Chairperson, Honorable Members
As government we have set ourselves ambitious but realistic targets to achieve higher levels of economic growth. We are well on track – most analysts say that we are likely to hit the 6% growth target well before 2010. And many economists say that there is no reason why we cannot achieve an even higher level of growth. But, as the Minister has stressed, we need to do a number of things with speed to get us there. I would like to add to this theme: the application of science and technological innovation will not only enable us to achieve faster growth – it will provide us with the tools to achieve greater growth, and to ensure that our growth path is sustainable.
Of course, economic growth is only one part of the challenge. We have always been clear that growth is a means to an end, and the ultimate goal is a substantial improvement in the lives of our people. Shared growth does not mean that there will be some kind of “trickle-down” to the poor – it means that our programme to eradicate poverty, and to provide all our people with access to clean running water, decent sanitation, better education and health services, and electricity forms part and parcel of our chosen economic growth path.
All of these challenges have to be tackled with a sense of urgency and with speed, and we will need to apply the best of our country’s scientific expertise to ensure that our policies and programmes have maximum positive impact on the lives of the poor, and that they are sustainable in the face of scarce and dwindling resources.
The question is: what is the role of science and technology in economic growth and in the improvement of the quality of life of our people, and what is the Department of Science and Technology doing in this regard?
The short answer is: a lot! But it is for you, Honourable Members, to satisfy yourselves that we are moving in the right direction, and that we are applying our budget in the right way.
On the economic front, Minister Mangena has mentioned a number of programmes that have significant potential to make our country more competitive internationally and to achieve greater and more rapid growth. It is widely accepted that among the most serious challenges we face is the scarcity of well-trained people in certain critical areas. And along with that comes entrepreneurial ability, as well as access to capital and technology at the SMME level.
The Tshumisano programme
A strong economy, and especially one that can achieve the goal of shared growth, requires a dynamic small business sector. It was in recognition of this, as well as the realisation that there was a serious gap in the provision of technical support to SMMEs, that the Tshumisano Trust was set up. The programme aims to enhance the innovative capacity and competitiveness of SMMEs.
The Tshumisano Trust currently supports 10 technology stations covering a range of needs in diversified sectors, including chemical engineering, electronics, materials and processing technologies, moulded plastics, and clothing and textiles. These technology stations are based at technology universities and technikons around the country.
The most recently established station focuses on food-processing technologies, and is based just up the road at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. I would like to give a brief description of work that is being done at this station. I believe this will give Honourable Members a better appreciation of the immense potential this programme has in achieving not only better performance of our SMMEs, but in making these key sectors more competitive.
South Africa’s fresh produce exports account for R12 billion in foreign exsite2016 revenue. Its growth over the past decades has been facilitated largely through supply-chain infrastructure, in terms of ports, local manufacturing of tank containers and packaging materials, quality control and certification bodies.
Post-harvesting and cold-chain technologies are evolving at a rapid pace. If we are to maintain and improve our competitive position in the global market, we will not only have to introduce new technologies into this industry – we will also have to develop our own brand of innovation. If we fail to innovate, we risk losing market share to competing countries such Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. This includes post-harvest technologies for cooling, disease control, preservation, sorting, packaging and storage; and freight technologies such as refrigerated tank containers.
This food-processing station will also do work on packaging technologies, including biodegradable packaging, nano-silver enhanced packaging, collapsible crates and pellets, systems control and automation. This would offer significant economic opportunities to SMMEs in the manufacturing sector.
The other exciting new development is the establishment of additional technology stations in agri-food processing in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. These initiatives, emanating from the Department’s imbizos in 2003/04, will address an important need in these underserved provinces. The first of these stations will be launched before the end of July 2006.
The Department is confident that its investment in these areas of technology will make a real difference in maintaining or developing a competitive edge in these industries.
Energy
I would like to turn now to some of the work DST is doing on the energy front, in partnership with the Department of Minerals and Energy. It will not be possible for our economy to realise its full potential unless we have a reliable energy supply. Our mines depend on it, our factories depend on it, and so do our hospitals and schools. Access to a reliable and affordable supply of energy is crucial to both our economic growth targets and our social development programmes. No country in the world has managed to substantially reduce poverty without increasing its energy use.
What makes the work we are doing in this field particularly challenging is that we are not only grappling with the challenge of affordable and reliable access. Our choices are critical. Overexploitation of fossil fuels has resulted in serious pollution and contributed largely to disturbing site2016s in global climate patterns. The oilfields are fast running dry. 92% of our electricity comes from coal-fired generators, but the supply of coal is not infinite.
In the ANC election manifesto, we made a commitment that all South African households would have access to electricity by 2012. Gigantic progress has been made since 1994, and we are confident that we will meet the target, but our scientists and researchers will have to give careful thought to a number of questions: How are we going to extend the benefits of energy access to people who live in remote rural areas, and to many of our poorest people who live in informal settlements? What should we do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels? And what is the DST doing to address these challenges?
SANERI
Although we have a good grasp of the challenges, we need to do some hard research to identify the best solutions, given our needs and our finite resources. Much of this research will be done at the Energy Research Institute to be launched later this year by the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Minerals and Energy. SANERI, as this institute will be known, will be housed at the Central Energy Fund. A total of R20 million has already been transferred to the Fund to get the work going, and we will invest more than R100 million over the next 3 years to develop knowledge and applications in this field.
