Chair, I trust our chairperson, the hon Mr Oliphant, would be able to add that long dissertation to his thesis on time or space, or some doctorate of some sort, because he certainly gave us a sort of a long haul there. At the outset, I would just like to also apologise for my colleague the hon Blanch. He is overseas, Minister, and I am sure he would have liked to have been part of this debate, which is a very exciting one.
The South African National Space Agency Bill which is before us binds South Africa closer to the family of nations wishing not only to explore space, but to use it to advance life on Earth. The Bill draws us closer into this family of space explorers, and opens up opportunities for South Africans to play a role in the peaceful use - and I stress peaceful use - of space. To this end, the portfolio committee had the opportunity to meet with enthusiastic citizens, who are eager to start building satellites and rocket launchers, during the public participation process.
The Bill will enable South Africans to actively engage in space technology and industrial development and will foster research in astronomy, Earth observation, communications, navigation and space physics.
More importantly, the passing of the Bill could be an opportunity again for the development of world-class aerospace products and attracting commercial direct foreign investments, all of which is good for our economy and good for job creation. It is important though that the agency envisaged in the Bill must be seen to be supporting the creation of an environment conducive to this development actively and not in essence be seen as competing with private industry. To this end, government must leave industrial development in the hands of the private sector whilst playing a major role in the facilitation and the creation of support mechanisms for small, medium and micro enterprises in this new, exciting arena.
The Bill will further allow South African entities to be part of international co-operation in space-related activities, and bring Africa on board with the other nations already active in this field. The agency will also ensure that government departments will in future work together collectively on space policies while forming an alliance with international space agencies in order to share costs and at the same time share and promote space policies.
This Bill will advance our scientific engineering and technological competencies and capabilities through human capital development and outreach programmes. The Bill will allow the space agency to acquire, assimilate or disseminate space satellite data for any organ of state. It makes the older generation such the hon Mr Ellis and me here very excited as South Africans when we open doors for even younger South Africans to take part in the wonderful world that space travel has opened up for Earth and all life on it.
South Africa has up to now played a significant role in the development of space exploration, and this Bill is just one more achievement added to our role model profile as Africa's leading modern democracy. We have come a long way since Hartebeesthoek first became Africa's eye to the sky.
The data that will be collected, distributed and disseminated will be to the advantage and peaceful development of Southern Africa, and will open up windows of opportunity for Africa as whole, be it in agriculture, weather forecasting, navigation or many other fields of activity. Of particular importance in this regard is the role South Africa can play in monitoring and evaluating climate change and food security in a continent plagued by droughts, floods and the resultant hunger and poverty that follows such disasters, Minister. This Bill is a small step for Parliament but a giant step for Africa, and therefore, the DA has no problems or any doubt in supporting this very worthwhile Bill. Thank you, sir. [Applause.]