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Volume 4 - 1
| Contents | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
 
1. Raising the Profile... (Buhle Khumalo, Editor Innovation, interviews the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena) Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena BK: What opportunities have arisen, from being a separate Ministry, from Arts and Culture? What does it mean for Science and Technology in the country? What is your vision for this department? MM: The creation of a separate Ministry gives us an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of Science and Technology in the country, and attend to issues pertaining to the portfolio in a robust and focused way. In this way, our people will be able to reap the benefits of scientific and technological development. I see this department playing a crucial role in the production of more science workers in this country, and helping to modernize our society through technology. BK: How do we justify to society the investment of 1 % of GDP in R&D while battling with socioeconomic issues? MM: History has shown that it is those countries that invest more in research and development that become economically prosperous. The vast majority of the people in this country are poor, and to attack that, we must grow our research and development capacity in order to have a competitive economy, export more goods, manufacture our products more efficiently, and ensure we do not fall behind technology. Otherwise we will become consumers of technology from other countries. 1% of GDP spending on R&D is the minimum we need, even by world standards. BK: With regard to Human Resource Development, how do you plan to address the imbalance in terms of demographics, especially the few women in research? Only 34,9% of researchers in South Africa are female, which is relatively low. MM: The problems are very acute as far as Science and Technology is concerned. Everybody accepts there is a low number of women and young people in the system, which needs to be tackled for Science and Technology to be healthy. Once again we need to link with the Department of Education to catch them young, in order to develop them into scientists. We must also turn the system around to make it attractive and accommodative to new entrants. For example, a woman researcher may not necessarily feel comfortable in a laboratory with males only. The environment must be conducive and welcoming for women. This also puts the burden on those women already in the field to play an active role in bringing in more women. It is a fact that researchers are an elite, but it must be an all-inclusive group. There is networking and comradeship among scientists, which must be extended to all sectors of our population. BK: With regard to the initiatives that the Department of Education and Science and Technology have undertaken to encourage young people to study maths and science, when should we expect to see the results? How do you plan to inculcate the culture of innovation, create interest in maths and science? What experience do you bring with you from education? MM: There is a sense in which the two departments complement each other in the production of knowledge and technology. The attainment of learners in maths and science, and human resource development concern both departments. However applicable protocols have to be observed at all times as we work towards the achievement of these goals. The DST also funds institutions of higher learning through the National Research Foundation research grants. But in terms of operational time frames, the two departments differ. Education is a huge ship that turns very slowly. The system is very big; hence its processes take long to change anything. Pedagogical issues are not things you can change overnight. You cannot just change the curriculum without training teachers or improving learning facilities. Moreover, the sector is conservative and you deal with masses of people. There is also the pressure of deliverables at the beginning of each year. Science and Technology is a sleek outfit, carrying out an agenda having a different flavour and imperatives. BK: How do you see Science and Technology address the first and second economy? What innovations are in place to alleviate poverty? The transferring of skills to our young people and women in the deep rural areas of South Africa – how does the department plan to address this issue? MM: The phenomenon of two economies must be killed. We cannot have a country, with one population but two economies. We have the poor who are not participating in the economy, they have no jobs or bank accounts nor do they pay taxes. But we cannot solve the second economy at the exclusion of the first economy. Through the transfer of technological skills to members of the second economy, the poor can enter the first economy. The department has poverty relief programmes such as making novelty paper products from discarded paper, and beekeeping. These programmes have to be massified at some point to have a greater impact. However our current budget does not allow it. BK: What is the role that you will be playing within Nepad, in the next five years? What do you intend to achieve in S & T in the continent, that is, besides increasing Research and Development (investment) in Africa? MM: Besides encouraging that investment in research and development in the continent to be consistent with that in South Africa, I would like to play a significant part, through science and technology, in modernising Africa as a continent and as a society. We cannot be an island that develops in isolation. Our development must take into account the needs of the SADC countries and the rest of Africa. South Africa also plays an important role within the African Union, and chairs the Africa Ministerial Science Commission through which we share expertise, and promote cooperation and the development of human resources. Through the Commission, cooperation that did not exist before is now in place. BK: What will be the significance for the establishment of the National Energy Research Institute, and what will it seek to achieve with regard to alternative means of energy, the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor? How do you allay the fears of our citizens while creating cheaper and cleaner technology for sustainability? MM: NERI’s significance will be seen once it has been established. Access to energy in any country is crucial for industry, the running of cars, the train, etc. Ordinary people operating within the second economy are on a daily basis struggling to meet their energy needs by using energy forms such as paraffin, wood, liquid petroleum gas, many of which pose a health hazard. A lot of time is spent by women in rural areas to fetch firewood from far, and in informal settlements people struggle just to get paraffin or coal, most of which emit poisonous gases that they breathe in, creating health problems. How many people are being treated in hospitals for breathing problems or burns from paraffin stoves that tipple over or explode? We must find a way to produce cleaner energy for consumption by our people and for use in homes. It is not people who can afford the first economy lifestyles that struggle to access energy; it is the poor. Nuclear energy is a very good option and we are assisting the Department of Minerals and Energy with the PBMR at a scientific level, to enhance the quality of research in energy. Nuclear energy is an attractive option, with regard to cost, cleanliness and safety. Coal and other gaseous emissions kill us slowly. We have had a good track record with the use of electricity. Besides, we are likely to run out of coal or water, there are not a lot of rivers in our country. Wind and solar energy is another option that can be used for the creation of energy. Most nuclear stations in the world are safe. BK: Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Challenges are that of patenting cross-cultural information that is in the public domain and how do you intend to achieve this? How will the balance be struck in terms of who has the right to certain practices or products? The challenge of education for Indigenous Knowledge Holders, how will that be achieved and also how the department intends to protect or claim patents of knowledge that have been stolen from its indigenous owners. MM: It is going to be difficult to educate indigenous knowledge holders, but we have to. Our immediate challenge is to finalise the policy. Through the foundation, parameters and the legislative framework we shall have created, we will be on a highway that can lead us where we want to go, which is participation in mainstream economic activities. Where possible, patents may be reversed, such as in the case of the Rooibos Tea that was patented in America. We will engage and not shy away from such cases, hopefully through negotiations, solutions could be found.Ownership for an ethnic group may be difficult to ascertain, as it is not possible to determine empirically that certain knowledge belongs exclusively to a particular group, but the country as a whole can benefit through the knowledge held. Thus far, Africans go to school to learn knowledge generated by others, we too can educate our own through the indigenous knowledge we have been building upon, and we can teach the world about it. BK: How do you plan to regulate intellectual property rights, especially with regard government funded research? MM: A bill is going to be drafted soon and will be published for public comment. This will stop the free for all approach that has been going on, where people make up the rules as they go along, and will remove the uncertainty of dealing with ownership, as far as public funds in research are concerned. BK: What type of legacy do you want to leave behind – beyond your term? How would you like to be remembered? MM: I would like to be remembered as a person who has tried to do his best. I also want to put the new Ministry in the public domain, raise the profile of Science and Technology and the public consciousness around the issues of science, and have more young people and women participating in the sector. |
Nominations of potential candidates for the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) Board of Directors