SANERI is designed to generate new ideas and to develop practical guidelines for how we can best take advantage of what nature offers us in the form of clean and renewable energy. Every country has its own potential renewable energy resources: some have enormous hydroelectricity potential; others have biomass or wind power. Iceland for example, gets 70% of its energy from geothermal and hydropower sources. Wind supplies 20% of Denmark’s energy. Our challenge is to identify the energy options available to us, and to develop the technologies to fully exploit our own resources.
Solar panels
Harnessing the huge energy potential from sunlight in our own sunny country is a good starting point. Solar panels are reliable and are already cost-effective in certain applications, such as provision of power to remote locations. The cost of panels has decreased more than twenty-fold over the last two decades. Present research focuses o¬n further reducing costs to a level that will enable widespread use. It is generally accepted that this goal will be achieved through the introduction of solar panel technologies involving a variety of new materials.
Scientists from the Universities of Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria are working in a consortium on this project. The successful establishment of a solar panel industry, driven by local expertise, offers tremendous potential for addressing South Africa’s economic and social challenges. Our Department is contributing R13 million to this work over the next three years.
Solar water heating
Electricity generation through solar panels is not the only way to capture the free energy from sunlight. Commercial solar hot water systems can be bought on the market and, in fact, it makes economic sense for all of us to convert to solar geysers. The problem is that they are still far too expensive for poor people, many of whom do not have the luxury of hot water in their homes.
Our Department is piloting a very low-cost solution to address this problem, through the design of a simple hot solar hot water system. The parts needed for this geyser cost about R350 and are readily available at any local hardware store. It can be put together using normal household tools.
This pilot project is based in Kimberley. A working prototype that heats the water to 50oC has already been manufactured and is being tested. When the design has been finalised it will be installed in 100 households in the settlements around Kimberley. If it proves to be successful it could conceivably be rolled out to hundreds of thousands of households around the country, and really make a difference to the lives of many of our poorest people.
What is really special about this project is that the development of the technology is not taking place in a university or design office, but on the factory floor by the people who will use it – a great example of local empowerment and science and technology at work for the people!
Hydrogen fuel cells
Our search for clean energy and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels has led us in another very promising direction. One of the major hopes for alternative energy lies in the development of the potential of hydrogen, in what has been termed the Hydrogen Economy. This is really a hypothetical future economy in which the primary form of stored energy is hydrogen, where we would effectively run our vehicles on hydrogen rather than petrol and diesel. Hydrogen is abundantly available and does not pollute.
Platinum is the key catalytic material used in hydrogen fuel cells. With 80% of the world’s known platinum deposits, it is clear that this could open up exciting new opportunities for South Africa.
Today the focus is on developing a research and development strategy for hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies. The draft strategy, which will be finalised next month, has been allocated an initial budget of R10 million.
Biofuels
Bio-fuels represent another potential source of clean and renewable energy, and excellent work is being done in partnership with DME. The principle is that organic matter can be converted directly into liquid fuels. The two most common biofuels are ethanol and biodiesel. Work has been completed on the technical standards for biodiesel, and tests have been conducted on six candidate crops: soya, sunflower, canola, groundnut, cotton and jatropha.
The biofuels industry initiative, apart from reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, promises substantial job creation and new business development opportunities.
Saving energy through energy-efficient housing
So far I have been emphasising expanded access and the need to move towards clean, renewable sources of energy. But perhaps this is putting the cart before the horse. We should probably first consider how we can use less energy – or use the energy we have more efficiently.
I would like to briefly tell you what our Department is doing to enhance energy efficiency in houses. This initiative has a dual objective: reduction of unnecessary and wasteful energy consumption, and achieving greater comfort in our homes through better design and use of different materials.
Unfortunately, most of our government provided low-cost houses are so thermally inefficient that people spend large amounts of money just to keep warm on these bitter winter nights.
Yet it is perfectly feasible to use energy more efficiently in our housing design and construction. There are many examples of good design around the country, and our Department, in conjunction with the Departments of Housing and Water Affairs and Forestry, is seeking to demonstrate and integrate better design into mainstream thinking.
In Buffalo City, six demonstration houses have been built. These houses are correctly orientated to benefit from the warming power of the sun, and make use of dry sanitation to reduce the energy required to treat and pump potable water and sewage. These houses will also use insulated concrete forms and ceilings that have better thermal properties than brick or concrete blocks.
Honourable Members, there is so much more we could tell you about. The difficulty the Department of Science and Technology has in all our budget debates is where to start, and where to end. Science is everywhere – there is science in sport, science in cooking, science in music, and I guess there is a science in ending a speech!
So, Chairperson, I’ll end by firstly thanking the Portfolio Committee for the great support they have given us in our work; secondly, by extending my appreciation to the Minister for the solid leadership he provides in the sector; and thirdly by thanking all members of the Department for the passion and dedication with which they tackle their work.
And on that note we have to commend and say goodbye to Rob Adam, who has had a huge hand in bringing our system to where it is today, and we welcome Phil Mjwara, our new Director-General, whom we are confident will take us to even greater heights.
And finally a special word of thanks to all the staff in the Ministry for their hard work.
