Madam Speaker, Honourable Members

As always, it is a privilege to present to you our budget and plans for the year ahead.  This is our fifth budget debate in this House, and our last one in this term of office.  It seems appropriate to use this occasion to reflect on the achievements and lessons of the past four years. 

It has to be said, in all humility, that a quick look at the milestones and events of these four years reveals the quite remarkable story of a country that is rapidly positioning itself among the global leaders in innovation, science and technology.

Astronomy

Let us start with astronomy.  In November 2005 the Southern African Large Telescope was officially launched by President Mbeki in the small Karoo town of Sutherland.  This small town now boasts the biggest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.  The project has been hailed as a work of engineering brilliance, and has put South Africa firmly on the map in the world of astronomical science.

Minister Mangena has briefed you about progress with the Square Kilometre Array bid.  Astronomy was identified in our National Research and Development Strategy as one of the areas in which South Africa enjoys a geographic advantage because of its climate and exceptionally clear skies.  For this reason we will continue to invest in astronomy, irrespective of the outcome of the SKA bid.

The MeerKAT telescope is being designed and built near Carnarvon by a team of 40 young engineers and scientists, who have quickly picked up world-class skills and expertise in ICT technologies – skills we will need in the coming decades if we are to be competitive in the knowledge economy.  The normally quiet town is suddenly abuzz, with work on the access road and other infrastructure already under way.  The MeerKAT is likely to be one of the world's leading radio astronomy facilities for some years to come.

We also have 64 students, including 26 from our African partners, on bursaries to study for PhDs and MScs on topics related to the MeerKAT and the SKA.  This year we had our first undergraduate intake of 16 students to study physics and engineering, and a cyber centre is being built at Carnarvon High School.

Human Capital

As you are well aware, Honourable Members, the skills shortage remains a challenge, notwithstanding all the gains we have made.  It is estimated that 7 000 science and technology professionals left the country between 1994 and 2001.  However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

A number of initiatives have been launched to address this challenge.  These include the establishment of the Institutes for Advanced Tooling, the South African-Norway Programme on Research Cooperation, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the African Scholarship Programme for Innovation Studies.  These initiatives will greatly increase our scientific and technological capacity.

The National Research Foundation continues to do a sterling job in this area.  It is through the NRF that our major human capital initiatives, like the South Africa Research Chairs Initiative and the centres of excellence, are managed.  In 2007 alone the NRF awarded 2 700 research grants and funded 4 000 students – which amounts to almost a billion rand.

ICT

Madam Speaker, without a well-developed information and communication infrastructure, there is little hope of us achieving our growth targets, addressing our education challenges, or advancing in our science and research endeavours.

The launching of the Meraka Institute in April 2005 was certainly a milestone event in the process of unleashing the powerful potential of ICT.  The Institute is not only home to a growing range of ICT research and development projects, but also houses large-scale interventions such as the Centre for High Performance Computing and the South African National Research Network.  These interventions allow our scientists to tackle problems on a scale significantly beyond what they were able to do previously and, importantly, to do it right here in South Africa instead of abroad.

These initiatives also prompted international companies to partner with us in ways seldom seen before.  Both Intel and IBM came forward with donations of supercomputers to be housed at our facilities.

Technology developed under Meraka's human language technology programme has found its way into a microchip that will power the speech-like sounds produced by toys across the world.  It is estimated that 80 million of these chips will be manufactured over the next few years.

The same type of technology is also being applied to address something far from playful – empowering the caregivers of HIV-infected orphans to use their cellphones to access information about medical conditions and care in their mother tongue.  Caregivers are often illiterate, and speech-recognition and text-to-speech technologies can provide them with automated verbal feedback.  This is a clear example of world-class science making a real impact on the lives of ordinary people.

The Meraka Institute's inventions in the area of wireless mesh networks are finding applications in a number of African countries. The technologies and training materials are being used to construct communications networks where none previously existed, at costs that even the poorest communities can afford.  Here at home, the networks have been rolled out in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, and are proving valuable in telehealth and in linking up schools in rural communities, especially when there are not enough teachers.

Biotechnology

Along with ICT, biotechnology was identified in the National Research and Development Strategy as one of the key science platforms.  In harnessing the potential of biotechnology we stand to make significant progress in addressing human and animal health challenges, enhancing food security, creating jobs and protecting our environment.

Milestones in this area include the awarding of the third component of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology to South Africa, and the recently launched Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research, both housed at the University of Cape Town, and both boosting our efforts to gain standing as a global player in the sector.

Scientists at our biotechnology institutions are working hard to win the fight against some of our most difficult health challenges, including extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB).  Funded by LIFElab (one of the biotechnology innovation centres), the National Genomics Platform has collaborated with leading scientists from the University of KwaZulu-Natal on a project to sequence the entire genome of one strain of XDR-TB.

