Hon House Chair, the ACDP is cognisant of the fact that this Bill which deals with the amendment of the Scientific Research Council Act of 1988, the Academy of Science of South Africa Act of 2001, the Human Sciences Research Council Act of 2008, the Technology Innovation Agency Act of 2008, and the South African National Space Agency Act of 2008, essentially seeks to achieve the following: the harmonisation of the process for the terminisation of the membership of boards or councils, clarification of the requirements for the disqualification of persons from membership of boards or councils, as well as providing for circumstances where members of boards or councils are prohibited from participating or voting in the boards or councils meetings, amongst other things.
Hon House Chair, if South Africa is to meaningfully compete in the science and technology space, then it must have the administrative capacity and strength to do so, because any organisation is only as strong as its internal ability to plan, strategise, envision and then implement. There can be no external growth if the internal capacity or core of an organisation has rotted or become weak. The ACDP is aware that this Bill seeks to strengthen the core within the science and technology sector. It is our view that if this is done properly, efficiently and transparently, the external knock on effect of preparing our students to become global players and contributors to the science and technology space can indeed become a reality.
We, within the African Christian Democratic Party, believe that there is no lack of intelligence, ability and potential among the students of South Africa. To a large extent, however, there has been a mismatch with respect to the skills required by industry, and the skills produced within the education, science and technology sector. This is a recipe for disaster, and will continue to be a drain on our industrial and economic recovery, which is so desperately needed.
In conclusion, as this Bill has the noble intention of harmonising termination processes and, in general, strengthening the administration processes in the boards and councils of the relevant entities, the ACDP is cautiously optimistic that this internal administrative strengthening process will have the positive leveraging effect of strengthening our skills capacity, and thereby unlocking the enormous potential of our students who will be able to do us proud in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The ACDP supports this Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr S N AUGUST Mr W M THRING