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Annual Report 2003/2004 - Foreword
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Annual Report 2003/2004 Annual Report in PDF format  - 1.5Mb ~
9 min |
| Foreword by the Minister, Mosibudi
Mangena. South Africa has much to celebrate in its tenth year of democracy. But much work remains to be done. One of the pressing challenges facing South Africa is to modernise both our economy and society. Key to meeting this challenge is integrating science and technology into our national growth plans. ThThis annual report captures the important process of restructuring and reconfiguring the programmes of the Department of Science and Technology to address this challenge.The commitment to bolster this challenge was given the highest priority by President Thabo Mbeki when he announced a separate Ministry for Science and Technology in April 2004. With this announcement, South Africa joined a growing band of countries, including Brazil and the Peoples Republic of China, that have acknowledged the importance of science and technology in economic progress and global competitiveness. is annual report captures the important process of restructuring and reconfiguring the programmes of the Department of Science and Technology to address this challenge. The commitment to bolster this challenge was given the highest priority by President Thabo Mbeki when he announced a separate Ministry for Science and Technology in April 2004. With this announcement, South Africa joined a growing band of countries, including Brazil and the Peoples Republic of China, that have acknowledged the importance of science and technology in economic progress and global competitiveness. The Department of Science and Technology, or the DST, has a pivotal role to play in social and economic development. Science and technology are highly cross-cutting activities. The application of new technologies and the knowledge derived from leading-edge research contributes to increased export earnings when breakthroughs are made, for example, in the fields of minerals extraction or agro-processing. When a more effective tuberculosis vaccine or magnetic resonance imaging machine is developed, this has immense benefits for human health and improved quality of life. The DST is the catalyst behind these potential developments. It provides the foundations supporting the delivery that ultimately take place in different sectors. However, to get science and technology working in South Africa, we need to address a legacy issue dating back over ten years. Between 1991 and 1993, total expenditure on research and development fell from a relatively low 1,04% of gross domestic product to 0,75%. Compare this to an average of 2,15% for OECD countries, and Sweden, which is the highest in the world at 3,58% and the enormity of the task becomes clear. The new government, which faced the new challenges of motivating our scientists towards new missions of national competitiveness and quality of life, and producing a cohort of young scientists that is more representative of South Africa's people, inherited a science system that had its key drivers removed. This remains a challenge and priority for the DST.We must raise the profile of science and technology in our country to attract people who will make the sector representative. We need to systematically target black youngsters and women with ability and provide them with career guidance and inspiration. We have to grow science knowledge workers at a robust pace to breathe new life into the sector,and to continue the work of our present scientists. Through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), our country is playing an important role in the development, integration and unification of Africa.Science and technology is a critical element in this endeavour. As chair of the African Ministers Council for Science and Technology for the next two years,South Africa has a unique opportunity of raising the profile of these important disciplines that contribute so much to improving the quality of life for millions of people. And this is an opportunity the DST is determined to capitalise on to its fullest. Much progress is being made on many fronts, but we need to do more. Mosibudi Mangena Minister of Science and Technology |
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