This sequence information will be used to develop molecular diagnostic tools for XDR and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, which will assist clinicians in treating patients with TB.  It will also lead to a better understanding of the mutations leading to drug-resistant TB, and may help in the identification of therapeutic agents that can target drug-resistant TB.

Health Interventions

Honourable Members, we have repeatedly said that science and technology are essential tools to improve the well-being of our people.  With 5,5 million HIV-positive people in our country, it is self-evident that we need to mobilise our best scientists in the fight against this debilitating disease.  We have the scientists, and we have the institutions.

To quote Dr Alan Bernstein, CEO of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise "The South African HIV research community is exceptionally strong.  I think most people just don't realise how world-class they are."

The development of a vaccine against Aids is no easy task – the virus is elusive and mutates rapidly.  But without an effective vaccine there is little hope of eradicating the pandemic. While there have been setbacks and disappointments, we will continue giving support to our dedicated researchers.

Of course, the search for a vaccine continues alongside other HIV prevention and treatment research.  Through LIFElab and Biopad we are funding three companies that focus on HIV therapeutics, ranging from new anti-HIV compounds derived from natural products to peptides that can act as novel HIV-entry inhibitors.

LIFElab is also funding a clinical trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of a vaginal microbicide.  Although there are some very real scientific and logistical challenges, I would be bold enough to say that there is reason to be at least cautiously optimistic about the possibility of a safe and effective microbicide being developed.

Energy

One of the grand challenges in our Ten-Year Innovation Plan is energy security.  The immediate, short-term solution to our current energy crisis is to reduce the consumption of electricity wherever we can, in the least disruptive way.  In the longer term, we will have to find cost-effective solutions that take into account the finite nature of our primary sources of energy, as well as their effect on the environment.

The CSIR's Built Environment Unit is developing and testing technologies aimed at improving the design of low-cost housing in two pilot projects – one in the Overstrand Municipality, involving 611 houses, and one in the Buffalo City Municipality, involving 2 500 houses.

Among the 10 or more innovative technologies under investigation, the development and application of technologies aimed at achieving energy independence feature prominently.  New insulation materials in walling and roofing are being tested in order to improve the internal comfort of these homes by reducing heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer.

The use of solar and wind panels to generate power is also being investigated, with the aim of supplying a minimum allocation of electricity to the households in the project at little or no cost to the consumer, municipality or electricity supplier.  We have allocated R38 million to this project, and if the results are positive we plan to develop a model that can be replicated in all future housing projects.

Honourable members, in his budget speech the Minister of Finance spoke about the turbulent weather that we need to prepare for in the years ahead.  The DST has the task of ensuring that we are able to position ourselves in a rapidly changing world, and of finding innovative solutions to assist us in navigating our way through the storms.

The research conducted at our science councils and universities offers us the tools to do this.  The research and analytical work we do in the social sciences must guide us in our interventions, and in our understanding of society.  The ongoing xenophobic violence in our country demonstrates the necessity of gaining a better understanding of the extent and underlying causes of the prejudice and brutality in our society.

The HSRC is playing an immensely important role in assisting us to monitor the impact of our policies and programmes.  Under the leadership of Dr Olive Shisana, it has established itself as a world-class research body in the human sciences, and is supporting a number of government departments in critical areas of policy analysis.

Conclusion

In closing, Honourable Members, I would like to remind you of a promise I made during last year's Budget Vote.  I undertook to bring some of our best scientists together to explore innovative solutions to water delivery, especially to remote rural villages, where the likelihood of getting piped water in the near future seemed remote.

I am happy to announce that a high-level task team comprising senior officials from the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the Department of Provincial and Local Government, and the South African Local Government Association, as well as representatives from the CSIR, the HSRC, the Development Bank of South Africa, the Independent Development Trust and the Water Research Commission, has been established and is hard at work.  During their discussion, a number of technological solutions were identified and the implementation phase of the project is set for September 2008, starting with four provinces – KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West.

Madam Speaker, for me personally it has been a pleasure working closely with Minister Mosibudi Mangena during this four-year period.  We come from different parties, but not from different paradigms.  There has been complete unity of purpose in the face of the challenging task with which we have been entrusted.

I would like to commend our Director-General Dr Phil Mjwara for his vision and leadership as well as all the officials in the Department who work tirelessly to ensure that we fulfill our mandate to the nation.  We have a dedicated, talented team, determined to take our country to greater heights, undaunted by the occasional stormy weather. 

This brings me to the Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology, working under the very able leadership of the Honourable Godfrey Oliphant.  It has been a real pleasure working with you, Honourable Members.  This Committee has demonstrated that differences between political parties can be set aside in a common quest for solutions to real problems affecting all South Africans.

And finally, my immediate office staff has continued to provide me with solid support. 

Honourable members, we truly thank for your support.