the Department and its entities, but for the work of government,
Therefore, for the duration of this term, the Deputy Minister and I, wish to treat the Department’s relationship with the Portfolio Committee as one of our strategic priorities.
This means that, among others, as the Department, we will continue to be open to suggestions or recommendations from the Committee, on how we can do our work better.
And of course, where the Committee believes my Department or its entities are not doing what they are supposed to, myself and the Deputy Minister and the Executive of my Department, will be prepared to accept constructive criticism and correct that which needs correcting.
I therefore look forward to a robust, mutually beneficial, productive, and forward-looking relationship with this Committee and its Members. I also hope we will set a high standard for thorough debates and engagements, respectfully and in a collegial manner.
The strategic focus areas of the Department, under my leadership
Under my leadership and guided by our White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation, and our Decadal Plan, the Department of Science and Innovation will continue its broad strategic focus on ensuring that we use science, technology, and innovation to address some of our country’s most urgent challenges.
These include challenges such as poverty, unemployment (especially among our young people), the development of critical scientific skills and strengthening existing relations with countries on the African continent and other regions of the world, with a strong focus on South-to-South relations.
At the heart of our agenda is the transformation of the sector from a race, class, and gender bases, such that it increasingly reflects the demographics of our country. The priority question for the STI system must also be based on the principal challenges facing our country and the continent.
This means that we will continue to build the necessary science infrastructure and support the training and development of young, black and women scientists and researchers.
We will also continue investing in key development areas such as the modernisation of mining, agriculture, manufacturing, health innovation and continued investments in new growth areas such as the circular economy.
All of this we will do as part of addressing some of our country’s most urgent social challenges and also in line with our objective of positioning our country as a leader in science, technology, and innovation.
Underpinning our work will also be the need to promote science literacy in broader society so that the role of science is understood by all, rather than being a preserve of its elite components. To this end I will also actively support science journalism - something that is seriously weak in our country - so that science and its outputs are accessible to all South Africans.
Related to this, we have committed ourselves with the Deputy Minister to fight against the fear of science that is still widely prevalent amongst especially black youth, partly deriving from the negative impact of the Verwoerdian racist legacy of denying scientific education to black South Africans under apartheid. We will develop a very strong outreach programme of scientific activities in communities and schools.
We will therefore build on the successes that were achieved under the 6th administration in the area of science, technology and innovation and use those to enhance the performance of our National System of Innovation, to make it more agile and responsive.
Honourable members, I would also to offer that as a Department we would be more than willing to facilitate visits to our excellent science infrastructure as part of your own outreach programmes.
The focus of today’s presentation
To give Members a sense of the Department’s performance over the 24/25 financial year, today’s presentation will focus on the following:
- Mandate of the Department;
- Vision Mission Values;
- The nature of the work of the Department;
- Programmes;
- The Policy Context – The NDP, MTSF, White Paper And Decadal Plan;
- Performance Information.
- Selected flagship initiatives of the Department; and
- MTEF allocations and budget per programmes.
As stated, I am accompanied by the Deputy Minister and senior officials of the Department. With your permission Chairperson, I now wish to hand over to the Acting Director General, Mr Daan Du Toit to lead the presentation.
Thank you.
